[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 492 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 492
Condemning the Government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of the
Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International
Covenants on Human Rights.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 9, 2023
Ms. Schakowsky (for herself, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Beyer, Mr.
Bilirakis, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Connolly, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms.
Houlahan, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Keating, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Kim of New Jersey,
Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. LaMalfa, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. McGovern,
Ms. Meng, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Obernolte, Mr. Peters, Mr. Schneider, Ms.
Schrier, Ms. Titus, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Wexton, Ms. Williams of Georgia,
Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, and Mr. Wittman) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the Government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of the
Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International
Covenants on Human Rights.
Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2006,
2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022,
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, since 1979, Iranian authorities have killed or executed more than 200
Baha'i leaders, and more than 10,000 Baha'is have been dismissed from
government and university jobs;
Whereas June 18, 2023, marks the 40th anniversary of the execution of 10 Baha'i
women by the Iranian Government each witnessing the hanging of those
hanged before her in a final failed attempt to induce abandonment of
their faith after over 6 months of imprisonment and violent abuse, with
the youngest only 17 years old;
Whereas, on December 15, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a
resolution (A/C.3/77/L.34) criticizing Iran for human rights abuses and
calling on Iran to carry out wide-ranging reforms, including--
(1) to end its ``continuing disregard for protections under Iranian law
or internationally recognized safeguards relating to the imposition of the
death penalty'' and ``to commute the sentences for child offenders on death
row'';
(2) ``to ensure, in law and in practice, that no one is subjected to
torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment'';
(3) ``to cease the widespread and systematic use of arbitrary arrests
and detention'';
(4) ``to release persons detained for the exercise of their human
rights and fundamental freedoms'';
(5) ``to address the poor conditions of prisons'';
(6) ``to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of systemic
discrimination and other human rights violations against women and girls'';
(7) to cease the ``increased harassment, intimidation, persecution,
arbitrary arrest and detention of, and incitement to hatred that leads to
violence against, persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized
religious minorities, including Christians (particularly converts from
Islam), Gonabadi Dervishes, Jews, Sufi Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Yarsanis,
Zoroastrians, and, in particular, Baha'is, who have been subjected to a
sudden increase in persecution, who have faced increasing restrictions and
systemic persecution by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on
account of their faith and have been reportedly subjected to mass arrests
and lengthy prison sentences, as well as the arrest of prominent members
and increased confiscation and destruction of property''; and
(8) ``to release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their
membership in or activities on behalf of a minority religious group, to
cease the desecration of cemeteries and to ensure that everyone has the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief'';
Whereas, in the 2023 Annual Report of the United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom issued in April 2023, it is reported
that--
(1) the Government of Iran ``escalated its persecution of Baha'is,
conducting nationwide arrests and spreading propaganda against the group'';
(2) in February [2022], Judge Mohammadghasem Ain al-Kamali of Branch 1
of the Semnan Revolutionary Court ruled that [the parastatal entity known
as] the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO) could legally confiscate
the property of Baha'is . . . Branch 54 of the Tehran Appeals Court upheld
the decision in August following the destruction of six Baha'i houses in
Rooshankooh;
(3) government officials arrested 14 Baha'is during a religious study
in Ghaemshahr; and
(4) the Government of Iran ``continued its systematic campaign of
Baha'i arrests'' throughout the latter part of 2022;
Whereas, in response to a surge in persecution in June and July 2022, involving
the subjection of over 100 Baha'is to arrests, arraignments,
sentencings, and raids on their homes and businesses across Iran,
including the sentencing in June of 26 individuals in the city of Shiraz
to a combined total of 85 years in prison, the Department of State's
Office of International Religious Freedom issued a statement on August
2, 2022, indicating that ``[a]mid a continued rise in arrests,
sentences, and imprisonments, the U.S. urges Iran to halt its ongoing
oppression of the Baha'i community and honor its international
obligations to respect the right of all Iranians to freedom of religion
or belief'';
Whereas the Iran section of the Department of State's 2022 Report on
International Religious Freedom issued in May 2023 provides, in part--
(1) ``According to the Baha'i International Community (BIC), Amnesty
International, multiple international news organizations, and the United
Nations, in July and August, security forces in cities across the country
conducted multiple raids of Baha'i homes, confiscated property deemed
`illegitimate wealth,' and arrested Baha'is in their homes or workplaces on
unsubstantiated charges including `causing intellectual and ideological
insecurity in Muslim society.'';
(2) ``In August, a group of UN human rights experts released a joint
statement calling on the government to stop the increasing arbitrary
arrests and enforced disappearances of members of the Baha'i Faith and the
destruction or confiscation of their properties in what the experts said
`bears all the signs of a policy of systematic persecution'.''; and
(3) ``In their August 22 statement, the UN experts stated that as of
April, more than 1,000 Baha'is awaited imprisonment, following their
initial arrest and hearings.'';
Whereas, on November 21, 2022, Ms. Mahvash Sabet and Ms. Fariba Kamalabadi, 2
former members of the disbanded informal 7-person leadership group of
the Baha'is of Iran, who each served 10-year sentences from 2008 to 2018
and have been detained since July 31, 2022, in Evin prison, were
sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison each after a summary trial
lasting 1 hour; and on February 10, 2023, another former member of the
disbanded leadership group, Mr. Afif Naimi, who had also served a 10-
year sentence from 2008 to 2018, was sentenced on February 10, 2023, to
7 years in prison, which he began to serve on April 29, 2023;
Whereas, on December 11, 2022, the Baha'i International Community organization
reported that, ``More than 320 Baha'is have been affected by individual
acts of persecution since the arrest [on July 31, 2022] of Mahvash
[Sabet] and Fariba [Kamalabadi]. Dozens were arrested at various points
in Shiraz, across Mazandaran province, and elsewhere throughout the
country. Homes owned by Baha'is in the village of Roshankouh were
demolished. Government plans to tar the Baha'is through hate speech and
propaganda were also exposed. And at least 90 Baha'is are currently in
prison or subject to degrading ankle-band monitoring.'';
Whereas, on April 21, 2023, the Department of State's Office of International
Religious Freedom issued a statement in a tweet indicating that, ``[w]e
are deeply concerned following the news of Mahvash Sabet's injuries
sustained while in prison. No one should be punished for their faith. We
call on Iranian authorities to make sure Mrs. Sabet receives medical
attention immediately and release her.'';
Whereas Iran is a member of the United Nations and a signatory to both the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, among other international human rights
treaties, without reservation;
Whereas section 105 of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and
Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8514) authorizes the President to
impose sanctions on individuals who are ``responsible for or complicit
in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing,
the commission of serious human rights abuses against citizens of Iran
or their family members on or after June 12, 2009''; and
Whereas the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (Public Law
112-158) amends and expands the authorities established under the
Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010
(Public Law 111-195) to sanction Iranian human rights abusers: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the Government of Iran's state-sponsored
persecution of the Baha'i minority in Iran and the continued
violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
(2) calls on the Government of Iran--
(A) to immediately release the imprisoned or
detained Baha'is and all other prisoners held solely on
account of their religion;
(B) to end its state-sponsored campaign of hate
propaganda against the Baha'is; and
(C) to reverse state-imposed policies denying
Baha'is and members of other religious minorities equal
opportunities to higher education, earning a
livelihood, due process under the law, and the free
exercise of religious practices;
(3) calls on the President and the Secretary of State, in
cooperation with responsible nations, 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; and
(4) urges the President and the Secretary of State to
utilize available authorities to impose sanctions on officials
of the Government of Iran and other individuals directly
responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses
against the Baha'i community of Iran.
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