[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 923 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 923
Recognizing the critical importance and contributions of global civil
society in advancing human rights, condemning the use of political
imprisonment as a tool of repression, and calling for the release of
political prisoners across the world in commemoration of Human Rights
Day on December 10, 2024.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 10, 2024
Mr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Tillis) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the critical importance and contributions of global civil
society in advancing human rights, condemning the use of political
imprisonment as a tool of repression, and calling for the release of
political prisoners across the world in commemoration of Human Rights
Day on December 10, 2024.
Whereas the Senate passed S. Res. 731, which designated December 10, 2018, as
``Human Rights Day'';
Whereas December 10, 2024, marks the 76th anniversary of the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a landmark document that
established the inalienable rights to which all humans are entitled,
regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property ownership, birthplace, or
other status;
Whereas, in light of immense difficulties, civil society and civil society
organizations contribute to the promotion, protection, and advancement
of human rights, democratic governance, and rule of law across the world
every day;
Whereas the state of global human rights and civil liberties has declined during
the past 2 decades, with Freedom House notably tracking 18 consecutive
years of decline in rights and freedoms around the world;
Whereas Freedom House reports that political rights and civil liberties in 2023
diminished in 52 countries and improved in only 21 countries;
Whereas, since 2016, 91 countries have proposed or enacted more than 260 legal
measures affecting civil society, of which 72 percent have restricted
human rights;
Whereas increasing restrictions on civil society organizations directly impedes
the ability of such organizations to advance human rights advocacy and
democracy-building work and obstructs the rights of citizens to exercise
freedom of speech and assembly;
Whereas the Department of State estimates that 1,000,000 individuals find
themselves unjustly behind bars as political prisoners for exercising
human rights and fundamental freedoms, because of their race, religion,
or ethnicity, or due to their private relationships;
Whereas political imprisonment is employed by authoritarian actors as a tool for
limiting political and social dissent, stifling freedom of expression
and assembly, and undermining public participation in free and fair
elections;
Whereas authoritarian countries operate vast networks of political prison camps
and labor camps used to indiscriminately detain thousands of
individuals;
Whereas countless political prisoners in these detention facilities are
subjected to torture, inhumane conditions, enforced disappearance, or
other forms of abuse;
Whereas, according to Freedom House, throughout 2023, widespread problems with
elections, including violence and electoral manipulation, drove
deterioration in rights and freedoms across the world, especially in
countries that experienced pre- and post-election violence;
Whereas, in many countries, political opposition figures and civil society
members continue to be unjustly detained for their role in demanding
free and fair elections and leading peaceful democratic protests in
opposition to illiberal regimes;
Whereas anti-corruption prosecutors and pro-democracy activists are arbitrarily
imprisoned on baseless charges for their advocacy of greater judicial
independence and transparency in countries where judicial systems are
weaponized against human rights advocates;
Whereas religious minorities, religious freedom advocates, and missionaries are
unjustly targeted, detained, and repressed for exercising their freedom
to believe or not to believe and advocating for those same freedoms for
others;
Whereas the Department of State has determined that religious minorities
continue to be victims of genocides relating to religious freedom;
Whereas women face significantly higher risks of harassment and imprisonment
when participating in civil society and political advocacy and
heightened vulnerabilities to mental and physical abuse during arrest,
questioning, and imprisonment;
Whereas authoritarian governments and nonstate actors around the world enforce
systems of impunity and discrimination to systematically dismantle
women's and girls' access to their civil liberties and imprison female
human rights defenders and members of civil society who speak out
against such oppression;
Whereas journalists face political imprisonment for fighting to report the
truth, advocating for greater protections for freedom of press, and
holding governments accountable to their citizens;
Whereas, during 2023, according to Reporters Without Borders, nearly 800
journalists were jailed and 45 were killed for simply doing their jobs:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) expresses support for Human Rights Day and recognizes
its global significance;
(2) recognizes the critical importance and contributions of
global civil society in advancing human rights, democracy, and
the rule of law;
(3) condemns the use of political imprisonment as a tool of
repression to restrict civil liberties and human rights;
(4) calls upon governments that are unjustly detaining
individuals for their human rights and civil society advocacy
work to immediately and unconditionally release these political
prisoners;
(5) encourages the Department of State to continue robust
campaigns to advocate for the release of political prisoners
and to leverage all necessary diplomatic tools in support of
such advocacy, including by--
(A) coordinating with other executive agencies on
priority cases of political prisoners for any
principals or high-level United States officials
traveling to specific countries where a known case
requires attention or diplomatic intervention;
(B) working with congressional partners, such as
the Senate Human Rights Caucus and the Tom Lantos Human
Rights Commission, to coordinate advocacy on priority
cases for members of Congress, including advocacy
preceding official congressional travel;
(C) consulting with civil society and
nongovernmental organizations in countries with
priority political prisoners' cases on plans of
engagement and advocacy;
(D) supporting bilateral and multilateral
engagement with allies and like-minded countries on
issues involving the global protection of human rights,
democratic governance, and the rule of law; and
(E) working with multilateral organizations and
fora to devise joint efforts to advance human rights
and democracy; and
(6) encourages the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, in collaboration with the Office of the Special
Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, to devise joint
strategies to deter authoritarian regimes from using their
judicial systems (particularly arrests, detentions, and
sentencings) as tools to silence dissent or for political
leverage.
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