```

[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 976 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 976

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                    September 20, 2006.
Whereas the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran was elected through a 
        controlled and fixed election process which does not allow the Iranian 
        people to freely elect their leaders;
Whereas the Government of Iran is unaccountable to the will of the Iranian 
        people;
Whereas the Government of Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil 
        and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and 
        Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of 
        All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
Whereas the Government of Iran within both its legal framework and everyday 
        practice continues to violate the civil and human rights of its 
        citizens, in particular women, religious and ethnic minorities, and 
        vocal opponents of the regime;
Whereas the Government of Iran practices discrimination against the 
        aforementioned groups through denial of access to education and 
        employment, seizure of private property, violent suppression of peaceful 
        protest and freedom of assembly, arbitrary arrest and detention, 
        physical and mental torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment, 
        such as public executions, hanging, and stoning, and extra judicial 
        killings of dissidents and ordinary citizens;
Whereas the Constitution of Iran promotes religious intolerance and prohibits 
        religious freedom by endorsing one religion to the exclusion of other 
        religious beliefs;
Whereas an unelected theocratic ruler and clerical elite exert control over the 
        executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Iranian Government;
Whereas the Iranian judiciary is not independent and can be subject to arbitrary 
        dismissal by the clerics;
Whereas on December 16, 2005, the United Nations General Assembly passed a 
        resolution discussing the human rights violations by the Government of 
        Iran and insisting that Iran eliminate in law and in practice 
        discrimination toward the aforementioned groups;
Whereas international human rights organizations have called for investigations 
        into violent crackdowns of peaceful protests and other human rights 
        violations which the Government of Iran has ignored;
Whereas Iran sent to the June 2006 inaugural meetings of the United Nations 
        Human Rights Council Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran's Prosecutor General 
        responsible for jailing hundreds of journalists and linked to the 2003 
        arrest, imprisonment, and murder of an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist, 
        showing a blatant disregard for the issue of human rights reform; and
Whereas the Department of State's Country Report on Human Rights Practices and 
        Report on International Religious Freedom document the human rights 
        abuses by the Government of Iran and list Iran as a ``Country of 
        Particular Concern'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Government 
        of the Islamic Republic of Iran and strongly urges the international 
        community to bring pressure on Iran to halt discrimination and violence 
        toward its citizens, in particular women, religious and ethnic 
        minorities, and vocal opponents of the regime;
            (2) urges the Government of the United States to continue to 
        pressure the Government of Iran into making measurable improvements in 
        the human rights situation for the Iranian people; and
            (3) expresses its unity with all Iranian people and shares their 
        desire to see Iran become a free country with transparent, democratic 
        institutions and equal rights for all.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.
```