IV
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 56
Urging the appropriate representative of the United States to the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce at the annual meet-
ing of the Commission a resolution calling upon the People’s Republic
of China to end its human rights violations in China and Tibet, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 26, 2001
Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey,
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. FRANK, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. MCGOVERN,
and Ms. RIVERS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on International Relations
RESOLUTION
Urging the appropriate representative of the United States
to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
to introduce at the annual meeting of the Commission
a resolution calling upon the People’s Republic of China
to end its human rights violations in China and Tibet,
and for other purposes.
Whereas the annual meeting of the United Nations Commis-
sion on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, provides
a forum for discussing human rights and expressing
international support for improved human rights per-
formance;
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Whereas, according to the Department of State and inter-
national human rights organizations, the Government of
the People’s Republic of China continues to commit wide-
spread and well-documented human rights abuses in
China and Tibet;
Whereas the People’s Republic of China has yet to dem-
onstrate its willingness to abide by internationally accept-
ed norms of freedom of belief, expression, and association
by repealing or amending laws and decrees that restrict
those freedoms;
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China
continues to ban and criminalize groups it labels as cults
or heretical organizations;
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China
has repressed unregistered religious congregations and
spiritual movements, including Falun Gong, and persists
in persecuting persons on the basis of unauthorized reli-
gious activities using such measures as harassment, pro-
longed detention, physical abuse, incarceration, and clo-
sure or destruction of places of worship;
Whereas authorities in the People’s Republic of China have
continued their efforts to extinguish expressions of pro-
test or criticism, have detained scores of citizens associ-
ated with attempts to organize a peaceful opposition, to
expose corruption, to preserve their ethnic minority iden-
tity, or to use the Internet for the free exchange of ideas,
and have sentenced many citizens so detained to harsh
prison terms;
Whereas Chinese authorities continue to exert control over re-
ligious and cultural institutions in Tibet, abusing human
rights through instances of torture, arbitrary arrest, and
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detention of Tibetans without public trial for peacefully
expressing their political or religious views;
Whereas bilateral human rights dialogues between several na-
tions and the People’s Republic of China have yet to
produce substantial adherence to international norms;
and
Whereas the People’s Republic of China has signed the Inter-
national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but has
yet to take the steps necessary to make the treaty legally
binding: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) at the 57th Session of the United Nations
Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland,
the appropriate representative of the United States
should solicit cosponsorship for a resolution calling
upon the Government of the People’s Republic of
China to end its human rights abuses in China and
Tibet, in compliance with its international organiza-
tions; and
(2) the United States Government should take
the lead in organizing multilateral support to obtain
passage by the Commission of such resolution.
Æ