I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4649 

To impose sanctions on persons who are complicit in human rights abuses 

committed against citizens of Iran or their family members after the 

June 12, 2009, political processes in Iran, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2010 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. MARSHALL, and Mr. ROYCE) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Ways and 

Means, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions on persons who are complicit in human 

rights abuses committed against citizens of Iran or their 

family members after the June 12, 2009, political processes in Iran, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iran Human Rights 

5 Sanctions Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Iran voted in the United Nations General 

4 Assembly on December 10, 1948, to adopt the Uni5 versal Declaration of Human Rights, thereby com6 mitting to guarantee the ‘‘life, liberty, and security 

7 of person’’ of all people and rejecting ‘‘cruel, inhu8 man, or degrading treatment or punishment’’. 

9 (2) Iran is a party to major international 

10 human rights instruments. 

11 (3) The Government of Iran is violating its 

12 international obligations to respect the human rights 

13 and fundamental freedoms of its citizens, including 

14 by— 

15 (A) using torture and cruel, inhuman, or 

16 degrading treatment or punishment, including 

17 flogging, and amputations; 

18 (B) carrying out an increasingly high rate 

19 of executions in the absence of internationally 

20 recognized safeguards, including public execu21 tions; 

22 (C) using stoning as a method of execution 

23 and maintaining a high number of persons in 

24 prison who continue to face sentences of execu25 tion by stoning; 


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1 (D) carrying out arrests, violent repres2 sion, and sentencing of women exercising their 

3 right to peaceful assembly, a campaign of in4 timidation against women’s rights defenders, 

5 and continuing discrimination against women 

6 and girls; 

7 (E) permitting or carrying out increasing 

8 discrimination and other human rights viola9 tions against persons belonging to religious, 

10 ethnic, linguistic, or other minorities; 

11 (F) imposing ongoing, systematic, and se12 rious restrictions of freedom of peaceful assem13 bly and association and freedom of opinion and 

14 expression, including the continuing closures of 

15 media outlets, arrests of journalists, and the 

16 censorship of expression in online forums such 

17 as blogs and websites; and 

18 (G) imposing severe limitations and re19 strictions on freedom of religion and belief, in20 cluding by carrying out arbitrary arrests, in21 definite detentions, and lengthy jail sentences 

22 for those exercising their rights to freedom of 

23 religion or belief and proposing a provision in a 

24 draft penal code that sets out a mandatory 


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1 death sentence for apostasy, the abandoning of 

2 one’s faith. 

3 (4) On June 19, 2009, the United Nations 

4 High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed 

5 concerns about the increasing number of arrests not 

6 in conformity with the law and the illegal use of ex7 cessive force in responding to protests following the 

8 June 12, 2009, political processes in Iran, resulting 

9 in at least dozens of deaths and hundreds of inju10 ries. 

11 (5) On August 1, 2009, authorities in the Gov12 ernment of Iran began a mass trial of more than 

13 100 individuals in connection with election protests, 

14 most of whom were held for weeks, in solitary con15 finement, with little or no access to their lawyers or 

16 families, and many of whom showed signs of torture 

17 or abuse. 

18 (6) The ‘‘Supreme Leader’’ of Iran issued a 

19 statement on October 28, 2009, effectively criminal20 izing dissent in the aftermath of the national polit21 ical processes of June 12, 2009. 

22 (7) On November 4, 2009, security forces in 

23 the Government of Iran used brutal force to disperse 

24 thousands of protesters, resulting in a number of in25 juries and arrests, in violation of international 


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1 norms regarding the proportionate use of force 

2 against peaceful demonstrations. 

3 (8) At least 8 citizens of Iran were killed and 

4 an undetermined number were injured on December 

5 27, 2009, when security forces of the Government of 

6 Iran violently broke up peaceful gatherings during 

7 the Ashura holiday. 

8 (9) The Government of Iran has recently sen9 tenced numerous Iranian citizens to death without 

10 due process for politicized crimes relating to the 

11 peaceful demonstrations that followed the June 12, 

12 2009, political processes, including ‘‘waging war 

13 against God’’, and has begun carrying out those exe14 cution sentences, including the death by hanging of 

15 2 individuals on January 28, 2010. 

16 (10) The Iran Freedom Support Act (Public 

17 Law 109–293; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) declares that 

18 it should be the policy of the United States— 

19 (A) to support efforts by the people of Iran 

20 to exercise self-determination over the form of 

21 government of their country; and 

22 (B) to support independent human rights 

23 and peaceful pro-democracy forces in Iran. 


