[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 172 (Thursday, November 19, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11817-S11818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IRAN'S HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

  Mr. KAUFMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 355, submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 355) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran 
     has systematically violated its obligations to uphold human 
     rights provided for under its constitution and international 
     law.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, recent events have made abundantly clear 
that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is failing, and 
failing badly, to live up to its own professed ideals and its 
international commitments to protect the human rights of its citizens 
and others. I urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting a 
resolution, S. Res. 355, submitted today, condemning Iran's deplorable 
human rights record, calling for an immediate release of those 
wrongfully imprisoned in violation of their rights, and urging the 
restoration of meaningful human rights to all of Iran's citizens.
  Iran's 1979 constitution, the result of a revolution against years of 
political and human-rights abuses by the regime of the Shah, guarantees 
fundamental rights and freedoms. Moreover, Iran is a signatory to four 
major human rights treaties. And yet its shameful record of executions 
that contravene international standards; of repression of the rights of 
women and minorities, including religious minorities; of outrageous 
attacks on the rights of peaceful assembly and protest; and of 
unwarranted arrest and detention of foreigners, including Americans, 
all make a mockery of these commitments.
  Just last week, the Iranian Government again demonstrated its 
contempt for human rights and the rule of law when it announced it 
would pursue espionage charges against three young Americans who 
crossed Iran's border with Iraq. These allegations are just the latest 
telling example on a long list of abuses.
  American Robert Levinson has been missing in Iran for more than two 
years, during which the Iranian regime has denied having any 
information on his whereabouts and has blocked international attempts 
to discover his fate. In January 2009, the Iranian Government jailed 
Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi and charged and convicted her 
of espionage after a one-hour show trial that mocked even the most 
basic standards of due process and law, and then sentenced her to eight 
years in prison before releasing her a few months later. Esha Momeni, a 
student at California State University, Northridge, was imprisoned last 
fall for her peaceful activities in support of women's rights in Iran. 
The regime's abuses have even touched Nobel peace prize winner Shrin 
Ebadi, whose Center for Defenders of Human Rights was forced to close 
by the government in December 2008.
  None of these recent abuses, however, as deplorable as they are, have 
shocked the conscience of the world so severely as the Iranian 
Government's actions in response to this year's disputed presidential 
elections. Prompted by justifiable concern that their will had been 
thwarted in a rigged election, thousands of Iranian citizens took to 
the streets, firmly but peacefully exercising their rights and 
demanding the democracy their government purports to embody. The 
regime's response was to launch violent, heavy-handed attacks against 
these peaceful protestors, using government security forces and 
paramilitary militias under government control to repress the 
legitimate expression of a valid grievance. The United Nations High 
Commissioner for Human Rights reports that this violence resulted in at 
least a dozen deaths, and hundreds of injuries.
  In the aftermath, the Iranian Government imprisoned dozens of its 
citizens and conducted a mass trial of more 100 of them, many of whom 
bore clear signs of physical abuse. The government sentenced at least 
four of these prisoners to death on the basis of dubious confessions, 
likely produced under duress and abuse.
  It is proper and appropriate for the Senate to make clear its 
determination that these acts violate international human rights 
standards, Iran's own professed commitments, and common decency. The 
resolution introduced today would record the Senate's condemnation of 
Iran's woeful human rights record; remind the Iranian government of its 
domestic and international commitments to human rights; call for the 
immediate release of all those held for their peaceful exercise of 
rights of free expression, assembly and association; and urge Iran to 
extend full legal rights to those imprisoned. It calls for the Iranian 
Government to guarantee humane treatment of those in detention; to halt 
immediately state-sanctioned violence against its own citizens; to 
allow unrestricted communication and access to information; and to 
respect the rights of the Iranian people to free speech, a free press, 
free expression of religion, freedom of association, and freedom of 
assembly.
  It is a tragic irony that the government perpetrating these 
deplorable acts of violence and abuse came to power three decades ago 
because the Iranian people rejected the abuses and violence of a 
previous regime. Now following in the repressive footsteps of that 
previous regime, the current Iranian Government has been widely 
condemned by the community of nations. Passage of this resolution would 
add the U.S. Senate's loud and clear voice of condemnation to the many 
voices inside Iran, and out, calling for the restoration of basic human 
rights for the Iranian people.
  Mr. KAUFMAN. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed 
to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid 
upon the table en bloc; that any statements relating to the resolution 
be printed in the Record without intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 355) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 355

       Whereas the 1979 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of 
     Iran supposedly guarantees certain human rights and 
     fundamental freedoms, which encompass civil and political 
     rights, along with economic, social, and cultural rights;
       Whereas the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party to four 
     major United Nations human rights treaties: the Convention on 
     the Rights of the Child (which it ratified on July 13, 1994), 
     the International Convention on the

[[Page S11818]]

     Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (which it 
     ratified on August 29, 1968), and the International Covenant 
     on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant 
     on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (both of which its 
     ratified on June 24, 1975);
       Whereas the Government of Iran has routinely violated the 
     human rights of its citizens, including--
       (1) torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or 
     punishment, including flogging, and amputations;
       (2) high incidence and increase in the rate of executions 
     carried out in the absence of internationally recognized 
     safeguards, including public executions and executions of 
     juvenile offenders;
       (3) stoning as a method of execution and persons in prison 
     who continue to face sentences of execution by stoning;
       (4) arrests, violent repression, and sentencing of women 
     exercising their right to peaceful assembly, a campaign of 
     intimidation against women's rights defenders, and continuing 
     discrimination against women and girls;
       (5) increasing discrimination and other human rights 
     violations against persons belonging to religious, ethnic, 
     linguistic, or other minorities;
       (6) ongoing, systematic, and serious restrictions of 
     freedom of peaceful assembly and association and freedom of 
     opinion and expression, including the continuing closures of 
     media outlets, arrests of journalists, and the censorship of 
     expression in online forums such as blogs and websites; and
       (7) severe limitations and restrictions on freedom of 
     religion and belief, including arbitrary arrest, indefinite 
     detention, and lengthy jail sentences for those exercising 
     their right to freedom of religion or belief, including a 
     provision in the proposed draft penal code that sets out a 
     mandatory death sentence for apostasy, the abandoning of 
     one's faith;

