Title: A resolution recognizing the growing threats against women and children, religious and ethnic minorities, and LGBTQI persons in Afghanistan and against allies of such individuals, such as civil society leaders and activists, scholars, former government officials, journalists, and media workers, and expressing solidarity with and reaffirming the dire need to protect vulnerable and minority populations and their allies in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution expresses that the Senate

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 513 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 513

 Recognizing the growing threats against women and children, religious 
 and ethnic minorities, and LGBTQI persons in Afghanistan and against 
     allies of such individuals, such as civil society leaders and 
  activists, scholars, former government officials, journalists, and 
media workers, and expressing solidarity with and reaffirming the dire 
need to protect vulnerable and minority populations and their allies in 
                    Afghanistan under Taliban rule.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 15, 2022

 Mr. Markey (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Booker, 
   Mr. Schatz, Mr. Casey, Ms. Smith, Ms. Warren, and Mr. Blumenthal) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing the growing threats against women and children, religious 
 and ethnic minorities, and LGBTQI persons in Afghanistan and against 
     allies of such individuals, such as civil society leaders and 
  activists, scholars, former government officials, journalists, and 
media workers, and expressing solidarity with and reaffirming the dire 
need to protect vulnerable and minority populations and their allies in 
                    Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

Whereas the Taliban have a history of prohibiting women from receiving an 
        education and pursuing jobs outside their homes and have publicly 
        executed women who were accused of adultery;
Whereas a 2001 report by the Department of State noted that, from 1996 to 2001, 
        the Taliban ``perpetrated egregious acts of violence against women'' as 
        part of a ``war against women'';
Whereas, in some Afghan provinces taken over by the Taliban beginning in May 
        2021, there are reports that the Taliban have forced women into marriage 
        with Taliban fighters and have led targeted killings against women;
Whereas United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has 
        expressed concern with the Taliban's contradiction of ``stated 
        commitments,'' their exclusion of women from the public sector, and 
        their restrictions on women, such as not allowing women to appear in 
        public without a male chaperone;
Whereas, since 2018, the Secretary of State has designated the Taliban as an 
        entity of particular concern for religious freedom pursuant to section 
        301 of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (22 U.S.C. 
        6442a) for having engaged in ``particularly severe violations of 
        religious freedom'';
Whereas, in October 2021, the United States Commission on International 
        Religious Freedom reported on deteriorating conditions for religious 
        minorities in Afghanistan, noting growing fear among Hazara Shi'a 
        Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Ahmadi Muslims, Baha'is, and 
        nonbelievers, and stating, ``Afghans who do not adhere to the Taliban's 
        harsh and strict interpretation of Sunni Islam and adherents of other 
        faiths or beliefs are at grave threat'';
Whereas the Hazaras constitute approximately 10 to 15 percent of the national 
        population in Afghanistan and are considered a minority religious group;
Whereas the Hazaras specifically, along with other religious and ethnic 
        minorities, have historically been explicitly targeted by the Taliban 
        and have been abused with impunity;
Whereas Amnesty International reported that on August 30, 2021, 13 Hazaras were 
        unlawfully killed in the village of Kahor in the Khider district by 
        Taliban fighters, with one of the victims being a 17-year-old girl;
Whereas, in 2021, the Taliban forcibly displaced approximately 4,000 Hazaras 
        from their homes and ancestral lands in Daykundi province while a 
        Taliban court expelled approximately 2,000 families from the city of 
        Mazar-e-Sharif;
Whereas, in 2021, more than 30 instances of violence and threats of violence 
        against Afghan journalists were recorded;
Whereas activists, journalists, civil society actors, and scholars face threats 
        and intimidation and risk being unlawfully detained or tortured or 
        becoming a victim of targeted killings by the Taliban;
Whereas adherence to the rule of law and protection of human rights is rapidly 
        deteriorating under the Taliban, which are reportedly targeting judges, 
        prosecutors, lawyers, human rights defenders, journalists, former 
        parliamentarians, and individuals who previously advocated for human 
        rights and the rule of law, particularly women;
Whereas there are reports of the Taliban conducting house-to-house searches and 
        tracking individuals who served the previous authorities and then 
        carrying out targeted revenge killings;
Whereas, during the previous period of rule of the Taliban, the Taliban 
        reportedly executed Afghan men alleged to have engaged in sexual 
        activity with other men;
Whereas the current Acting Prime Minister of the Taliban reportedly stated in 
        1996 that ``homosexuality is a great sin'' and ``some say we should take 
        these sinners to a high roof and throw them down, while others say we 
        should dig a hole beside a wall, bury them, then push the wall down on 
        top of them'';
Whereas a Taliban judge, Gul Rahim, stated in July 2021 that ``[f]or 
        homosexuals, there can only be two punishments: either stoning or he 
        must stand behind a wall that will fall down on him,'' and a spokesman 
        for the Ministry of Finance of Afghanistan noted that LGBT rights would 
        not be respected under the Taliban's interpretation of Sharia law; and
Whereas, in 2022, many LGBTQI individuals in Afghanistan are forced to live in 
        hiding due to reports of threats and attacks against such individuals in 
        the community: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and 
        with vulnerable groups including women and children, religious 
        and ethnic minorities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 
        queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) persons, civil society actors, 
        journalists, and other at-risk populations in Afghanistan;
            (2) reaffirms the longstanding commitment of the United 
        States to advance human rights worldwide;
            (3) calls on the Taliban to uphold the protection of 
        universal human rights, including the commitments set forth in 
        the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enshrined in the 
        International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which 
        Afghanistan is a party;
            (4) encourages the executive branch to continue to call for 
        the protection of women and children, religious and ethnic 
        minorities, civil society actors, journalists, and LGBTQI 
        persons under Taliban rule;
            (5) calls for the international community to condemn human 
        rights violations committed by the Taliban;
            (6) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to 
        support Afghan civil society, individuals who assisted with the 
        war efforts of the United States and allies of the United 
        States, and individuals who advocate for universal human 
        rights; and
            (7) calls on the United States Government to work closely 
        with the international community and nongovernmental 
        organizations, particularly such organizations based in 
        Afghanistan, to support at-risk Afghan minority populations and 
        other vulnerable communities, including through efforts to stem 
        the growing humanitarian crisis that will disproportionately 
        impact already vulnerable groups.
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