119-sres472

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 472 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
S. RES. 472

Supporting the designation of October 30 as the ``International Day of 
 Political Prisoners''.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 October 29, 2025

 Mr. Wicker (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mrs. Shaheen) submitted 
 the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

Supporting the designation of October 30 as the ``International Day of 
 Political Prisoners''.

Whereas there are an estimated 1,000,000 political prisoners throughout the 
 world, including journalists, academics, political opposition activists, 
 dissidents, anti-war campaigners, and human rights defenders, who have 
 been detained, arrested, imprisoned, convicted, and otherwise punished 
 for political motives without connection to any credible offense;
Whereas authoritarian and repressive regimes around the world, including the 
 Republic of Belarus, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of 
 Cuba, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 
 Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Russian Federation, the Republic 
 of Turkey, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, have engaged in 
 systematic imprisonment of independent voices;
Whereas, in 2024 and 2025, the United States Government, through bilateral and 
 multilateral negotiations, secured the release of several dozen 
 political prisoners from the Republic of Belarus, the Russian 
 Federation, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;
Whereas, on October 30, 1974, Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of conscience in 
 the Soviet Gulag initiated the tradition of marking an annual ``Day of 
 Political Prisoners'' in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 
 (referred to in this Preamble as ``USSR'') to draw public attention to 
 the plight of those imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs 
 and to express solidarity with them; and
Whereas, in subsequent years, the Day of Political Prisoners, was marked on 
 October 30 by hunger strikes by prisoners inside the Soviet Gulag and by 
 public demonstrations of solidarity in cities across the USSR: Now, 
 therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the Senate--

    (1) deplores all forms of political repression and 
 imprisonment;

    (2) conveys its unwavering solidarity with all those who 
 are imprisoned around the world for peacefully expressing their 
 political or religious beliefs;

    (3) supports efforts by the United States Government--
        (A) to condemn political imprisonment;
        (B) to hold accountable any regime that is 
 responsible for persecuting and imprisoning dissenters;
            (C) to raise international awareness of political 
 prisoners; and
            (D) to secure the release of such political 
 prisoners through bilateral and multilateral 
 negotiations with other countries;

    (4) urges the United States Government to continue such 
 efforts in the future; and

    (5) supports the annual designation of October 30 in the 
 United States as the ``International Day of Political 
 Prisoners''.
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