Subject: 2000CRS636A SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 81--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE CONGRESS From: noone@senate.gov Date: 2000/02/11 Message-ID: Newsgroups: gov.us.fed.congress.record.senate

Archive-Name: gov/us/fed/congress/record/2000/feb/10/2000CRS636A [Congressional Record: February 10, 2000 (Senate)] [Page S636-S637] From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:cr10fe00-153]

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 81--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE CONGRESS THAT THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA SHOULD IMMEDIATELY RELEASE RABIYA KADEER, HER SECRETARY, AND HER SON, AND PERMIT THEM TO MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES IF THEY SO DESIRE

Mr. ROTH (for himself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Crapo, [Bilderberg - my comment] Mr. (Christopher) Dodd (1) , Mr. Thomas, and [Bilderberg - my comment] Mrs. (Dianne) Feinstein) (2)) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

Note #1 - Senator Christopher Dodd attented Bilderberg meetings in Washington and Portugal in 1999.

Note #2 - Senator Dianne Feinstein attended a Bilderberg meeting in Washington, 1999.

Due to the secrecy of the Bilderberg Society, I am questioning the sincerity of Senator Dodd's and Senator Feinstein's political motives with regard to the release of Rabiya Kadeer from prison. Are they doing this for the appearances of human rights advocacy while actually hiding a secret Bilderberg agenda for China?

I am certainly not opposed with regard to the advocacy of human rights in China. Nor am I opposed to release of Rabiya Kadeer but I do oppose the secrecy of the Bilderberg Society and I wonder to what extent Senators Feinstein and Dodd are using this issue for establishment of ranks in the Bilderberg hierarchy.

For the sake of the global citizenry, I would hope Senators Feinstein and Dodd would come forth with a full disclosure of the contents of the Bilderberg meetings in Washington and Portugal.

Philip Henika

S. Con. Res. 81

"Whereas Rabiya Kadeer, a prominent ethnic Uighur from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of the People's Republic of China, her secretary, and her son were arrested on August 11, 1999, in the city of Urumqi;

Whereas Rabiya Kadeer's arrest occurred outside the Yindu Hotel in Urumqi as she was attempting to meet a group of congressional staff staying at the Yindu Hotel as part an official visit to China organized under the auspices of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Program of the United States Information Agency;

Whereas Rabiya Kadeer's husband Sidik Rouzi, who has lived in the United States since 1996 and works for Radio Free Asia, has been critical of the policies of the People's Republic of China toward Uighurs in Xinjiang;

Whereas according to an Amnesty International press release of August 16, 1999, ``It appears as though the accusations against Kadeer and her son Ablikim Abdyirim may relate to her attempts to meet a visiting delegation from the United States [Congress] and her communications with her husband Sidik Rouzi, . . .'';

Whereas reports indicate that Ablikim Abdyirim was sent to a labor camp on November 26 for 2 years without trial for ``supporting Uighur separatism,'' and Rabiya Kadeer's secretary was recently sentenced to 3 years in a labor camp;

Whereas Rabiya Kadeer has 5 children, 3 sisters, and a brother living in the United States, in addition to her husband, and Kadeer has expressed a desire to move to the United States;

Whereas the People's Republic of China stripped Rabiya Kadeer of her passport long before her arrest;

Whereas reports indicate that Kadeer's health may be at risk and that she may be sentenced to 10 or more years in prison;

Whereas repeated requests to the Government of the People's Republic of China by Members of Congress and congressional staff for an explanation of the nature of the charges against Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary, and her son, for an update on the state of Kadeer's health, and for details of any legal proceedings against those arrested, have gone unanswered since August 1999;

Whereas the People's Republic of China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on October 5, 1998;

Whereas that Covenant requires signatory countries to guarantee their citizens the right to legal recourse when their rights have been violated, the right to liberty and freedom of movement, the right to presumption of innocence until guilt is proven, the right to appeal a conviction, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of assembly and association;

Whereas that Covenant forbids torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, and arbitrary arrest and detention;

Whereas the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights enables the Human Rights Committee, set up under that Covenant, to receive and consider communications from individuals claiming to be victims of violations of any of the rights set forth in the Covenant; and

Whereas in signing that Covenant on behalf of the People's Republic of China, Ambassador Qin Huasun, Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations, said the following: ``To realize human rights is the aspiration of all humanity. It is also a goal that the Chinese Government has long been striving for. We believe that the universality of human rights should be respected . ..

