Support for Iranian Political Prisoners Act

To call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately end violations of the human rights, and facilitate the unconditional, immediate release, of all arbitrarily detained individuals, including peaceful protesters, political prisoners, and prisoners of conscience, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Support for Iranian Political Prisoners Act 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right to life, liberty, and security of person. Article 9 of such Declaration prohibits arbitrary arrests or detentions and Article 18 of such Declaration guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. (2) As a member state of the United Nations and other international institutions, the Islamic Republic of Iran is bound by international commitments concerning human rights and the rule of law. Nevertheless, the Islamic Republic of Iran has systematically and consistently curtailed the ability of Iranian citizens to exercise fundamental freedoms without fear of retribution. (3) On September 13, 2022, 22-year-old Masha Amini was detained by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Morality Police, for allegedly having visible hair under her headscarf. (4) On September 19, 2022, in response to her death, protesters took to the streets across Iran. The Iranian Government sought to put down these protests with violence, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 48 people, including 20-year-old Hadis Najafi, who was shot multiple times by security forces according to eyewitnesses, and the arrests of hundreds more. (5) On October 6, 2021, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a statement expressing grave concern regarding the consistent practice of the Islamic Republic of Iran to deny medical treatment to detainees, including political prisoners. Denials of medical treatment worsened during the year 2021 due to the spread of COVID–19 throughout prisons. The statement also called for the unconditional release of human rights defenders, attorneys, political prisoners, peaceful protesters, and all other persons deprived of liberty for expressing views or otherwise exercising rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. (6) On December 16, 2021, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Resolution 76/178, criticizing the practices of the Islamic Republic of Iran and calling on the Islamic Republic of Iran to implement significant reforms, including— (A) ensuring that no person is subject to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; (B) ceasing the widespread and systematic use of arbitrary arrests and detentions; (C) releasing persons detained for exercising the human rights and fundamental freedoms; and (D) improving the conditions of prisons. (7) According to the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices issued by the Department of State, the Islamic Republic of Iran took few steps during the year 2021 to identify, investigate, prosecute, or punish persons at all levels of the Iranian Government and the Iranian security forces. Such reports include credible accounts that the Islamic Republic of Iran or agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, have been implicated in— (A) unlawful or arbitrary killings; (B) forced disappearances; (C) torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; (D) arbitrary arrest or detention; (E) harsh or life-threatening prison conditions; (F) lack of judiciary independence, particularly regarding the revolutionary courts; (G) severe restrictions on free expression and media, including censorship, criminalization of libel and slander, and violence, threats of violence, unjustified arrests, and prosecutions against journalists; and (H) serious restrictions on and harassment of domestic or international human rights organizations. (8) The 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices further reported that political prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran were at greater risk of torture and abuse in detention and were often mixed with the general prison population. Former prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran reported that government authorities often threatened political prisoners with transfer to criminal wards, where attacks by fellow prisoners were more likely. Human rights activists and international media organizations reported cases of political prisoners confined with persons accused of and convicted of violent crime. The Islamic Republic of Iran also often exiled political prisoners to prisons in remote provinces far from the families of such prisoners as a means of reprisal, denied such prisoners a right to correspondence and access to legal counsel, and held such prisoners in solitary confinement for long periods. (9) According to the organization Iran Human Rights, in October of 2021, political prisoners Shapour Ehsanirad, Pouya Ghobadi, Esmail Gerami, Akbar Bagheri, and Akbar Shirazi were seriously injured after being attacked by prisoners accused of or convicted of violent crime. (10) According to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps control secret detention centers with deplorable (11) Attorneys who defend political prisoners detained by the Islamic Republic of Iran are regularly arrested, detained, and subjected to excessive punishments for engaging in regular professional activities. The Islamic Republic of Iran also continues to imprison attorneys and others affiliated with the advocacy group Defenders of Human Rights Center. According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran, not less than 5 human rights attorneys—Soheila Hejab, Payam Derafshan, Mohammad Nafari, Amirsalar Davoudi, and Nasrin Sotoudeh—were in prison during the year 2021 for performing human rights work. (12) With limited options for recourse, political prisoners regularly participate in hunger strikes to raise awareness about prison conditions and the plight of political prisoners, who are often denied medical treatment. In January of 2022, according to reporting by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 6 prisoners in Evin Prison went on a hunger strike following the death of jailed Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin. At least 3 other prisoners at the Gharchak Women's Prison and the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary joined the hunger strike. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that dozens of prisoners are believed to have died in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran due to mistreatment, including beatings, torture, and a lack of proper medical care. (13) In August of 2021, following the release of footage of mistreatment and torture at Evin Prison, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of State issued a statement stating that the recently leaked footage of [the] notorious Evin Prison confirms what we have long known: torture is systemic in Iranian prisons. We call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to release all political prisoners and to treat all prisoners with dignity (14) According to the organization United for Iran, more than 556 prisoners of conscience, including persons jailed for religious beliefs, were held in 200 or more prisons in the Islamic Republic of Iran as of May of 2022. 3. Statement of Policy It is the policy of the United States that— (1) the Islamic Republic of Iran should allow the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran unimpeded access to facilitate the full implementation of the mandate of the United Nations Special Rapporteur, including— (A) investigating alleged violations of human rights that are occurring or have occurred both within prisons and elsewhere; (B) transmitting urgent appeals and letters to the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding alleged violations of human rights; and (C) engaging with relevant stakeholders in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the surrounding region; (2) the Islamic Republic of Iran should immediately end violations of the human rights of political prisoners or persons imprisoned for exercising the right to freedom of speech, including— (A) torture; (B) assault; (C) denial of access to health care; and (D) denial of a fair trial; (3) all arbitrarily detained individuals, including peaceful protesters, political prisoners, and prisoners of conscience, should be unconditionally and immediately released; (4) all diplomatic tools of the United States should be invoked to ensure that all arbitrarily detained individuals, including political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in the Islamic Republic of Iran are released, including raising individual cases of particular concern; and (5) all officials of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran who are responsible for human rights abuses in the form of politically motivated imprisonment should be held to account, including through the imposition of sanctions pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act ( 22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq. 4. Assistance for prisoners of conscience and political prisoners The Secretary of State is authorized to continue to provide assistance to civil society organizations that support arbitrarily detained individuals, including prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including organizations that— (1) work to secure the release of such prisoners; (2) document violations of human rights with respect to such prisoners; (3) support international advocacy to raise awareness of issues relating to such prisoners; (4) support the health, including mental health, of such prisoners; and (5) provide post-incarceration assistance to enable such prisoners to resume normal lives, including access to education, employment, or other forms of reparation. 5. Definitions In this Act: (1) Arbitrarily detained The term arbitrarily detained (A) in article 7, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20 or 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; or (B) in article 12, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26 or 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (2) Political prisoner The term political prisoner (A) have used violence; (B) have advocated violence or hatred; or (C) have committed a minor offense that serves as a pretext for politically motivated imprisonment. (3) Prisoner of conscience The term prisoner of conscience (A) is imprisoned or otherwise physically restricted solely in response to the peaceful exercise of the human rights of such person; and (B) has not used violence or advocated violence or hatred.

Summary: Support for Iranian Political Prisoners Act This bill authorizes the Department of State to continue providing assistance to civil society organizations in Iran that support arbitrarily detained individuals. The bill calls on Iran to immediately end human rights violations of political prisoners and persons imprisoned for exercising freedom of speech. The bill also calls on Iran to allow the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights unimpeded access to investigate alleged abuses.