[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 695 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 695

 Commemorating the 1-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini and 
                    the subsequent protests in Iran.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 18, 2023

  Ms. Mace (for herself and Ms. Jackson Lee) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Commemorating the 1-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini and 
                    the subsequent protests in Iran.

Whereas, on September 16, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa (Jina) Amini died in police 
        custody after being detained by Iran's morality police for allegedly 
        wearing her hijab too loosely;
Whereas Ms. Amini's death sparked widespread protests across Iran and around the 
        world against the mandatory wearing of the hijab and the repression of 
        women's rights more broadly under Iran's clerical rule;
Whereas women have been at the forefront of the 2022 protest movement in the 
        wake of Mahsa Amini's death, and authorities have been particularly keen 
        to silence prominent female voices of conscience, including human rights 
        lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was threatened with being returned to jail 
        after speaking to and writing for international media outlets;
Whereas Iran is now the top jailer of women writers globally, according to PEN 
        America's Freedom to Write Index, and in 2022, 16 out of 42 female 
        writers jailed globally were held in Iran;
Whereas women who have spoken out in support of the protests from jail have 
        continued to face harassment, and in some cases, additional charges, 
        including activist and writer Narges Mohammadi and poet and activist 
        Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee;
Whereas the protest movement reflects the desires of millions of Iranians, 
        especially women and youth, for greater freedom and gender equality; and
Whereas over 500 protesters have been killed and over 19,000 arrested by 
        security forces in violent crackdowns on demonstrations over the past 
        year, according to human rights groups: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commemorates Mahsa Amini and the countless protesters 
        killed or detained since September 2022;
            (2) affirms its support for the rights of women and all 
        people in Iran to freedom of expression, assembly, and access 
        to information both online and offline;
            (3) calls on the Government of Iran to end its violence and 
        repression against peaceful protesters;
            (4) urges the unconditional release of all those detained 
        for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and 
        peaceful assembly in connection with the protests; and
            (5) reaffirms the necessity of holding accountable those 
        responsible for human rights violations related to the 
        protests.
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