As a member state of the United Nations, China has always actively participated in the activities of the organization in the field of human rights. It attaches importance to its cooperation with agencies concerned in the U.N. system . ..'':

Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representative concurring), That Congress calls on the Government of the People's Republic of China--

(1) immediately to release Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary, and her son; and

(2) to permit Kadeer, her secretary, and her son to move to the United States, if they so desire.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of myself and Senators Murray, Bingaman, Edwards, Crapo, Dodd, Thomas, and Feinstein to submit a concurrent resolution stating the sense of Congress that China immediately release Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary and her son. On August 11, 1999 Ms. Kadeer was arrested on her way to a meeting with a group of Congressional staff visiting China under the auspices of a U.S. Information Agency program. Later, two of the sons and her secretary were detained as well.

One son has since been sentenced to 2 years at hard labor and her secretary, 3 years. And we have received credible reports that in the aftermath of the [[Page S637]] Chinese New Year's celebrations, she herself faces imminent trial and sentencing.

The crimes she is accused of committing remain unclear, despite letters from a number of us on Capitol Hill, and despite a series of requests to Chinese officials stretching back to August. Our attempts at quiet diplomacy, perhaps unsurprisingly, have failed. And so, with her trial and sentencing about to take place, it is vital that we try a different tack. That is why I am offering this resolution.

Ms. Kadeer is a prominent member of an ethnic minority group in China called Uighurs. These people are Turkic-speaking Moslems, and they form the largest ethnic group in China's northwestern-most province.

A few years back, Ms. Kadeer was lauded by the PRC for her promotion of business enterprises among women and for contributing to the economic and social development of her province. To honor her efforts, she was named by authorities to the China People's Political Consultative Congress and as a delegate to the United Nations World Conference on Women held in Beijing.

But Ms. Kadeer began to fall out of favor with officials in Beijing after her husband emigrated to the United States in 1997 and became a commentator for Voice of America. Soon thereafter, her passport was seized and the assets of an organization she founded to improve opportunities for Moslem businesswomen were frozen. Then, in 1998, Ms. Kadeer lost her position in the Consultative Congress.

Perhaps that is why five of Ms. Kadeer's children, three sisters and a brother are now living in the United States, in addition to her husband. And perhaps that is why Ms. Kadeer has expressed a desire to move to the United States herself.

That desire, for the moment, has been quashed. Last summer, as she was on her way to the hotel where the Congressional staff delegation was waiting to meet her, Kadeer was arrested. The arrest is troubling enough, but the fact that it took place as she was attempting to have a simple conversation with staffers who work for the United States Congress, I believe, requires that we take a firm stand.

Let's not forget that the PRC signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1998. Among other things, that Covenant requires signatories to guarantee their citizens the right to liberty and freedom of movement; the right to presumption of innocence until guilt is proven; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; freedom of opinion and expression; and freedom of assembly and association. It also forbids torture, inhumane or degrading treatment, and arbitrary arrest and detention.

In signing that Covenant on behalf of the PRC, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations said, and I quote, ``To realize human rights is the aspiration of all humanity. It is also a goal that the Chinese Government has long been striving for. We believe that the universality of human rights should be respected * * *.''

Well, I don't think China has respected the human rights of Rabiya Kadeer, her son or her secretary. That's why this resolution calls on China to release them and give them the chance to move to the United States, if they wish. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and move for its earliest possible passage as Ms. Kadeer's fate will soon be determined by a country that offers her little or no chance of a fair trial.

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