Uzbekistan Freedom Promotion Act of 2005 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to prohibit assistance, with specified exceptions, to the government of Uzbekistan unless the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the government of Uzbekistan: (1) is cooperating with an independent international inquiry into the Andijan violence, has ceased pressuring the government of Kyrgyzstan to return the refugees who fled the massacre, and is prosecuting responsible individuals; and (2) has accelerated democratic reforms and fulfilled its human rights obligations.
Prohibits visa issuance to any official of the government of Uzbekistan who is credibly alleged to have ordered, acquiesced to, or participated in human rights abuses or corruption unless the Secretary of State certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the visa issuance is in U.S. national security interests.
Directs the President to: (1) freeze the financial assets and other economic resources in the United States of any official (or family member) of the government of Uzbekistan who is credibly alleged to have ordered, acquiesced to, or participated in human rights abuses, including the massacre in Andijan. (Permits lifting of such freeze if the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the official or individual has been properly investigated and cleared of any wrongdoing.); (2) prohibit munitions or dual use exports to Uzbekistan unless the President certifies that the government of Uzbekistan has met the requirements of the first paragraph above; (3) expedite U.S. admission of any Uzbekistan national who is under threat of severe penalty as a result of participating in pro-democracy activities, including Uzbekistan citizens who have fled to Kyrgyzstan; and (4) transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a plan to move all U.S. military operations from Uzbekistan.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3545 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3545
To limit assistance to the Government of Uzbekistan, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 28, 2005
Mr. Delahunt (for himself and Mr. Doggett) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations,
and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary and Armed Services,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To limit assistance to the Government of Uzbekistan, 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 ``Uzbekistan Freedom Promotion Act of
2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Department of State's 2004 Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices for Uzbekistan states the following:
(A) ``Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with
limited civil rights . . . President Islam Karimov and
the centralized executive branch that serves him
dominated political life and exercised nearly complete
control over the other branches . . . The Government is
highly centralized and is ruled by President Karimov
and the executive branch through sweeping decree
powers, primary authority for drafting legislation, and
control of government appointments, most of the
economy, and the security forces.''.
(B) ``On December 26, [2004,] elections were held
for seats in the lower chamber of the Supreme Assembly
(Oliy Majlis) that fell significantly short of
international standards for democratic elections . . .
Citizens could not exercise the right to change their
government peacefully . . . The law makes it extremely
difficult for opposition parties to organize, nominate
candidates, and campaign.''.
(C) ``Police and, to a lesser extent, NSS [National
Security Service] forces tortured, beat, and harassed
persons . . . Members of the security forces
responsible for documented abuses were rarely punished
. . . Police, prison officials, and the NSS allegedly
used suffocation, electric shock, rape, and other
sexual abuse; however, beating was the most commonly
reported method of torture.''.
(D) ``The number of persons in prison for political
or religious reasons--primarily persons the Government
believed were associated with extremist Islamist
political groups, but also members of the secular
opposition and human rights activists--was estimated to
be between 5,000 and 5,500.''.
(E) ``The Government severely restricted freedom of
speech and the press, and an atmosphere of repression
stifled public criticism of the Government.''.
(F) ``The Government continued to deny registration
to several independent domestic human rights groups and
increased pressure on unregistered groups . . . The
Government denied the registration applications of two
opposition political parties. The Government harassed
and abused members of domestic human rights groups.''.
(G) ``The Government restricted freedom of religion
and harassed individuals suspected of belonging to
extremist groups; several hundred were arrested. The
Government limited the activities of minority
religions.''.
(H) ``The public generally did not have access to
Government information, and information normally
considered in the public domain, such as prosecutions
for corruption or official malfeasance, were seldom
reported.''.
(2) On May 13, 2005, security forces of the Government of
Uzbekistan conducted a brutal and indiscriminate assault on
thousands of demonstrators and onlookers in the city of
Andijan, which resulted in hundreds of deaths and many more
injuries.
(3) The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) stated in its ``Preliminary Findings on the Events in
Andijan, Uzbekistan, 13 May 2005'' that many of the protestors
``spoke about social and economic problems (lack of
transparency, corruption in the government, unfair trials,
abuse by police, unemployment, taxation, etc) . . . this also
attracted others to the square''.
(4) The Government of Uzbekistan has imprisoned dozens of
individuals who participated in peaceful demonstrations and
continues to engage in widespread arrests in the aftermath of
the May 13, 2005, assault.
