[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 182 (Friday, December 20, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9111-S9114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONDEMNING THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to Calendar No. 269, S. Res. 75.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 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.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign
Relations with an amendment and an amendment to the preamble.
(Omit the part in boldface brackets and insert the part printed in
italic.
(Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic.)
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.'';
[[Page S9112]]
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;
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]
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 2013 Report stated that ``[t]he Baha'i
community has long been subject to particularly severe
religious freedom violations,'' and that ``[s]ince 1979, the
government has killed more than 200 Baha'i leaders in Iran
and dismissed more than 10,000 from government and university
jobs,'' in addition to prohibiting them from establishing
``places of worship, schools, or any independent religious
associations'';
Whereas the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom 2013 Report found that Baha'i marriages and
divorces are not recognized and Baha'i holy places and
community properties are often seized or destroyed, and
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
private sector employment.'';
Whereas the Department of State 2012 International
Religious Freedom Report stated that the Government of Iran
``prohibits Baha'is from teaching and practicing their faith
and subjects them to many forms of discrimination not faced
by members of other religious groups'' and ``requires Baha'is
to register with the police'';
Whereas the Department of State 2012 International
Religious Freedom Report stated that ``[the] government
raided Baha'i homes and businesses and confiscated large
amounts of private and commercial property, as well as
religious materials,'' and found that ``Baha'is are regularly
denied compensation for injury or criminal victimization'';
Whereas the Department of State 2012 International
Religious Freedom Report stated that ``[the] government,
since the Islamic Revolution, formally denies Baha'i students
access to higher education,'' and ``[p]ublic and private
universities continued to deny admittance and expel Baha'i
students'';
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 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 [F]aith 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
[[Page S9113]]
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 [F]aith.'';
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
that ``110 Bahai's are currently detained in Iran for
exercising their faith,'' and found that Baha'is in the
cities of Semnan, Gorgon, and Hamadan have especially faced
increasing persecution over the last three years, including
raids, arrests, physical violence, arson, vandalism to their
homes, business, and grave sites, and government closings of
Baha'i-owned businesses;
Whereas, on February 28, 2013, the United Nations
Secretary-General issued a report (A/HRC/22/48), which
stated, ``An ongoing anti-Baha'i media campaign resulted in
increasing attacks on its members and their properties. This
national campaign that consists of [a]nti-Baha'i pamphlets,
posters, seminars and the broadcasting of anti-Baha'i
speeches on radio networks appears to be tacitly condoned by
the authorities. In addition, anti-Baha'i speeches [were]
reportedly delivered to different audiences including
schools, youth organizations and the general public.'';
Whereas, on October 4, 2013, the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic
Republic of Iran issued a report (A/68/503), which stated,
``The Special Rapporteur continues to observe what appears to
be an escalating patter of systematic human rights violations
targeting members of the Baha'i community, who face arbitrary
detention, torture and ill-treatment, national security
charges for active involvement in religious affairs,
restrictions on religious practice, denial of higher
education, obstacles to State employment and abuses within
schools.'';
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, known as the Yaran-i-Iran, or ``friends of Iran'';
Whereas, in August 2010, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran
sentenced the seven Baha'i leaders to 20-year prison terms,
the longest sentences given to any current prisoners of
conscience in Iran, 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 colleagues
and successors as defense counsel were provided extremely
limited access, and Ms. Ebadi stated that there was no
evidence to sustain the charges against the seven;
Whereas, on May 13, 2013, four United Nations human rights
experts, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, the head of the Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention, El Hadji Malick Sow, the Special
Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner
Bielefeldt, and the Independent Expert on Minorities issues,
Rita Izask, released a statement ``call[ing] on the Iranian
authorities for the immediate release of seven Baha'i
community leaders, known as the Yaran, nearing the fifth
anniversary of their arrests, whose detentions were declared
arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, on
20 November 2008'';
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;
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,'' with six of them
remaining imprisoned;
Whereas, since October 2011, six 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, Dr. Foad Moghaddam, and Mr.
Amanollah Mostaghim serving 5-year prison terms;
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, since September 2013, the Government of Iran has
imprisoned four Baha'i mothers, Taraneh Torabi, Zohreh
Nikayin, Neda Majidi, and Elham Rouzbehi, along with their
infant children, and Ms. Torabi, Ms. Nikayin, and Ms.
Rouzbehi remain imprisoned with their children;
Whereas, on August 24, 2013, Mr. Ataollah Rezvani, an
active member of the Baha'i community of Bandar Abbas, Iran,
was found shot in his car on the outskirts of the city, in
what may be a religiously motivated murder during a time of
increased pressure on Iran's religious minorities and a surge
in anti-Baha'i rhetoric by various clerics;
Whereas, in September 2013, the Government of Iran released
a number of prisoners of conscience, and none of the
prisoners released were known to be Baha'is;
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] twelve 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.
