[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 372 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 372
Recognizing the importance of the United States-Egypt relationship, and
urging the Government of Egypt to protect civil liberties and cease
intimidation and prosecution of civil society workers and democracy
activists, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 14, 2012
Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Inhofe, Mrs. Boxer, and Mr. Durbin)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the importance of the United States-Egypt relationship, and
urging the Government of Egypt to protect civil liberties and cease
intimidation and prosecution of civil society workers and democracy
activists, and for other purposes.
Whereas the Governments and people of the United States and Egypt enjoy a long
history of a strong strategic partnership;
Whereas the United States Government seeks to maintain robust bilateral
relations with the Government and people of Egypt so that they may
continue to work together toward our shared goals of peace, security,
and economic prosperity in Egypt and the region;
Whereas, on February 11, 2011, peaceful mass protests succeeded in bringing an
end to the authoritarian rule of Hosni Mubarak;
Whereas the United States Government and the international community stood by
the people of Egypt as they began to undertake their transition to a
democracy;
Whereas there have been numerous clashes between security personnel and
protesters, including Egyptians who were calling for a swifter
transition to civilian-led rule;
Whereas, on November 28 and 29, 2011, the first of three rounds of parliamentary
elections began in Egypt, which have been deemed largely free and fair
by civil society observers and monitors;
Whereas United States-based organizations such as the National Democratic
Institute, the International Republican Institute, Freedom House, and
the International Center for Journalists were in Egypt to support and
promote democratic activity, including elections, adherence to the rule
of law, and the existence of a free press;
Whereas certain of those organizations had been operating openly in Egypt for
many years, had long sought formal registration and had never received
rejections of their applications, had exhibited an unprecedented level
of transparency, and had only recently become the targets of malicious
reporting by state-run media in Egypt;
Whereas, on December 29, 2011, the Government of Egypt raided the offices of the
National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute,
Freedom House, the International Center for Journalists, and several
other Egyptian and international civil society organizations in Egypt,
confiscating their property and equipment;
Whereas the Government of Egypt announced that it would launch investigations
into hundreds of civil society organizations, has targeted and
interrogated staff of these organizations, and has imposed restrictions
on the movement of United States citizens who are staff members of these
organizations, including placing them on a ``no-fly'' list to prohibit
departure from the country;
Whereas, on February 5, 2012, the Government of Egypt announced that it would
refer for arrest more than 40 staff members of various nongovernmental
organizations, among them 16 United States citizens, including staff of
the United States-based National Democratic Institute, the International
Republican Institute, Freedom House, the International Center for
Journalists, and Germany-based Konrad Adenauer Stiftung;
Whereas in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-74),
Congress conditioned economic and military assistance to Egypt on the
Secretary of State's certification that Egypt is meeting its obligations
under the 1979 Peace Treaty with Israel and that it is supporting the
transition to a civilian government, including by holding free and fair
elections and protecting freedoms of expression, association, and
religion and due process of law;
Whereas Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stated that the United States
Government has ``deep concerns about what is happening to our NGOs, and
Americans and others who work for them. . . We do not believe there is
any basis for these investigations, these raids on the sites that the
NGOs operate out of, the seizure of their equipment, and certainly no
basis for prohibiting the exit from the country by individuals who have
been working with our NGOs.'';
Whereas restricting the space for civil society engagement dishonors the promise
of the Egyptian revolution and could potentially damage the country's
transition to democracy; and
Whereas, according to Secretary of State Clinton, ``We have worked very hard the
last year to put into place financial assistance and other support for
the economic and political reforms that are occurring in Egypt, and we
will have to closely review these matters as it comes time for us to
certify whether or not any of these funds from our government can be
made available under these circumstances.'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) acknowledges the central and historic importance of the
United States-Egyptian strategic partnership in advancing the
common interests of both countries, including peace and
security in the broader Middle East and North Africa;
(2) reiterates its support for the people of Egypt during a
difficult political transition towards a more representative
and responsive democratic government;
(3) praises the work that United States democracy promotion
organizations such as the National Democratic Institute, the
International Republican Institute, Freedom House, and the
International Center for Journalists, do internationally to
strengthen civic institutions, democratic practice, political
parties, the rule of law, respect for human rights, and
protections for independent media;
(4) reaffirms the commitment of the Government and people
of the United States to universal rights of freedom of
expression, religion, assembly, and association, including
Internet freedom;
(5) notes the critical role civil society plays in
democratic societies and applauds the work of democracy
promotion, human rights, and developmental organizations in
Egypt;
(6) expresses deep concern at the intimidation and media
manipulation against democracy activists and Egyptian and
international civil society organizations in Egypt;
(7) urges the Government of Egypt to protect civil
liberties for all citizens, embrace transparency and
accountability, and promote the creation of a vibrant civil
society;
(8) calls upon the Government of Egypt to immediately cease
its intimidation and prosecution of civil society workers and
democracy activists of all nationalities in Egypt, including
Egyptians, and to allow non-Egyptian civil society workers to
voluntarily leave the country; and
(9) calls on the Government of Egypt to halt harassment,
including that conducted via state media, of democracy and
human rights activists in Egypt.
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