[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 26, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H2855-H2857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                EMANCIPATION OF IRANIAN BAHA'I COMMUNITY

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 102), concerning the emancipation 
of the Iranian Baha'i community.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 102

       Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, and 1994 the 
     Congress, by concurrent resolution, declared that it holds 
     the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights 
     of all its nationals, including members of the Baha'i Faith, 
     Iran's largest religious minority;
       Whereas the Congress has deplored the Government of Iran's 
     religious persecution of the Baha'i community in such 
     resolutions and in numerous other appeals, and has condemned 
     Iran's execution of more than 200 Baha'is and the 
     imprisonment of thousands of others solely on account of 
     their religious beliefs;
       Whereas the Government of Iran continues to deny individual 
     Baha'is access to higher education and government employment 
     and denies recognition and religious rights to the Baha'i 
     community, according to the policy set forth in a 
     confidential Iranian Government document which has revealed 
     by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1993;
       Whereas all Baha'i community properties in Iran have been 
     confiscated by the government and Iranian Baha'is are not 
     permitted to elect their leaders, organize as a community, 
     operate religious schools or conduct other religious 
     community activities guaranteed by the Universal Declaration 
     of Human Rights; and
       Whereas on February 22, 1993, the United Nations Commission 
     on Human Rights published a formerly confidential Iranian 
     Government document that constitutes a blueprint for the 
     destruction of the Baha'i community and reveals that these 
     repressive actions are the result of a deliberate policy 
     designed and approved by the highest officials of the 
     Government of Iran: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) continues to hold the Government of Iran responsible 
     for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including 
     members of the Baha'i community, in a manner consistent with 
     Iran's obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human 
     Rights and other international agreements guaranteeing the 
     civil and political rights of its citizens;
       (2) condemns the repressive anti-Baha'i policies and 
     actions of the Government of Iran, including the denial of 
     legal recognition to the Baha'i community and the basic 
     rights to organize, elect its leaders, educate its youth, and 
     conduct the normal activities of a law-abiding religious 
     community;
       (3) expresses concern that individual Baha'is continue to 
     suffer from severely repressive and discriminatory government 
     actions, solely on account of their religion;
       (4) urges the Government of Iran to extend to the Baha'i 
     community the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration 
     of Human Rights and the international covenants of human 
     rights, including the freedom of thought, conscience, and 
     religion, and equal protection of the law; and
       (5) calls upon the President to continue--
       (A) to assert the United States Government's concern 
     regarding Iran's violations of the rights of its citizens, 
     including members of the Baha'i community, along with 
     expressions of its concern regarding the Iranian Government's 
     support for international terrorism and its efforts to 
     acquire weapons of mass destruction;
       (B) to emphasize that the United States regards the human 
     rights practices of the Government of Iran, particularly its 
     treatment of the Baha'i community and other religious 
     minorities, as a significant factor in the development of the 
     United States Government's relations with the Government of 
     Iran;
       (C) to urge the Government of Iran to emancipate the Baha'i 
     community by granting those rights guaranteed by the 
     Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international 
     covenants on human rights; and
       (D) to encourage other governments to continue to appeal to 
     the Government of Iran, and to cooperate with other 
     governments and international organizations, including the 
     United Nations and its agencies, in efforts to protect the 
     religious rights of the Baha'is and other minorities through 
     joint appeals to the Government of Iran and through other 
     appropriate actions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York [Mr. Gilman] and the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran] will each 
be recognized for 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman].
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of House 
Concurrent Resolution 102, concerning the emancipation of the Iranian 
Baha'i community and would like to urge all house Members to support 
this timely, important measure. I congratulate the Gentleman from 
Illinois [Mr. Porter] for again championing this important cause by 
introducing this measure. This resolution is the latest in a series of 
resolutions concerning the continuing repression of the Baha'i 
community, and other religious minorities in Iran that have been 
adopted by the Congress since 1982.
  It is truly a sad irony that since its founding the Baha'i religion, 
which itself poses no threat to secular authority anywhere, has been 
singled out for such harsh repression in Iran and other parts of the 
Middle East. I salute those who have courageously maintained their 
faith in the face of repression and who have too often paid the supreme 
price for their belief.
  The closing years of this century have been marred by a resurgence of 
the brutality and horrors that have shaped much of its history. What we 
witness today in such places as Iran serves as a stark reminder that 
the struggle for human rights is constant. While we can learn from our 
unfortunate history and our past mistakes, we can never desist from our 
defense of international human rights standards. Men and governments 
always seem to have the tragic capability of repeating the barbarisms 
of the past in new and unforeseen ways despite all of the institutions 
created in the course of this bloody century to prevent mankind from 
tearing itself apart.

