[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 73 (Wednesday, April 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S2297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 183--CONDEMNING THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN'S STATE-
    SPONSORED PERSECUTION OF ITS BAHA'I MINORITY AND ITS CONTINUED 
        VIOLATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

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

                              S. Res. 183

       Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 
     2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 
     2018, and 2020, Congress declared that it--
       (1) deplored the religious persecution by the Government of 
     Iran of the Baha'i community; and
       (2) would hold the Government of Iran responsible for 
     upholding the rights of all Iranian nationals, including 
     members of the Baha'i Faith;
       Whereas according to the United States Commission on 
     International Religious Freedom's 2017 annual report, ``Since 
     1979, [Iranian] authorities have killed or executed more than 
     200 Baha'i leaders, and more than 10,000 [Baha'i] have been 
     dismissed from government and university jobs [in Iran]'';
       Whereas the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on 
     the Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran 
     (A/RES/75/191), dated December 16, 2020, expresses serious 
     concern about--
       (1) ``ongoing severe limitations and increasing 
     restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, 
     religion or belief'';
       (2) ``restrictions on the establishment of places of 
     worship'';
       (3) ``undue restrictions on burials carried out in 
     accordance with religious tenets'';
       (4) ``attacks against places of worship and burial''; and
       (5) ``other human rights violations, including but not 
     limited to harassment, intimidation, persecution, arbitrary 
     arrests and detention, and incitement to hatred that leads to 
     violence against persons belonging to recognized and 
     unrecognized religious minorities'';
       Whereas on January 29, 2020, the United States Commission 
     on International Religious Freedom ``condemned an Iranian 
     court order allowing authorities to confiscate properties 
     owned by Baha'is in the village of Ivel in Mazandaran 
     Province'';
       Whereas the Iran section of the Department of State's 2019 
     Report on International Religious Freedom states that--
       (1) ``The government bars Baha'is from all government 
     employment and forbids Baha'i participation in the 
     governmental social pension system. Baha'is may not receive 
     compensation for injury or crimes committed against them and 
     may not inherit property. A religious fatwa from the supreme 
     leader encourages citizens to avoid all dealings with 
     Baha'is.'';
       (2) ``Baha'is and those who advocated for their rights 
     reported Baha'is continued to be major targets of social 
     stigma and violence, and perpetrators reportedly continued to 
     act with impunity. Even when arrested, perpetrators faced 
     diminished punishment following admissions that their acts 
     were based on the religious identity of the victim.'';
       (3) ``There continued to be reports of non-Baha'is 
     dismissing or refusing employment to Baha'is, sometimes in 
     response to government pressure, according to [the Baha'i 
     International Community] and other organizations monitoring 
     the situation of the Baha'is.''; and
       (4) ``According to media and NGO reports, Baha'is continued 
     to face charges that included `insulting religious 
     sanctities,' `corruption on earth,' `propaganda against the 
     system,' `espionage and collaboration with foreign entities,' 
     and `actions against national security.' Charges also 
     included involvement with the Baha'i Institute for Higher 
     Education (BIHE), a university-level educational institution 
     offering mainly distance learning, that the government 
     considered illegal.'';
       Whereas on March 11, 2020, the Department of State released 
     the 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which 
     states that Iranian authorities ``barred Bahai students from 
     higher education'';
       Whereas the Baha'i International Community documented a 
     more than 50 percent increase in hate propaganda directed 
     against the Baha'is in the 12-month period ending in August 
     2020 compared to prior years with more than 9,500 such 
     articles, videos, or web pages appearing in Iranian 
     government-controlled or government-sponsored media;
       Whereas the Government of Iran is a party to the 
     International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, done at 
     New York December 19, 1966, and the International Covenant on 
     Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, done at New York 
     December 16, 1966, and is in violation of its obligations 
     under such covenants;
       Whereas section 105 of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 
     Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8514) 
     authorizes the President to impose sanctions on individuals 
     who are ``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''; and
       Whereas the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights 
     Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-158) amends and expands the 
     authorities established under the Comprehensive Iran 
     Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (Public 
     Law 111-195) to sanction Iranian human rights abusers:
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the Government of Iran's state-sponsored 
     persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued 
     violation of the International Covenant on Civil and 
     Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, 
     Social and Cultural Rights;
       (2) calls on the Government of Iran --
       (A) to immediately release the imprisoned or detained 
     Baha'is and all other prisoners held solely on account of 
     their religion;
       (B) to end its state-sponsored campaign of hate propaganda 
     against the Baha'is; and
       (C) to reverse state-imposed policies denying equal 
     opportunities to higher education, earning a livelihood, due 
     process under the law, and the free exercise of religious 
     practices;
       (3) calls on the President and the Secretary of State, in 
     cooperation with responsible nations--
       (A) to immediately condemn the Government of Iran's 
     continued violation of human rights; and
       (B) to demand the immediate release of prisoners held 
     solely on account of their religion; and
       (4) urges the President and the Secretary of State to 
     utilize available authorities to impose sanctions on 
     officials of the Government of Iran and other individuals 
     directly responsible for serious human rights abuses, 
     including abuses against the Iranian Baha'i community.

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