III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 7 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 26, 2023 

Received; referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Condemning the Iranian regime’s human rights abuses 

against the brave women and men of Iran peacefully 

demonstrating in more than 133 cities. 

Whereas, on September 16, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini 

passed away in the custody of Iranian ‘‘morality police’’ 

following a 3-day coma due to wounds, including bone 

fracture, hemorrhage, and cerebral edema consistent with 

severe beating, inflicted by the police for purportedly 

wearing a hijab improperly; 


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HCON 7 RFS 

Whereas, on September 16, Iranians gathered in the streets 

of Tehran to protest the killing of Mahsa Amini; 

Whereas demonstrations have since spread to more than 133 

cities and 130 universities in Iran, where women are removing or burning hijabs, cutting their hair, and dancing 

in front of Iranian security forces, joined by their fellow 

Iranian citizens; 

Whereas Iranian security forces have responded to such demonstrations with violence and detentions, including detentions of journalists and activists for covering the protests; 

Whereas the security forces have reportedly killed more than 

450 protestors, including at least 58 children; however, 

the number of injuries and deaths is likely higher but 

unobtainable due to internet blackouts; 

Whereas at least 18,000 Iranians have been arrested across 

Iran according to official sources, and many thousands 

more have been detained according to independent reports; 

Whereas videos, images, and demonstrations have spread to 

social media platforms and are an important way for the 

voices of the Iranian people to be heard; 

Whereas internet monitoring groups have reported that the 

Iranian regime has— 

(1) caused near-total disruption of internet 

connectivity in parts of Iran and partial disruptions in 

city centers; and 

(2) blocked WhatsApp, Twitter, Telegram, 

Facebook, Instagram, and video games with chat functions; 

Whereas common protest chants include— 

(1) ‘‘Women, life, and freedom!’’; 


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HCON 7 RFS 

(2) ‘‘Iranians die but will not be suppressed!’’; and 

(3) ‘‘Death to the dictator Ayatollah Ali 

Khamenei!’’; 

Whereas the Iranian regime has a long history of structural 

and legal discrimination against women, including barriers for women seeking justice against domestic violence 

and criminal prohibitions against women singing or showing hair in public and studying certain technical subjects; 

Whereas the Iranian regime approved of ‘‘depriving one social 

right or more’’ for any woman who posts an unveiled picture of herself on social media, and, in August 2022, approved of enforcing mandatory hijab laws through facial 

recognition; 

Whereas, through misogynistic criminal statutes, the Iranian 

regime for decades has detained and engaged in the ongoing persecution of women, including— 

(1) Saba Kord Afshari, who was sentenced to 15 

years in prison for posting videos to social media without 

a hijab and transferred into Ward 6 of the notorious 

Qarchak Women’s Prison, identified by the Secretary of 

the Treasury for gross violations of human rights; 

(2) Yasaman Aryani, her mother Monireh 

Arabshahi, and Mojgan Keshavarz, who were sentenced 

to serve five and a half years in prison for posting a video 

for International Women’s Day in 2019, during which 

they walked without headscarves through a metro train 

in Tehran, handing flowers to female passengers; 

(3) human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, who 

was sentenced in 2019 to 38 years in prison and 148 

lashes for providing legal defense services to women 

charged with not wearing a hijab; 


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HCON 7 RFS 

(4) Narges Mohammadi, a prominent rights advocate, who— 

(A) was arrested in November 2021 on the second anniversary of countrywide protests and is currently serving a 2-year sentence in prison; 

(B) was handed a further sentence of 15 

months imprisonment for ‘‘propaganda against the 

state’’; and 

(C) previously, had been sentenced to 10 years 

in prison in May 2015 for ‘‘establishing an illegal 

group’’, ‘‘assembly and collusion to act against national security’’, and ‘‘propaganda against the 

state’’; 

(5) former Vice President for Women and Family 

Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi, who was charged with encouraging ‘‘corruption, prostitution, and sexual deviance’’, a common charge against women refusing mandatory hijab laws, and sentenced in December 2020 to 30 

months in prison for defending the right of women to attend sporting events and criticizing the practice of child 

marriage; 

(6) six women who were sentenced by the Culture 

and Media Court of Tehran in July 2022 to each serve 

1 year in prison for the offense of singing songs in public; 

(7) Niloofar Hamedi, one of the first Iranian journalists to report on Mahsa Amini’s death, who was arrested on September 22, 2022, and is being held in solitary confinement; and 

(8) countless other women; and 

Whereas peaceful protests in Iran over the last year have focused on grievances that include— 


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HCON 7 RFS 

(1) mismanagement of the economy and national resources; 

(2) prioritization of funding for terror groups and 

pariah regimes over social services for the people of Iran; 

and 

(3) widespread political corruption: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) condemns— 

4 (A) the brutal beating and death of Mahsa 

5 Amini; and 

6 (B) the violent suppression by the Iranian 

7 regime of women and men participating in the 

8 current demonstrations, including children, and 

9 calls for transparent accountability for all 

10 killings of protesters by Iranian security forces; 

11 (2) supports the women and men of Iran who 

12 are— 

13 (A) participating in the current protests to 

14 defend their fundamental human rights; and 

15 (B) risking their safety to speak out 

16 against the human rights abuses committed by 

17 the Iranian regime; 

18 (3) supports internet freedom programs that 

19 circumvent the regime and provide support for 

20 VPNs and other alternatives that can be used to byVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jan 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC7.RFS HC7

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HCON 7 RFS 

1 pass attempts by authoritarian governments to cen2 sor internet access during times of protest, and com3 mends private entities willing to provide programs to 

4 circumvent such censorship; 

5 (4) encourages continued efforts by the Biden 

6 Administration to respond to the protests, including 

7 the recent sanctioning of the Iranian morality police, 

8 and further encourages the Biden Administration— 

9 (A) to immediately impose, under existing 

10 authorities, additional human rights sanctions 

11 on officials and entities responsible for the re12 pression of the current protests; 

13 (B) to prioritize efforts to expand unre14 stricted internet access in Iran, consistent with 

15 existing law; and 

16 (C) to work to develop a strategy to pre17 vent the Iranian regime from obtaining and ex18 ploiting facial recognition data and software for 

19 the use of mass surveillance and enforcement of 

20 mandatory hijab; 

21 (5) encourages the private sector, following the 

22 recent clarification by the Biden Administration of 

23 sanctions exemptions on communications technology, 

24 to work with the Biden Administration to ensure 

25 protestors and activists have access to tools needed 


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HCON 7 RFS 

1 to circumvent government surveillance and repres2 sion; and 

3 (6) welcomes the efforts of the international 

4 community to support protestors in Iran, and calls 

5 on the international community— 

6 (A) to publicly condemn violence by the 

7 Iranian regime against peaceful protesters; 

8 (B) to speak out against violations by the 

9 regime of fundamental human rights, including 

10 the freedom of expression, assembly, and re11 dress of grievances of the Iranian people; and 

12 (C) to impose human rights sanctions on 

13 officials and entities that are responsible for the 

14 repression of current protests and involved in 

15 violating the human rights of the Iranian peo16 ple. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 25, 

2023. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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