[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 35 (Tuesday, March 12, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1713-S1714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 75--CONDEMNING THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN FOR ITS STATE-
    SPONSORED PERSECUTION OF ITS BAHA'I MINORITY AND ITS CONTINUED 
        VIOLATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

  Mr. KIRK (for himself and Mr. Durbin) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                               S. Res. 75

       Whereas, in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 
     2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013, 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 the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom 2012 Report stated, ``The Baha'i community 
     has long been subject to particularly severe religious 
     freedom violations in Iran. Baha'is, who number at least 
     300,000, are viewed as `heretics' by Iranian authorities and 
     may face repression on the grounds of apostasy.'';
       Whereas the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom 2012 Report stated, ``Since 1979, Iranian 
     government authorities have killed more than 200 Baha'i 
     leaders in Iran and dismissed more than 10,000 from 
     government and university jobs.'';
       Whereas the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom 2012 Report stated, ``Baha'is may not 
     establish places of worship, schools, or any independent 
     religious associations in Iran.'';
       Whereas the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom 2012 Report stated, ``Baha'is are barred 
     from the military and denied government jobs and pensions as 
     well as the right to inherit property. Their marriages and 
     divorces also are not recognized, and they have difficulty 
     obtaining death certificates. Baha'i cemeteries, holy places, 
     and community properties are often seized or desecrated, and 
     many important religious sites have been destroyed.'';
       Whereas the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom 2012 Report stated, ``The Baha'i community 
     faces severe economic pressure, including denials of jobs in 
     both the public and private sectors and of business licenses. 
     Iranian authorities often pressure employers of Baha'is to 
     dismiss them from employment in the private sector.'';
       Whereas the Department of State 2011 International 
     Religious Freedom Report stated, ``The government prohibits 
     Baha'is from teaching and practicing their faith and subjects 
     them to many forms of discrimination that followers of other 
     religions do not face.'';
       Whereas the Department of State 2011 International 
     Religious Freedom Report stated, ``According to [Iranian] 
     law, Baha'i blood is considered `mobah', meaning it can be 
     spilled with impunity.'';
       Whereas the Department of State 2011 International 
     Religious Freedom Report stated that ``members of religious 
     minorities, with the exception of Baha'is, can serve in lower 
     ranks of government employment'', and ``Baha'is are barred 
     from all leadership positions in the government and 
     military'';
       Whereas the Department of State 2011 International 
     Religious Freedom Report stated, ``Baha'is suffered frequent 
     government harassment and persecution, and their property 
     rights generally were disregarded. The government raided 
     Baha'i homes and businesses and confiscated large amounts of 
     private and commercial property, as well as religious 
     materials belonging to Baha'is.'';
       Whereas the Department of State 2011 International 
     Religious Freedom Report stated, ``Baha'is also are required 
     to register with the police.'';
       Whereas the Department of State 2011 International 
     Religious Freedom Report stated that ``[p]ublic and private 
     universities continued to deny admittance to and expelled 
     Baha'i students'' and ``[d]uring the year, at least 30 
     Baha'is were barred or expelled from universities on 
     political or religious grounds'';
       Whereas the Department of State 2011 International 
     Religious Freedom Report stated, ``Baha'is are regularly 
     denied compensation for injury or criminal victimization.'';
       Whereas, on March 6, 2012, the United Nations Special 
     Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic 
     Republic of Iran issued a report (A/HRC/19/66), which stated 
     that ``the Special Rapporteur continues to be alarmed by 
     communications that demonstrate the systemic and systematic 
     persecution of members of unrecognized religious communities, 
     particularly the Baha'i community, in violation of 
     international conventions'' and expressed concern regarding 
     ``an intensive defamation campaign meant to incite 
     discrimination and hate against Baha'is'';
       Whereas, on May 23, 2012, the United Nations Secretary-
     General issued a report (A/HRC/19/82), which stated that 
     ``the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief . . 
     . pointed out that the Islamic Republic of Iran had a policy 
     of systematic persecution of persons belonging to the Baha'i 
     faith, excluding them from the application of freedom of 
     religion or belief by simply denying that their faith had the 
     status of a religion'';
       Whereas, on August 22, 2012, the United Nations Secretary-
     General issued a report (A/67/327), which stated, ``The 
     international community continues to express concerns about 
     the very serious discrimination against ethnic and religious 
     minorities in law and in practice, in particular the Baha'i 
     community. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human 
     rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran expressed alarm about 
     the systemic and systematic persecution of members of the 
     Baha'i community, including severe socioeconomic pressure and 
     arrests and detention. He also deplored the Government's 
     tolerance of an intensive defamation campaign aimed at 
     inciting discrimination and hate against Baha'is.'';
       Whereas, on September 13, 2012, the United Nations Special 
     Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic 
     Republic of Iran issued a report (A/67/369), which stated, 
     ``Reports and interviews submitted to the Special Rapporteur 
     also continue to portray a disturbing trend with regard to 
     religious freedom in the country. Members of both recognized 
     and unrecognized religions have reported various levels of 
     intimidation, arrest, detention and interrogation that focus 
     on their religious beliefs.'', and stated, ``At the time of 
     drafting the report, 105 members of the Baha'i community were 
     reported to be in detention.'';
       Whereas, on November 27, 2012, the Third Committee of the 
     United Nations General Assembly adopted a draft resolution 
     (A/C.3/67/L.51), which noted, ``[I]ncreased persecution and 
     human rights violations against persons belonging to 
     unrecognized religious minorities, particularly members of 
     the Baha'i faith and their defenders, including escalating 
     attacks, an increase in the number of arrests and detentions, 
     the restriction of access to higher education on the basis of 
     religion, the sentencing of twelve Baha'is associated with 
     Baha'i educational institutions to lengthy prison terms, the 
     continued denial of access to employment in the public 
     sector, additional restrictions on participation in the 
     private sector, and the de facto criminalization of 
     membership in the Baha'i faith.'';
       Whereas, on December 20, 2012, the United Nations General 
     Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/67/182), which called 
     upon the government of Iran ``[t]o eliminate discrimination 
     against, and exclusion of . . . members of the Baha'i Faith, 
     regarding access to higher education, and to eliminate the 
     criminalization of efforts to provide higher education to 
     Baha'i youth denied access to Iranian universities,'' and 
     ``to accord all Baha'is, including those imprisoned because 
     of their beliefs, the due process of law and the rights that 
     they are constitutionally guaranteed'';
       Whereas, on February 28, 2013, the United Nations Special 
     Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic 
     Republic of Iran issued a report (A/HRC/22/56), which stated, 
     ``110 Bahai's are currently detained in Iran for exercising 
     their faith, including two women, Mrs. Zohreh Nikayin and 
     Mrs. Taraneh Torabi, who are reportedly nursing infants in 
     prison.'';
       Whereas, in March and May of 2008, intelligence officials 
     of the Government of Iran 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 seven members 
     of the ad hoc leadership group for the Baha'i community in 
     Iran;
       Whereas, in August 2010, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran 
     sentenced the seven Baha'i leaders to 20-year prison terms on 
     charges of ``spying for Israel, insulting religious 
     sanctities, propaganda against the regime and spreading 
     corruption on earth'';
       Whereas the lawyer for these seven leaders, Mrs. Shirin 
     Ebadi, the Nobel Laureate, was denied meaningful or timely 
     access to the prisoners and their files, and her successors 
     as defense counsel were provided extremely limited access;
       Whereas these seven Baha'i leaders were targeted solely on 
     the basis of their religion;
       Whereas, beginning in May 2011, Government of Iran 
     officials in four cities conducted sweeping raids on the 
     homes of dozens of individuals associated with the Baha'i 
     Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) and arrested and 
     detained several educators associated with BIHE;