[[Page H2856]]

  This resolution allows us to once again express our outrage and 
revulsion with regard to the brutal and systematic denial of one of the 
most basic of human freedoms--freedom of conscience--which has been 
denied by the Mullahs of Iran.
  Each time we consider these resolutions it seems that there has been 
a new twist added to the outrages Iranian authorities have perpetrated 
against their own citizens. Last month, we received distressing reports 
from Iran about the conviction and sentencing to death of an Iranian 
Baha'i for apostasy. Not only does this have sinister implications for 
the long-suffering Baha'i community of Iran, but for other religious 
minorities in that country as well.
  Iran's brutal treatment of the Baha'i and other religious minorities 
has also been the subject of concern within the United Nations 
Commission on Human Rights. The Commission's Special Rapporteur on 
Religious Intolerance has singled out the case of the Baha'i in Iran as 
an egregious example of interference with the right to freedom of 
conscience and of worship. The UN's Special Rapporteur calls upon the 
Iranian authorities to ease restrictions upon adherents to the Baha'i 
faith.
  The United States has spoken out consistently and repeatedly on 
Iran's continued brutal repression of the Baha'i. In its latest Human 
Rights Report, the State Department includes Iran among the few 
countries that are the very worst abusers of the rights of their own 
citizens in the world. The treatment of the Iranian Baha'i community 
epitomizes the character of the Iranian regime--its intolerance and its 
brutality.
  We owe it to the victims of this repressive regime to continue to 
raise this issue in international human rights forums, and to press 
those governments that conduct commerce and diplomatic relations with 
the Government of Iran to use their influence and speak out against 
these outrages. Resolutions of the Congress, such as the one we now 
consider, representing the clear voice of the American people, are 
invaluable tools for our diplomats in bodies such as the U.N. Human 
Rights Commission, which is now meeting in Geneva. I hope my colleagues 
will join with me in supporting House Concurrent Resolution 102.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution makes an important statement, that the 
Congress continues to hold the Government of Iran responsible for 
upholding the rights of all of its nationals, including members of the 
Baha'i community.
  Concern about Iran continues to rise to the surface of our foreign 
policy horizon. Much of the focus has been on trade, on Iran's role in 
terrorism, its efforts to subvert governments in the Middle East, in 
North Africa, and its nuclear dealings with Russia and China.
  This resolution helps in keeping our focus on Iran's dismal record on 
human rights. Among the many other issues we have with that Government, 
Iran's denial of religious rights, the abuse of its citizens and 
violations of internationally recognized human rights are of deepest 
concern to this Congress. We make that message clear by passing this 
resolution.
  Our last resolution, which was adopted unanimously 2 years ago, was 
reiterated by the United Nations and the German Bundestag and the 
European Parliament condemning Iran's persecution of Baha'is. In some 
limited instances, Iran has responded to this pressure. There in some 
evidence that the persecution of individual Baha'is in Iran is less 
severe today than it was several years ago. But let there be no doubt. 
The Baha'i community is still an oppressed minority and is denied 
rights to organize, elect leaders, conduct religious schools and other 
religious activities.
  Their religion is really all about achieving a peaceful world 
brotherhood. It is not something we would consider to be threatening in 
this country, but it is a reflection of Iran's intent that it is 
threatening to them.
  We must continue to work to end this discrimination against the 
Baha'is and all who are denied basic civil rights, and so we would urge 
adoption of this resolution as one more appropriate step toward that 
goal.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois [Mr. Porter].
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I again thank the chairman for yielding this 
time to me and would again commend him for his strong support of 
Baha'is. Throughout his service in the Congress he has made the 
protection of the minorities one of his highest priorities, and he has 
continuously strongly supported the Baha'i minority in Iran, not only 
with votes, but by speaking out repeatedly on the floor of the House 
and wherever he has gone about the plight of the Baha'is at the hands 
of the revolutionary government of Iran, and I commend him for his 
leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 102, the Baha'i Community 
Emancipation Resolution, condemns the Government of Iran for denying 
the 300,000 people of the Baha'i Iranian community their basic human 
rights. Since the fundamentalist Islamic regime took power in 1979, 
hundreds of Baha'is the largest religious minority in Iran, have been 
executed, and thousands have been imprisoned solely because of their 
religion. Because the regime does not recognize the Baha'i faith, 
calling it a conspiracy and a heresy, tens of thousands of Baha'is are 
today deprived of jobs, housing, schools, and other social services. 
Furthermore, it is common practice for Baha'is to be denied pensions 
and food ration cards purely because of their religious affiliation.
  Mr. Speaker, the Baha'i religion is founded upon the nine dominant 
religions of the world, including, of course, Islam, and draws on the 
teachings of all of them as the basis of its faith. There are organized 
Baha'i assemblies in more than 100,000 localities in over 342 countries 
and territories.

