[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 614 Introduced in House (IH)]

  2d Session
H. RES. 614

Condemning the Government of Iran for the continued imprisonment of 10 
    Jews and 2 Muslims on false charges of espionage and urging the 
 President to sustain United States sanctions against Iran, including 
 opposition to assistance provided by international institutions, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 6, 2000

 Mr. Ackerman (for himself and Mr. Gejdenson) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Condemning the Government of Iran for the continued imprisonment of 10 
    Jews and 2 Muslims on false charges of espionage and urging the 
 President to sustain United States sanctions against Iran, including 
 opposition to assistance provided by international institutions, and 
                          for other purposes.

Whereas on July 1, 2000, the Government of Iran convicted 10 Jewish and 2 Muslim 
        Iranian citizens on unproven charges through a judicial process utterly 
        at odds with international standards of human rights and due process;
Whereas the Government of Iran, prior to trial, incarcerated these individuals 
        incommunicado for more than a year without presentation of charges, 
        denied the accused the right to choose their own counsel, compelled and 
        coerced fabricated confessions, and conducted the trials in secret, 
        without a jury and with the prosecutor also acting as the judge in the 
        case;
Whereas the Government of Iran has never produced any evidence whatsoever to 
        substantiate the indictments or the subsequent convictions;
Whereas the Iranian Revolutionary Court, having heard the appeal of the 10 
        wrongly convicted Jews, decided to affirm the bulk of their sentences 
        while largely voiding the grounds on which they were convicted;
Whereas the Government of Iran actively opposes the United States-sponsored 
        Middle East peace process and, as the foremost state sponsor of 
        international terrorism, continues to provide arms, financial aid, and 
        diplomatic support to criminal organizations hostile to the United 
        States, United States allies, and United States interests;
Whereas the Government of Iran is pursuing the acquisition of weapons of mass 
        destruction in contravention to its own freely chosen and fundamental 
        obligations as a signatory to international treaties and agreements, 
        including the nuclear Non-Proliferation of Treaty, the Chemical Weapons 
        Convention, and the Biological Weapons Convention;
Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996, Congress, by concurrent 
        resolution, declared that it holds the Government of Iran responsible 
        for upholding the rights of all its nationals;
Whereas on September 19, 2000, the House of Representatives agreed to House 
        Concurrent Resolution 257, concerning the emancipation of the Iranian 
        Baha'i community, and transmitted it to the Senate; and
Whereas on June 29, 2000, the House of Representatives reduced funding for the 
        Animal and Plant Health Inspection Health Service by $15,510 (the amount 
        used for the inspection of imported Iranian food products) and on July 
        20, 2000, prevented the lifting of the embargo on Iranian goods: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the decision by the Iranian Revolutionary 
        Court to sustain the unjust imprisonment of the 10 Jews 
        improperly convicted on July 1, 2000, and urges their immediate 
        release;
            (2) reiterates its call to the Government of Iran to 
        fulfill its obligation to respect fundamental human rights 
        including, inter alia, the rights of free exercise of all 
        religious faiths and entitlement to due process of law;
            (3) calls for the cessation of unilateral gestures of good 
        faith on the part of the United States absent significant and 
        recognizable reciprocal actions by the Government of Iran, 
        particularly steps relating to--
                    (A) ceasing its active opposition to the Middle 
                East peace process;
                    (B) ending its support for international terrorism;
                    (C) stopping its illegal and destabilizing weapons 
                of mass destruction acquisition efforts; and
                    (D) acknowledging and protecting the fundamental 
                human rights of the Iranian people;
            (4) commends the President, the Secretary of State, the 
        United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 
        and the Secretary General of the United Nations for their 
        diligence and urges them to continue their efforts to sustain 
        international pressure on the Government of Iran to release 
        these 12 men; and
            (5) calls on the President--
                    (A) to consider the fate of the 10 Jews and 2 
                Muslims imprisoned as a benchmark against which the 
                intentions and good faith of the Government of Iran 
                should be measured and urges the Secretary to direct 
                all United States diplomatic personnel to promote 
                international efforts to free the 12 falsely imprisoned 
                Iranians; and
                    (B) to sustain, and consider strengthening, 
                existing United States sanctions against Iran, 
                including United States opposition to assistance to 
                Iran provided by international institutions.
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