       Whereas, since March 9, 2007, Robert Levinson, a United 
     States citizen, has been missing in the Islamic Republic of 
     Iran, and the Government of Iran has provided little 
     information on his whereabouts or assistance in ensuring his 
     safe return to the United States;
       Whereas Ja'far Kiani was publicly stoned to death in July 
     2007 in the Islamic Republic of Iran in contravention of an 
     order from the Head of the Judiciary granting a temporary 
     stay of execution;
       Whereas, since May 2008, Reza Taghavi, a 71-year-old 
     Iranian-American, has been imprisoned without a trial or 
     formal charges;
       Whereas, on October 15, 2008, authorities in the Islamic 
     Republic of Iran jailed Esha Momeni, a graduate student at 
     California State University, Northridge, for her peaceful 
     activities in connection with the women's rights movement in 
     the Islamic Republic of Iran, and refused to grant her 
     permission to leave Iran for 10 months following her release 
     from prison in November 2008;
       Whereas Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was 
     jailed in January 2009 and sentenced in a closed-door, one-
     hour trial to eight years in prison for charges of espionage 
     before her release in May 2009;
       Whereas, on June 19, 2009, the United Nations High 
     Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concerns about the 
     increasing number of illegal arrests not in conformity with 
     the law and the illegal use of excessive force in responding 
     to protests following the June 12, 2009, elections, resulting 
     in at least dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries;
       Whereas the Government of Iran closed the Center for 
     Defenders of Human Rights, headed by Nobel Peace prize winner 
     Shirin Ebadi, in December 2008, and the Association of 
     Iranian Journalists in August 2009, the country's largest 
     independent association for journalists;
       Whereas, on August 1, 2009, authorities in the Islamic 
     Republic of Iran began a mass trial of over 100 individuals 
     in connection with election protests, most of whom were held 
     incommunicado for weeks, in solitary confinement, with little 
     or no access to their lawyers and families, many of whom 
     showed signs of torture and drugging;
       Whereas, in early October 2009, the judiciary of the 
     Islamic Republic of Iran sentenced four individuals to death 
     after the disputed presidential election, without providing 
     the individuals adequate access to legal representation 
     during their trials;
       Whereas the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, issued a 
     statement on October 28, 2009, effectively criminalizing 
     dissent regarding the national election in the Islamic 
     Republic of Iran this past June, further restricting the 
     right to freedom of expression;
       Whereas the Government of Iran does not allow independent 
     nongovernmental associations and labor unions to perform 
     their role in peacefully defending the rights of all persons;
       Whereas, on November 4, 2009, security forces in the 
     Islamic Republic of Iran used brutal force to disperse 
     thousands of protesters, resulting in a number of injuries 
     and arrests, in violation of international standards 
     regarding the proportionate use of force against peaceful 
     demonstrations;
       Whereas the Government of Iran expelled students from 
     universities, particularly over the past two years, in 
     reprisal for their being critical of the government;
       Whereas the Government of Iran has imposed restrictions on 
     the travel of individuals, including artists and filmmakers 
     since the recent elections, in reprisal for their political 
     views or their criticism of the government, such as those 
     presently imposed on human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, 
     human rights activist Emad Baghi, film director Jafar Panahi, 
     and actress Fatemeh Motamed Arya; and
       Whereas, according to Amnesty International, at least 346 
     people were known to have been executed in 2008, including 
     eight juvenile offenders and two men who were executed by 
     stoning: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) calls for authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran 
     to respect the rights of the people of Iran to freedom of 
     speech, press, religion, association, and assembly;
       (2) condemns the Government of Iran's human rights 
     violations and calls on the Government of Iran to hold those 
     responsible accountable for their actions;
       (3) reminds the Government of Iran of its constitutional 
     obligations under its 1979 Constitution and four 
     international covenants to which it is a signatory;
       (4) calls for the immediate release from detention of 
     opposition figures, human rights defenders, journalists, and 
     all others held for peacefully exercising their right to 
     expression, assembly, and association;
       (5) urges the Government of Iran to ensure that anyone 
     placed on trial for committing acts of violence or other 
     clearly criminal acts benefits from all of his or her rights 
     to a fair trial, including proceedings that are open to the 
     public, the right to be represented by independent counsel, 
     and guarantees that no statements shall be admitted into 
     evidence that were shown to have been obtained through 
     torture, inhumane, or degrading treatment;
       (6) calls for the Government of Iran to ensure those 
     currently in detention are treated humanely, to provide 
     detainees immediate prompt access to their families, lawyers, 
     and any medical treatment that may be needed, and calls for 
     the Government of Iran to hold accountable those responsible 
     for torture of detainees; and
       (7) calls for authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 
     consistent with their obligations under the International 
     Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to guarantee all 
     persons the ``freedom to seek, receive and impart information 
     and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either 
     orally, in writing, or in print, in the form of art, or 
     through any other media of his choice''.

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