[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3081 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3081
To promote free and fair elections, political freedoms, and human
rights in Cambodia, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 18, 2019
Mr. Gardner (for himself and Mr. Markey) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote free and fair elections, political freedoms, and human
rights in Cambodia, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Cambodia Democracy Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power in Cambodia
since 1985 and is the longest-serving leader in Southeast Asia.
Despite decades of international attention and assistance to
promote a pluralistic, multi-party democratic system in
Cambodia, the Government of Cambodia continues to be
undemocratically dominated by the ruling Cambodia People's
Party (CPP), which controls every agency and security apparatus
of the state.
(2) In 2015, the CPP-controlled parliament passed the ``Law
on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations'', which
gave the government sweeping powers to revoke the registration
of nongovernmental organizations that the government believed
to be operating with a political bias in a blatant attempt to
restrict the legitimate work of civil society. On August 23,
2017, Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the
closure of the National Democratic Institute and the expulsion
of its foreign staff. On September 15, 2017, Prime Minister Hun
Sen called for the withdrawal of all volunteers from the United
States Peace Corps, which has operated in Cambodia since 2006
with approximately 500 United States volunteers providing
English language and healthcare training.
(3) The Government of Cambodia has taken several measures
to restrict its media environment, especially through
politicized tax investigations against independent media
outlets that resulted in the closure of The Cambodian Daily and
Radio Free Asia in early September 2017. Additionally, the
Government of Cambodia has ordered several radio stations to
stop the broadcasting of Radio Free Asia and Voice of America
programming.
(4) On September 3, 2017, Kem Sokha, the President of the
Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was arrested on
politically motivated charges, including treason and conspiring
to overthrow the Government of Cambodia, and faces up to 30
years in prison. The CNRP's previous leader, Sam Rainsy,
remains in exile. On November 16, 2017, Cambodia's Supreme
Court dissolved the CNRP, eliminating the primary opposition
party. A court in Cambodia announced plans to try Kem Sokha for
treason in January 2020.
(5) Each of the 6 elections that have taken place in
Cambodia since 1991 were conducted in circumstances that were
not free and fair, and were marked by fraud, intimidation,
violence, and the government's misuse of legal mechanisms to
weaken opposition candidates and parties.
(6) In the most recent general election in July 2018,
following the dissolution of the CNRP, the CPP secured every
parliamentary seat, an electoral victory that a statement from
the White House Press Secretary stated was ``neither free nor
fair and failed to represent the will of the Cambodian
people''.
(7) The United States is committed to promoting democracy,
human rights, and the rule of law in Cambodia. The United
States continues to urge the Government of Cambodia to
immediately release Mr. Kem Sokha, reinstate the political
status of the CNRP and restore its elected seats in the
National Assembly, and support electoral reform efforts in
Cambodia with free and fair elections monitored by
international observers.
(8) In section 401 of the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act
of 2018 (Public Law 115-409; 132 Stat. 5407), Congress
expressed serious concerns with the rule of law and civil
liberties in Cambodia and made the finding that the promotion
of human rights and respect for democratic values in the Indo-
Pacific region is in the United States national security
interest.
(9) Section 7043(b) of the Department of State, Foreign
Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2018
(division K of Public Law 115-141; 132 Stat. 918) and section
201(f) of the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (Public
Law 115-409; 132 Stat. 5392) restricted United States
assistance to Cambodia unless the Government of Cambodia takes
effective steps to respect the rights and responsibilities
enshrined in the Constitution of Cambodia, including by
releasing all political prisoners, including journalists, civil
society activists, and members of the opposition political
party.
(10) On December 9, 2019, the Department of the Treasury
imposed sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights
Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-
328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note) with respect to certain corrupt
Cambodian actors and their networks.
(11) In February 2019, the European Union began intense
scrutiny of Cambodia's eligibility to for preferential trade
access in light of the deterioration of democracy, the rule of
law, and the protection of human rights in Cambodia.
SEC. 3. SANCTIONS RELATING TO UNDERMINING DEMOCRACY IN CAMBODIA.
