Supports the people of Syria as they seek to exercise universal rights and pursue peaceful democratic change.
Condemns the human rights abuses of the government of Syria, including the use of lethal violence, torture, mass arrests, and the cut-off of basic services.
Condemns the government of Iran for assisting the government of Syria in its campaign of repression against the Syrian people.
Finds that the government of Syria, led by Bashar al-Assad, has lost legitimacy and expresses support for the people of Syria to determine their future for themselves.
Commends President Obama for authorizing targeted sanctions on human rights abusers in Syria.
Urges the President to: (1) in conjunction with international partners, ensure access of humanitarian relief organizations and international media to affected areas of Syria and to impose consequences on the government of Syria and its leaders if access by these organizations continues to be impeded; and (2) work with our allies and partners at the U.N. Security Council to hold accountable human rights abusers in Syria and to support the human rights of the Syrian people.
Urges the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to: (1) implement UNHRC Resolution S-16/1 and to ensure that the investigation into violations by the government of Syria of international human rights law is undertaken immediately, and (2) reinforce the need for the U.N. General Assembly to reject Syria's candidacy for UNHRC membership.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 180 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 180
Expressing support for peaceful demonstrations and universal freedoms
in Syria and condemning the human rights violations by the Assad
regime.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 11, 2011
Mr. Lieberman (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Casey,
Mr. McCain, Mr. Coons, Mr. Graham, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Isakson,
Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Barrasso, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Durbin, and
Mr. Hoeven) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing support for peaceful demonstrations and universal freedoms
in Syria and condemning the human rights violations by the Assad
regime.
Whereas, in March 2011, large-scale peaceful demonstrations began to take place
in Syria;
Whereas the Government of Syria, led by President Bashar al-Assad, responded to
protests by launching a violent crackdown, committing human rights
abuses, and violating its international obligations, including the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the
United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
Whereas demonstrations have now spread to more than a dozen towns and cities
across all parts of Syria;
Whereas demonstrators initially demanded political reform, but under violent
attack by the Government of Syria, have increasingly demanded a change
in the Syrian regime;
Whereas Insan, a respected international nongovernmental organization, has
documented more than 600 deaths since demonstrations began in Syria, and
reported that ``arbitrary detained and enforceable disappearance in the
country easily exceeds 8,000 people'';
Whereas the Government of Syria has deployed tanks and snipers against civilian
population centers, including the cities of Daraa and Baniyas, and the
Damascus suburbs of Douma, Harasta, Saqba, and Zabadani;
Whereas the Government of Syria has cut off civilian population centers from
access to food, water, electricity, mobile and land lines, Internet, and
medical services;
Whereas several respected international human rights organizations, including
Human Rights Watch and the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies,
have documented a nationwide campaign of arbitrary arrests and enforced
disappearances of activists, protesters, and their family members, by
the Government of Syria;
Whereas the International Crisis Group, an independent international
nongovernmental organization, reported on May 3, 2011, that there is
``ongoing, credible evidence'' in Syria of ``abundant instances of
excessive and indiscriminate state violence . . . including arbitrary
arrests, torture and firing into peaceful crowds'';
Whereas the International Crisis Group has also reported a ``determined and
cynical attempt to exploit and exacerbate'' sectarian tensions by the
Government of Syria;
Whereas, despite sectarian provocations by the Government of Syria,
demonstrations have maintained a message of national unity and
solidarity;
Whereas, on April 15, 2011, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial executions, Christof Heyns, stated that live ammunition
has been used by the Syrian regime against demonstrators ``in clear
violation of international law'';
Whereas international organizations, including Amnesty International and Human
Rights Watch, have documented evidence that peaceful protestors detained
by Government of Syria security forces are being subjected to torture,
including with electro-shock devices, cables, sticks, and whips, and are
being held in overcrowded cells, deprived of sleep, food, and water for
days at a time;
Whereas international non-governmental organizations, including the
International Committee on the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch, have
reported that Government of Syria security forces have prevented injured
protesters from accessing hospitals and have denied medical personnel
and humanitarian relief organizations access to those in need of medical
attention;
Whereas the Government of Iran is providing material support to assist the
Government of Syria in its efforts to suppress peaceful protestors,
including the transfer of equipment to help security forces crack down
on protests and curtail and monitor protesters' use of the Internet,
cell phones, and text-messaging;
Whereas the White House Press Secretary has repeatedly condemned the Government
of Syria's brutal crackdown, including on May 6, 2011, when he stated,
``The Syrian government continues to follow the lead of its Iranian ally
in resorting to brute force and flagrant violations of human rights in
suppressing peaceful protests.'';
Whereas the Department of State has repeatedly condemned the Government of
Syria's brutal crackdown, including on May 6, 2011, when Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton condemned ``in the strongest possible terms'' the
Government of Syria's continued use of force and intimidation against
peaceful protestors and pledged to ``hold to account senior Syrian
officials and others responsible for the reprehensible human rights
abuses'';
Whereas, on April 29, 2011, President Obama issued an Executive Order
authorizing targeted sanctions against individuals and organizations
responsible for the human rights abuses in Syria;
Whereas President Obama on April 29, 2011, designated 3 individuals pursuant to
the Executive Order issued that same day: Mahir al-Assad, the brother of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and brigade commander in the Syrian
Army's 4th Armored Division; Atif Najib, the former head of the
Political Security Directorate for Daraa Province and a cousin of Bashar
al-Assad; and Ali Mamluk, director of Syria's General Intelligence
Directorate;
Whereas, on May 6, 2011, envoys of the European Union's 27 nations agreed to
impose sanctions on the Government of Syria for the human rights abuses
