IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 31
Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to human rights in Central 
Asia. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 26, 2005
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself and Mr. ACKERMAN) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Inter-
national Relations 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to human 
rights in Central Asia.
Whereas the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan 
are providing the United States with important assist-
ance in the war in Afghanistan, including military basing, 
overflight rights, and the facilitation of humanitarian re-
lief; 
Whereas America’s victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan in 
turn provided important benefits to these Central Asian 
countries, removing a regime that threatened their secu-
rity, and significantly weakening the Islamic Movement 
of Uzbekistan, a terrorist organization that had pre-
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viously staged armed raids from Afghanistan into the re-
gion; 
Whereas the United States has consistently urged the coun-
tries of Central Asia to open their political systems and 
economies and to respect human rights, both before and 
since the attacks against the United States that occurred 
on September 11, 2001; 
Whereas Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, 
and Uzbekistan are members of the United Nations and 
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
(OSCE), both of which confer a range of human rights 
obligations on their members; 
Whereas, although the United States recognizes that there 
are marked differences among the social structures of 
these Central Asian countries and their commitments to 
democratic and economic reform, according to the De-
partment of State’s Annual Country Reports on Human 
Rights Practices, the governments of such countries, to 
differing degrees, restrict freedom of speech and associa-
tion, restrict or ban the activities of human rights organi-
zations and other nongovernmental organizations, harass 
or prohibit independent media, harass or imprison polit-
ical opponents, practice arbitrary detention and arrest, 
and engage in torture and extrajudicial executions; 
Whereas in March 2004, the United Nations announced the 
deployment of an international human rights expert in 
Kazakhstan as its regional adviser for Central Asia in 
order to provide advice and training to government offi-
cials and policy makers, nongovernmental organizations, 
United Nations agencies, and other international organi-
zations;
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Whereas in April 2004, the European Bank for Reconstruc-
tion and Development decided to limit its investment in 
Uzbekistan due to the lack of progress in human rights, 
following the expiration of the one-year deadline the 
Bank had set for the Uzbek Government to meet specific 
human rights benchmarks as a condition for further en-
gagement; 
Whereas in July 2004, after a Department of State review 
of democratization in Uzbekistan, Secretary of State 
Colin Powell decided that the Government of Uzbekistan 
was not fulfilling the terms of a 2002 Strategic Partner-
ship Framework agreement that mandated ‘‘substantial 
and continuing progress’’ on democratization, and de-
cided not to certify Uzbekistan as eligible to receive 
United States assistance; 
Whereas, by continuing to suppress human rights and to 
deny citizens peaceful, democratic means of expressing 
their convictions, the countries of Central Asia risk fuel-
ing popular support for violent and extremist movements, 
thus undermining the goals of the Global War on Ter-
rorism; 
Whereas President Bush has made the defense of ‘‘human 
dignity, the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, 
respect for women and private property and free speech 
and equal justice and religious tolerance’’ strategic goals 
of United States foreign policy in the Islamic world, ar-
guing that ‘‘a truly strong nation will permit legal ave-
nues of dissent for all groups that pursue their aspira-
tions without violence’’; and 
Whereas Congress has expressed its desire to see deeper re-
form in the countries of Central Asia in resolutions and 
other legislation, most recently conditioning assistance to
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Uzbekistan on its progress in meeting human rights and 
democracy commitments to the United States: Now, 
therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—
(1) 
the 
Governments 
of 
Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, 
Tajikistan, 
Turkmenistan, 
and 
Uzbekistan should accelerate democratic reforms 
and fulfill their human rights obligations, including, 
where appropriate, by—
(A) releasing from prison all individuals 
jailed for peaceful political activism or the non-
violent expression of their political or religious 
beliefs, including Felix Kulov in Kyrgyzstan; 
(B) fully investigating any credible allega-
tions of torture and prosecuting those individ-
uals responsible; 
(C) permitting the free and unfettered 
functioning of independent media outlets, inde-
pendent political parties, and nongovernmental 
organizations, whether officially registered or 
not; 
(D) permitting the free exercise of reli-
gious beliefs and ceasing the persecution of 
members of religious groups and denominations 
not registered with the state;
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(E) holding free, transparent, competitive, 
and fair elections; and 
(F) making publicly available documenta-
tion of their revenues and expenditures and 
punishing those individuals engaged in official 
corruption; 
(2) the President, the Secretary of State, and 
the Secretary of Defense should—
(A) continue to raise at the highest levels 
with the governments of the countries of Cen-
tral Asia specific cases of political and religious 
persecution, and urge greater respect for 
human rights and democratic freedoms at every 
diplomatic opportunity; 
(B) continue to take progress in meeting 
the goals outlined in paragraph (1) into account 
when determining the level and frequency of 
United States diplomatic engagement with the 
governments of the countries of Central Asia, 
the allocation of United States assistance for 
such countries, and the nature of United States 
military engagement with such countries; 
(C) ensure that the provisions of the an-
nual foreign operations, export financing and 
related programs appropriations Act continue to
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be fully implemented to ensure that United 
States assistance does not benefit the security 
forces of Central Asian countries that are impli-
cated in violations of human rights; 
(D) follow the recommendations of the 
United States Commission on International Re-
ligious Freedom by designating Turkmenistan a 
‘‘Country of Particular Concern’’ under the 
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
and by making clear that Uzbekistan risks a 
similar designation if conditions in that country 
do not improve; 
(E) urge the Government of Turkmenistan 
to respect the right of imprisoned opposition 
leader Boris Shikmuradov to due process and a 
fair trial and to release democratic activists and 
their family members from prison; 
(F) urge the Government of the Russian 
Federation not to extradite to Turkmenistan 
members of that country’s political opposition 
and to condition future bilateral relations with 
the Government of Turkmenistan on concrete, 
verifiable improvements in human rights and 
encourage political and economic reforms;
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(G) 
work 
with 
the 
Government 
of 
Kazakhstan to create a political climate free of 
intimidation and harassment, including releas-
ing political prisoners and permitting the return 
of 
political 
exiles, 
most 
notably 
Akezan 
Kazegeldin, and to reduce official corruption, 
including 
by 
urging 
the 
Government 
of 
Kazakhstan to cooperate with the ongoing De-
partment of Justice investigation, and if con-
victed independent journalist Sergey Duvanov 
decides to appeal his verdict, to ensure that due 
process will be strictly followed in accordance 
with Kazakhstani law and international stand-
ards of justice; 
(H) 
work 
with 
the 
Government 
of 
Uzbekistan to address the serious concerns 
about systemic torture documented in the re-
ports of the United Nations Special Rapporteur 
on Torture and to implement recommendations 
made in the report; 
(I) 
work 
with 
the 
Government 
of 
Kyrgyzstan to introduce changes in the recently 
adopted constitution that would address con-
cerns about protections for human rights and 
balance of powers; and
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(J) support, through United States assist-
ance programs, those individuals, nongovern-
mental organizations, and media outlets in the 
countries of Central Asia working to establish 
more open societies, to support the victims of 
human rights abuses, and to expose official cor-
ruption; and 
(3) United States assistance to the governments 
of the countries of Central Asia, made possible by 
their cooperation in the war in Afghanistan, can be 
sustained only if there is substantial and continuing 
progress toward meeting the goals outlined in para-
graph (1).
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