,,iii #aagth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 ,,res4 #cdb ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,august #g1 #bjba ,mr4 ,menendez 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,cardin1 ,mr4 ,kaine1 ,mr4 ,markey1 ,mr4 ,merkley1 ,mr4 ,schatz1 ,mr4 ,van ,hollen1 ,mrs4 ,shaheen1 and ,mr4 ,coons7 submitted the following resolution2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations ,,resolution ,expressing the sense of the ,senate regarding the practice of politically motivated imprisonment of women around the world and calling on governments for the immediate release of women who are political prisoners4 ,whereas ,article #c of the ,universal ,declaration of ,human ,rights guarantees the right to life1 liberty1 and security of person1 ,article #i of the ,declaration prohibits arbitrary arrests or detentions1 and ,article #ah of the ,declaration guarantees the right to freedom of thought1 conscience1 and religion2 ,whereas women around the world face enormous risks when seeking to advance human rights and pursue progress for their communities1 including-- 7#a7 discriminatory policies and attitudes2 7#b7 repressive governments2 7#c7 abusive authorities2 and 7#d7 critical threats to their health1 especially amid the ,,covid-#ai pandemic2 ,whereas women activists around the world are being unjustly or wrongfully detained in order to silence their voices and end their activism2 ,whereas women journalists are being unjustly or wrongfully detained for speaking truth to power and exposing corruption and abuses by governments and other authorities2 ,whereas1 according to the ,united ,nations ,office of the ,high ,commissioner for ,human ,rights1 many women detainees face inhumane and degrading treatment upon arrest1 including threats of rape1 invasive body searches1 and humiliations of a sexual nature1 and once unjustly imprisoned1 many women are subjected to sexual violence and other forms of torture at the hands of security forces2 ,whereas the ,,covid-#ai pandemic presents a severe threat to women who are detained unjustly and who are often housed in overcrowded prisons with limited access to medical care1 which can convert unjust prison sentences into death sentences for vulnerable1 detained women2 ,whereas the ,people's ,republic of ,china has waged a brutal campaign to suppress political dissent and vibrant ethnic minority communities2 ,whereas the ,people's ,republic of ,china has suppressed and detained human rights defenders and journalists1 including-- 7#a7 ,li ,yuhan1 a human rights lawyer jailed for representing cases concerning freedom of belief and access to government information1 who has been subject to verbal abuse and other mistreatment while held in extended pre-trial detention2 and 7#b7 ,zhang ,zhan1 a citizen-journalist sentenced to #d years in prison for reporting on ,,covid-#ai in ,wuhan2 ,whereas the ,people's ,republic of ,china has subjected ,uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in ,xinjiang to mass surveillance1 forced labor1 forced birth control1 forced sterilization1 coerced abortion1 sexual assault1 rape1 unjust or wrongful detainment1 and extrajudicial internment1 including-- 7#a7 ,rahile ,dawut1 a professor of traditional ,uyghur culture and recipient of the #bjbj ,courage to ,think award1 who has been held incommunicado since her disappearance in ,december #bjag2 7#b7 ,gulmira ,imin1 a former ,uyghur-language website administrator and writer1 who is serving out a #ai-year sentence for her alleged role in organizing demonstrations in #bjji and her online criticism of ,chinese repression of the ,uyghurs2 and 7#c7 ,nigare ,abdushukur1 who was sentenced to #ai years imprisonment after calling her brother in ,germany to tell him about their mother's detention2 ,whereas the ,people's ,republic of ,china has targeted ,tibetans for peaceful political or cultural expression1 including-- 7#a7 ,bonkho ,kyi1 who was sentenced to #g years imprisonment for organizing a picnic celebration for ,his ,holiness the ,dalai ,lama's #hjth birthday2 and 7#b7 ,yeshe ,choedron1 who was sentenced in #bjjh to #ae years imprisonment for allegedly contacting the ,tibetan government in exile after participating in the #bjjh ,lhasa protests2 ,whereas the pro-democracy movement in ,hong ,kong has been subjected to harsh government