[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1371 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1371

  Condemning the selection of the Government of Iran to serve on the 
           United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 2010

Mr. McCotter (for himself, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. 
Campbell, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Inglis, and Mr. Polis of Colorado) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning the selection of the Government of Iran to serve on the 
           United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

Whereas the Government of Iran's Islamic civil and penal codes discriminate 
        against women;
Whereas according to the Department of State's 2009 Country Reports on Human 
        Rights Practices, Iranian women are only ``nominally'' granted ``equal 
        protection under the law . . . in conformity with Islam'';
Whereas the Iranian penal code dictates a punishment of lashings or a fine if a 
        woman appears in public without an appropriate hijab;
Whereas Iranian law permits a man to have as many as four wives;
Whereas under Iranian law, an Iranian woman may divorce her husband only if he 
        consents, if he cannot provide for the family, or if he is a drug 
        addict, insane, or impotent;
Whereas under Iranian law, a husband may divorce his wife without citing a 
        reason;
Whereas under Iranian law, adultery is punishable by death by stoning, and a man 
        who kills his wife after she is caught in adultery may easily escape 
        punishment;
Whereas according to the Department of State's 2009 Country Reports on Human 
        Rights Practices, in 2005, 52.7 percent of women in Iran reported 
        experiencing physical violence at some point during their married lives;
Whereas under Iranian law, spousal rape is legal;
Whereas Iranian victims of rape often neglect to report the crime to the 
        authorities for fear of societal reprisal such as ostracism or 
        punishment for having been raped;
Whereas under Iranian law, an Iranian woman must have the permission of her 
        husband, father, or male relative to obtain a passport, and a married 
        woman may not leave the country without permission from her husband;
Whereas the Government of Iran uses quotas to limit women's university 
        admissions in certain fields such as medicine and engineering;
Whereas the Government of Iran enforces gender segregation and requires women to 
        ride in reserved sections on public buses and enter public buildings, 
        universities, and airports through separate entrances;
Whereas in 2006, women's rights activists in Iran began the One Million 
        Signatures Campaign or the One Million Signatures for the Repeal of 
        Discriminatory Laws (OMSC), also known as Change for Equality;
Whereas this campaign aims to collect one million signatures in support of 
        changing Iran's discriminatory laws against women;
Whereas Iranian authorities relentlessly crack down on and intimidate members of 
        this campaign by arresting and imprisoning them;
Whereas during the protests following the disputed Iranian political processes 
        of June 12, 2009, according to published reports, Neda Agha-Soltan, a 
        young Iranian woman, was shot and killed by a member of a paramilitary 
        group affiliated with the Government of Iran;
Whereas, according to published reports, Taraneh Mousavi, a young Iranian woman, 
        was imprisoned without a warrant, raped, tortured, and burned, with her 
        remains being discarded on the side of the road;
Whereas, on November 20, 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a 
        resolution ``expressing deep concern'' about Iran's ``serious, ongoing, 
        and recurring human rights violations'';
Whereas the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (``the 
        Commission'') is, according to its Web site, ``dedicated exclusively to 
        gender equality and advancement of women'';
Whereas the Commission is responsible for reviewing violations of women's 
        rights, reporting details of nations' failures in this area, and 
        monitoring progress towards improving the rights of women;
Whereas, on April 30, 2010, Iran was selected by acclamation to serve on the 
        Commission for a four-year term beginning at the first meeting of the 
        Commission's fifty-sixth session in 2011 and expiring at the close of 
        its fifty-ninth session in 2015;
Whereas the United States did not issue any public statement on the selection of 
        the Government of Iran to serve on the Commission until May 13, 2010, 
        and still has yet to condemn that action; and
Whereas given the Government of Iran's grave violations of human rights, Iran's 
        membership in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women poses 
        a serious threat to the integrity and goals of the Commission and 
        undermines the cause of freedom and human rights for the Iranian people: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the selection of the Government of Iran to 
        serve on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women;
            (2) calls on the Administration to denounce the selection 
        of the Government of Iran to serve on the Commission;
            (3) urges the President to direct the United States 
        Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use the 
        voice, vote, and influence of the United States at the United 
        Nations to advocate for the removal of the Government of Iran 
        from the Commission; and
            (4) reaffirms its solidarity with the Iranian people in 
        their continuing struggle for freedom and human rights, 
        including equal rights for women in Iran.
                                 <all>