[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 88 (Monday, June 14, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4893-S4894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND CONDEMNING 
                  ONGOING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN IRAN

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I now ask unanimous consent that we 
proceed to S. Res. 551.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 551) marking the 1-year anniversary 
     of the June 12, 2009 presidential election in Iran, and 
     condemning ongoing human rights abuses in Iran.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 
the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid on the 
table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 551) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 551

       Whereas the Government of Iran has systematically 
     undertaken a campaign of violence, persecution, and 
     intimidation against Iranian citizens who have peacefully 
     protested the results of the deeply flawed Iran presidential 
     elections of June 12, 2009;
       Whereas the 2009 Department of State Country Report on 
     Human Rights Practices in Iran found that ``[t]he government 
     [of Iran] severely limited citizens' right to peacefully 
     change their government through free and fair elections'' and 
     ``. . . severely restricted the right to privacy and civil 
     liberties, including freedoms of speech and the press, 
     assembly, association, and movement'';
       Whereas hundreds of thousands of peaceful demonstrators 
     gathered in the streets of Iran in the aftermath of the June 
     12, 2009, elections, and dozens of innocent Iranians were 
     killed and more than 4,000 were arbitrarily arrested by 
     police and security forces and the Basij militia;
       Whereas hundreds of Iranian citizens remain in detention 
     and more than 250 prominent activists and demonstrators were 
     tried in mass ``show trials'' that began in August 2009, and 
     at least 50 of these defendants have received sentences 
     ranging from six months imprisonment to death;
       Whereas, on June 20, 2009, a member of the Basij militia 
     reportedly shot and killed 27 year-old student Neda Agha-
     Soltan, whose murder was recorded on a mobile phone camera, 
     disseminated via the Internet, and became a rallying cry for 
     the political opposition and Green Movement;
       Whereas, since the election, the Government of Iran has 
     systemically restricted and suppressed free press, free 
     expression, free assembly, and free access to the Internet 
     and other forms of connective technology in order to limit 
     the flow of information and silence political opposition and 
     other forms of popular dissent;
       Whereas the Government of Iran has a deplorable human 
     rights record that includes severe restrictions on the 
     freedom of religion or belief, denial of the freedom of 
     assembly and the rights of civil society, systematic torture 
     and ill-treatment, and judicial proceedings that lack due 
     process;
       Whereas the Government of Iran continues to operate with 
     hostility and impunity toward journalists, reformers, ethnic 
     and religious minorities, political opponents, human rights 
     defenders, women's rights groups, student activists, and 
     others, including through unlawful and arbitrary detentions, 
     arrests, politically motivated sentencing, physical assaults, 
     and killings;
       Whereas human rights activists, journalists, and ethnic and 
     religious minorities have fled Iran for fear of persecution 
     and are residing, some in dangerous circumstances, in 
     neighboring countries seeking refugee status and asylum in 
     the United States and other countries;
       Whereas the Government of Iran has violated its obligations 
     under the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
     Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 
     International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
     Racial Discrimination, and the International Covenant on 
     Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
       Whereas the 2010 Freedom House Freedom in the World Report 
     finds that Iran leads the world in the number of jailed 
     journalists;
       Whereas, since the June 2009 election, the Government of 
     Iran has restricted foreign press access, banned more than 60 
     international media outlets, and jammed international 
     broadcasts, including those of Radio Free Europe/Radio 
     Liberty's Radio Farda, Voice of America's Persian News 
     Network, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other non-
     Iranian news services;
       Whereas, on December 18, 2009, the United Nations General 
     Assembly passed a resolution condemning ``serious, ongoing 
     and recurring human rights violations in Iran'' and calling 
     on the Government of Iran to respect its human rights 
     obligations;
       Whereas, on December 27, 2009, the Ashura holiday, at least 
     eight civilians were killed in confrontations with 
     authorities, and police reportedly arrested approximately 300 
     civilians in relation to popular demonstrations;
       Whereas, on February 11, 2010, the anniversary of the 
     Islamic Revolution, the Government of Iran beat and arrested 
     numerous protestors, jammed text messaging technology, slowed 
     and restricted access to the Internet, and blocked email and 
     news websites, intentionally limiting the ability of Iranian 
     citizens to communicate and freely access news and 
     information;
       Whereas, on April 19, 2010, the Government of Iran 
     officially suspended prominent political parties, banned a 
     reformist newspaper, and sentenced to prison leaders within 
     the political opposition; and
       Whereas activists connected to the 2009 election protests 
     were recently re-arrested in an attempt to disrupt planned 
     protests on the one-year anniversary of the election on June 
     12, 2010: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) solemnly marks one year since the flawed June 12, 2009, 
     presidential election in Iran, and honors Iranian citizens 
     who have lost their lives in peaceful protest since the 
     election;
       (2) supports the people of Iran as they seek peaceful and 
     free expression, free speech, free press, free assembly, 
     unfettered access to the Internet, and freedom of religion 
     despite a campaign of intimidation, repressions, and violence 
     perpetrated by the Government of Iran;
       (3) commends the people of Iran who have braved the 
     persistent and pervasive threat of censorship, arrest, 
     physical harassment, and death to have their voices heard and 
     peacefully exercise fundamental human rights, as enshrined in 
     the constitution of Iran and international human rights law, 
     including the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
     Rights, entered into force on March 23, 1976, and ratified by 
     Iran;
       (4) condemns the Government of Iran for perpetrating 
     ongoing human rights abuses and for restricting, monitoring, 
     and suppressing freedom of the press, expression, assembly, 
     speech, and religion, as well as free access to the Internet 
     and other forms of connective technology in order to limit 
     the flow of information and silence political opposition and 
     other forms of popular dissent;
       (5) denounces the atmosphere of impunity for those who 
     intimidate, harass, and commit violence against Iranian 
     citizens, and calls for the unconditional release of all 
     political and religious prisoners in Iran;
       (6) urges the President and Secretary of State to mobilize 
     resources to support freedom of assembly, freedom of 
     expression, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and 
     freedom of speech in Iran, especially on the June 12 
     anniversary of the 2009 presidential election;
       (7) encourages the President and Secretary of State to work 
     with the United Nations Human Rights Council to condemn the 
     ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Government 
     of Iran and establish a monitoring mechanism by which the 
     Council can monitor such violations;
       (8) urges the Government of Iran to cooperate with and 
     allow visits of the United Nations Special Rapporteurs for 
     Human Rights and the United Nations Office of the High 
     Commissioner for Human Rights;
       (9) urges the President and Secretary of State to work with 
     the international community to ensure that violations of 
     human

[[Page S4894]]

     rights are part of all formal and informal multilateral or 
     bilateral discussions with and regarding Iran; and
       (10) calls for the immediate return of all missing and 
     detained United States citizens in Iran.

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