,,ii  #aadth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bbca  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,november #c1  
#bjae ,mr4 ,leahy 7for himself1 ,mr4    
,durbin1 ,mr4 ,murphy1 ,mr4 ,mc,cain1   
,mr4 ,reed1 ,mr4 ,whitehouse1 ,mr4      
,blumenthal1 ,mr4 ,peters1 ,mr4 ,rubio1 
,mr4 ,menendez1 ,mr4 ,cardin1 ,mr4      
,coons1 ,mr4 ,markey1 and ,mrs4         
,feinstein7 introduced the following    
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations
  ,a ,,bill  ,to express the sense of   
,congress that the ,government of the   
,maldives should immediately release    
former ,president ,mohamed ,nasheed from
 prison and release all other political 
prisoners in the country1 as well as    
guarantee due process for and respect   
the human rights of all of the people of
 the ,maldives4  #a4 ,sense of ,congress
 on politically motivated detentions and
 human rights abuses in the ,maldives   
7a7 ,findings ,congress makes the       
following findings3 7#a7 ,the ,maldives 

is strategically important due to its   
location1 which straddles major trade   
routes in the ,indian ,ocean4  7#b7     
,increasing human rights violations in  
the ,maldives fuel instability and pose 
a threat to regional security4  7#c7    
,since ,january #bjae1 ,president       
,abdulla ,yameen of the ,maldives has   
increasingly cracked down on dissent    
within his own party and the political  
opposition1 presided over the erosion of
 judicial impartiality1 and put         
increasing pressure on civil society4   
7#d7 ,the arrest of former ,president   
,mohamed ,nasheed in ,march #bjae was   
widely condemned as politically         
motivated1 and his conviction and       
sentence of #ac years in prison has been
 condemned by ,amnesty ,international as
 a travesty of justice4  7#e7 ,in his   
speech in ,sri ,lanka on ,may #b1 #bjae1
 ,secretary of ,state ,john ,kerry      
stated1 ,we've seen even now how        
regrettably there are troubling signs   
that democracy is under threat in the   

,maldives where the former ,president   
,nasheed has been imprisoned without due
 process4 ,and that is an injustice that
 must be addressed soon4  7#f7 ,on      
,september #ad1 #bjae1 in his opening   
statement at the #cjth session of the   
,united ,nations ,human ,rights         
,council1 ,united ,nations ,high        
,commissioner for ,human ,rights ,zeid  
,ra'ad said1 ,in the ,maldives1 the rule
 of law continues to be manipulated for 
political ends4 ,he also stated1 in     
reference to former ,president ,mohamed 
,nasheed's detention1 ,given the deeply 
tainted nature of this case1 ,i urge the
 ,government to release him1 and to     
review several hundred pending criminal 
cases against opposition supporters in  
relation to protests in recent months4  
7b7 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense
 of ,congress that the ,government of   
the ,maldives should immediately release
 former ,president ,nasheed from prison 
and release all other political         
prisoners in the country1 as well as    

guarantee due process for and respect   
the human rights of all of the people of
 the ,maldives4