III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 71 

Condemning the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of 

the Baha’i minority in Iran and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2009 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. SNOWE, 

and Mr. BROWNBACK) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored 

persecution of the Baha’i minority in Iran and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human 

Rights. 

Whereas, in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 

2000, 2006, and 2008, 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, in November 2007, the Iranian Ministry of Information in Shiraz jailed Baha’is Ms. Raha Sabet, age 33, 

Mr. Sasan Taqva, age 32, and Ms. Haleh Roohi, age 29, 


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•SRES 71 IS 

for educating underprivileged children and gave them 4- 

year prison terms, which they are serving; 

Whereas Ms. Sabet, Mr. Taqva, and Ms. Rooshi were targeted solely on the basis of their religion; 

Whereas, on January 23, 2008, the Department of State released a statement urging the Government of Iran to release all individuals held without due process and a fair 

trial, including the 3 young Baha’is being held in an Iranian Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Shiraz; 

Whereas, in March and May of 2008, Iranian intelligence officials in Mashhad and Tehran arrested and imprisoned 

Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. 

Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, 

Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, the members of the coordinating group for the Baha’i community 

in Iran; 

Whereas, on February 11, 2009, the deputy prosecutor in 

Tehran, Mr. Hassan Haddad, announced that those 

seven leaders will go on trial at a Revolutionary Court on 

charges of ‘‘espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic’’; 

Whereas the lawyer for these seven leaders, Mrs. Shirin 

Ebadi, the Nobel Laureate, has been denied all access to 

the prisoners and their files; 

Whereas these seven Baha’i leaders were targeted solely on 

the basis of their religion; and 

Whereas the Government of Iran is party to the International 

Covenants on Human Rights: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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•SRES 71 IS 

1 (1) condemns the Government of Iran for its 

2 state-sponsored persecution of the Baha’i minority 

3 in Iran and its continued violation of the Inter4 national Covenants on Human Rights; 

5 (2) calls on the Government of Iran to imme6 diately release the seven leaders and all other pris7 oners held solely on account of their religion, includ8 ing Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin 

9 Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. 

10 Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Vahid 

11 Tizfahm, Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, and 

12 Ms. Haleh Roohi; and 

13 (3) calls on the President and Secretary of 

14 State, in cooperation with the international commu15 nity, to immediately condemn the Government of 

16 Iran’s continued violation of human rights and de17 mand the immediate release of prisoners held solely 

18 on account of their religion, including Mrs. Fariba 

19 Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif 

20 Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, 

21 Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, Ms. Raha 

22 Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, and Ms. Haleh Roohi. 

Æ 


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