III 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 18 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MARCH 17, 2005 
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the con-
tinuing gross violations of human rights and civil lib-
erties of the Syrian and Lebanese people by the Govern-
ment of the Syrian Arab Republic. 
Whereas the Syrian Arab Republic is governed by an authori-
tarian regime which continues to commit serious human 
rights abuses, including the use of torture and arbitrary 
arrest and detention; 
Whereas the Department of State’s Country Reports on 
Human Rights Practices for 2004 states that Syria’s 
‘‘human 
rights 
record 
remained 
poor, 
and 
the
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Government continued to commit numerous, serious 
abuses’’, the government ‘‘significantly restricts freedom 
of speech and of the press’’, ‘‘freedom of assembly does 
not exist under the law’’, and ‘‘the Government restricted 
freedom of association’’; 
Whereas Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights states that ‘‘Everyone has the right to freedom of 
opinion and expression. This right includes freedom to 
hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive 
and impart information and ideas through any media and 
regardless of frontiers.’’; 
Whereas Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights states that ‘‘Everyone has the right to freedom of 
peaceful assembly and association.’’; 
Whereas Syria’s September 2001 press law permits the gov-
ernment to arbitrarily deny or revoke publishing licenses 
for vague reasons and compels media to submit all mate-
rial to government censors; 
Whereas Syrian authorities have arrested, or, in the case of 
foreigners, expelled journalists for writing critically about 
Syria’s policies; 
Whereas Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International 
have reported that the security forces of Syria are tar-
geting emerging Syrian human rights organizations, as 
well as their attorneys, in an apparent attempt to intimi-
date those organizations; 
Whereas, on March 8, 2004, Syrian security forces arrested 
more than 30 human rights dissidents and civilians at a 
sit-in in front of the parliament;
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Whereas a United States diplomat who was watching the 
peaceful demonstrations was also arrested and held for 
an hour in what the United States called an unacceptable 
violation of diplomatic practice and which the United 
States protested ‘‘in the strongest terms’’; 
Whereas Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights states that ‘‘All are equal before the law and are 
entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of 
the law.’’; 
Whereas the criminal law of Syria provides for reduced sen-
tences in cases of ‘‘honor’’ killings, and spousal rape is 
not illegal; 
Whereas the infringement by Syria on human rights and civil 
liberties extends into the Lebanese Republic, which it 
continues to occupy in violation of United Nations Secu-
rity Council resolutions; 
Whereas hundreds of Lebanese civilians are believed to have 
been killed or ‘‘disappeared’’ by Syrian occupation forces 
or its secret police; 
Whereas hundreds of Kurdish civilians were injured or killed 
in clashes with the Syrian authorities in March 2004 in 
Qamishli, a city in northeastern Syria, and Syrian secu-
rity forces arrested and tortured Syrian Kurdish civilians 
from the town of Al-Malikiyah on January 9, 2005; 
Whereas Syrian authorities continue their harassment of 
Aktham Naisse, Syria’s leading human rights activist, 
President, and founding member of the Committees for 
the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights 
in Syria, and the 2005 winner of the Martin Ennals 
Award for Human Rights Defenders, one of the most 
prestigious awards in the global human rights commu-
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nity, by charging him with spreading false information, 
forming an underground association with links to inter-
national human rights groups, and opposing the Baath 
Party; 
Whereas, in November 2004, upon his release from prison, 
Kamal Labwani, a 48-year-old physician in Syria, stated 
that there are at least 400 political prisoners in Syria, 
100 of whom have been jailed for at least 20 years; 
Whereas Mr. Labwani urged ‘‘all defenders of freedom and 
human rights, whether individuals, associations, or bod-
ies, or international, Arab, or local organizations to par-
ticipate with us in this campaign to call for the imme-
diate release of all political prisoners and detainees of 
opinion and conscience’’; 
Whereas, in November 2004, Syrian journalist Louai Hussein 
was banned from writing by the Syrian Interior Min-
istry’s political security office; 
Whereas, in November 2004, the arrest in Germany of a Syr-
ian embassy official for espionage and issuing threats 
against the Syrian opposition in Europe is evidence of a 
campaign reportedly launched by Syrian dictator Bashar 
Assad, aimed at intimidating the regime’s opposition 
abroad; 
Whereas thousands of Syrian citizens, along with their fami-
lies, children, and grandchildren, live outside their coun-
try in forced exile, solely because of their political views, 
or because of the views of members of their families; and 
Whereas human rights and democracy groups in Syria have 
sponsored a petition urging greater freedoms and the re-
lease of all political prisoners: Now, therefore, be it
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Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) condemns the consistent pattern of gross 
violations of internationally recognized human rights 
by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic; 
(2) calls on the international community to 
adopt a resolution at the upcoming session of the 
United Nations Commission on Human Rights 
which details the dismal human rights record of 
Syria; 
(3) expresses its support for the people of Syria 
in their daily struggle for freedom, respect for 
human rights and civil liberties, democratic self-gov-
ernance, and the establishment of the rule of law; 
(4) encourages the President and the Secretary 
of State to reach out to dissidents, human rights ac-
tivists, and the nonviolent democratic opposition in 
Syria, and to assist them in their efforts; and 
(5) urges the adoption and pursuit of these and 
other policies to seek a democratic government in 
Syria that will— 
(A) bring freedom and democracy to the 
people of Syria; 
(B) cease the illegal occupation by Syria of 
the Lebanese Republic;