[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 157 (Friday, December 3, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8477-S8478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 694--CONDEMNING THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN FOR ITS STATE-
SPONSORED PERSECUTION OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN IRAN AND ITS CONTINUED 
        VIOLATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON HUMAN RIGHTS

  Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Leahy, 
Mr. Kyl, Mr. Casey, Mr. Johanns, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Lieberman) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 694

       Whereas Iran is a multicultural society comprised of Shia 
     and Sunni Muslims, as well as Baha'is, Christians, Jews, 
     Zoroastrians, Persians, Azeris, Gilakis and Mazandaranis, 
     Kurds, Arabs, Lurs, Turkmen, Armenians, Balochis, Bakhtyaris, 
     and others, and many of these communities have coexisted for 
     thousands of years;
       Whereas the Baha'i community is the largest non-Muslim 
     religious minority in Iran, whose teachings emphasize 
     multiculturalism, equality of men and women, interdependence, 
     and humankind living in peace;
       Whereas vast numbers of Iranians recognize the many 
     contributions Baha'is have made to their society despite 
     facing government-sponsored persecution;
       Whereas, in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2006, 
     2008, and 2009, 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;

[[Page S8478]]

       Whereas, according to the February 2010 United Nations 
     Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review of Iran, ``The 
     Secretary-General noted reports about Baha'is subjected to 
     arbitrary detention, false imprisonment, confiscation and 
     destruction of property, citing a significant increase in 
     violence targeting Baha'is, including torture or ill-
     treatment in custody.'';
       Whereas, in August 2010, the seven former leaders of the 
     Iranian Baha'i community were sentenced to a 20-year prison 
     term, later reduced to a 10-year sentence, following over two 
     years of arbitrary detention without trial;
       Whereas numerous independent observers and legal experts, 
     including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
     Rights, have raised serious questions about the lack of due 
     process or fairness of their trial;
       Whereas over 43 Baha'is continue to be imprisoned in Iran 
     as of November 2010 solely because of their religious 
     beliefs;
       Whereas the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability 
     and Divestment Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-195) calls on the 
     President to impose ``sanctions on certain persons who are 
     responsible for or complicit in human rights abuses committed 
     against citizens of Iran or their family members'';
       Whereas, on March 15, 2010, Ms. Rozita Vaseghi was arrested 
     and has since been held in solitary confinement at the 
     detention center of the Ministry of Intelligence unit in 
     Mashhad;
       Whereas the seven leaders of the Baha'i community, Fariba 
     Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Behrouz 
     Tavakkoli, Saeid Rezaie, Vahid Tizfahm, and Mahvash Sabet, 
     were arrested between March and May 2008 and have remained in 
     detention;
       Whereas, on June 14, 2010, the trial of these seven leaders 
     concluded after four hearings and on June 30 the court issued 
     a 20-year prison sentence for each which was subsequently 
     verbally changed to a 10-year sentence;
       Whereas, on October 12, 2009, Christian pastor Youcef 
     Nadarkhani was arrested in northern Iran and faces a death 
     sentence for apostasy after he questioned the Muslim monopoly 
     on religious instruction his children were receiving in 
     school;
       Whereas, in recent years, there has been a significant 
     increase in the number of incidents of Iranian authorities 
     raiding church services, detaining worshippers and church 
     leaders, and harassing and threatening church members;
       Whereas official policies promoting anti-Semitism have 
     risen sharply in Iran, particularly since President 
     Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005;
       Whereas, on July 23, 2009, riot police and security forces 
     injured and arrested 20 Sufi practitioners in Gonabad who 
     then received sentences of flogging or imprisonment in May 
     2010;
       Whereas, in January 2009, Jamshid Lak, a Sufi of the 
     Gonabadi Dervish order, was flogged 74 times after being 
     charged in 2006 with slander after reportedly publicly 
     complaining of ill treatment by the Ministry of Intelligence;
       Whereas, in July 2008, plain clothes security officers 
     raided the home of Isfahan Iranian Christians Abbas Amiri and 
     Sakineh Rahnama during a meeting, and both Amiri and Rahnama 
     died of injuries suffered during the raid;
       Whereas these individuals 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 religious minorities 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 of the Baha'i community 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, 
     Ms. Haleh Roohi, and Ms Rozita Vaseghi;
       (3) calls on the President and Secretary of State, in 
     cooperation with the international community, to continue to 
     condemn the Government of Iran's ongoing 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, Ms. Haleh 
     Roohi, and Ms Rozita Vaseghi;
       (4) urges the President and Secretary of State to consider 
     implementing further sanctions against officials directly 
     responsible for egregious human rights violations, including 
     against the Baha'is;
       (5) calls on the United States Government to continue to 
     support an annual United Nations General Assembly resolution 
     condemning severe violations of human rights, including 
     freedom of religion or belief, in Iran;
       (6) calls on the United States Government to press for a 
     resolution condemning severe violations of human rights in 
     Iran, including freedom of religion or belief, at the United 
     Nations General Assembly and at the United Nations Human 
     Rights Council; and
       (7) call on the United Nations Human Rights Council to 
     restore the position of United Nations Special Rapporteur on 
     the situation of human rights in Iran with the task of 
     investigating and reporting on human rights abuses in Iran.

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