(5) The Government of Uzbekistan has consistently denied
that a massacre in Andijan took place, expelled local and
foreign journalists from the region, and has refused to open
the area to a full and independent investigation into the
violence.
(6) Following the massacre in Andijan, hundreds of Uzbek
citizens fled to neighboring Kyrgyzstan, which faces pressure
from the Uzbek Government to quickly return them, despite well-
grounded concerns that they may be arrested and tortured upon
their return, and where, although protected as refugees under
international law, they have been targeted by Uzbek authorities
for illegal repatriation and face continued threat from Uzbek
security services operating in southern Kyrgyzstan.
(7) In June 2005, the United States, the European Union
(EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe called for
a credible independent international inquiry into the recent
violence in Andijan and urged the Government of Uzbekistan to
prosecute those responsible for civilian deaths.
(8) A July 12, 2005, report by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights states that ``consistent,
credible eyewitness testimony strongly suggests that grave
human rights violations, mostly of the right to life, were
committed by Uzbek military and security forces . . . It is not
excluded--judging from the accounts of the eyewitnesses
interviewed--that the incidents amounted to a mass killing . .
.'' in Andijan and reiterates a call for an independent
international probe.
(9) In July 2004, after a Department of State review of
democratization in Uzbekistan, former Secretary of State Colin
Powell determined that the Government of Uzbekistan was not
fulfilling the terms of a 2002 Strategic Partnership Framework
agreement that mandated ``substantial and continuing progress''
on democratization, and accordingly, he did not certify
Uzbekistan as eligible to receive certain United States
assistance.
(10) By continuing to suppress human rights and to deny
citizens peaceful, democratic means of expressing their
convictions, the Government of Uzbekistan risks fueling popular
support for violent and extremist movements.
(11) President George W. Bush, in his second Inaugural
Address, stated that the United States ``will persistently
clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The
moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and
freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend
that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women
welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being
aspires to live at the mercy of bullies. We will encourage
reform in other governments by making clear that success in our
relations will require the decent treatment of their own
people.''.
(12) Congress has repeatedly expressed its desire to see
deeper reform in Uzbekistan and has conditioned certain United
States assistance to the Government of Uzbekistan on its
progress in meeting human rights and democracy commitments made
to the United States.
(13) After expressions of concern by representatives of the
Administration and Congress about the massacre at Andijan, the
Government of Uzbekistan has restricted the use of the airbase
at Karshi-Khanabad by United States military forces.
(14) On July 5, 2005, the Government of Uzbekistan joined
the Governments of the Russian Federation, the People's
Republic of China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan in
calling on countries involved in Coalition operations in
Afghanistan to set a deadline for ending their use of airfields
and other military presence in Central Asia.
(15) On July 7, 2005, the Government of Uzbekistan
indicated that it was reconsidering the use by the United
States of the Karshi-Khanabad airbase.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress the actions of the Government of
Uzbekistan in general and in the case of the Andijan massacre
specifically--
(1) are reprehensible, totalitarian, and unbecoming of an
ally of the United States;
(2) are counterproductive to the United States goals of
promoting freedom and democracy; and
(3) justify an end to United States assistance for, and an
increase in restrictions on, the Government of Uzbekistan until
it accelerates democratic reforms and fulfills its human rights
obligations.
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF UZBEKISTAN.
(a) Amendment.--Chapter 1 of part III of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2353 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating the second section 620G (as added by
section 149 of Public Law 104-164 (110 Stat. 1436)) as section
620J; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 620K. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF UZBEKISTAN.
``(a) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
assistance under this Act or any other provision of law, other than
assistance under the provisions of law described in subsection (b), may
be provided to the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan for a
fiscal year only if the President transmits to the appropriate
congressional committees a certification described in subsection (c)
for the fiscal year.
``(b) Provisions of Law Excluded.--The provisions of law described
in this subsection are the following:
``(1) Title IV of chapter 2 of part I of this Act (relating
to insurance, reinsurance, guarantees or other assistance
provided by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation).
``(2) Section 661 of this Act (relating to assistance
provided by the Trade and Development Agency).
``(3) Title V of the FREEDOM Support Act, sections 1424 and
1501(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 1997, and any other provision of law that authorizes the
provision of non-proliferation assistance to foreign countries.
``(4) Any provision of law that authorizes activities of
the United States and Foreign Commercial Service.
``(5) The Export-Import Bank Act of 1945.
