109TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 18
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the grave concern of Congress regard-
ing the continuing gross violations of human
rights and civil liberties of the Syrian and Leba-
nese people by the Government of the Syrian
Arab Republic.
109TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 18
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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 Govern-
•HCON 18 EH
ment 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;
Whereas a United States diplomat who was watching the
peaceful demonstrations was also arrested and held for
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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-
nity, by charging him with spreading false information,
forming an underground association with links to inter-
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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
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress—
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(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;
(C) abandon support for terrorism;