IV 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 992 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 16, 2009 Mr. Poe of Texas (for himself and Mr. Rohrabacher) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran should halt the widespread and brutal repression of the peaceful reformist protestors, opposition supporters, human rights defenders, students, and journalists following the disputed Iranian presidential election of June 12, 2009.

Whereas the international community has witnessed through thousands of mobile phone videos broadcast worldwide the widespread, unprovoked violence and acts of murder perpetrated by Iranian authorities against unarmed, peaceful protestors in response to the disputed June 12, 2009, presidential election; Whereas according to Human Rights Watch reports, Iranian authorities have blocked or interrupted Internet-based communications, disrupted mobile phone and text messaging networks, and imposed severe censorship on websites and the domestic press; Whereas article 3 of the Constitution of Iran obliges the government to eliminate all forms of despotism and autocracy and all attempts to monopolize power, to ensure political and social freedoms within the framework of the law, secure the rights of all citizens, both women and men, and provide legal protection for all, as well as the equality of all before the law; Whereas article 20 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran protects the rights of all citizens of the country, both men and women, to equal protection under the law and provides all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights; Whereas Iran, a signatory (April 1968) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which it ratified in June 1975, is bound by international human rights law to recognize and protect human rights, including peaceful assembly and freedom of association; Whereas the Government of Iran, in violation of its own constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as reported by Human Rights Watch, continues to employ violence repeatedly to prevent its citizens from peacefully assembling and conducting demonstrations, and continues to arrest and detain reformist politicians and clerics, students, journalists, reformist party officials, and human rights activists; Whereas the Government of Iran still has taken no steps to bring to justice the murderers of Neda Agha-Soltan and others who were shot dead as a result of clashes between Iranian security forces and unarmed, peaceful protestors; Whereas peaceful Iranian protestors, at great personal risk, continue to call on the United States by name to support them; Whereas the United States has a longstanding commitment to human rights and justice; and Whereas the people of the United States do not believe in supporting repressive dictatorships: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1)condemns in the strongest terms the gross abuses of the rights of the citizens of Iran by the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran and calls on the government immediately to honor its obligations under its own constitution and International Human Rights Laws; (2)supports without reservation the rights of Iranian citizens to peacefully protest and petition their government to address their legitimate grievances; and (3)urges the Government of Iran to release immediately all those peaceful protestors and opposition supporters it has detained, stop the harassment and violent acts against these Iranian citizens committed by security forces and the Basij militias, and bring to justice the government authorities responsible for perpetrating the unlawful acts of violence.