[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 216 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 216

 Calling on the Government of Iran to release unjustly detained United 
  States citizens and legal permanent resident aliens, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 10, 2017

Mr. Cruz submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Calling on the Government of Iran to release unjustly detained United 
  States citizens and legal permanent resident aliens, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran has taken as 
        hostages several United States citizens, including Siamak and Baquer 
        Namazi, as well as United States legal permanent resident alien Nizar 
        Zakka;
Whereas Siamak Namazi was detained on October 15, 2015, falsely accused and 
        convicted on October 18, 2016, for ``collaborating with a hostile 
        government,'' and has been held for extended periods in solitary 
        confinement and under constant interrogation;
Whereas former United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) official Baquer 
        Namazi, the 80-year old father of Siamak Namazi, was detained on 
        February 22, 2016, falsely accused and convicted to 10 years in prison 
        for the identical crime as his son;
Whereas former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon urged 
        authorities in Iran to release Baquer Namazi, whose health status is 
        deteriorating, to allow his family to care for him;
Whereas the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has issued 4 
        public statements on Baquer Namazi's behalf;
Whereas Robert Levinson, a United States citizen and retired agent of the 
        Federal Bureau of Investigation, traveled to Kish Island, Iran, and 
        disappeared on March 9, 2007;
Whereas, according to White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, the United 
        States Government had ``secured a commitment from the Iranians . . . to 
        try and gather information about Mr. Levinson's possible whereabouts'' 
        but has not received any information thus far;
Whereas Nizar Zakka, a United States legal permanent resident alien and Lebanese 
        national, who is also in a weakened physical state, was unlawfully 
        detained around September 18, 2015, after presenting at a conference in 
        Iran at the invitation of Iran, and was later falsely charged with being 
        a spy and sentenced to 10 years at the Evin prison in Iran;
Whereas, on April 13, 2017, the United States Department of the Treasury 
        sanctioned the Tehran Prisons Organization and its former head, Sohrab 
        Soleimani, and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer noted that 
        ``[t]he sanctions against human rights abusers in Iran's prisons come at 
        a time when Iran continues to unjustly detain in its prisons various 
        foreigners, including U.S. citizens Siamak Namazi and Baquer Namazi'';
Whereas, on April 25, 2017, at the meeting of the Joint Commission overseeing 
        implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Department 
        of State reported that the United States delegation had ``raised with 
        the Iranian delegation its serious concerns regarding the cases of U.S. 
        citizens detained and missing in Iran, and called on Iran to immediately 
        release these U.S. citizens so they can be reunited with their 
        families'';
Whereas elements of the Iranian regime are reportedly using nationals and dual-
        nationals from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, 
        Germany, and other countries to exact political or financial 
        concessions; and
Whereas reports indicate that the Government of Iran is seeking additional 
        payments or other concessions, including relief from economic sanctions, 
        from the families and governments of hostages as a condition of release, 
        which is a practice banned by the International Convention Against the 
        Taking of Hostages, adopted by the General Assembly of the United 
        Nations on December 17, 1979, and other international legal norms: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) calls on the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran 
        to release unconditionally Siamak Namazi, Baquer Namazi, Nizar 
        Zakka, and any other United States citizen, legal permanent 
        resident alien, or foreign national being unjustly detained in 
        Iran;
            (2) urges the President to make the release of United 
        States citizens and legal permanent resident aliens held 
        hostage by the Government of Iran the highest of priorities;
            (3) requests that the United States and its allies whose 
        nationals have been detained consider establishing a 
        multinational task force to secure the release of the 
        detainees;
            (4) urges the Government of Iran to take meaningful steps 
        toward fulfilling its repeated promises to assist in locating 
        and returning Robert Levinson, including immediately providing 
        all available information from all entities of the Government 
        of Iran regarding the disappearance of Robert Levinson to the 
        United States Government;
            (5) encourages the President to take meaningful action to 
        secure the release of Siamak Namazi, Baquer Namazi, Nizar 
        Zakka, and any other United States citizen, legal permanent 
        resident alien, or foreign national being unjustly detained in 
        Iran if the Government of Iran does not release such United 
        States citizens, legal permanent resident aliens, and foreign 
        nationals; and
            (6) encourages the President to take meaningful action to 
        secure the return of Robert Levinson if the Government of Iran 
        does not locate and return him.
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