persecution at the direction of the ,people's ,republic of ,china1 and activists have been unjustly jailed1 including ,quinn ,moon1 who was among #ab activists captured while trying to flee persecution in ,hong ,kong and was subsequently sentenced to #b years in prison2 ,whereas1 in ,iran1 human rights defenders have been steadfast in their advocacy despite repeated abuse and arrest by authorities1 including currently detained human rights activists-- 7#a7 ,nasrin ,sotoudeh1 who spoke out against the death penalty and laws forcing women to wear hijabs and who has recently been returned to prison after a medical leave despite serious health conditions2 and 7#b7 ,atena ,daemi1 a human rights activist who has been sentenced to an additional #b years in prison and #gd lashes for participating in a peaceful sit-in protest in ,evin prison during her initial #e-year sentence2 ,whereas ,iranian authorities have also recently arrested and imprisoned environmentalists working for the ,persian ,wildlife ,heritage ,foundation1 including ,sepideh ,kashani and ,niloufar ,bayani1 who previously worked for the ,united ,nations ,environment ,programme1 subjecting them to torture and threats of sexual assault2 ,whereas ,turkey is the world's second worst jailer of journalists1 with #cg journalists imprisoned in #bjbj alone1 including-- 7#a7 ,hatice ,duman1 owner and editor at ,atilim1 which published editorials condemning ,president ,erdogan's policies2 and 7#b7 ,ayenur ,parildak1 journalist for ,zaman2 ,whereas the ,government of ,egypt has attempted to quash dissent by jailing and abusing human rights defenders1 including ,sanaa ,seif1 who was detained while filing a complaint at the ,public ,prosecutor's office regarding her violent assault outside ,cairo's ,tora prison1 which houses her brother1 who is a political activist2 ,whereas ,belarusian authorities1 as a means of silencing popular protests1 have attacked and jailed journalists1 human rights defenders1 and members of civil society1 including-- 7#a7 ,katsiaryna ,bakhvalova and ,darya ,chultsova1 #b members of the media covering anti-,lukashenko protests who were sentenced to #b years in prison for organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order2 7#b7 ,yulia ,slutskaya1 founder of a nongovernmental organization that investigates government persecution of journalists covering protests2 7#c7 ,maryia ,kalesnikava1 a prominent ,belarusian opposition leader abducted and charged with incitement to undermine national security for her pro-democracy advocacy2 and 7#d7 ,marfa ,rabkova1 a human rights defender targeted for observing demonstrations and documenting evidence of law enforcement officials torturing peaceful protestors2 ,whereas ,saudi ,arabian women's rights and human rights activist ,maya'a al-,zahrani remains wrongfully imprisoned2 ,whereas the ,government of ,nicaragua has detained human rights defenders ,maria ,esperanza ,sanchez and ,karla ,vanessa ,escobar ,maldonado in terrible conditions for their participation in demonstrations in #bjah2 ,whereas ,senator ,leila de ,lima remains unjustly imprisoned in the ,philippines for her vocal criticism of extrajudicial killings carried out during ,president ,duterte's war on drugs2 ,whereas the ,government of ,vietnam has jailed civil and human rights activist ,nguyen ,thi ,ngoc ,hanh and journalist ,pham ,thi ,doan ,trang for their peaceful work to preserve and expand rights afforded to ,vietnamese citizens2 and ,whereas in ,eritrea1 political dissident ,aster ,fissehatsion and dual ,united ,states-,eritrean national ,ciham ,ali have been held incommunicado without charge or trial since #bjja and #bjab1 respectively3 ,now1 therefore1 be it ,that the ,senate-- 7#a7 supports women who are being unjustly or wrongfully detained around the world2 7#b7 affirms that a government should never detain its citizens for exercising the rights of freedom of assembly1 association1 and speech2 7#c7 calls on governments that are unjustly or wrongfully detaining women for exercising their fundamental rights to immediately and unconditionally release these political prisoners2 and 7#d7 urges the ,united ,states ,government1 in all its interactions with foreign governments-- 7,a7 to raise individual cases of women political prisoners2 and 7,b7 to press for the immediate release of such political prisoners4