III 

Calendar No. 603 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 47 

Commending the bravery, courage, and resolve of the women and men of 

Iran demonstrating in more than 80 cities and risking their safety 

to speak out against the Iranian regime’s human rights abuses. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. CASSIDY, 

Ms. ROSEN, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. 

YOUNG, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. WARREN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. KING, 

Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. PADILLA) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

DECEMBER 7, 2022 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Commending the bravery, courage, and resolve of the women 

and men of Iran demonstrating in more than 80 cities 

and risking their safety to speak out against the Iranian 

regime’s human rights abuses. 

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 


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fracture, hemorrhage, and cerebral edema consistent with 

severe beating, inflicted by the police for purportedly 

wearing a hijab improperly; 

Whereas, on September 17, Iranians gathered in the streets 

of Tehran to protest the killing of Mahsa Amini; 

Whereas demonstrations have since spread to more than 80 

cities and 20 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 killed a reported 76 

protestors, including at least 4 children; however, the 

number of injuries and deaths is likely higher but 

unobtainable due to internet blackouts; 

Whereas at least 1,200 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 


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(2) blocked WhatsApp, Twitter, Telegram, 

Facebook, Instagram, and video games with chat functions; 

Whereas common protest chants include— 

(1) ‘‘Women, life, and freedom!’’; 

(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) Raheleh Ahmadi, mother of Afshari, who was 

sentenced to 2 years in prison for advocacy on behalf of 

Afshari; 

(3) Yasaman Aryani, her mother Monireh 

Arabshahi, and Mojgan Keshavarz, who were sentenced 

to between 16 and 23 years in prison for posting a video 


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for International Women’s Day in 2019, during which 

they walked without headscarves through a metro train 

in Tehran, handing flowers to female passengers; 

(4) 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; 

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

(A) was arrested in November 2019 on the second anniversary of countrywide protests and is currently serving a 2-year sentence in prison; and 

(B) 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’’; 

(6) 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; 

(7) 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; 

(8) Niloufar 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 


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(9) countless other women; and 

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

(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 Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) commends the bravery, courage, and resolve 

4 of the women and men of Iran who are— 

5 (A) participating in the current protests to 

6 defend their fundamental human rights; and 

7 (B) risking their safety to speak out 

8 against the human rights abuses committed by 

9 the Iranian regime; 

10 (2) condemns— 

11 (A) the brutal beating and death of Mahsa 

12 Amini; and 

13 (B) the violent suppression by the Iranian 

14 regime of women and men participating in the 

15 current demonstrations, including children, and 

16 calls for transparent accountability for all 

17 killings of protesters by Iranian security forces; 


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1 (3) supports internet freedom programs that 

2 circumvent the regime, including the Open Tech3 nology Fund, which provides support for VPNs and 

4 other alternatives that can be used to bypass at5 tempts by authoritarian governments to censor inter6 net access during times of protest, and commends 

7 private entities willing to provide programs to cir8 cumvent such censorship; 

9 (4) encourages continued efforts by the Biden 

10 Administration to respond to the protests, including 

11 the recent sanctioning of the Iranian morality police, 

12 and further encourages the Biden Administration— 

13 (A) to immediately impose, under existing 

14 authorities, additional human rights sanctions 

15 on officials and entities responsible for the re16 pression of the current protests; 

17 (B) to prioritize efforts to expand unre18 stricted internet access in Iran, consistent with 

19 existing law; and 

20 (C) to work to develop a strategy to pre21 vent the Iranian regime from obtaining and ex22 ploiting facial recognition data and software for 

23 the use of mass surveillance and enforcement of 

24 mandatory hijab; 


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1 (5) encourages the private sector, following the 

2 recent clarification by the Biden Administration of 

3 sanctions exemptions on communications technology, 

4 to work with the Biden Administration to ensure 

5 protestors and activists have access to tools needed 

6 to circumvent government surveillance and repres7 sion; and 

8 (6) welcomes the efforts of the international 

9 community to support protestors in Iran, and calls 

10 on the international community— 

11 (A) to publicly condemn violence by the 

12 Iranian regime against peaceful protesters; 

13 (B) to speak out against violations by the 

14 regime of fundamental human rights, including 

15 the freedom of expression, assembly, and re16 dress of grievances of the Iranian people; and 

17 (C) impose human rights sanctions on offi18 cials and entities that are responsible for the re19 pression of current protests and involved in vio20 lating the human rights of the Iranian people. 

21 That Congress— 

22 (1) commends the bravery, courage, and resolve 

23 of the women and men of Iran who are— 

24 (A) participating in the current protests to 

25 defend their fundamental human rights; and 


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1 (B) risking their safety to speak out against 

2 the human rights abuses committed by the Ira3 nian regime; 

4 (2) condemns— 

5 (A) the brutal beating and death of Mahsa 

6 Amini; and 

7 (B) the violent suppression by the Iranian 

8 regime of women and men participating in the 

9 current demonstrations, including children, and 

10 calls for transparent accountability for all 

11 killings of protesters by Iranian security forces; 

12 (3) supports internet freedom programs that cir13 cumvent the regime, including the Open Technology 

14 Fund, which provides support for VPNs and other al15 ternatives that can be used to bypass attempts by au16 thoritarian governments to censor internet access dur17 ing times of protest, and commends private entities 

18 willing to provide programs to circumvent such cen19 sorship; 

20 (4) encourages continued efforts by the Biden 

21 Administration to respond to the protests, including 

22 the recent sanctioning of the Iranian morality police, 

23 and further encourages the Biden Administration— 

24 (A) to immediately impose, under existing 

25 authorities, additional human rights sanctions 


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1 on officials and entities responsible for the re2 pression of the current protests; 

3 (B) to prioritize efforts to expand unre4 stricted internet access in Iran, consistent with 

5 existing law; and 

6 (C) to work to develop a strategy to prevent 

7 the Iranian regime from obtaining and exploit8 ing facial recognition data and software for the 

9 use of mass surveillance and enforcement of 

10 mandatory hijab; 

11 (5) encourages the private sector, following the 

12 recent clarification by the Biden Administration of 

13 sanctions exemptions on communications technology, 

14 to work with the Biden Administration to ensure 

15 protestors and activists have access to tools needed to 

16 circumvent government surveillance and repression; 

17 (6) encourages the private sector to coordinate 

18 with the Department of the Treasury and their sub19 sidiaries to utilize licensing opportunities and expand 

20 access of key communications services to Iranians in21 side Iran; and 

22 (7) welcomes the efforts of the international com23 munity to support protestors in Iran, and calls on the 

24 international community— 


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1 (A) to publicly condemn violence by the Ira2 nian regime against peaceful protesters; 

3 (B) to speak out against violations by the 

4 regime of fundamental human rights, including 

5 the freedom of expression, assembly, and redress 

6 of grievances of the Iranian people; and 

7 (C) impose human rights sanctions on offi8 cials and entities that are responsible for the re9 pression of current protests and involved in vio10 lating the human rights of the Iranian people. 


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Calendar No. 603 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 47 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Commending the bravery, courage, and resolve of 

rights abuses. speak out against the Iranian regime’s human more than 80 cities and risking their safety to the women and men of Iran demonstrating in 

DECEMBER 7, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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