176
are to be made available; or (2) during the 12 months
preceding such certification there have been no abortions
as the result of coercion associated with the family plan-
ning policies of the national government or other govern-
mental entities within the People’s Republic of China. As
used in this section the term ‘coercion’ includes physical
duress or abuse, destruction or confiscation of property,
loss of means of livelihood, or severe psychological pres-
sure.’’.
TITLE XXII—OTHER FOREIGN
POLICY PROVISIONS
SEC. 2201. CONDEMNATION OF PALESTINIAN DEATH PEN-
ALTY FOR LAND SALES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) In recent weeks, senior officials of the Pal-
estinian Authority have announced that the death
penalty will be imposed on anyone who sells land to
a Jew, based on a now-repealed Jordanian law, even
in Israel.
(2) Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser
Arafat stated on May 21, 1997, ‘‘Our law is a Jor-
danian law that we inherited * * * and sets the
death penalty for those who sell land to Israelis * *
*. We are talking about a few traitors, and we shall
177
implement against them what is written in the law
books.’’.
(3) Palestinian Authority Justice Minister
Freih Abu Middein stated on May 5, 1997, ‘‘I
warned the land dealers several times through the
media not to play with fire. For us, whoever sells
land to Jews and settlers is more dangerous than
collaborators. Therefore, they must be put on trial
and sentenced to death * * * they are traitors.’’.
(4) Palestinian Authority Justice Minister
Freih Abu Middein stated on May 28, 1997, ‘‘it is
obligatory to forbid the sale of land in Ramle, Lod,
the Negev, and everywhere else * * *. There are
many [land dealers] who have fled from Palestine,
but anyone who has broken this serious law will re-
main a wanted fugitive by the Palestinian people,
wherever he may go.’’.
(5) Legislation implementing the death penalty
was prepared for consideration by the Palestinian
Legislative Council, but has not yet been considered.
(6) Since the pronouncement of senior Palestin-
ian leaders, at least three Palestinians have been
killed for selling land to Israelis, some after visits or
other scrutiny by Palestinian security officials.
178
There is further evidence that the killings were com-
mitted by Palestinian security officials.
(7) Three Palestinians were extrajudicially exe-
cuted following their sale of land to Israelis.
(8) The International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, to which the United States is a
party, states, ‘‘sentence of death may be imposed
only for the most serious crimes in accordance with
the law in force at the time of commission of the
crime * * *. This penalty can only be carried out
pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a com-
petent court.’’.
(9) The United States has made a financial
commitment to the Palestinian Authority with the
understanding that the rule of law would prevail,
that there would be no official sanction to
extrajudicial killings or violations of human rights,
and that basic principles of peaceful and normal re-
lations would be upheld.
(10) Despite claims to the contrary, there is no
law in Israel forbidding the sale of land to Arabs or
people of other ethnicities or nationalities.
(b) DECLARATIONS OF POLICY.—The Congress de-
clares the following:
179
(1) The Congress condemns in the strongest
possible terms the abhorrent policy and practice of
murdering Palestinians for sales of land to Jews.
Such actions are violations of international law and
the spirit of the Oslo agreements, casting strong
doubt as to whether the Palestinians are in compli-
ance with their commitments to Israel. The Con-
gress finds the endorsement and encouragement of
this practice by the most senior leadership of the
Palestinian Authority to be reprehensible.
(2) The Congress demands that this practice of
murder and racism be condemned and renounced by
the Palestinian leadership and that it will end imme-
diately. If it does not, the Congress should not per-
mit the provision of direct aid to the Palestinian Au-
thority when the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act
of 1995 is considered for reauthorization. The Con-
gress urges the President to take this practice fully
into account as he now determines whether the Pal-
estinian Authority is in compliance with its commit-
ments to Israel, which he must do in accordance
with the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of
1995.
(3) The Congress strongly urges the Palestinian
Legislative Council to reject categorically legislation
180
imposing the penalty of death on those who sell land
to Israelis.
(c) TRANSMISSION OF COPIES.—The Clerk of the
House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate
are directed to transmit copies of this section to the Presi-
dent of the United States, the Secretary of State, the
United Nations Secretary General, the United States Am-
bassador to Israel, the Consul General of the United
States in Jerusalem, Israel, the Rais of the Palestinian
Authority, all members of Palestinian Legislative Council,
and the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization in
Washington, District of Columbia.
TITLE XXIII—MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS
SEC. 2301. ASSISTANCE TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF
CONGO.
Notwithstanding section 620(q) of the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961 or any other provision of law, assist-
ance under chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961 (relating to development assistance) and
under chapter 10 of part I of such Act (relating to the
Development Fund for Africa) may be made available for
the Democratic Republic of Congo.
181
TITLE 
XXIV—SENSE 
OF 
THE
CONGRESS REGARDING THE
IMPRISONMENT 
OF
NGAWANG 
CHOEPHEL 
IN
CHINA.
SEC. 2401. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING THE IM-
PRISONMENT OF NGAWANG CHOEPHEL IN
CHINA.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following
findings:
(1) The Chinese Government sentenced Ngawa-
ng Choephel to an 18-year prison term plus 4 years
subsequent deprivation of his political rights on De-
cember 26, 1996, following a secret trial.
(2) Mr. Choephel is a Tibetan national whose
family fled Chinese oppression to live in exile in
India in 1968.
(3) Mr. Choephel studied ethnomusicology at
Middlebury College in Vermont as a Fulbright
Scholar, and at the Tibetan Institute of Performing
Arts in Dharamsala, India.
(4) Mr. Choephel returned to Tibet in July
1995 to prepare a documentary film about tradi-
tional Tibetan performing arts.