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< Go back to Immigration Daily STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE ON H.R. 5285, the "Serious Human Rights Abusers
Accountability Act of 2000" September 28, 2000 Thank-you Mr.
Chairman. I recognize that the crimes listed in H.R. 5285, the "Serious
Human Rights Abusers Accountability Act" are internationally recognize as
some of the most egregious known to man. I do believe that we should also look
to expand this list. My experiences in Congress lead me to the conclusion that
crimes against individuals due to their gender and sexual orientation should be
explicitly singled out. It is important that
the Congress generally and this subcommittee specifically, understand that the
Torture Convention is a fundamental pillar of our human rights and national
interest policy. The Senate carefully deliberated over the Convention prior to
ratification and we should not attempt to chip away at any of its provisions. While the goal of
this bill: to take immigration benefits away from tortures is sound, I have
real concerns that the due process protections needed to prevent innocent
individuals from being deported are not found in this bill. I think that it is
bad public policy for this body to remove judicial review as this bill would
do. The benefits of judicial review have been clear and provisions eliminating
review do not serve our country well. I believe that our
Torture Convention obligations require us to prosecute torturers found in our
country and am concerned that we may be side stepping our international
obligations if we do not build prosecution mechanisms into this bill. I look forward to
hearing the witnesses give their expertise on the bill, particularly Ms.
Massimino from the Lawyers’ Commitee for Human Rights before I cast my vote at
the mark-up on this bill today. Thank-you Mr. Chairman.  Share this page | Bookmark this page | Print this page |  Add to del.icio.us
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