it is perpetrating, including asset freezes and visa bans on 13 members
of the Government of Syria and an arms embargo on the country;
Whereas, on April 29, 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed
Resolution S-16/1, which condemns the Syrian regime for its human rights
abuses and establishes a mandate for an international inquiry led by the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to
investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law in
Syria ``with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring full
accountability'';
Whereas the Government of Syria, prior to March 2011, had a well-documented
track record of human rights abuses against its own citizens and
violations of international agreements and international law;
Whereas, in February 1982, the Syrian army, under the orders of then-Syrian
President Hafez al-Assad, killed at least 10,000 civilians in the city
of Hama in an effort to quell an uprising there;
Whereas, according to the Department of State's most recent Human Rights Country
Report, published on April 8, 2011, the Government of Syria commits
unlawful killings against civilians; has severely and systematically
restricted basic freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and
religion; is responsible for ongoing politically motivated arrests,
detentions, and disappearances; lacks an independent judiciary system;
and maintains prisons where torture and physical abuse are widespread
and where detainees lack access to food, proper clothing, and medical
treatment;
Whereas the Department of State has designated Syria since 1979 as a ``state
sponsor of terrorism'' and according to the Department of State's most
recent ``Country Reports on Terrorism,'' published in August 2010, the
Government of Syria provides ``political and material support to
Hizballah in Lebanon and allowed Iran to resupply this organization with
weapons'';
Whereas the Government of Syria's transfer of weapons to Hizballah in Lebanon is
in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006),
which established an arms embargo requiring all states to prevent the
supply of arms and weapons to militias and terrorists in Lebanon;
Whereas the Government of Syria has violated the territorial integrity and
sovereignty of Lebanon in contravention of United Nations Security
Council resolutions, including Resolution 425 (1978), Resolution 520
(1982), and Resolution 1701 (2006);
Whereas Syria, as a party to the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons, is legally bound to declare all its nuclear activity to the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and to place such activity
under the monitoring of the IAEA;
Whereas the IAEA issued a report on February 25, 2011, criticizing Syria's
implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement, concluding that ``Syria
has not cooperated with the Agency since June 2008'' in connection with
the Agency's investigation of the Dair Alzour site and 3 other
locations'' and warning that ``the Agency has not been able to make
progress towards resolving the outstanding issues related to those
sites'';
Whereas it has been widely reported that the Government of Syria was developing
a covert nuclear program, in violation of its international obligations
under the NPT, until that site was bombed by Israel in September 2007;
and
Whereas, on December 12, 2003, Congress passed the Syria Accountability and
Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-175) in
order to, among other purposes, hold the Government of Syria accountable
for its actions and as expression of support consistent with these aims:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) expresses solidarity and support for the people of
Syria as they seek to exercise universal rights and pursue
peaceful democratic change;
(2) strongly condemns and deplores the human rights abuses
of the Government of Syria, including the use of arbitrary and
lethal violence and deployment of military forces against
peaceful demonstrators;
(3) strongly condemns and deplores the Government of
Syria's extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances,
torture, and arbitrary and mass arrests against civilians in
Syria;
(4) strongly condemns and deplores the deliberate cut-off
of water, electricity, food, telecommunications, and other
basic services to civilian population centers in Syria;
(5) strongly condemns the Government of Iran for assisting
the Government of Syria in its campaign of violence and
repression against the people of Syria;
(6) warns that international crimes are being committed by
the Government of Syria against its people, for which the
responsible officials must be held accountable;
(7) finds that the Government of Syria, led by Bashar al-
Assad, through its campaign of violence and gross human rights
abuses, has lost legitimacy and expresses support for the
people of Syria to determine their future for themselves;
(8) commends President Obama for authorizing targeted
sanctions on human rights abusers in Syria, including United
States visa bans and asset freezes, and using that authority to
designate 3 individuals;
(9) urges the President to act swiftly to expand the list
of sanctioned persons to include all individuals responsible
for gross human rights abuses in Syria, including Bashar al-
Assad;
(10) urges the President to speak out directly, and
personally, to the people of Syria about the situation in their
country;
(11) urges the President to work, in conjunction with
international partners, to ensure access of humanitarian relief
organizations, medical workers, and international media to
affected areas of Syria, and to impose consequences on the
Government of Syria and its leaders if access by these
organizations continues to be impeded;
(12) urges the President to work, in conjunction with
international partners, to ensure access by the people of Syria
to accurate news and information, as well as information and
social networking technologies;
(13) urges the President to continue to work with the
European Union, the Government of Turkey, the Arab League, the
Gulf Cooperation Council, and other allies and partners to
bring an end to human rights abuses in Syria, hold the
perpetrators accountable, and support the aspirations of the
people of Syria;
(14) encourages United States officials, including through
the United States Embassy in Damascus, to engage with civil
society in Syria, including human rights and democracy
activists, political dissidents, and opposition leaders;
(15) urges the President to work with our allies and
partners at the United Nations Security Council to condemn and
hold accountable human rights abusers in Syria and to support
the human rights of the people of Syria; and
(16) urges the United Nations Human Rights Council--
(A) to swiftly implement United Nations Human
Rights Council Resolution S-16/1 and to ensure that the
international investigation into violations by the
Government of Syria of international human rights law
called for in the resolution is undertaken immediately;
and
(B) reinforce the crucial need for the United
Nations General Assembly to reject Syria's candidacy
for membership on the Human Rights Council and
terminate the consideration of Syria's candidacy.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2890-2891)
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line