[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 355 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 355

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Government of the Islamic 
Republic of Iran has systematically violated its obligations to uphold 
human rights provided for under its constitution and international law.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 19, 2009

    Mr. Levin (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Casey, Mr. Graham, Mr. 
    Lieberman, Mr. Corker, and Mr. Nelson of Florida) submitted the 
        following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Government of the Islamic 
Republic of Iran has systematically violated its obligations to uphold 
human rights provided for under its constitution and international law.

Whereas the 1979 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran supposedly 
        guarantees certain human rights and fundamental freedoms, which 
        encompass civil and political rights, along with economic, social, and 
        cultural rights;
Whereas the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party to four major United Nations 
        human rights treaties: the Convention on the Rights of the Child (which 
        it ratified on July 13, 1994), the International Convention on the 
        Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (which it ratified on 
        August 29, 1968), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
        Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 
        Rights (both of which its ratified on June 24, 1975);
Whereas the Government of Iran has routinely violated the human rights of its 
        citizens, including--

    (1) torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, 
including flogging, and amputations;

    (2) high incidence and increase in the rate of executions carried out 
in the absence of internationally recognized safeguards, including public 
executions and executions of juvenile offenders;

    (3) stoning as a method of execution and persons in prison who continue 
to face sentences of execution by stoning;

    (4) arrests, violent repression, and sentencing of women exercising 
their right to peaceful assembly, a campaign of intimidation against 
women's rights defenders, and continuing discrimination against women and 
girls;

    (5) increasing discrimination and other human rights violations against 
persons belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic, or other minorities;

    (6) ongoing, systematic, and serious restrictions of freedom of 
peaceful assembly and association and freedom of opinion and expression, 
including the continuing closures of media outlets, arrests of journalists, 
and the censorship of expression in online forums such as blogs and 
websites; and

    (7) severe limitations and restrictions on freedom of religion and 
belief, including arbitrary arrest, indefinite detention, and lengthy jail 
sentences for those exercising their right to freedom of religion or 
belief, including a provision in the proposed draft penal code that sets 
out a mandatory death sentence for apostasy, the abandoning of one's faith;

Whereas, since March 9, 2007, Robert Levinson, a United States citizen, has been 
        missing in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Government of Iran has 
        provided little information on his whereabouts or assistance in ensuring 
        his safe return to the United States;
Whereas Ja'far Kiani was publicly stoned to death in July 2007 in the Islamic 
        Republic of Iran in contravention of an order from the Head of the 
        Judiciary granting a temporary stay of execution;
Whereas, since May 2008, Reza Taghavi, a 71-year old Iranian-American, has been 
        imprisoned without a trial or formal charges;
Whereas, on October 15, 2008, authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran jailed 
        Esha Momeni, a graduate student at California State University, 
        Northridge, for her peaceful activities in connection with the women's 
        rights movement in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and refused to grant 
        her permission to leave Iran for 10 months following her release from 
        prison in November 2008;
Whereas Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was jailed in January 2009 and 
        sentenced in a closed-door, one-hour trial to eight years in prison for 
        charges of espionage before her release in May 2009;
Whereas, on June 19, 2009, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 
        expressed concerns about the increasing number of illegal arrests not in 
        conformity with the law and the illegal use of excessive force in 
        responding to protests following the June 12, 2009, elections, resulting 
        in at least dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries;
Whereas the Government of Iran closed the Center for Defenders of Human Rights, 
        headed by Nobel Peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi, in December 2008, and 
        the Association of Iranian Journalists in August 2009, the country's 
        largest independent association for journalists;
Whereas, on August 1, 2009, authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran began a 
        mass trial of over 100 individuals in connection with election protests, 
        most of whom were held incommunicado for weeks, in solitary confinement, 
        with little or no access to their lawyers and families, many of whom 
        showed signs of torture and drugging;
Whereas, in early October 2009, the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran 
        sentenced four individuals to death after the disputed presidential 
        election, without providing the individuals adequate access to legal 
        representation during their trials;
Whereas the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, issued a statement on October 
        28, 2009, effectively criminalizing dissent regarding the national 
        election in the Islamic Republic of Iran this past June, further 
        restricting the right to freedom of expression;
Whereas the Government of Iran does not allow independent nongovernmental 
        associations and labor unions to perform their role in peacefully 
        defending the rights of all persons;
Whereas, on November 4, 2009, security forces in the Islamic Republic of Iran 
        used brutal force to disperse thousands of protesters, resulting in a 
        number of injuries and arrests, in violation of international standards 
        regarding the proportionate use of force against peaceful 
        demonstrations;
Whereas the Government of Iran expelled students from universities, particularly 
        over the past two years, in reprisal for their being critical of the 
        government;
Whereas the Government of Iran has imposed restrictions on the travel of 
        individuals, including artists and filmmakers since the recent 
        elections, in reprisal for their political views or their criticism of 
        the government, such as those presently imposed on human rights lawyer 
        Abdolfattah Soltani, human rights activist Emad Baghi, film director 
        Jafar Panahi, and actress Fatemeh Motamed Arya; and
Whereas, according to Amnesty International, at least 346 people were known to 
        have been executed in 2008, including eight juvenile offenders and two 
        men who were executed by stoning: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) calls for authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran 
        to respect the rights of the people of Iran to freedom of 
        speech, press, religion, association, and assembly;
            (2) condemns the Government of Iran's human rights 
        violations and calls on the Government of Iran to hold those 
        responsible accountable for their actions;
            (3) reminds the Government of Iran of its constitutional 
        obligations under its 1979 Constitution and four international 
        covenants to which it is a signatory;
            (4) calls for the immediate release from detention of 
        opposition figures, human rights defenders, journalists, and 
        all others held for peacefully exercising their right to 
        expression, assembly, and association;
            (5) urges the Government of Iran to ensure that anyone 
        placed on trial for committing acts of violence or other 
        clearly criminal acts benefits from all of his or her rights to 
        a fair trial, including proceedings that are open to the 
        public, the right to be represented by independent counsel, and 
        guarantees that no statements shall be admitted into evidence 
        that were shown to have been obtained through torture, 
        inhumane, or degrading treatment;
            (6) calls for the Government of Iran to ensure those 
        currently in detention are treated humanely, to provide 
        detainees immediate prompt access to their families, lawyers, 
        and any medical treatment that may be needed, and calls for the 
        Government of Iran to hold accountable those responsible for 
        torture of detainees; and
            (7) calls for authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 
        consistent with their obligations under the International 
        Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to guarantee all 
        persons the ``freedom to seek, receive and impart information 
        and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, 
        in writing, or in print, in the form of art, or through any 
        other media of his choice''.
                                 <all>