Mr. DURBIN. I further ask that the committee-reported amendment to
the resolution be agreed to; the resolution, as amended, be agreed to,
the committee-reported amendment to the preamble be agreed to; the
preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or
debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The committee amendment was agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 75), as amended, was agreed to.
The committee amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 75), as amended, was agreed to.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
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 2013 Report stated that ``[t]he Baha'i
community has long been subject to particularly severe
religious freedom violations,'' and that ``[s]ince 1979, the
government has killed more than 200 Baha'i leaders in Iran
and dismissed more than 10,000 from government and university
jobs,'' in addition to prohibiting them from establishing
``places of worship, schools, or any independent religious
associations'';
Whereas the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom 2013 Report found that Baha'i marriages and
divorces are not recognized and Baha'i holy places and
community properties are often seized or destroyed, and
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
private sector employment.'';
Whereas the Department of State 2012 International
Religious Freedom Report stated that the Government of Iran
``prohibits Baha'is from teaching and practicing their faith
and subjects them to many forms of discrimination not faced
by members of other religious groups'' and ``requires Baha'is
to register with the police'';
Whereas the Department of State 2012 International
Religious Freedom Report stated that ``[the] government
raided Baha'i
[[Page S9114]]
homes and businesses and confiscated large amounts of private
and commercial property, as well as religious materials,''
and found that ``Baha'is are regularly denied compensation
for injury or criminal victimization'';
Whereas the Department of State 2012 International
Religious Freedom Report stated that ``[the] government,
since the Islamic Revolution, formally denies Baha'i students
access to higher education,'' and ``[p]ublic and private
universities continued to deny admittance and expel Baha'i
students'';
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 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 [F]aith 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 [F]aith.'';
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
that ``110 Bahai's are currently detained in Iran for
exercising their faith,'' and found that Baha'is in the
cities of Semnan, Gorgon, and Hamadan have especially faced
increasing persecution over the last three years, including
raids, arrests, physical violence, arson, vandalism to their
homes, business, and grave sites, and government closings of
Baha'i-owned businesses;
Whereas, on February 28, 2013, the United Nations
Secretary-General issued a report (A/HRC/22/48), which
stated, ``An ongoing anti-Baha'i media campaign resulted in
increasing attacks on its members and their properties. This
national campaign that consists of [a]nti-Baha'i pamphlets,
posters, seminars and the broadcasting of anti-Baha'i
speeches on radio networks appears to be tacitly condoned by
the authorities. In addition, anti-Baha'i speeches [were]
reportedly delivered to different audiences including
schools, youth organizations and the general public.'';
Whereas, on October 4, 2013, the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic
Republic of Iran issued a report (A/68/503), which stated,
``The Special Rapporteur continues to observe what appears to
be an escalating patter of systematic human rights violations
targeting members of the Baha'i community, who face arbitrary
detention, torture and ill-treatment, national security
charges for active involvement in religious affairs,
restrictions on religious practice, denial of higher
education, obstacles to State employment and abuses within
schools.'';
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, known as the Yaran-i-Iran, or ``friends of Iran'';
Whereas, in August 2010, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran
sentenced the seven Baha'i leaders to 20-year prison terms,
the longest sentences given to any current prisoners of
conscience in Iran, 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 colleagues
and successors as defense counsel were provided extremely
limited access, and Ms. Ebadi stated that there was no
evidence to sustain the charges against the seven;
Whereas, on May 13, 2013, four United Nations human rights
experts, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, the head of the Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention, El Hadji Malick Sow, the Special
Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner
Bielefeldt, and the Independent Expert on Minorities issues,
Rita Izask, released a statement ``call[ing] on the Iranian
authorities for the immediate release of seven Baha'i
community leaders, known as the Yaran, nearing the fifth
anniversary of their arrests, whose detentions were declared
arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, on
20 November 2008'';
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;
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,'' with six of them
remaining imprisoned;
Whereas, since October 2011, six 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, Dr. Foad Moghaddam, and Mr.
Amanollah Mostaghim serving 5-year prison terms;
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, since September 2013, the Government of Iran has
imprisoned four Baha'i mothers, Taraneh Torabi, Zohreh
Nikayin, Neda Majidi, and Elham Rouzbehi, along with their
infant children, and Ms. Torabi, Ms. Nikayin, and Ms.
Rouzbehi remain imprisoned with their children;
Whereas, on August 24, 2013, Mr. Ataollah Rezvani, an
active member of the Baha'i community of Bandar Abbas, Iran,
was found shot in his car on the outskirts of the city, in
what may be a religiously motivated murder during a time of
increased pressure on Iran's religious minorities and a surge
in anti-Baha'i rhetoric by various clerics;
Whereas, in September 2013, the Government of Iran released
a number of prisoners of conscience, and none of the
prisoners released were known to be Baha'is;
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 twelve 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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