[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 472 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 472

Supporting the designation of October 30 as the ``International Day of 
                         Political Prisoners''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 29, 2025

 Mr. Wicker (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mrs. Shaheen) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Supporting the designation of October 30 as the ``International Day of 
                         Political Prisoners''.

Whereas there are an estimated 1,000,000 political prisoners throughout the 
        world, including journalists, academics, political opposition activists, 
        dissidents, anti-war campaigners, and human rights defenders, who have 
        been detained, arrested, imprisoned, convicted, and otherwise punished 
        for political motives without connection to any credible offense;
Whereas authoritarian and repressive regimes around the world, including the 
        Republic of Belarus, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of 
        Cuba, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 
        Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Russian Federation, the Republic 
        of Turkey, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, have engaged in 
        systematic imprisonment of independent voices;
Whereas, in 2024 and 2025, the United States Government, through bilateral and 
        multilateral negotiations, secured the release of several dozen 
        political prisoners from the Republic of Belarus, the Russian 
        Federation, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;
Whereas, on October 30, 1974, Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of conscience in 
        the Soviet Gulag initiated the tradition of marking an annual ``Day of 
        Political Prisoners'' in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 
        (referred to in this Preamble as ``USSR'') to draw public attention to 
        the plight of those imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs 
        and to express solidarity with them; and
Whereas, in subsequent years, the Day of Political Prisoners, was marked on 
        October 30 by hunger strikes by prisoners inside the Soviet Gulag and by 
        public demonstrations of solidarity in cities across the USSR: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) deplores all forms of political repression and 
        imprisonment;
            (2) conveys its unwavering solidarity with all those who 
        are imprisoned around the world for peacefully expressing their 
        political or religious beliefs;
            (3) supports efforts by the United States Government--
                    (A) to condemn political imprisonment;
                    (B) to hold accountable any regime that is 
                responsible for persecuting and imprisoning dissenters;
                    (C) to raise international awareness of political 
                prisoners; and
                    (D) to secure the release of such political 
                prisoners through bilateral and multilateral 
                negotiations with other countries;
            (4) urges the United States Government to continue such 
        efforts in the future; and
            (5) supports the annual designation of October 30 in the 
        United States as the ``International Day of Political 
        Prisoners''.
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