Legal Materials on Tibet
United States

Senate Resolution 271 (March 1992) [259]

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD RELATIVE TO HUMAN RIGHTS IN TIBET S. RES. 271

Whereas in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993, signed into law by President Bush on October 28, 1991, Congress declared Tibet to be an occupied country whose true representatives are the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile;

Whereas, in this same Act Congress declared that "It is the policy of the United States to oppose aggression and other illegal uses of force by one country against the sovereignty of another as a manner of acquiring territory, and to condemn violations of international law, including the illegal occupation of one country by another.

Whereas the Department of State, in its February 1992 "Country Reports on Human Right in Practices in 1991" annual Report, cited "Persistent abuses in Tibet", frequent credible reports from Tibetan refugees of torture and mistreatment in penal institutions in Tibet," "harsh sentences for political activities", and religious and cultural persecution of six million Tibetans;

Whereas the people of Tibet have long been denied their right to self determination;

Whereas human rights abuses have been routine and harsh in occupied Tibet since the People's Republic of China invaded Tibet in 1949-1950;

Whereas the United Nations General Assembly passed resolutions condemning China's human rights abuses in Tibet in 1959, 1961 and 1965;

Whereas a Subcommission of Independent Experts of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights passed Resolution 1991/10 ("Situation in Tibet" August 23, 1991), condemning recent Chinese human Rights abuses in Tibet, including executions, torture and denial of national religious cultural identity;

Whereas twenty-two countries, led by the European community, as the main "situation in Tibet", February 27, 1992) to the full United Nations commission on Human Rights annual meeting in Geneva in February-March 1992;

Whereas this resolution ("Situation in Tibet", February 27, 1992) declared its concern "at continuing reports of violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Tibet which threaten the distinct cultural, religious and ethnic identity of the Tibetans", acknowledged United Nations reports on torture, summary or arbitrary executions, religious intolerance and enforced or involuntary disappearances; called "on the Government of the People's Republic of China to take measures to ensure the full observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Tibetans", and invited "the Government of the People's Republic of China to continue to respond to requests by special rapporteurs for information" and requested "the Secretary-General to submit to a report to the Commission on Human Rights at its forty-ninth session on the situation in Tibet";

Whereas an altered text was offered implying China's sovereignty over Tibet;

Whereas, due to a procedural motion, this altered resolution was not acted on in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights; and

Whereas the United States should take a firm stand against human rights abuses wherever they occur, and should also speak out against the illegal occupation of Tibet:

Now, therefore be it;

Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--

(1)the United States Government should support resolutions like the European Community-led resolution on the "Situation in Tibet" submitted to the United Nations commission on Human Rights;

(2)the United States Government should vigorously condemn Beijing's human rights abuses in occupied Tibet in all appropriate international forums; and

(3)the United States Government should raise human rights abuses in Tibet with senior officials of the People's Republic of China.


Tibet Justice Center Home | Legal Materials on Tibet | United States