[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 694 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 694

 Condemning the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution 
  of religious minorities in Iran and its continued violation of the 
                International Covenants on Human Rights.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 3, 2010

 Mr. Brownback (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Leahy, 
    Mr. Kyl, Mr. Casey, Mr. Johanns, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Lieberman) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Condemning the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution 
  of religious minorities in Iran and its continued violation of the 
                International Covenants on Human Rights.

Whereas Iran is a multicultural society comprised of Shia and Sunni Muslims, as 
        well as Baha'is, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Persians, Azeris, 
        Gilakis and Mazandaranis, Kurds, Arabs, Lurs, Turkmen, Armenians, 
        Balochis, Bakhtyaris, and others, and many of these communities have 
        coexisted for thousands of years;
Whereas the Baha'i community is the largest non-Muslim religious minority in 
        Iran, whose teachings emphasize multiculturalism, equality of men and 
        women, interdependence, and humankind living in peace;
Whereas vast numbers of Iranians recognize the many contributions Baha'is have 
        made to their society despite facing government-sponsored persecution;
Whereas, in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2006, 2008, and 2009, 
        Congress declared that it deplored the religious persecution by the 
        Government of Iran of the Baha'i community and would hold the Government 
        of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all Iranian nationals, 
        including members of the Baha'i faith;
Whereas, according to the February 2010 United Nations Human Rights Council 
        Universal Periodic Review of Iran, ``The Secretary-General noted reports 
        about Baha'is subjected to arbitrary detention, false imprisonment, 
        confiscation and destruction of property, citing a significant increase 
        in violence targeting Baha'is, including torture or ill-treatment in 
        custody.'';
Whereas, in August 2010, the seven former leaders of the Iranian Baha'i 
        community were sentenced to a 20-year prison term, later reduced to a 
        10-year sentence, following over two years of arbitrary detention 
        without trial;
Whereas numerous independent observers and legal experts, including the United 
        Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, have raised serious 
        questions about the lack of due process or fairness of their trial;
Whereas over 43 Baha'is continue to be imprisoned in Iran as of November 2010 
        solely because of their religious beliefs;
Whereas the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 
        2010 (Public Law 111-195) calls on the President to impose ``sanctions 
        on certain persons who are responsible for or complicit in human rights 
        abuses committed against citizens of Iran or their family members'';
Whereas, on March 15, 2010, Ms. Rozita Vaseghi was arrested and has since been 
        held in solitary confinement at the detention center of the Ministry of 
        Intelligence unit in Mashhad;
Whereas the seven leaders of the Baha'i community, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin 
        Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Saeid Rezaie, Vahid Tizfahm, 
        and Mahvash Sabet, were arrested between March and May 2008 and have 
        remained in detention;
Whereas, on June 14, 2010, the trial of these seven leaders concluded after four 
        hearings and on June 30 the court issued a 20-year prison sentence for 
        each which was subsequently verbally changed to a 10-year sentence;
Whereas, on October 12, 2009, Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was arrested in 
        northern Iran and faces a death sentence for apostasy after he 
        questioned the Muslim monopoly on religious instruction his children 
        were receiving in school;
Whereas, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of 
        incidents of Iranian authorities raiding church services, detaining 
        worshippers and church leaders, and harassing and threatening church 
        members;
Whereas official policies promoting anti-Semitism have risen sharply in Iran, 
        particularly since President Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005;
Whereas, on July 23, 2009, riot police and security forces injured and arrested 
        20 Sufi practitioners in Gonabad who then received sentences of flogging 
        or imprisonment in May 2010;
Whereas, in January 2009, Jamshid Lak, a Sufi of the Gonabadi Dervish order, was 
        flogged 74 times after being charged in 2006 with slander after 
        reportedly publicly complaining of ill treatment by the Ministry of 
        Intelligence;
Whereas, in July 2008, plain clothes security officers raided the home of 
        Isfahan Iranian Christians Abbas Amiri and Sakineh Rahnama during a 
        meeting, and both Amiri and Rahnama died of injuries suffered during the 
        raid;
Whereas these individuals were targeted solely on the basis of their religion; 
        and
Whereas the Government of Iran is party to the International Covenants on Human 
        Rights: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored 
        persecution of religious minorities in Iran and its continued 
        violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights;
            (2) calls on the Government of Iran to immediately release 
        the seven leaders of the Baha'i community and all other 
        prisoners held solely on account of their religion, including 
        Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif 
        Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash 
        Sabet, Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, Ms. 
        Haleh Roohi, and Ms Rozita Vaseghi;
            (3) calls on the President and Secretary of State, in 
        cooperation with the international community, to continue to 
        condemn the Government of Iran's ongoing violation of human 
        rights and demand the immediate release of prisoners held 
        solely on account of their religion, including Mrs. Fariba 
        Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid 
        Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Vahid 
        Tizfahm, Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, Ms. Haleh Roohi, and 
        Ms Rozita Vaseghi;
            (4) urges the President and Secretary of State to consider 
        implementing further sanctions against officials directly 
        responsible for egregious human rights violations, including 
        against the Baha'is;
            (5) calls on the United States Government to continue to 
        support an annual United Nations General Assembly resolution 
        condemning severe violations of human rights, including freedom 
        of religion or belief, in Iran;
            (6) calls on the United States Government to press for a 
        resolution condemning severe violations of human rights in 
        Iran, including freedom of religion or belief, at the United 
        Nations General Assembly and at the United Nations Human Rights 
        Council; and
            (7) call on the United Nations Human Rights Council to 
        restore the position of United Nations Special Rapporteur on 
        the situation of human rights in Iran with the task of 
        investigating and reporting on human rights abuses in Iran.
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