[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 74 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 74

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 16, 2023

    Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Boozman, Mr. 
Whitehouse, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. Rosen, Ms. 
Hirono, Ms. Sinema, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Warnock, Ms. Hassan, 
  Mr. Murphy, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Coons, Mr. 
   Welch, Mr. Braun, Mrs. Capito, and Mr. Van Hollen) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               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, 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, 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 2022 Annual Report of the United States Commission on 
        International Religious Freedom issued in April 2022, it is reported 
        that--

    (1) the Government of Iran ``arrested scores of Baha'is across Iran'', 
many of whom ``were held incommunicado or taken to undisclosed locations'';

    (2) ``Iranian universities continued to deny education to Baha'is on 
account of their faith'';

    (3) government agents ``closed six Baha'i businesses'';

    (4) government officials ``demolished the homes of three Baha'is 
without warning''; and

    (5) the Government of Iran ``announced the auction of thirteen Baha'i 
farms'';

Whereas the Iran section of the Department of State's 2021 Report on 
        International Religious Freedom issued in June 2022 provides, in part--

    (1) ``Authorities continued to confiscate Baha'i properties as part of 
an ongoing state-led campaign of economic persecution against Baha'is.'';

    (2) ``Authorities reportedly continued to deny the Baha'i, Sabean-
Mandaean, and Yarsani religious communities, as well as members of other 
unrecognized religious minorities, access to education and government 
employment unless they declared themselves as belonging to one of the 
country's recognized religions on their application forms.''; and

    (3) ``Government officials continued to disseminate anti-Baha'i and 
antisemitic messages using traditional and social media.'';

Whereas, in response to a surge in persecution in June and July 2022, involving 
        the subjection of over 100 Baha'is to arrests, arraignments, sentencing, 
        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, on November 21, 2022, Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, 2 former 
        members of the 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 10 years 
        in prison each after a summary trial lasting 1 hour;
Whereas, on December 11, 2022, the Baha'i International Community organization 
        stated that ``Dr. Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel laureate and defence lawyer 
        for Mahvash and Fariba during their first trial, said in 2008 that `not 
        a shred of evidence' was offered to prove the national security charges 
        or other allegations. Nor was any new evidence forthcoming at this 
        latest trial'';
Whereas, on December 11, 2022, the Baha'i International Community organization 
        reported, ``More than 320 Baha'is have been affected by individual acts 
        of persecution since the arrest of Mahvash and Fariba. 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 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 Senate--
            (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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