(a) Identification of Persons Responsible for Undermining Democracy
in Cambodia.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a list of--
(A) each senior official of the government,
military, or security forces of Cambodia who the
President determines has, on or after such date of
enactment--
(i) directly and substantially undermined
democracy in Cambodia; or
(ii) committed or directed serious human
rights violations associated with undermining
democracy in Cambodia; and
(B) each foreign person owned or controlled by an
official described in subparagraph (A).
(2) Updates.--The President shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees updated lists under paragraph (1) as
new information becomes available.
(b) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President shall impose the
following sanctions with respect to each foreign person on the list
required by subsection (a):
(1) Asset blocking.--The President shall exercise all of
the powers granted to the President under the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except
that the requirements of section 202 of such Act (50 U.S.C.
1701) shall not apply) to the extent necessary to block and
prohibit all transactions in property and interests in property
of the person if such property and interests in property are in
the United States, come within the United States, or are or
come within the possession or control of a United States
person.
(2) Aliens inadmissible for visas, admission, or parole.--
(A) Visas, admission, or parole.--In the case of an
individual, that individual is--
(i) inadmissible to the United States;
(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other
documentation to enter the United States; and
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted
or paroled into the United States or to receive
any other benefit under the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
(B) Current visas revoked.--
(i) In general.--The visa or other entry
documentation of the individual shall be
revoked, regardless of when such visa or other
entry documentation is or was issued.
(ii) Immediate effect.--A revocation under
clause (i) shall--
(I) take effect immediately; and
(II) automatically cancel any other
valid visa or entry documentation that
is in the individual's possession.
(c) Exceptions.--
(1) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
(A) In general.--The authorities and requirements
to impose sanctions authorized under subsection (b)(1)
shall not include the authority or requirement to
impose sanctions on the importation of goods.
(B) Good defined.--In this paragraph, the term
``good'' means any article, natural or manmade
substance, material, supply or manufactured product,
including inspection and test equipment, and excluding
technical data.
(2) Exception to comply with international obligations.--
Sanctions under subsection (b)(2) shall not apply with respect
to a foreign person if admitting or paroling the person into
the United States is necessary to permit the United States to
comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the
United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and
entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United
Nations and the United States, or other applicable
international obligations of the United States.
(d) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of sanctions
under subsection (b) with respect to a foreign person on the list
required by subsection (a) if the President determines and certifies to
the appropriate congressional committees that such a waiver is in the
national interest of the United States.
(e) Suspension of Sanctions.--
(1) Suspension.--The requirement to impose sanctions under
this section may be suspended for an initial period of not more
than one year if the President determines and certifies to the
appropriate congressional committees that Cambodia is making
meaningful progress toward the following:
(A) Ending government efforts to undermine
democracy.
(B) Ending human rights violations associated with
undermining democracy.
(C) Conducting free and fair elections that allow
for the active participation of credible opposition
candidates.
(2) Renewal of suspension.--The suspension under paragraph
(1) may be renewed for additional, consecutive one-year periods
if the President determines and certifies to the appropriate
congressional committees that Cambodia continued to make
meaningful progress toward satisfying the conditions described
in that paragraph during the year preceding the certification.
(f) Implementation; Penalties.--
(1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all
authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and
1704) to carry out this section.
(2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of
subsection (b)(1) or any regulation, license, or order issued
to carry out that subsection shall be subject to the penalties
set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to
the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act
described in subsection (a) of that section.
(g) Sunset.--This section shall terminate on the date that is 5
years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(h) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
Senate.
(2) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a
person that is not a United States person.
(3) Person.--
(A) In general.--The term ``person'' means--
(i) a natural person; or
(ii) a corporation, business association,
partnership, society, trust, financial
institution, insurer, underwriter, guarantor,
and any other business organization, any other
nongovernmental entity, organization, or group,
and any governmental entity operating as a
business enterprise or any successor to any
entity described in this clause.
(B) Application to governmental entities.--The term
``person'' does not include a government or
governmental entity that is not operating as a business
enterprise.
(4) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence to the United States;
or
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the
United States or of any jurisdiction of the United
States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
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