[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 128 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 128

    Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the treatment of 
religious minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and particularly 
   the recent arrests of members of that country's Jewish community.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 8, 1999

 Mr. Sherman (for himself, Mr. Gilman, Mr. Gejdenson, Mr. Smith of New 
Jersey, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Berman, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Martinez, 
 Mr. Menendez, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Rothman, Mr. Crowley, Mr. 
Hoeffel, Mr. Nadler, and Mr. Weiner) submitted the following concurrent 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the treatment of 
religious minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and particularly 
   the recent arrests of members of that country's Jewish community.

Whereas 10 percent of the citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran are members 
        of religious minority groups;
Whereas, according to the State Department and internationally recognized human 
        rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty 
        International, religious minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran--
        including Sunni Muslims, Baha'is, Christians, and Jews--have been the 
        victims of human rights violations solely because of their status as 
        religious minorities;
Whereas the 55th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights passed 
        Resolution 1999/13, which expresses the concern of the international 
        community over ``continued discrimination against religious minorities'' 
        in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and calls on that country to moderate 
        its policy on religious minorities until they are ``completely 
        emancipated'';
Whereas more than half the Jews in Iran have been forced to flee that country 
        since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 because of religious persecution, 
        and many of them now reside in the United States;
Whereas the Iranian Jewish community, with a 2,500-year history and currently 
        numbering some 30,000 people, is the oldest Jewish community living in 
        the Diaspora;
Whereas five Jews have been executed by the Iranian government in the past five 
        years without having been tried;
Whereas there has been a noticeable increase recently in anti-Semitic propaganda 
        in the government-controlled Iranian press;
Whereas, on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover 1999, thirteen or more 
        Jews, including community and religious leaders in the city of Shiraz, 
        were arrested by the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and
Whereas, in keeping with its dismal record on providing accused prisoners with 
        due process and fair treatment, the Islamic Republic of Iran failed to 
        charge the detained Jews with any specific crime or allow visitation by 
        relatives of the detained for more than two months: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that the Clinton administration 
should--
            (1) be commended for supporting Resolution 1999/13, and 
        should continue to work through the United Nations to assure 
        that the Islamic Republic of Iran implements that resolution's 
        recommendations;
            (2) condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the recent 
        arrest of members of Iran's Jewish minority and urge their 
        immediate release;
            (3) urge all nations having relations with the Islamic 
        Republic of Iran to condemn the treatment of religious 
        minorities in Iran and call for the release of all prisoners 
        held on the basis of their religious beliefs; and
            (4) maintain the current United States policy toward the 
        Islamic Republic of Iran unless and until that country 
        moderates its treatment of religious minorities.
                                 <all>