[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 41 (Monday, March 9, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S2914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 71--CONDEMNING THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN FOR ITS STATE-
SPONSORED PERSECUTION OF THE BAHA'I MINORITY IN IRAN AND ITS CONTINUED 
        VIOLATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

  Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Snowe, and 
Mr. Brownback) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                               S. Res. 71

       Whereas, in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 
     2006, and 2008, 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, in November 2007, the Iranian Ministry of 
     Information in Shiraz jailed Baha'is Ms. Raha Sabet, age 33, 
     Mr. Sasan Taqva, age 32, and Ms. Haleh Roohi, age 29, for 
     educating underprivileged children and gave them 4-year 
     prison terms, which they are serving;
       Whereas Ms. Sabet, Mr. Taqva, and Ms. Rooshi were targeted 
     solely on the basis of their religion;
       Whereas, on January 23, 2008, the Department of State 
     released a statement urging the Government of Iran to release 
     all individuals held without due process and a fair trial, 
     including the 3 young Baha'is being held in an Iranian 
     Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Shiraz;
       Whereas, in March and May of 2008, Iranian intelligence 
     officials in Mashhad and Tehran arrested and imprisoned Mrs. 
     Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, 
     Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, 
     and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, the members of the coordinating group 
     for the Baha'i community in Iran;
       Whereas, on February 11, 2009, the deputy prosecutor in 
     Tehran, Mr. Hassan Haddad, announced that those seven leaders 
     will go on trial at a Revolutionary Court on charges of 
     ``espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and 
     propaganda against the Islamic Republic'';
       Whereas the lawyer for these seven leaders, Mrs. Shirin 
     Ebadi, the Nobel Laureate, has been denied all access to the 
     prisoners and their files;
       Whereas these seven Baha'i leaders were targeted solely on 
     the basis of their religion; and
       Whereas the Government of Iran is party to the 
     International Covenants on Human Rights: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored 
     persecution of the Baha'i minority in Iran and its continued 
     violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights;
       (2) calls on the Government of Iran to immediately release 
     the seven leaders and all other prisoners held solely on 
     account of their religion, including Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, 
     Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, 
     Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, 
     Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, and Ms. Haleh Roohi; and
       (3) calls on the President and Secretary of State, in 
     cooperation with the international community, 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, including Mrs. Fariba 
     Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. 
     Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. 
     Vahid Tizfahm, Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, and Ms. Haleh 
     Roohi.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of a 
resolution that I am offering with my colleagues, Senators Brownback, 
Menendez, Snowe, and Whitehouse. This resolution condemns the Iranian 
government's persecution of its own Baha'i community and urges the 
Obama administration to speak out strongly against this continued 
injustice.
  The Baha'i Faith, the world's youngest independent monotheistic 
religion, was founded in Iran in 1844. Today, it is practiced by more 
than 5 million people across the planet, from Bangalore, India to 
Beaverton, Oregon. Roughly 300,000 of these adherents still live in 
Iran. Although Baha'i teachings emphasize equality, unity, and peace, 
Iranian authorities have viewed the religion as an apostasy and have 
treated it as a threat since the beginning.
  The current Islamic Republic has been particularly hostile to Baha'i 
practitioners since its establishment in 1979. In 1983, Iran's 
government formally banned all Baha'i religious institutions and 
criminalized membership in them and service to them. The regime has 
officially recognized Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians as religious 
minorities. It refuses to extend this same status to the Baha'is, even 
though they make up Iran's largest religious minority. According to the 
State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Report, the 
regime continues to create ``a threatening atmosphere for nearly all 
non-Shi'a religious groups, most notably for Baha'is.'' The government 
routinely seizes personal property from members of the Baha'i 
community, denies access to education and employment opportunities, and 
detains Baha'is based solely on their religious beliefs.
  Last year, the Iranian regime imprisoned seven leaders of the Baha'i 
community. In February 2009, Tehran's deputy prosecutor announced that 
these seven leaders would be tried on charges of ``espionage for 
Israel, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the 
Islamic Republic.'' Not surprisingly, the regime provided no evidence 
to support these preposterous accusations and has refused to allow a 
lawyer for the seven to even meet with them. These actions are clear 
and unambiguous violations of Iran's international commitments under 
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Some in the 
international community have already condemned this mockery of justice, 
and rightly so. My colleagues and I believe the time has now come to 
add the United States Senate to this growing chorus of voices.
  Our resolution is simple and straightforward. It denounces the 
Iranian government's persecution of the Baha'is and calls on the regime 
to immediately release all prisoners held for their religious beliefs, 
including the seven Baha'i leaders. It further calls on President 
Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to work with the 
international community in condemning the Iranian regime for its 
repeated human rights violations.
  I hope that colleagues will join me and Senators Brownback, Menendez, 
Snowe, and Whitehouse in supporting this commonsense resolution.

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