II 109th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3870 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 7 (legislative day, September 6), 2006 Mr. Brownback introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To hold the current regime in Iran accountable for its human rights record and to support a transition to democracy in Iran.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Iran Human Rights Act of 2006.

2.

Appropriate congressional committees defined

In this Act, the term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on International Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

3.

Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1)There is currently not a democratic government in Iran. Instead, Iran is an ideological dictatorship presided over by an unelected Supreme Leader with limitless veto power, an unelected Expediency Council, and a Council of Guardians capable of eviscerating any reforms. (2)The Supreme Leader appoints the heads of the judiciary, the clergy members on the powerful Council of Guardians, the commanders of all the armed forces, Friday prayer leaders, and the head of radio and television and confirms the president’s election, rendering him the most powerful person in Iranian politics with little accountability within the political system. (3)Members of the Council of Guardians in Iran, who are chosen by the Supreme Leader, must vet all candidates for election based on their political predispositions and all legislation before it can be entered into law. (4)There has been a re-entrenchment of revolutionary forces in the political system in Iran. Elections held in February 2004 resulted in significant gains by conservative hard-liners affiliated with the regime’s clerical army, the Pasdaran, culminating in the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (5)Over the past decade, human rights have been in steady decline in Iran. Torture, executions after unfair trials, and censorship of all media remain rampant throughout the country. Stoning, amputation, flogging, and beheading are used as methods of punishment. (6)Since his rise to power, President Ahmadinejad has embarked upon a concerted campaign of domestic repression, including new restrictions on radio, television, and film content, a ban on the publication of virtually all books, and an expansion in the activities of the regime’s morals police. (7)The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 60/171 on December 16, 2005, to express its grave concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. The resolution urges the Government of Iran “to ensure full respect for the rights to freedom of assembly, opinion and expression … to eliminate the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment … [and] to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, or linguistic grounds. (8)The 2005 State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices states that the Government’s poor human rights record worsened, and it continued to commit numerous, serious abuses. (9)According to Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2006, many of the human rights violations committed in Iran were performed by quasi-official parallel institutions, which include paramilitary groups and plainclothes intelligence agents [that] violently attack peaceful protesters, and intelligence services [that] run illegal secret prisons and interrogation centers. Uniformed police officers are fearful of challenging plainclothes agents, who belong to groups such as Ansar-e Hizbollah and Basij. (10)According to the 2005 State Department International Religious Freedom Report, the population of Iran is 89 percent Shi’a Muslim and 8 percent Sunni Muslim; less than one percent of the remaining population is comprised of Baha’is, Jews, Christians, Mandaeans, and Zoroastrians. (11)Religious minorities in Iran face significant discrimination, including imprisonment, harassment, and intimidation. Accordingly, the Secretary of State has, since 1999, designated Iran as a country of particular concern pursuant to section 402(b)(1)(A) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)). (12)Ambeyi Ligabo, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, submitted a report to the Commission on Human Rights in 2004 on Civil and Political Rights, Including the Question of Freedom of Expression. Mr. Ligabo asserted that the climate of fear induced by the systematic repression of people expressing critical views against the authorized political and religious doctrine and the functioning of the institutions coupled with the severe and disproportionate sentences imposed lead to self-censorship on the part of many journalists, intellectuals, politicians, students and the population at large, thus in effect impeding freedom of expression. (13)Amnesty International’s 2003 Report on Iran detailed the arrest of Iranian-born Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi for taking photographs outside Evin prison in Tehran on June 23, 2003. Over the course of her detention, judicial officials interrogated Ms. Kazemi for three days. While in custody, Ms. Kazemi was beaten, and she died of a brain hemorrhage on July 23, 2003. (14)Men and women are not equal under the laws of Iran, and women are legally deprived of their basic rights. The 2005 State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices stated that the weight of a woman’s court testimony in Iran is half that of a man’s testimony and the family of a female crime victim in that country receives only half the amount of blood money provided to the family of a male crime victim. The Government of Iran mandates gender segregation in most public spaces, including on public buses and at entrances to public buildings, universities, and airports. (15)The April 28, 2006, Department of State Patterns of Global Terrorism Report states that Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2005. (16)There exists a broad-based movement and desire for political change in the Islamic Republic of Iran that is pro-democratic and seeks freedom and economic opportunity, and which represents all sectors of Iranian society, including youth, women, students, military personnel, and religious figures. (17)The people of Iran have increasingly expressed frustration at the slow pace of reform in Iran, and any efforts for nonviolent change in their society have been suppressed. (18)On September 7, 2006, Mohammad Khatami, President of Iran from 1997 to 2005, became the highest ranking Iranian to visit Washington, DC, since the hostage crisis of 1979, despite his government's state sponsorship of terrorism, repression of political opponents, and dismal human rights record and the advancement of Iran's uranium enrichment program. (19)President Ahmadinejad is moving to limit freedom of expression in higher education. On September 5, 2006, he expressed concern that universities were too secular and called for a purge of liberal and secular faculty members from universities in Iran.

4.

Authorization of appropriations

There is authorized to be appropriated to the President $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 to carry out sections 201, 303, and 304.