Urging the International Olympic Committee to take into consideration the mass detention of Uyghurs and consider all options to uphold the fundamental rights of persecuted minorities in China ahead of the 2022 Olympic Games.

IV 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 466 Urging the International Olympic Committee to take into consideration the mass detention of Uyghurs and consider all options to uphold the funda- mental rights of persecuted minorities in China ahead of the 2022 Olympic Games. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 8, 2021 Mr. MALINOWSKI (for himself, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. WEXTON, Mrs. KIM of California, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, and Mrs. WAGNER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Urging the International Olympic Committee to take into consideration the mass detention of Uyghurs and con- sider all options to uphold the fundamental rights of persecuted minorities in China ahead of the 2022 Olym- pic Games. Whereas more than 1,000,000 ethnic Uyghurs have been de- tained in a continuing campaign of mass arbitrary deten- tion in camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Re- gion of the People’s Republic of China on the basis of their ethnicity, culture, and religion, raising the spectre of crimes against humanity and genocide; VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR466.IH HR466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 466 IH Whereas authorities of the Government of China have report- edly imposed widespread forced sterilization, abortions, and birth control against Uyghur women, potentially rep- resenting a systematic campaign to prevent births within a specific ethnic group; Whereas there remain over 300 mass detention facilities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, including forced labor camps, ‘‘re-education’’ or indoctrination camps, prisons, and other detention facilities, where Uyghurs and other Muslim or Turkic minorities are arbi- trarily detained, over 60 of which have shown signs of ex- pansion in the past year; Whereas a recent Chinese Communist Party white paper claims that between 2014 and 2019, over 1,000,000 Uyghurs a year received ‘‘vocational training’’, a euphe- mism understood to indicate political and linguistic indoc- trination accompanied by requirements that detainees re- nounce their Uyghur religious and ethnic identity; Whereas there have been multiple credible reports that de- tained Uyghurs are subjected to torture and sexual abuse, as well as forced labor at factories producing goods for export inside and outside the detention facili- ties; Whereas, in October 2020, 39 countries at the United Na- tions Third Committee of the General Assembly appealed for action on the mass arbitrary detentions and other crimes against the Uyghur Muslim population of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; Whereas the 2018 concluding observations of the United Na- tions Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimina- VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR466.IH HR466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 466 IH tion decried reports of mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs; Whereas over 400 international nongovernmental organiza- tions have joined together to decry the mass arbitrary de- tentions of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; Whereas the Olympic Charter states that the practice of sport ‘‘is a human right’’ that ‘‘shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sex- ual orientation, language, religion, political or other opin- ion, national or social origin, property, birth or other sta- tus’’—a right that by definition cannot be secured in a country in which over 1,000,000 people are imprisoned in camps because of their race, language, and religion; Whereas the 2008 Olympics in Beijing were accompanied by widespread tracking, arrest, and intimidation of foreign journalists and bloggers, as well as restrictions on move- ment of journalists, contrary to explicit commitments made by the Government of the People’s Republic of China to the International Olympic Committee; Whereas the Government of China denied visas for some journalists granted press accreditation for the 2008 Olympic Games, and the Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games repeatedly refused to address inci- dents involving freedom of expression; and Whereas the International Olympic Committee faced broad criticism for failing to adequately anticipate infringe- ments by the Government of the People’s Republic of China’s on freedom of expression and press for inter- national media and 2008 Olympics participants, and fail- ing to hold the Government of the People’s Republic of VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR466.IH HR466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 466 IH China to their own commitments to safeguard human rights during the 2008 games: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges 1 the International Olympic Committee to— 2 (1) consider that the Olympic Charter’s prin- 3 ciples of solidarity and nondiscrimination are hard to 4 reconcile with holding the 2022 Winter Games in a 5 country the government of which stands credibly ac- 6 cused of perpetrating crimes against humanity and 7 genocide against ethnic and religious minorities; 8 (2) take into account the recent precedent of 9 the 2008 games, at which Olympic athletes, spec- 10 tators, and international media had their funda- 11 mental freedoms severely challenged, and the likely 12 limitations the Government of China will seek to en- 13 force on participants speaking out about ongoing 14 persecution of the Uyghurs and other human rights 15 abuses in China, despite repeated commitments by 16 the Government of China; 17 (3) emphasize that the International Olympic 18 Committee is not opposed to moving an Olympic 19 competition in all circumstances, and will keep this 20 option available as demanded by the human rights 21 situation, and initiate an emergency search process 22 for suitable replacement facilities for the 2022 Win- 23 ter Olympics if the Government of China fails to re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR466.IH HR466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 466 IH lease all arbitrarily held Uyghurs from mass deten- 1 tion centers and prisons; 2 (4) affirm the International Olympic Commit- 3 tee’s— 4 (A) desire to stay above politics does not 5 permit turning a blind eye to mass atrocity 6 crimes, which cannot and should not be dis- 7 missed as mere political concerns; and 8 (B) commitment to the fundamental rights 9 instruments of the international system, which 10 are beyond partisan or domestic policy, and 11 upon which the success of the entire Olympic 12 project depends; and 13 (5) propose a set of clear, executable actions to 14 be taken by the International Olympic Committee 15 upon infringement of freedom of expression by a 16 host country’s government during any Olympics 17 event, including the 2022 Winter Olympics, against 18 athletes, participants, and international media. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR466.IH HR466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS