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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 525 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 525

         Honoring the life and legacy of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 24, 2012

   Mr. Nelson of Florida (for himself, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Rubio) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
         Honoring the life and legacy of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas.

Whereas, on Sunday, July 22, 2012, 60-year-old Cuban dissident and activist 
        Oswaldo Paya Sardinas died in a car crash in Bayamo, Cuba;
Whereas, at a young age, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas criticized the communist 
        government in Cuba, which led to his imprisonment at a work camp on 
        Cuba's Isle of Youth in 1969;
Whereas, in 1988, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas founded the Christian Liberation 
        Movement as a nondenominational political organization to further civil 
        and human rights in Cuba;
Whereas, in 1992, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas announced his intention to run as a 
        candidate to be a representative on the National Assembly of Popular 
        Power of Cuba and, 2 days before the election, was detained by police at 
        his home and determined by Communist Party officials to be ineligible to 
        run for office because he was not a member of the Communist Party;
Whereas, in 1997, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas collected hundreds of signatures to 
        support his candidacy to the National Assembly of Popular Power, which 
        was rejected by the electoral commission of Cuba;
Whereas the Constitution of Cuba supposedly guarantees the right to a national 
        referendum on any proposal that achieves 10,000 or more signatures from 
        citizens of Cuba who are eligible to vote;
Whereas, in 1998, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and other leaders of the Christian 
        Liberation Movement created the Varela Project, a signature drive to 
        secure a national referendum on ``convert[ing] into law, the right of 
        freedom of speech, the freedom of press and freedom of enterprise'';
Whereas, in May 2002, the Varela Project delivered 11,020 signatures from 
        eligible citizens of Cuba to the National Assembly of Popular Power, 
        calling for an end to 4 decades of one-party rule, to which the 
        Government of Cuba responded by beginning its own referendum that made 
        Cuba's socialist system ``irrevocable'', even after an additional 14,000 
        signatures were added to the Varela Project petition;
Whereas the Varela Project is the largest civil society-led petition in the 
        history of Cuba;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas bravely led the Varela Project at great risk to 
        himself, his loved ones, and his associates;
Whereas, in March 2003, the Government of Cuba arrested 75 human rights 
        activists, including 25 members of the Varela Project, in the crackdown 
        known as Cuba's ``Black Spring'';
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas's dedication to freedom and faith earned him the 
        Sakarov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Parliament in 
        2002;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas received the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award 
        from the United States National Democratic Institute for International 
        Affairs in 2003;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Vaclav 
        Havel, the former president of the Czech Republic, in 2005; and
Whereas President Barack Obama stated, ``We continue to be inspired by Paya's 
        vision and dedication to a better future for Cuba, and believe that his 
        example and moral leadership will endure.'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes and honors the life and exemplary leadership 
        of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
            (2) offers heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, 
        and loved ones of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
            (3) praises the bravery of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and his 
        colleagues for collecting more than 11,000 verified signatures 
        in support of the Varela Project;
            (4) in memory of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, calls on the United 
        States to continue policies that promote respect for the 
        fundamental principles of religious freedom, democracy, and 
        human rights in Cuba, in a manner consistent with the 
        aspirations of the people of Cuba;
            (5) in memory of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, calls on the 
        Government of Cuba to provide its citizens with internationally 
        accepted standards for civil and human rights and the 
        opportunity to vote in free and fair elections; and
            (6) calls on the Government of Cuba to allow an impartial, 
        third-party investigation into the circumstances surrounding 
        the death of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas.
                                 <all>
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