[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 29, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11649-S11651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 57--CONCURRENT RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE 
              EMANCIPATION OF THE IRANIAN BAHA'I COMMUNITY

  Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Baucus, Mr. 
Kerry, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Reid, Mr. Durbin, 
Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Sessions) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 57

       Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996, 
     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 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 in July 1998 a Baha'i, Mr. Ruhollah Rowhani, was 
     executed by hanging in Mashhad after being held in solitary 
     confinement for 9 months on the charge of converting a Muslim 
     woman to the Baha'i Faith, a charge the woman herself 
     refuted;
       Whereas 4 Baha'is remain on death row in Iran, 2 on charges 
     on apostasy, and 12 others are serving prison terms on 
     charges arising solely from their religious beliefs or 
     activities;
       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 was revealed 
     by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1993;
       Whereas Baha'is have been banned from teaching and studying 
     at Iranian universities since the Islamic Revolution and 
     therefore created the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education, 
     or Baha'i Open University, to provide educational 
     opportunities to Baha'i youth using volunteer faculty and a 
     network of classrooms, libraries, and laboratories in private 
     homes and buildings throughout Iran;
       Whereas in September and October 1998, Iranian authorities 
     arrested 36 faculty members of the Open University, 4 of whom 
     have been given prison sentences ranging between 3 to 10 
     years, even though the law makes no

[[Page S11650]]

     mention of religious instruction within one's own religious 
     community as being an illegal activity;
       Whereas Iranian intelligence officers looted classroom 
     equipment, textbooks, computers, and other personal property 
     from 532 Baha'i homes in an attempt to close down the Open 
     University;
       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;
       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; and
       Whereas in 1998 the United Nations Special Representative 
     for Human Rights, Maurice Copithorne, was denied entry into 
     Iran: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That 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, including executions and death sentences, solely on 
     account of their religion;
       (4) urges the Government of Iran to permit Baha'i students 
     to attend Iranian universities and Baha'i faculty to teach at 
     Iranian universities, to return the property confiscated from 
     the Baha'i Open University, to free the imprisoned faculty 
     members of the Open University, and to permit the Open 
     University to continue to function;
       (5) urges the Government of Iran to implement fully the 
     conclusions and recommendations on the emancipation of the 
     Iranian Baha'i community made by the United Nations Special 
     Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, Professor Abdelfattah 
     Amor, in his report of March 1996 to the United Nations 
     Commission of Human Rights;
       (6) 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
       (7) 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 emphasize the need for the United Nations Special 
     Representative for Human Rights to be granted permission to 
     enter Iran;
       (D) 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
       (E) 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.

 Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, it is with a heavy heart that my 
esteemed colleagues and I bring to the Senate's attention for the 
eighth time in 18 years the plight of Iran's Baha'is by submitting 
today the Baha'i Resolution of 1999.
  Since the 1997 election of President Mohammad Khatami, the world has 
watched Iran with great anticipation of change. Indeed, under Khatami, 
Iran has witnessed some small, incremental steps toward 
democratization, transparency, and an attempt to assert the rule of 
law. As recent demonstrations at Tehran University have shown, the 
Iranian people are eager for reform, the kinds of changes that would 
allow Iran to become a member in good standing of the international 
community.
  The Iranian people have suffered much in the last 20 years. A regime 
desperate to maintain control at all costs has executed hundreds of 
thousands of Iranians of all religious and political backgrounds. 
Iran's economy is in shambles, many of its best and brightest have 
fled, and the government's pursuit of policies supporting terrorism and 
the development of weapons of mass destruction have made Iran a pariah 
state in the international community. It is good to remember, as we 
focus on the plight of specific groups in Iran, that all of Iran's 
citizens, Shi'a, Sunni, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i, 
have been victimized by the Iranian regime.
  However, today we focus on the group that, man for man and woman for 
woman, has fared the worst under Iran's revolutionary government--the 
Baha'is.
  Since the Islamic Revolution and consequent seizure of power by the 
Ayatollah Khomeni, the Baha'is have endured tremendous hardships that 
continue to this day. Large numbers have been killed and many other 
have disappeared and are presumed dead. Unlike other religious 
minorities in Iran such as Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, the 
Baha'is are not recognized in the Iranian Constitution and subsequently 
do not enjoy the rights, minimal though they may be, normally granted 
Iranian citizens.
  The refusal of Iran to protect the rights of the Baha'i community is 
ironic. The Baha'is do not advocate insurrection, violence, or 
political partisanship. Their faith requires them peacefully to observe 
the laws of the country. For the Iranian government to regard the 
Baha'is as a threat, when all they desire is to be able to live in 
accordance with their religious beliefs is truly outrageous.
  Now, imagine if you will what it would be like to live in a world 
where you and your children are not recognized as citizens simply 
because of your religion. Imagine your government seizing your only 
outlet for a higher education. Imagine fearing arrest simply for 
adhering to a set of beliefs and a way of life that you and your family 
hold dear. Unfortunately, this nightmarish scenario is all too real for 
300,000 members of the Baha'i religion in Iran who need not expend any 
effort imagining such a situation, because they have the misfortune of 
living it.
  Even after their signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
and the recent election of President Khatami, the Iranian government 
still shows no sign of easing its subjugation of Iran's largest 
religious minority. Tehran continues to oppress, persecute, and 
undermine the Baha'i's way of life. Under such pressure, we fear that 
an already tragic past can only lead to a bleaker future.
  Since 1979 the Baha'i community has been denied the right to assemble 
officially, conduct religious ceremonies--including the proper burial 
of their dead--and attend Iranian schools of higher education. Baha'is 
are denied the same job and pension opportunities as their non-Baha'i 
neighbors and by law. They cannot even collect on insurance policies.
  The denial of access to schools of higher education has been a 
particular hardship to the Baha'is, who hold as one of the central 
tenets of their faith the supreme importance of education. In order to 
educate their youth, the Baha'is have created a network of university 
level courses, accredited by the University of Indiana and taught in 
the homes of Baha'i professors. Over 900 Baha'is have enrolled in the 
Open University and many more have benefited from their programs. In 
the Fall of 1998, for no other reason than to harass the Baha'i 
community, Iranian police raided over 500 homes associated with the 
Open University. Police arrested hundreds of professors and seized 
massive amounts of classroom and laboratory equipment, computers, and 
textbooks. To this day, three professors remain in jail. One has been 
sentenced to a ten year imprisonment and two have received seven year 
terms all for the `sin' of involving themselves in teaching Baha'i 
studies which, according to the Iranian authorities constituted 
``crimes against national security.''
  (In recent years, the Iranian government has gradually stepped up its 
harassment of the Baha'is, as exemplified

[[Page S11651]]

in the 1998 raids on the Open University. With the raids came the 
realization that Tehran was not afraid to publicly display its 
maltreatment of the Baha'is. It was in this same year that Iran 
executed Mr. Ruhollah Rowhani.)
  Mr. Rowhani was accused by the Iranian government of forcibly 
converting a Muslim woman to the Baha'i faith. Before Mr. Rowhani's 
hanging in July 1998, the woman totally refuted the charges, stating 
that she had been raised as a Baha'i, making it impossible and 
unnecessary for Mr. Rowhani to impress his religion upon her. Mr. 
Rowhani spent the nine months prior to his execution in solitary 
confinement, and most telling, no sentence was ever passed. It is in 
recognition and in memory of the recent one-year anniversary of Mr. 
Rowhani's execution that we submit this resolution.
  The Baha'i Resolution expresses our strong disapproval of the Iranian 
government's treatment of the Baha'is and reminds Iran that the 
development of a relationship between our two countries depends greatly 
on Tehran's record of human rights. Equally important, it is a 
statement of America's values. It sends a message to perpetrators of 
persecution everywhere that our eyes will not be averted. And it 
reassures Iran's Baha'is, indeed all of those persecuted in Iran, that 
America is with them and will continue to shine sunlight on the abuses 
of Iran's government while we plead, and pray for change there.

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