[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 319 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 319

   Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continuing 
  repression of the religious freedom and human rights of the Iranian 
              Baha'i community by the Government of Iran.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 30, 2003

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Lantos, and Mr. Smith of New Jersey) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continuing 
  repression of the religious freedom and human rights of the Iranian 
              Baha'i community by the Government of Iran.

Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, and in 2000, Congress, by 
        concurrent resolution, declared that it holds the Government of Iran 
        responsible for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including 
        members of the Baha'i Faith;
Whereas the followers of Baha'u'llah, who constitute the largest religious 
        minority in Iran, are not recognized under the Iranian Constitution and 
        are deprived thereby of adequate legal protection;
Whereas Congress has deplored the Government of Iran's persecution of the Baha'i 
        community and has condemned Iran's execution of more than 200 Baha'i and 
        the imprisonment of thousands of others solely on account of their 
        religious beliefs;
Whereas on February 22, 1993, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights 
        published a confidential Iranian Government document revealing that 
        these repressive actions are part of a deliberate policy to destroy the 
        Baha'i community, a deliberate policy that was designed and approved by 
        the highest officials in the Iranian Government;
Whereas in 2002, when the United States was not a member of the United Nations 
        Commission on Human Rights, the resolution against human rights abuses 
        in Iran failed to pass for the first time in 17 consecutive years;
Whereas in 2003, a resolution against human rights abuses in Iran was not 
        introduced for a vote at the meeting of the United Nations Commission on 
        Human Rights;
Whereas the Government of Iran is now free to continue its systematic and 
        deliberate policy to destroy the Baha'i community in the absence of 
        international monitors;
Whereas the use of harassment, in the form of arrests, suspended sentences, and 
        short-term detentions against the Iranian Baha'is have increased since 
        the failure in 2002 to adopt the United Nations resolution against human 
        rights abuses in Iran;
Whereas four Baha'is remain imprisoned in Iran solely because of their religious 
        beliefs, 1 serving a 4-year sentence and another a life sentence for 
        apostasy from Islam, while 2 others are serving 15 years of imprisonment 
        for associating with Baha'i institutions;
Whereas the Iranian Government's deliberate policy to expel Baha'is from 
        universities once it becomes known that they are Baha'is has not 
        changed;
Whereas Baha'is continue to be banned from studying at Iranian universities and 
        therefore were forced to create their own Baha'i Institute of Higher 
        Education (BIHE) using private homes and volunteer faculty throughout 
        Iran, yet in July 2002, Iranian Revolutionary Guards intimidated 
        students and systematically disrupted qualifying examinations for the 
        Baha'i university in nine districts by videotaping the proceedings, 
        interrogating students, and confiscating Baha'i books and examination 
        papers;
Whereas the Iranian Government's deliberate policy to deny Baha'is any position 
        of influence, such as in the educational sector, has not changed;
Whereas in 1998, officers of the Iranian Government arrested 36 faculty members 
        of the Baha'i school and seized textbooks, scientific papers, computers, 
        desks and benches from 532 Baha'i homes and, in March 2003, a Baha'i was 
        re-imprisoned for, among similar charges, educating and training Baha'i 
        youth in various professions and crafts;
Whereas the Iranian Government's deliberate policy to deny Baha'i individuals 
        employment if they identify their religion has not changed;
Whereas some 10,000 Baha'is were dismissed from government positions and 
        educational institutions in the 1980s because of their religious 
        beliefs, many remain unemployed and receive no unemployment benefits or 
        pensions, while others have been required to return salaries or pensions 
        paid to them before they were dismissed;
Whereas the Iranian Government's deliberate policy to destroy the Baha'i 
        community's cultural roots inside the country has not changed;
Whereas the Iranian Government has refused to permit Iranian Baha'is to elect 
        their leaders, refuses to return confiscated Baha'i community 
        properties, refuses to allow Baha'is to assemble as a community, and has 
        demonstrated a desire to impose its own religious ideology on Baha'i 
        youth, as shown by the arrest of 17 Baha'i boys and girls, in June 2002, 
        on the way to a camp for Baha'i teaching and cultural activities;
Whereas the Iranian Government's deliberate policy to destroy the Baha'i 
        community's cultural roots outside the country has not changed;
Whereas in February 2001, Iranian authorities denied visas to non-Iranian 
        Baha'is holding Indian, South Korean, Japanese, and United States 
        passports who were part of the Baha'i International Community's 
        delegation to the Regional Preparatory Conference for the United 
        Nations' World Conference Against Racism, held in Tehran; and
Whereas the Government of Iran's deliberate policy of slowly strangling the 
        Baha'i community's viability is in direct violation of international 
        norms expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has not 
        changed: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) expects the Government of Iran to uphold the rights of 
        all its nationals, including the members of the Baha'i Faith, 
        in a manner consistent with Iran's obligations under the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international 
        agreements guaranteeing the civil and political rights of its 
        citizens, including freedom of thought, conscience, and 
        religion;
            (2) condemns the deliberate policy of the Government of 
        Iran to undermine the viability of the Baha'i community;
            (3) urges the Government of Iran to permit Baha'i students 
        to attend, and Baha'i faculty to teach, at Iranian 
        universities, as well as to permit the Baha'i Institute of 
        Higher Education to continue teaching functions among Baha'i 
        youth without disturbance;
            (4) urges the Government of Iran to eliminate employment 
        discrimination against Baha'is in both public and private 
        sectors, and to distribute pensions and unemployment benefits 
        without respect to belief or religious affiliation;
            (5) urges the Government of Iran to demonstrate its 
        commitment to human rights, democracy, and religious freedom by 
        making a legislative enactment to clarify that the civil and 
        political rights of all unrecognized minorities or communities, 
        such as the Baha'is, are to be respected regardless of their 
        religious beliefs;
            (6) urges the Government of Iran to allow the 
        reestablishment of Baha'i institutions, to give individuals the 
        freedom to manifest their religion, and to return all 
        confiscated Baha'i properties;
            (7) urges the United States representative to the United 
        Nations to pursue a resolution on human rights violations in 
        Iran, including specific mention of the the situation of the 
        Baha'is, and calls for reestablishment of the mandate of the 
        Special Representative on Iran at the United Nations Commission 
        on Human Rights; and
            (8) calls upon the President to continue--
                    (A) to assert that the United States regards the 
                human rights practices of the Government of Iran, 
                particularly its treatment of the Baha'i community and 
                other religious minorities, as a significant factor in 
                the foreign policy of the United States Government 
                regarding Iran; and
                    (B) to encourage other governments to continue to 
                appeal to the Government of Iran, and to cooperate with 
                other governments and international organizations, 
                including the United Nations and its agencies, in 
                efforts to protect the religious rights of the Baha'is 
                and other minorities.
                                 <all>