                              {time}  1515

  Intolerance, Mr. Speaker, is the trail of the backward, the ignorant, 
and the insecure. In Iran, intolerance of Baha'is, people who threaten 
no one and who accede to legitimate, civil authority wherever they 
reside, defines not the Baha'is, but the Iranian fundamentalists.
  In 1993, an official Government document obtained in Iran confirmed 
for the first time that the ongoing persecution of the Baha'i community 
has been a calculated policy written and approved by Iran's highest 
ranking officials. This document reveals that the Iranian policy is to 
repress Baha'is at every opportunity while maintaining official 
deniability for such actions. While the document states that Baha'is is 
will not be expelled or arrested without reason, it makes evident that 
the Iranian Government's intent is to isolate, persecute, and 
ultimately destroy the Baha'is.
  In the mid 1980's, diplomatic pressure and negative publicity forced 
the Iranian leadership to lessen the severity of their grievous 
official campaign against Baha'is. There is strong evidence that 
congressional resolutions, together with appeals by other nations and 
the United Nations, helped to persuade Iranian officials to moderate 
their actions against the Baha'i community.
  There are disturbing signals, however, that the repression of Baha'is 
has increased during this past year. We cannot be sure how many Baha'is 
are jailed at any moment. Apparently, there is a new trend by the 
Iranian authorities to carry out an increasing number of short-term 
arrests in various parts of the country. Baha'is are rotated through 
the prison system for varying lengths of confinement making it 
impossible to know who will be incarcerated when and for how long. 
Tragically, the situation has very recently taken a turn for the worse. 
Mr. Speaker, just last month a Baha'i was found guilty of apostasy by 
the Revolutionary Court of Yazd and was sentenced to death. His crime? 
He was accused of changing his religion from Islam to the Baha'i faith. 
The Iranian Supreme Court, in an unusual move, set aside the verdict 
and sent the case back to a lower court for review. If this man is 
executed, he will be the first Baha'i executed since 1992.
  Mr. Speaker, Iran must continue to be ostracized from the community 
of nations until its conduct can begin to approach a respect for the 
basic rights of each human being to live, worship, and speak according 
to the dictates of his or her own conscience. Since 1982,

