[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 74 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 74
Condemning the Government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of the
Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International
Covenants on Human Rights.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 16, 2023
Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Boozman, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. Rosen, Ms.
Hirono, Ms. Sinema, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Warnock, Ms. Hassan,
Mr. Murphy, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Coons, Mr.
Welch, Mr. Braun, Mrs. Capito, and Mr. Van Hollen) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the Government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of the
Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International
Covenants on Human Rights.
Whereas, in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2006,
2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2022, 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, since 1979, Iranian authorities have killed or executed more than 200
Baha'i leaders, and more than 10,000 Baha'is have been dismissed from
government and university jobs;
Whereas, on December 15, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a
resolution (A/C.3/77/L.34) criticizing Iran for human rights abuses and
calling on Iran to carry out wide-ranging reforms, including--
(1) to end its ``continuing disregard for protections under Iranian law
or internationally recognized safeguards relating to the imposition of the
death penalty'' and ``to commute the sentences for child offenders on death
row'';
(2) ``to ensure, in law and in practice, that no one is subjected to
torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment'';
(3) ``to cease the widespread and systematic use of arbitrary arrests
and detention'';
(4) ``to release persons detained for the exercise of their human
rights and fundamental freedoms'';
(5) ``to address the poor conditions of prisons'';
(6) ``to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of systemic
discrimination and other human rights violations against women and girls'';
(7) to cease ``the increased harassment, intimidation, persecution,
arbitrary arrest and detention of, and incitement to hatred that leads to
violence against, persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized
religious minorities, including Christians (particularly converts from
Islam), Gonabadi Dervishes, Jews, Sufi Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Yarsanis,
Zoroastrians, and, in particular, Baha'is, who have been subjected to a
sudden increase in persecution, who have faced increasing restrictions and
systemic persecution by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on
account of their faith and have been reportedly subjected to mass arrests
and lengthy prison sentences, as well as the arrest of prominent members
and increased confiscation and destruction of property''; and
(8) ``to release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their
membership in or activities on behalf of a minority religious group, to
cease the desecration of cemeteries and to ensure that everyone has the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief'';
Whereas, in the 2022 Annual Report of the United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom issued in April 2022, it is reported
that--
(1) the Government of Iran ``arrested scores of Baha'is across Iran'',
many of whom ``were held incommunicado or taken to undisclosed locations'';
(2) ``Iranian universities continued to deny education to Baha'is on
account of their faith'';
(3) government agents ``closed six Baha'i businesses'';
(4) government officials ``demolished the homes of three Baha'is
without warning''; and
(5) the Government of Iran ``announced the auction of thirteen Baha'i
farms'';
Whereas the Iran section of the Department of State's 2021 Report on
International Religious Freedom issued in June 2022 provides, in part--
(1) ``Authorities continued to confiscate Baha'i properties as part of
an ongoing state-led campaign of economic persecution against Baha'is.'';
(2) ``Authorities reportedly continued to deny the Baha'i, Sabean-
Mandaean, and Yarsani religious communities, as well as members of other
unrecognized religious minorities, access to education and government
employment unless they declared themselves as belonging to one of the
country's recognized religions on their application forms.''; and
(3) ``Government officials continued to disseminate anti-Baha'i and
antisemitic messages using traditional and social media.'';
Whereas, in response to a surge in persecution in June and July 2022, involving
the subjection of over 100 Baha'is to arrests, arraignments, sentencing,
and raids on their homes and businesses across Iran, including the
sentencing in June of 26 individuals in the city of Shiraz to a combined
total of 85 years in prison, the Department of State's Office of
International Religious Freedom issued a statement on August 2, 2022,
indicating that ``[a]mid a continued rise in arrests, sentences, and
imprisonments, the U.S. urges Iran to halt its ongoing oppression of the
Baha'i community and honor its international obligations to respect the
right of all Iranians to freedom of religion or belief'';
Whereas, on November 21, 2022, Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, 2 former
members of the informal 7-person leadership group of the Baha'is of
Iran, who each served 10-year sentences from 2008 to 2018 and have been
detained since July 31, 2022, in Evin prison, were sentenced to 10 years
in prison each after a summary trial lasting 1 hour;
Whereas, on December 11, 2022, the Baha'i International Community organization
stated that ``Dr. Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel laureate and defence lawyer
for Mahvash and Fariba during their first trial, said in 2008 that `not
a shred of evidence' was offered to prove the national security charges
or other allegations. Nor was any new evidence forthcoming at this
latest trial'';
Whereas, on December 11, 2022, the Baha'i International Community organization
reported, ``More than 320 Baha'is have been affected by individual acts
of persecution since the arrest of Mahvash and Fariba. Dozens were
arrested at various points in Shiraz, across Mazandaran province, and
elsewhere throughout the country. Homes owned by Baha'is in the village
of Roshankouh were demolished. Government plans to tar the Baha'is
through hate speech and propaganda were also exposed. And at least 90
Baha'is are currently in prison or subject to degrading ankle-band
monitoring.'';
Whereas Iran is a member of the United Nations and a signatory to both the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, among other international human rights
treaties, without reservation;
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 the Baha'i minority in Iran and the continued
violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political 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
Baha'is and members of other religious minorities 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, 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 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 Baha'i community of Iran.
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