TLHRC Letter to President Obama in Advance of Dialogue with Gulf Cooperation Council
Commission Co-Chairs Jim McGovern and Joseph Pitts released a letter to President Barack Obama today signed by 43 additional members, expressing deep and continuing concern over the continued suppression of civil, political and religious rights within the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). As the President initiates meetings with high-ranking representatives of the GCC, the Members of Congress emphasized that sustainable solutions for the multiple challenges of the GCC region require the countries to respect fundamental human rights within their own borders. The Congressmen and women urged the President to use his strong relationships with the GCC leaders to encourage them to release all prisoners of conscience, end undue restrictions on the operation of civil society groups and religious minorities, reform laws that discriminate against women and facilitate the exploitation of migrant workers, and review and reform other laws and practices that have discriminatory consequences.
The full text of the letter can be found here.