IV 112th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 828 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 11, 2012 Mr. Kucinich (for himself, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Michaud, and Mr. Moran) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Calling for the unconditional release of Nasrin Sotoudeh and all prisoners of conscience in Iran, and the utilization by the United States of direct multilateral and bilateral diplomacy with Iran to address Iran’s human rights situation.

Whereas Nasrin Sotoudeh is an Iranian human rights lawyer who has worked on behalf of journalists and human rights defenders, including 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi; Whereas on September 4, 2010, Sotoudeh was arrested on allegations of acting against national security and the spread of propaganda and eventually sentenced to 6 years in prison and banned from practicing law for 10 years; Whereas on October 17, 2012, Sotoudeh began a 49-day hunger strike in response to a travel ban imposed on her 12-year-old daughter and other restrictions on her family; Whereas on December 4, 2012, Sotoudeh ended her hunger strike after Iranian authorities lifted the travel ban against her daughter; Whereas international human rights nongovernmental organizations have repeatedly condemned the imprisonment of Sotoudeh as a violation of human rights and called for the release of Sotoudeh and all other prisoners of conscience in Iran; Whereas in addition to lawyers like Nasrin Sotoudeh, Iran continues to imprison prisoners of conscience in influential fields including artists like Jafar Panahi, students like Majid Tavakoli, women’s rights activists like Bahareh Hedayat, journalists like Ahmad Zeidabadi, and former officials like Mostafa Tajzadeh; Whereas on October 28, 2012, Iranian blogger Sattar Beheshti was detained at Evin prison by Iran’s cyber police due to writings critical of the Government of Iran and was later found beaten to death; Whereas the Government of Iran is signatory to 4 major United Nations human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Whereas the United States has held no formal multilateral or bilateral negotiations with Iran that have included the issue of human rights; and Whereas Iranian democracy human rights defenders including Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, Shirin Ebadi, and Akbar Ganji have warned that threats of war and increasing sanctions have undermined the human rights situation, set back Iran’s pro-democracy movement, and empowered hardliners inside Iran: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1)calls upon the Government of Iran to unconditionally release Nasrin Sotoudeh and all prisoners of conscience; (2)encourages the President to utilize direct bilateral and multilateral diplomacy with Iran to support human rights; (3)encourages the President in coordination with the Secretary of State to support the establishment of multilateral mechanisms to advance human rights issues in Iran; and (4)commends the people of Iran who have braved repression to peacefully exercise their fundamental human rights, as enshrined in international human rights law.