IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 33 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government 
of Iran’s lack of protection for internationally recognized human rights 
creates poor conditions for religious freedom in the Islamic Republic 
of Iran. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 8, 2009 
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Government of Iran’s lack of protection for inter-
nationally recognized human rights creates poor condi-
tions for religious freedom in the Islamic Republic of 
Iran. 
Whereas the people of Iran have demonstrated a deep and 
lasting desire for peace, stability, democracy, and plu-
ralism; 
Whereas the Department of State concluded in its March 
2008 Country Report on Human Rights Practices that 
Iran’s poor human rights record worsened and the Gov-
ernment of Iran continues to commit serious abuses; 
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•HRES 33 IH 
Whereas the Department of State’s International Religious 
Freedom Report 2007 concluded that there was a contin-
ued deterioration of the extremely poor status of respect 
for religious freedom, and every year since 1999 the De-
partment has designated Iran a ‘‘country of particular 
concern’’ under the International Religious Freedom Act 
of 1998 for its violations of religious freedom; 
Whereas the United States Commission on International Reli-
gious Freedom has found that the Government of Iran 
engages in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations 
of religious freedom, and continues to recommend that 
Iran be designated a ‘‘country of particular concern’’; 
Whereas the Government of Iran carries out summary execu-
tions, including of minors, following trials that lack due 
process; 
Whereas Iranian authorities continue to abuse and torture 
detainees and prisoners, including carrying out severe 
punishments such as amputations and floggings; 
Whereas the Government of Iran systematically suppresses 
the freedoms of expression and press, and severely limits 
the freedom of assembly of its own citizens; 
Whereas the Government of Iran’s monopoly on enforcement 
of their interpretation of Islam negatively affects the 
human rights of women in Iran, including their right to 
the freedoms of movement, association, thought, con-
science, and religious, as well as freedom from coercion 
in matters of religion or belief; 
Whereas ethnic and religious minorities are subject to harsh 
treatment by Iranian authorities; 
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•HRES 33 IH 
Whereas, since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, significant num-
bers from religious minority communities fled Iran for 
fear of persecution; 
Whereas, during the past year, the Government of Iran’s 
poor religious freedom record deteriorated with intensi-
fied harassment, detention, arrests, and imprisonment, 
especially for Baha’is, Sufi Muslims, and Evangelical 
Christians; 
Whereas Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s denials 
of the Holocaust and statements calling for Israel to be 
‘‘wiped off the map’’ have created a climate of fear 
among Iran’s Jewish community, as official policies pro-
moting anti-Semitism are on the rise and official dis-
crimination against Jews continues to be pervasive; 
Whereas, over the past several years, and particularly since 
President Ahmadinejad came to power, members of the 
Baha’i community have been harassed, physically at-
tacked, arrested, and imprisoned, and more than 200 Ba-
ha’is have been executed since the beginning of the Ira-
nian Revolution in 1979; 
Whereas, in May 2008, Iranian authorities arrested 6 Baha’i 
leaders, as well as at least a dozen Christian converts 
from Islam; 
Whereas the 6 Baha’i leaders, as well as a 7th who was ar-
rested in March 2008, are being held incommunicado, 
without access to legal counsel; 
Whereas, in November 2007, three Baha’is were sentenced to 
4 years in prison for allegedly spreading propaganda 
against the regime, and 51 others received suspended 
sentences for the alleged crime of setting up a program 
to educate poor Iranian children; 
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•HRES 33 IH 
Whereas Baha’i youth and children in Iran are denied the 
universal right to education, expelled from educational in-
stitutions, and vilified by teachers and professors; 
Whereas Christians, in particular Evangelicals and other 
Protestants, in Iran continue to be subject to harass-
ment, arrests, close surveillance, and imprisonment, and 
many converts from Islam to Christianity have fled the 
country for fear of persecution; 
Whereas Muslim minorities continue to face repression, in-
cluding Iranian Sunni leaders who have reported wide-
spread abuses and restrictions on their religious practice, 
such as detentions and torture of Sunni clerics, as well 
as bans on Sunni teachings in public schools and reli-
gious literature, even in predominately Sunni areas; 
Whereas Sufis face growing repression of their communities 
and religious practices by the Government of Iran, in-
cluding increased intimidation, harassment, and detention 
of prominent Sufi leaders by the intelligence and security 
services in recent years; 
Whereas, in November 2007, clashes in western Iran between 
