[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 414 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 414

  Condemning the imprisonment of Ali Akbar Ganji by the Government of 
 Iran and the continuous violations of the fundamental human rights of 
             the Iranian people by the Government of Iran.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2005

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning the imprisonment of Ali Akbar Ganji by the Government of 
 Iran and the continuous violations of the fundamental human rights of 
             the Iranian people by the Government of Iran.

Whereas in April 2000, Mr. Ali Akbar Ganji was arrested after authoring several 
        articles suggesting the involvement of senior Iranian officials, 
        including former president Hashemi Rafsanjani and former intelligence 
        minister Ali Fallahian, in an assassination campaign aimed against 
        political dissidents and intellectuals in late 1998;
Whereas Ali Akbar Ganji was again arrested for having taken part in an April 
        1998 conference in Berlin on Iranian legislative elections and 
        democratic reforms and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five 
        years of internal exile in January 2001 but his sentence was 
        subsequently reduced to six months in prison by an appeals court in May 
        2001;
Whereas in July 2001 the Iranian Supreme Court overturned the appeals court 
        ruling on technical grounds and sentenced Ali Akbar Ganji to six years 
        in jail for ``threatening national security'' and ``propaganda against 
        the institutions of the Islamic Republic'' of Iran;
Whereas Ali Akbar Ganji is held incommunicado, reportedly in solitary 
        confinement at the infamous Evin Prison, where he suffers from asthma 
        and serious back problems and until recently had been denied access to 
        adequate medical treatment;
Whereas it is alleged that Ali Akbar Ganji has been beaten during his 
        imprisonment and international human rights organizations remain 
        concerned that he is at risk of being subjected to further torture or 
        ill treatment;
Whereas President George W. Bush has called for the Government of Iran to 
        unconditionally release Ali Akbar Ganji and allow him access to medical 
        assistance;
Whereas the United States Congress has repeatedly expressed its condemnation of 
        arbitrary and inhumane practices utilized by the Government of Iran in 
        order to silence peaceful critics among its own people;
Whereas the Iranian people aspire to democracy, civil, political, and religious 
        rights, and the rule of law, as evidenced by anti-government 
        demonstrations within Iran and by statements of numerous Iranian 
        expatriates and dissidents;
Whereas the Government of Iran exercises torture and cruel and inhuman 
        punishment, including flogging, stoning, and the use of public hangings;
Whereas judicial verdicts in Iran are often delivered without due process of 
        law;
Whereas the situation of freedom of expression in Iran continues to deteriorate 
        as dissidents are arrested and detained without charge or trial solely 
        for peaceful demonstrations and criticism of the authorities; and
Whereas Ali Akbar Ganji, in particular, and the people of Iran, in general, 
        deserve the support of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the House of Representatives--
                    (A) unequivocally condemns the imprisonment of Mr. 
                Ali Akbar Ganji, a prisoner of conscience, by the 
                Government of Iran, calls for his immediate release, 
                and denounces the consistent pattern of gross 
                violations of internationally recognized human rights 
                by the Iranian regime; and
                    (B) calls upon United States allies, the United 
                Nations, and the international community to publicly 
                condemn the Government of Iran for the continuing 
                imprisonment of Ali Akbar Ganji and other violations of 
                internationally recognized human rights; and
            (2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
                    (A) the Government of Iran should end all acts of 
                harassment and arbitrary detention against all peaceful 
                Iranian dissidents and human rights defenders and 
                conform with the provisions of the Universal 
                Declaration of Human Rights and all other international 
                agreements and obligations to which Iran is a party; 
                and
                    (B) it should be the policy of the United States to 
                support independent human rights dissidents and pro-
                democracy advocates in Iran and promote the emergence 
                of a democratic form of government in Iran that will 
                restore freedom to the Iranian people, abandon 
                terrorism, abandon the development, proliferation, and 
                possession of nuclear, biological, and chemical 
                weapons, and live in peace and security with the 
                international community.
                                 <all>