IV
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 614
Condemning the Government of Iran for the continued imprisonment of 10
Jews and 2 Muslims on false charges of espionage and urging the
President to sustain United States sanctions against Iran, including
opposition to assistance provided by international institutions, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 6, 2000
Mr. ACKERMAN (for himself and Mr. GEJDENSON) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
RESOLUTION
Condemning the Government of Iran for the continued im-
prisonment of 10 Jews and 2 Muslims on false charges
of espionage and urging the President to sustain United
States sanctions against Iran, including opposition to
assistance provided by international institutions, and for
other purposes.
Whereas on July 1, 2000, the Government of Iran convicted
10 Jewish and 2 Muslim Iranian citizens on unproven
charges through a judicial process utterly at odds with
international standards of human rights and due process;
Whereas the Government of Iran, prior to trial, incarcerated
these individuals incommunicado for more than a year
without presentation of charges, denied the accused the
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right to choose their own counsel, compelled and coerced
fabricated confessions, and conducted the trials in secret,
without a jury and with the prosecutor also acting as the
judge in the case;
Whereas the Government of Iran has never produced any evi-
dence whatsoever to substantiate the indictments or the
subsequent convictions;
Whereas the Iranian Revolutionary Court, having heard the
appeal of the 10 wrongly convicted Jews, decided to af-
firm the bulk of their sentences while largely voiding the
grounds on which they were convicted;
Whereas the Government of Iran actively opposes the United
States-sponsored Middle East peace process and, as the
foremost state sponsor of international terrorism, con-
tinues to provide arms, financial aid, and diplomatic sup-
port to criminal organizations hostile to the United
States, United States allies, and United States interests;
Whereas the Government of Iran is pursuing the acquisition
of weapons of mass destruction in contravention to its
own freely chosen and fundamental obligations as a sig-
natory to international treaties and agreements, including
the nuclear Non-Proliferation of Treaty, the Chemical
Weapons Convention, and the Biological Weapons Con-
vention;
Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996,
Congress, by concurrent resolution, declared that it holds
the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the
rights of all its nationals;
Whereas on September 19, 2000, the House of Representa-
tives agreed to House Concurrent Resolution 257, con-
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cerning the emancipation of the Iranian Baha’i commu-
nity, and transmitted it to the Senate; and
Whereas on June 29, 2000, the House of Representatives re-
duced funding for the Animal and Plant Health Inspec-
tion Health Service by $15,510 (the amount used for the
inspection of imported Iranian food products) and on
July 20, 2000, prevented the lifting of the embargo on
Iranian goods: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) condemns the decision by the Iranian Revo-
lutionary Court to sustain the unjust imprisonment
of the 10 Jews improperly convicted on July 1,
2000, and urges their immediate release;
(2) reiterates its call to the Government of Iran
to fulfill its obligation to respect fundamental human
rights including, inter alia, the rights of free exercise
of all religious faiths and entitlement to due process
of law;
(3) calls for the cessation of unilateral gestures
of good faith on the part of the United States absent
significant and recognizable reciprocal actions by the
Government of Iran, particularly steps relating to—
(A) ceasing its active opposition to the
Middle East peace process;
(B) ending its support for international
terrorism;
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(C) stopping its illegal and destabilizing
weapons of mass destruction acquisition efforts;
and
(D) acknowledging and protecting the fun-
damental human rights of the Iranian people;
(4) commends the President, the Secretary of
State, the United States Permanent Representative
to the United Nations, and the Secretary General of
the United Nations for their diligence and urges
them to continue their efforts to sustain inter-
national pressure on the Government of Iran to re-
lease these 12 men; and
(5) calls on the President—
(A) to consider the fate of the 10 Jews and
2 Muslims imprisoned as a benchmark against
which the intentions and good faith of the Gov-
ernment of Iran should be measured and urges
the Secretary to direct all United States diplo-
matic personnel to promote international efforts
to free the 12 falsely imprisoned Iranians; and
(B) to sustain, and consider strengthening,
existing United States sanctions against Iran,
including United States opposition to assistance
to Iran provided by international institutions.
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