[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 67 (Thursday, May 25, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     EXTENSION OF REMARKS CONCERN FOR RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN IRAN

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                          HON. SAXBY CHAMBLISS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 24, 2000

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, ten percent of the citizens of the 
Islamic Republic of Iran are members of religious minority groups. 
According to the State Department and internationally recognized human 
rights organizations, religious minorities in Iran--including Sunni 
Muslims, Baha'is, Christians, and Jews--have all been the victims of 
human rights abuses simply because of their religious beliefs. More 
than half the Jews in Iran have been forced to flee that country since 
the Islamic Revolution of 1979 because of religious persecution.
  Five Jews have been executed by the Iranian government in the past 
five years without having been tried. There has been an increase in 
anti-Semitic propaganda in the government-controlled Iranian press. I 
want to express my concern today about the thirteen Jews who Iran 
accused of spying for the United States and Israel and who were 
arrested on the eve of Passover in 1999. These men are currently being 
held in an Iranian jail, and although their trial has already begun, 
they have still not been charged. Further, contrary to Iranian law, 
these prisoners have been denied the right to choose their own legal 
counsel, and ten of the defendants have been imprisoned for over a year 
without any legal representation.
  Both Israel and the United States have denied that these men were 
spying on their behalf. But, this case is indicative of the continued 
concern I have regarding Iran. From the continuing development of long 
range missiles capable of striking our friends and allies in the Middle 
East, to the lack of basic human rights and freedom for the Iranian 
people, to support for terrorists who target Americans, Iran persists 
in engaging in a pattern of unacceptable behavior that should cause all 
of us great apprehension.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in expressing alarm 
about Iran. It is my hope that the thirteen Jews currently being held 
on these trumped up espionage charges will be accorded their basic 
legal rights and that Iran will release all prisoners held on the basis 
of their religious beliefs.

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