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1 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN PERSONS 

2 WHO ARE COMPLICIT IN HUMAN RIGHTS 

3 ABUSES COMMITTED AGAINST CITIZENS OF 

4 IRAN OR THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS AFTER 

5 THE JUNE 12, 2009, POLITICAL PROCESSES IN 

6 IRAN. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose sanc8 tions described in subsection (c) (1) and (2) with respect 

9 to each person on the list required by subsection (b), be10 ginning not later than the date on which the President 

11 submits to the appropriate congressional committees the 

12 list required by subsection (b)(1) or the updated list re13 quired by subsection (b)(2) (as the case may be). 

14 (b) LIST OF PERSONS WHO ARE COMPLICIT IN CER15 TAIN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

18 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com19 mittees a list of persons who are citizens of Iran 

20 that the President determines are complicit in 

21 human rights abuses committed against citizens of 

22 Iran or their family members on or after June 12, 

23 2009, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in 

24 Iran. 

25 (2) UPDATES OF LIST.—Not later than 180 

26 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 


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1 every 90 days thereafter, the President shall submit 

2 to the appropriate congressional committees an up3 dated list under paragraph (1). 

4 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The list required 

5 by paragraph (1) shall be made available to the pub6 lic and posted on the websites of the Department of 

7 the Treasury and the Department of State. 

8 (4) CONSIDERATION OF DATA FROM OTHER

9 COUNTRIES AND NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZA10 TIONS.—In preparing the list required by paragraph 

11 (1), the President shall consider data already ob12 tained by other countries and nongovernmental orga13 nizations, including organizations in Iran, that mon14 itor the human rights abuses of the Government of 

15 Iran. 

16 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de17 scribed in this subsection are the following: 

18 (1) VISA BAN.—Ineligibility for a visa to enter 

19 the United States. 

20 (2) FINANCIAL SANCTIONS.—Sanctions author21 ized under the International Emergency Economic 

22 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), including 

23 blocking of property and restrictions or prohibitions 

24 on financial transactions and the exportation and 

25 importation of property. 


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1 (d) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The provisions of 

2 this section shall cease to have force and effect beginning 

3 90 days after the date on which the President determines 

4 and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees 

5 that— 

6 (1) the persons sanctioned under this section 

7 have ceased to be complicit in human rights abuses 

8 committed against citizens of Iran or their family 

9 members on or after June 12, 2009, regardless of 

10 whether such abuses occurred in Iran; and 

11 (2) the Government of Iran has— 

12 (A) unconditionally released all political 

13 prisoners, including the citizens of Iran de14 tained in the aftermath of the June 12, 2009, 

15 political processes in Iran, and allowed for in16 vestigations of Iranian prisons by appropriate 

17 international human rights organizations; 

18 (B) ceased its practices of violence, unlaw19 ful detention, torture, and abuse of citizens of 

20 Iran while engaging in peaceful political activ21 ity; 

22 (C) conducted a transparent investigation 

23 into the killings, arrest, and abuse of peaceful 

24 political activists in Iran and prosecuted those 

25 responsible; 


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1 (D) legalized all political activity; 

2 (E) made public commitments to orga3 nizing free and fair elections for a new govern4 ment— 

5 (i) to be held in a timely manner with6 in a period not to exceed 180 days after 

7 the date on which the President makes the 

8 determination and certification to the ap9 propriate congressional committees under 

10 this subsection; 

11 (ii) with the participation of multiple 

12 independent political parties that have full 

13 access to the media on an equal basis, in14 cluding (in the case of radio, television, or 

15 other telecommunications media) in terms 

16 of allotments of time for such access and 

17 the times of day such allotments are given; 

18 and 

19 (iii) to be conducted under the super20 vision of internationally recognized observ21 ers; 

22 (F) ceased any interference with broad23 casts such as Voice of America and Radio 

24 Farda; and 


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1 (G) made public commitments to and is 

2 making demonstrable progress in— 

3 (i) establishing an independent judici4 ary; and 

5 (ii) respecting internationally recog6 nized human rights and basic freedoms as 

7 recognized in the Universal Declaration of 

8 Human Rights. 

9 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

14 14(2) of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Public 

15 Law 104–172; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note). 

16 (2) COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

17 PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘Country Reports on 

18 Human Rights Practices’’ means the annual reports 

19 required to be submitted by the Department of State 

20 to Congress under sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of 

21 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

22 2151n(d) and 2304(b)). 

23 (3) GOVERNMENT OF IRAN.—The term ‘‘Gov24 ernment of Iran’’ includes any agency or instrumenVerDate Nov 24 2008 07:02 Feb 24, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4649.IH H4649

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1 tality of the Government of Iran, including any enti2 ty that is controlled by the Government of Iran. 

3 (4) HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES.—The term 

4 ‘‘human rights abuses’’ means those forms of abuses 

5 detailed in the Department of State’s annual Coun6 try Reports on Human Rights Practices. 

Æ 


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