[[Page H2857]]

the Congress has adopted six resolutions expressing its concern for 
persecuted Baha'is in Iran, and condemning the repressive anti-Baha'i 
policies and actions of the Iranian Government. In 1994, the resolution 
was adopted by a recorded voted of 414 to 0. Mr. Speaker, with the 
passage of this resolution today, Congress will once again go on record 
in support of the basic rights of Baha'is and other religious 
minorities in Iran. I strongly urge the adoption of this resolution.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his supportive 
remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith], the distinguished chairman of 
our Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights of the 
Committee on International Relations.
  (Mr. SMITH of New Jersey asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding time to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 
102. I think it is a very good resolution and I want to commend the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter] for his leadership on behalf of 
the Baha'is and on behalf of human rights.
  Mr. Speaker, the issue of persecution of the Baha'is is unfortunately 
not a new one in the House. Congress has passed a half-dozen 
resolutions condemning the vicious persecution of the Baha'is at the 
hands of the regime in Tehran, but the persecution continues.
  Mr. Speaker, there is little I can add to the resolution and to the 
excellent comments that have been made so far. The Baha'is clearly are 
a peace-loving community, members of a religion that had its origin in 
Iran but that has adherents all over the world, including here in the 
United States. The extremist regime in Iran considers the Baha'i 
religion to be a heresy, a group apostasy, so it persecutes them with 
even more severity than it does Christians, Jews, or other Muslims.
  Mr. Speaker, I particularly want to call to the Congress' attention 
the fact that there are at least four members of the Baha'i faith that 
now are at risk of death in Iran. The gentleman from Illinois [Mr. 
Porter] mentioned one whose sentence has been remanded back to a lower 
court for review, and we hope this resolution sends a clear, 
unmistakable message that religious intolerance will not be tolerated 
by civilized countries, and that it will bring more scrutiny and more 
condemnation on the regime run by Rafsanjani.
  I think it is very important that we speak, as we have, as Democrats, 
Republicans, as conservatives, moderates, and liberals, that we believe 
that the Baha'is have a right not just to exist, but to express 
themselves, to practice their religion as they see fit.
  We support the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights, 
the religious intolerance acts that have been passed by the United 
Nations. Every year the Human Rights Convention in Geneva looks at 
religious persecution and speaks out on it. My hope is that they will 
say to Tehran, ``No more,'' that cooler heads will prevail, and those 
who are being persecuted simply because they want to practice their 
faith as they see fit will no longer find themselves being tortured, 
incarcerated, and, even worse, put to death. I commend the gentleman 
from Illinois [Mr. Porter] for his excellent resolution.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Ney].
  (Mr. NEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to make a couple of statements on 
this resolution. First, I commend the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. 
Porter] for bringing this forth to the floor of this House, and also 
commend the House for continuing to keep the pressure on this issue. I 
think the previous speakers have pointed out why we need to do that.
  Also, Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to state that I myself lived in 
Iran, in a southern city called Shiraz. I was there during the 
revolution in 1978 of the Shaw of Iran. People would talk over the 
years about prejudice. Prejudice can exist in any country toward a 
people or toward a religion. There may have been some internal 
prejudice in 1978 and prior toward the Baha'i religion, but I want to 
tell the Members, Baha'is were not pulled out into the street and 
executed.
  This regime, let us make no bones about it, goes beyond the thoughts 
of prejudice toward the Baha'i, and they have executed people, they 
have forced families to purchase the bullets that their loved ones were 
executed with.
  This is a brutal regime in Iran that has carried out assassinations 
toward members of the resistance in Europe recently. This is a regime 
that promotes terrorism around the world. As we know, even in Bosnia, 
as we speak this year they were active there and around the world to 
persecute people. I believe that the world needs to be constantly made 
aware and to promote and push the point of what is being done to the 
peaceful Baha'i people.
  I just want to again stress that if we do not keep up this type of 
pressure, it will be forgotten. This has helped in the past, and I want 
to commend the Members for what they are doing today, on behalf of the 
Baha'i people.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for his 
supportive remarks.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Upton). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, House 
Concurrent Resolution 102.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule I and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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