RESOLUTION INTRODUCED LAST WEEK BY CONGRESSMAN JOHN PORTER (R-IL0 IN THE HOUSE REGARDING THE ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION CONCERNING HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA AND TIBET AT THE 52ND SESSION OF THE U.N. COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS.

H. RES. 347

104th Congress: 2nd Session

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning the human rights situation in China and Tibet and encouraging the United States to sponsor and press for the enactment of a resolution condemning the human rights situation in China and Tibet at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. PORTER (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. WOLF, and Mr. BERMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations.

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RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning the human rights situation in China and Tibet and encouraging the United States to sponsor and press for the enactment of a resolution condemning the human rights situation in China and Tibet at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Whereas the already intolerable human rights situation in China and Tibet has deteriorated over the past year;

Whereas thousands of political prisoners are in detention in China and Tibet;

Whereas many leading Chinese and Tibetan intellectuals, academics and religious figures have been intimidated, imprisoned and denied due process;

Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China prosecuted Wei Jinsheng, known as the father of democracy in China, for acts arising out of his peaceful exercise of internationally recognized and guaranteed human rights, and convicted and sentenced him on December 13, 1995, to 14 years' imprisonment;

Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China has interfered in the selection of the Panchen Lama, politicizing a purely religious matter, further alienating the Tibetan people, and violating the universal right to freedom of religion;

Whereas for three consecutive years, the United States has been a primary sponsor at the annual meetings of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights of resolutions criticizing the human rights practices of the Government of the People's Republic of China in China and Tibet;

Whereas these resolutions have called upon the Government of the People's Republic of China to ensure the observance of human rights and to cooperate with United Nation special rapporteurs and working groups, and these resolutions have requested the Secretary General of the United Nations to prepare a report for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the human rights situation in China and Tibet;

Whereas at the March 1995 meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, the United States-sponsored resolution on human rights in the People's Republic of China failed to be enacted by a margin

of only one vote;

Whereas in May 1994 the President of the United States pledged strong support for efforts through international forums to call attention to and criticized the human rights practices of the Government of the People's Republic of China and to press for changes in these practices;

Whereas active and aggressive efforts by the United States at the March 1996 session of the United Nations in support of a resolution concerning the human rights situation in China and Tibet could lead to the successful adoption of such a resolution; and

Whereas the adoption of such a resolution by the United Nations commission on Human Rights would send a strong message to the Government of the People's Republic of China that the international community will not tolerate its continued violations of internationally recognized human rights in China and Tibet: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should sponsor and vigorously press for passage of a

resolution at the 1996 meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights that calls attention to and criticizes human rights violations in China and Tibet and that calls on the Government of the People's Republic of China to ensure the observance of human rights.