Sec. 4. Diplomatic strategy on political prisoner advocacy
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Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, or the Secretary’s designee, shall brief the appropriate congressional committees on a strategy to embed political prisoner advocacy into the critical mission plan of all United States Government agencies, diplomatic posts, and regional bureaus in the Department of State. The strategy shall include the following matters: Cases of concern involving individuals arbitrarily detained for exercising internationally recognized human rights.
Bilateral diplomatic efforts to secure the release of Gao Zhisheng and other political prisoners, including a record of cases raised and the relevant foreign government officials engaged. Multilateral diplomatic efforts to advocate for the release of political prisoners, including engagement within the United Nations system and coordination of diplomatic advocacy and sanctions measures with allies and partners to maximize international pressure. Details on efforts to secure the release of Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong.
Details on Department of State efforts to support human rights defenders, independent media, and the families of political prisoners and the resources needed to conduct such support. Use of accountability tools, including the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and other targeted measures, to hold government officials accountable for complicity in the arbitrary detention of political prisoners. Public diplomacy efforts designed to frame advocacy for political prisoners as a United States national interest and to highlight human stories of political prisoners that evade censorship and other digital restrictions put in place by foreign governments to hide complicity in arbitrary detention, torture, and other gross violations of universally recognized human rights.
Progress on the preparation of a Global Prisoner Registry as required by section 5 of this Act. An assessment of resource gaps or institutional deficiencies that adversely affect the Department of State’s ability to advocate effectively for political prisoners in the People’s Republic of China and globally. The briefings required by subsection
(a)shall be conducted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex if necessary to protect sources and methods used to acquire such information.