III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 355 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Government of the Islamic 

Republic of Iran has systematically violated its obligations to uphold 

human rights provided for under its constitution and international law. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2009 

Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mr. CORKER, and Mr. NELSON of Florida) submitted the 

following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Government 

of the Islamic Republic of Iran has systematically violated its obligations to uphold human rights provided 

for under its constitution and international law. 

Whereas the 1979 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of 

Iran supposedly guarantees certain human rights and 

fundamental freedoms, which encompass civil and political rights, along with economic, social, and cultural 

rights; 

Whereas the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party to four major 

United Nations human rights treaties: the Convention on 

the Rights of the Child (which it ratified on July 13, 

1994), the International Convention on the Elimination 

of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (which it ratified 


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•SRES 355 ATS 

on August 29, 1968), and the International Covenant on 

Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant 

on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (both of which 

its ratified on June 24, 1975); 

Whereas the Government of Iran has routinely violated the 

human rights of its citizens, including— 

(1) torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, including flogging, and amputations; 

(2) high incidence and increase in the rate of executions carried out in the absence of internationally recognized safeguards, including public executions and executions of juvenile offenders; 

(3) stoning as a method of execution and persons in 

prison who continue to face sentences of execution by 

stoning; 

(4) arrests, violent repression, and sentencing of 

women exercising their right to peaceful assembly, a campaign of intimidation against women’s rights defenders, 

and continuing discrimination against women and girls; 

(5) increasing discrimination and other human 

rights violations against persons belonging to religious, 

ethnic, linguistic, or other minorities; 

(6) ongoing, systematic, and serious restrictions of 

freedom of peaceful assembly and association and freedom of opinion and expression, including the continuing 

closures of media outlets, arrests of journalists, and the 

censorship of expression in online forums such as blogs 

and websites; and 

(7) severe limitations and restrictions on freedom of 

religion and belief, including arbitrary arrest, indefinite 

detention, and lengthy jail sentences for those exercising 

their right to freedom of religion or belief, including a 


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•SRES 355 ATS 

provision in the proposed draft penal code that sets out 

a mandatory death sentence for apostasy, the abandoning 

of one’s faith; 

Whereas, since March 9, 2007, Robert Levinson, a United 

States citizen, has been missing in the Islamic Republic 

of Iran, and the Government of Iran has provided little 

information on his whereabouts or assistance in ensuring 

his safe return to the United States; 

Whereas Ja’far Kiani was publicly stoned to death in July 

2007 in the Islamic Republic of Iran in contravention of 

an order from the Head of the Judiciary granting a temporary stay of execution; 

Whereas, since May 2008, Reza Taghavi, a 71-year old Iranian-American, has been imprisoned without a trial or 

formal charges; 

Whereas, on October 15, 2008, authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran jailed Esha Momeni, a graduate student at 

California State University, Northridge, for her peaceful 

activities in connection with the women’s rights movement in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and refused to 

grant her permission to leave Iran for 10 months following her release from prison in November 2008; 

Whereas Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was 

jailed in January 2009 and sentenced in a closed-door, 

one-hour trial to eight years in prison for charges of espionage before her release in May 2009; 

Whereas, on June 19, 2009, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concerns about 

the increasing number of illegal arrests not in conformity 

with the law and the illegal use of excessive force in responding to protests following the June 12, 2009, elecVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Nov 20, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR355.ATS SR355

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•SRES 355 ATS 

tions, resulting in at least dozens of deaths and hundreds 

of injuries; 

Whereas the Government of Iran closed the Center for Defenders of Human Rights, headed by Nobel Peace prize 

winner Shirin Ebadi, in December 2008, and the Association of Iranian Journalists in August 2009, the country’s 

largest independent association for journalists; 

Whereas, on August 1, 2009, authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran began a mass trial of over 100 individuals 

in connection with election protests, most of whom were 

held incommunicado for weeks, in solitary confinement, 

with little or no access to their lawyers and families, 

many of whom showed signs of torture and drugging; 

Whereas, in early October 2009, the judiciary of the Islamic 

Republic of Iran sentenced four individuals to death after 

the disputed presidential election, without providing the 

individuals adequate access to legal representation during 

their trials; 

Whereas the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, issued 

a statement on October 28, 2009, effectively criminalizing dissent regarding the national election in the Islamic Republic of Iran this past June, further restricting 

the right to freedom of expression; 

Whereas the Government of Iran does not allow independent 

nongovernmental associations and labor unions to perform their role in peacefully defending the rights of all 

persons; 

Whereas, on November 4, 2009, security forces in the Islamic 

Republic of Iran used brutal force to disperse thousands 

of protesters, resulting in a number of injuries and arrests, in violation of international standards regarding 


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•SRES 355 ATS 

the proportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrations; 

Whereas the Government of Iran expelled students from universities, particularly over the past two years, in reprisal 

for their being critical of the government; 

Whereas the Government of Iran has imposed restrictions on 

the travel of individuals, including artists and filmmakers 

since the recent elections, in reprisal for their political 

views or their criticism of the government, such as those 

presently imposed on human rights lawyer Abdolfattah 

Soltani, human rights activist Emad Baghi, film director 

Jafar Panahi, and actress Fatemeh Motamed Arya; and 

Whereas, according to Amnesty International, at least 346 

people were known to have been executed in 2008, including eight juvenile offenders and two men who were executed by stoning: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls for authorities in the Islamic Republic 

3 of Iran to respect the rights of the people of Iran 

4 to freedom of speech, press, religion, association, 

5 and assembly; 

6 (2) condemns the Government of Iran’s human 

7 rights violations and calls on the Government of 

8 Iran to hold those responsible accountable for their 

9 actions; 

10 (3) reminds the Government of Iran of its con11 stitutional obligations under its 1979 Constitution 


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1 and four international covenants to which it is a sig2 natory; 

3 (4) calls for the immediate release from deten4 tion of opposition figures, human rights defenders, 

5 journalists, and all others held for peacefully exer6 cising their right to expression, assembly, and asso7 ciation; 

8 (5) urges the Government of Iran to ensure 

9 that anyone placed on trial for committing acts of 

10 violence or other clearly criminal acts benefits from 

11 all of his or her rights to a fair trial, including pro12 ceedings that are open to the public, the right to be 

13 represented by independent counsel, and guarantees 

14 that no statements shall be admitted into evidence 

15 that were shown to have been obtained through tor16 ture, inhumane, or degrading treatment; 

17 (6) calls for the Government of Iran to ensure 

18 those currently in detention are treated humanely, to 

19 provide detainees immediate prompt access to their 

20 families, lawyers, and any medical treatment that 

21 may be needed, and calls for the Government of Iran 

22 to hold accountable those responsible for torture of 

23 detainees; and 

24 (7) calls for authorities in the Islamic Republic 

25 of Iran, consistent with their obligations under the 


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1 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 

2 to guarantee all persons the ‘‘freedom to seek, re3 ceive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, 

4 regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, or in 

5 print, in the form of art, or through any other media 

6 of his choice’’. 

Æ 


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