[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 46 (Thursday, March 15, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E324-E325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

                                  _____
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 15, 2018

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the mullahs in Tehran are among the 
world's worst human rights abusers. This year we have witnessed their 
brutality again on display as they mercilessly crushed political 
dissent from their own people. International attention has faded but 
the Iranian people are still in the streets demanding their rights, 
whether they be economic opportunity, access to water, religious 
freedom, or gender equality. The United States must support these 
dissidents fighting for freedom and basic human rights.
  In response, the regime has murdered dozens and locked-up thousands 
as it has done so many times before without punishment from the outside 
world. In perhaps one of the most egregious cases, in 1988 the Iranian 
regime initiated a systematic massacre of thousands of political 
dissidents. The barbaric mass executions by hanging and firing squad 
included teenagers and pregnant women who refused to renounce their 
political affiliations, including many from the MEK--today's leading 
Iranian dissident group.
  It's important to remember and emphasize who exactly were the victims 
of this bloody massacre. Iranian security officials would ask detainees 
``What is your political affiliation?'' Those who said ``MEK'' would be 
immediately placed on execution lists. So horrific was the act that the 
deputy to Ayatollah Khomeini at the time called it ``the greatest crime 
committed during the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn 
us.''
  Their day of reckoning is fast approaching. It has taken 30 years to 
condemn and investigate this horrific massacre. The United States must 
act swiftly to ensure that the Mullahs in Tehran are finally held 
accountable. Our government must work with international partners to 
also investigate other major human rights abuses such as the dozens 
more killed during protests in 1999, 2009, and 2017. In all cases, the 
families of those murdered by the regime were never told what happened 
to their loved ones' remains. The United States government and our 
allies must make it a priority to pressure the Iranian regime to 
disclose where the final resting place of the missing is so that their 
families may have a small bit of peace.
  Another horrific violation of human rights and decency is taking 
place today on the shores of Libya. In 2011, our government self-
righteously intervened in Libya to topple the regime of Muammar al-
Gadhafi and then turned its back on that country. It is now a full-
blown failed state where human trafficking is taking place.
  Human trafficking is modern day slavery. We are seeing thousands of 
desperate refugees attempting to cross the war-torn country to the 
freedom and opportunity of Europe only to end up being exploited by 
slave traders. Estimates indicate there are about 500,000 to a million 
migrants bottled up in Libya that could be fodder for this despicable 
slave trade. Evil men, whether they be criminal opportunists or 
terrorists, are subjugating those in the most need for their own 
profit. You cannot put a price on human life.
  The fact remains that we simply do not know enough about what exactly 
is going on in Libya today. The U.S. government and Congress should 
further investigate this tragic development of human slavery in Libya 
so we can get to the bottom of what is actually going on.
  We must know who is exploiting migrants for profit, where the money 
is going, and compel Libyan authorities and the international community 
to respond decisively. It is our moral duty to fight for the voiceless 
who are being sold as chattel on the shores of Libya.

[[Page E325]]

  And that's just the way it is.

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