[[Page S1714]]

       Whereas, in October 2011, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran 
     sentenced seven of these BIHE instructors and administrators, 
     Mr. Vahid Mahmoudi, Mr. Kamran Mortezaie, Mr. Mahmoud 
     Badavam, Ms. Nooshin Khadem, Mr. Farhad Sedghi, Mr. Riaz 
     Sobhani, and Mr. Ramin Zibaie, to prison terms for the crime 
     of ``membership of the deviant sect of Baha'ism, with the 
     goal of taking action against the security of the country, in 
     order to further the aims of the deviant sect and those of 
     organizations outside the country'';
       Whereas six of these educators remain imprisoned, with Mr. 
     Mortezaie serving a 5-year prison term and Mr. Badavam, Ms. 
     Khadem, Mr. Sedghi, Mr. Sobhani, and Mr. Zibaie serving 4-
     year prison terms;
       Whereas, since October 2011, four other BIHE educators have 
     been arrested and imprisoned, with Ms. Faran Hessami, Mr. 
     Kamran Rahimian, and Mr. Shahin Negari serving 4-year prison 
     terms, and Mr. Kayvan Rahimian serving a 5-year prison term;
       Whereas the efforts of the Government of Iran to collect 
     information on individual Baha'is have recently intensified 
     as evidenced by a letter, dated November 5, 2011, from the 
     Director of the Department of Education in the county of 
     Shahriar in the province of Tehran, instructing the directors 
     of schools in his jurisdiction to ``subtly and in a 
     confidential manner'' collect information on Baha'i students;
       Whereas the Baha'i community continues to undergo intense 
     economic and social pressure, including an ongoing campaign 
     in the town of Semnan, where the Government of Iran has 
     harassed and detained Baha'is, closed 17 Baha'i owned 
     businesses in the last three years, and imprisoned several 
     members of the community, including three mothers along with 
     their infants;
       Whereas ordinary Iranian citizens who belong to the Baha'i 
     Faith are disproportionately targeted, interrogated, and 
     detained under the pretext of national security;
       Whereas the Government of Iran is party to the 
     International Covenants on Human Rights and is in violation 
     of its obligations under the Covenants; and
       Whereas the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, 
     and Divestment Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-195) authorizes 
     the President and the Secretary of State to impose sanctions 
     on individuals ``responsible for or complicit in, or 
     responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise 
     directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses 
     against citizens of Iran or their family members on or after 
     June 12, 2009'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored 
     persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued 
     violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights;
       (2) calls on the Government of Iran to immediately release 
     the seven imprisoned leaders, the ten imprisoned educators, 
     and all other prisoners held solely on account of their 
     religion;
       (3) calls on the President and Secretary of State, in 
     cooperation with responsible nations, 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; and
       (4) urges the President and Secretary of State to utilize 
     all available authorities, including the Comprehensive Iran 
     Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, to 
     impose sanctions on officials of the Government of Iran and 
     other individuals directly responsible for serious human 
     rights abuses, including abuses against the Baha'i community 
     of Iran.

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