``(6) Any provision of law that authorizes the provision of
humanitarian assistance.
``(c) Certification.--A certification described in this subsection
is a certification that contains a determination of the President
that--
``(1) the Government of Uzbekistan has permitted and is
fully cooperating with and supporting an independent
international inquiry into the violence in Andijan, Uzbekistan,
has ceased pressuring the Government of Kyrgyzstan to return
the refugees who fled after the massacre, and is prosecuting
those individuals responsible for civilian deaths or injuries
in the violence; and
``(2) the Government of Uzbekistan has accelerated
democratic reforms and fulfilled its human rights obligations
by--
``(A) releasing from prison all individuals jailed
for peaceful political activism or the nonviolent
expression of their political or religious beliefs;
``(B) fully investigating any credible allegations
of torture and prosecuting those individuals
responsible;
``(C) permitting the free and unfettered
functioning of independent media outlets, independent
political parties, and nongovernmental organizations,
whether officially registered or not;
``(D) permitting the free exercise of religious
beliefs and ceasing the persecution of members of
religious groups and denominations not registered with
the Government of Uzbekistan;
``(E) holding internationally-observed, free,
transparent, competitive, and fair elections; and
``(F) making publicly available documentation of
its revenues and expenditures and prosecuting those
individuals engaged in official corruption.
``(d) Definition.--In this section, the term `appropriate
congressional committees' means--
``(1) the Committee on International Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives;
and
``(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee
on Appropriations of the Senate.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The limitation on assistance to the Government
of Uzbekistan under section 620K of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961,
as added by subsection (a), applies with respect to assistance for the
Government of Uzbekistan for fiscal year 2006 and subsequent fiscal
years.
SEC. 5. RESTRICTION ON VISAS.
A visa may not be issued to any official of the Government of
Uzbekistan who is credibly alleged to have ordered, acquiesced to, or
participated in human rights abuses or corruption unless the Secretary
of State certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the
issuance of the visa is in the national security interests of the
United States.
SEC. 6. FREEZING OF ASSETS.
(a) In General.--The President shall seek to identify and freeze
the financial assets and other economic resources in the United States
of any official of the Government of Uzbekistan, and their family
members, who is credibly alleged to have ordered, acquiesced to, or
participated in human rights abuses, including the massacre in Andijan.
(b) Lifting of Restrictions.--The President shall, on a case-by-
case basis, lift the freezing of financial assets or other economic
resources of any official or individual under this section if the
President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that
the official or individual has been properly investigated and cleared
of any wrongdoing and that the Government of the United States is
confident that the investigation was properly conducted, transparent,
and free of political influence.
SEC. 7. MUNITIONS EXPORT LICENSES.
The President shall prohibit the export to Uzbekistan of any item,
including the issuance of a license for the export of any item under
section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778), on the
United States Munitions List or Commerce Control List or any dual use
item under the Export Administration Regulations unless the President
certifies to the appropriate congressional committees and the
Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the
Senate that the Government of Uzbekistan meets the requirements of
paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 620K(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961, as added by section 4 of this Act.
SEC. 8. EMERGENCY REFUGEE ADMISSION.
The President shall expedite admission to the United States of any
national of Uzbekistan who is under threat of severe penalty as a
result of participating in pro-democracy activities, including those
citizens of Uzbekistan who have fled to Kyrgyzstan, and should
encourage other governments to accept Uzbek refugees for resettlement.
SEC. 9. PLAN TO MOVE UNITED STATES MILITARY OPERATIONS.
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional
committees and the Committees on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives and the Senate a plan to move all existing United
States military operations in Uzbekistan to facilities outside that
country.
SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on International Relations and
the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
(2) Commerce control list.--The term ``Commerce Control
List'' means the list maintained under part 774 of title 15,
Code of Federal Regulations.
(3) Dual use.--The term ``dual use'' means, with respect to
goods or technology, those goods or technology that are
specifically designed or developed for civil purposes but which
also may be used or deployed in a military or proliferation
mode. Such term does not include purely commercial items.
(4) Export administration regulation.--The term ``Export
Administration Regulations'' means those regulations contained
in sections 730 through 774 of title 15, Code of Federal
Regulations (or successor regulations).
(5) Item.--The term ``item'' means any good or technology,
defense article or defense service subject to the export
jurisdiction of the United States under law or regulation.
(6) United states munitions list.--The term ``United States
Munitions List'' means the list referred to in section 38(a)(1)
of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778(a)(1)).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims.
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