[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 71 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 71

 Condemning the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution 
   of the Baha'i minority in Iran and its continued violation of the 
                International Covenants on Human Rights.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 9, 2009

 Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Snowe, and 
 Mr. Brownback) 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 the Baha'i minority in Iran and its continued violation of the 
                International Covenants on Human Rights.

Whereas, in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2006, and 2008, 
        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, in November 2007, the Iranian Ministry of Information in Shiraz jailed 
        Baha'is Ms. Raha Sabet, age 33, Mr. Sasan Taqva, age 32, and Ms. Haleh 
        Roohi, age 29, for educating underprivileged children and gave them 4-
        year prison terms, which they are serving;
Whereas Ms. Sabet, Mr. Taqva, and Ms. Rooshi were targeted solely on the basis 
        of their religion;
Whereas, on January 23, 2008, the Department of State released a statement 
        urging the Government of Iran to release all individuals held without 
        due process and a fair trial, including the 3 young Baha'is being held 
        in an Iranian Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Shiraz;
Whereas, in March and May of 2008, Iranian intelligence officials in Mashhad and 
        Tehran arrested and imprisoned Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin 
        Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. 
        Mahvash Sabet, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, the members of the coordinating 
        group for the Baha'i community in Iran;
Whereas, on February 11, 2009, the deputy prosecutor in Tehran, Mr. Hassan 
        Haddad, announced that those seven leaders will go on trial at a 
        Revolutionary Court on charges of ``espionage for Israel, insulting 
        religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic'';
Whereas the lawyer for these seven leaders, Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel 
        Laureate, has been denied all access to the prisoners and their files;
Whereas these seven Baha'i leaders 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 the Baha'i minority 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 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, and Ms. Haleh Roohi; and
            (3) calls on the President and Secretary of State, in 
        cooperation with the international community, to immediately 
        condemn the Government of Iran's continued 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, and Ms. Haleh Roohi.
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