[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 138 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11873-S11874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONDEMNING REPRESSION OF THE IRANIAN BAHA'I COMMUNITY AND CALLING FOR 
                    EMANCIPATION OF IRANIAN BAHA'IS

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of S. 
Con. Res. 78 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the concurrent resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 78) condemning the 
     repression of the Iranian Baha'i community and calling for 
     the emancipation of Iranian Baha'is.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment 
to the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the concurrent resolution, 
as amended, be agreed to, the amendment to the preamble be agreed to, 
the preamble, as amended, be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any 
statements relating to this measure be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 4082) was agreed to, as follows:


                           amendment no. 4082

(Purpose: To amend the resolution to update and reflect current events)

       Beginning with page 5, line 22, strike all through page 6, 
     line 7, and insert the following:
       ``(A) assert the concerns of the United States Government 
     regarding violations by the Iranian Government of the rights 
     of Iranian citizens, including members of the Baha'i 
     community;''.

  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 78), as amended, was agreed 
to.
  The amendment (No. 4083) was agreed to, as follows:


                           AMENDMENT NO. 4083

      (Purpose: To update the preamble to reflect current events)

       Insert after the fourth whereas clause the following:
       ``Whereas Iranian authorities destroyed a Baha'i holy site, 
     the tomb of Quddus, in February 2004, and the historic house 
     of the father of the founder of the Baha'i faith in June 
     2004, marking the first time in 25 years that Baha'i sites 
     have been destroyed;''.
       Strike the tenth whereas clause that begins ``Whereas as of 
     June 2003'' and insert the following:
       ``Whereas as of November 2004, one Baha'i remains in an 
     Iranian prison for converting from Islam to the Baha'i faith 
     in 1995;''.

  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to. The resolution, with its 
preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 78

       Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, and 
     2000, Congress, by concurrent resolution, declared that it 
     holds the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the 
     rights of all Iranian nationals, including members of the 
     Baha'i Faith;
       Whereas in those resolutions and in numerous other appeals, 
     Congress has deplored the religious persecution by the 
     Government of Iran of the Baha'i community and has condemned 
     the execution by Iran of more than 200 Baha'is and the 
     disruptive imprisonment of thousands of others solely on 
     account of their religious beliefs;
       Whereas Iranian Baha'is are not permitted to elect their 
     leaders, assemble or organize as a community, operate 
     religious schools, or conduct other religious community 
     activities that are guaranteed by the Universal Declaration 
     of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations 
     General Assembly Resolution 217(A)(III) of December 10, 1984;
       Whereas the continued denial of Baha'i property rights by 
     the Iranian Government is demonstrated by the confiscation by 
     the Iranian Government of a multitude of Baha'i community and 
     private properties;
       Whereas Iranian authorities destroyed a Baha'i holy site, 
     the tomb of Quddus, in February 2004, and the historic house 
     of the father of the founder of the Baha'i faith in June 
     2004, marking the first time in 25 years that Baha'i sites 
     have been destroyed;
       Whereas the Government of Iran continues to deny individual 
     Baha'is access to higher education and government employment, 
     in addition to denying recognition and religious rights to 
     the Baha'i community;
       Whereas because Baha'is have been banned from teaching and 
     studying at Iranian universities since the Islamic 
     Revolution, Baha'is established 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 of 1998, officers of the 
     Ministry of Information, the intelligence agency of the 
     Iranian Government, arrested 36 faculty members of the Open 
     University;
       Whereas on July 19, 2002, Iranian Revolutionary Guards 
     systematically disrupted student qualifying examinations for 
     the Open University in 9 different districts by videotaping 
     the proceedings, questioning the students, and confiscating 
     examination papers and Baha'i books;
       Whereas the use of arbitrary arrests, suspended sentences, 
     and short-term detentions against the Iranian Baha'is have 
     become widespread;
       Whereas as of November 2004, one Baha'i remains in an 
     Iranian prison for converting from Islam to the Baha'i faith 
     in 1995;
       Whereas on October 10, 2003, the Norwegian Nobel Committee 
     awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2003 to Shirin Ebadi for 
     her efforts involving democracy and human rights, including 
     advocating equal rights for the Baha'i community in Iran;
       Whereas the conclusions contained in the report of October 
     13, 2003, by the General Affairs and External Relations 
     Council of the European Union, conveyed the continuing 
     concern of the European Union about the violations of the 
     Baha'is' right to freedom of religion, and urged the Iranian 
     Government to comply with both the recommendations made in 
     June 2003 by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary 
     Detention and with the recommendations made in August 2003 by 
     the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 
     concerning injustice, particularly in relation to education, 
     property rights, and employment; and
       Whereas in the 2003 General Affairs and External Relations 
     Council report, the European Union urged the Government of 
     Iran to expedite reform on many fronts, while recognizing the 
     meetings held in 2003 and the planned meetings that have been 
     welcomed by the Government of Iran, to be an important step 
     toward progress: 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 all the rights of its nationals, including 
     members of the Baha'i community, in a manner consistent with 
     Iran's obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human 
     Rights, adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General 
     Assembly Resolution 217(A)(III) of December 10, 1984, and 
     other international agreements guaranteeing the civil and 
     political rights of Iranian 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 leaders, educate 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 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, 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 Working 
     Group on Arbitrary Detention and also to comply with the 
     recommendations made in August 2003 by the Committee on the 
     Elimination of Racial Discrimination;
       (6) urges the Government of Iran to extend to the Baha'i 
     community the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration 
     of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations 
     General Assembly Resolution 217(A)(III) of December 10, 1984, 
     and other international covenants of human rights, including 
     the freedoms of thought, conscience, and religion, and equal 
     protection of the law;
       (7) calls upon the President to continue to--

[[Page S11874]]

       (A) assert the concerns of the United States Government 
     regarding violations by the Iranian Government of the rights 
     of Iranian citizens, including members of the Baha'i 
     community;
       (B) emphasize that the United States regards the human 
     rights practices of the Government of Iran, including its 
     treatment of the Baha'i community and other religious 
     minorities, as a significant factor in the development of 
     relations between the United States and Iran;
       (C) urge the Government of Iran to emancipate the Baha'i 
     community by granting those rights guaranteed by the 
     Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed 
     by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 217(A)(III) 
     of December 10, 1984, and other international covenants on 
     human rights; and
       (D) cooperate with 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
       (8) calls upon the President to--
       (A) initiate an active and consistent dialogue with other 
     governments who are influential with Iran in order to 
     persuade the Government of Iran to rectify its human rights 
     practices; and
       (B) urge the European Union to use its relationship with 
     Iran to address and advance these fundamental human rights 
     issues.

                          ____________________