security forces and followers of a mystic Sufi order re-
sulted in dozens of injuries and arrests after authorities 
began bulldozing a Sufi monastery; 
Whereas ethnic Turkmen Sunnis from northeastern Iran, 
bordering Turkmenistan, report an intense government 
campaign to convert them to Shi’a Islam; 
Whereas dissidents and political reformers continue to be im-
prisoned on criminal charges for criticizing the regime; 
Whereas a 2007 Department of State report cites Iran for 
widespread serious abuses, including unjust executions, 
politically motivated abductions by security forces, tor-
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•HRES 33 IH 
ture, arbitrary arrest and detention, and arrests of wom-
en’s rights activists; 
Whereas a number of senior Shi’a religious leaders who have 
opposed various Iranian government policies on political 
or religious grounds have also been targets of state re-
pression, including house arrest, detention without 
charge, trial without due process, torture, and other 
forms of ill treatment; 
Whereas the Iranian Parliament is considering a new law 
that would impose serious punishments, including the 
death penalty, on converts from Islam, as although the 
Government of Iran has applied the death penalty for 
apostasy in the past, it has not been explicitly codified; 
Whereas, in its current state, the draft penal code is not con-
sistent with the Government of Iran’s international obli-
gations and therefore should not enter into force; and 
Whereas Whereas, if this draft penal code is passed, it would 
seriously endanger the lives of all Baha’is, Muslim dis-
sidents, and converts from Islam: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) calls for the release of all religious prisoners 
in Iran and for United States officials, at the high-
est levels, to vigorously speak out publicly about the 
deteriorating conditions for freedom of thought, con-
science, and religion or belief in Iran, including 
drawing attention to the need for the international 
community to hold authorities accountable in spe-
cific cases where severe violations have occurred; 
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•HRES 33 IH 
(2) calls on the United Nations Human Rights 
Council to monitor carefully and demand compliance 
with the recommendations of the representatives of 
those special mechanisms that have already visited 
Iran, particularly those of the United Nations Spe-
cial Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, 
the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the 
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion on Ex-
pression; 
(3) encourages the United Nations Human 
Rights Council to continue to use its procedures to 
maintain oversight conditions for freedom of religion 
or belief in Iran, including, as Iran has issued a 
standing invitation, continued visits and reporting by 
the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or 
Belief, and other relevant special rapporteurs and 
working groups; 
(4) supports— 
(A) the continued designation of Iran as a 
‘‘country of particular concern’’ under the 
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious viola-
tions of religious freedom; 
(B) funding budgeted to promote democ-
racy and human rights in Iran that includes 
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•HRES 33 IH 
support for effective initiatives to advance free-
dom of religion or belief, as well as ways to pro-
mote rule of law programs that specifically seek 
to protect religious minorities; 
(C) adequate funding for United States 
public diplomacy entities, such as Voice of 
America and Radio Farda, and the expansion 
and development of new programming solely fo-
cused on human rights, including the freedom 
of thought, conscience, and religion or belief, in 
Iran; 
(D) supports the commission of an inde-
pendent review of Voice of America Persian and 
Radio Farda to ensure that the programming 
reflects the basic tenants of freedom of infor-
mation, equality, transparency, and journalistic 
integrity that America espouses; 
(E) a United Nations General Assembly 
resolution condemning severe violations of 
human rights, including freedom of religion of 
belief, in Iran, and calling for officials respon-
sible for such violations to be held accountable; 
and 
(F) the establishment of a diplomatic 
envoy to the nation immediately to establish 
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•HRES 33 IH 
dialogue with the Government of Iran and deep-
en relationships with the Iranian people; and 
(5) calls on the Government of Iran to— 
(A) immediately release all prisoners who 
have been detained on account of their religion 
or belief; 
(B) immediately release all prisoners of 
conscience who have been detained on account 
of their political dissidence; 
(C) modify the draft penal code in order to 
respect the obligations under the international 
human rights conventions to which the Govern-
ment of Iran is a party; 
(D) uphold its international commitments 
by respecting and protecting the human rights 
of all its citizens; and 
(E) ratify and fully comply with inter-
national human rights instruments and cooper-
ated with United Nations human rights mecha-
nisms. 
Æ 
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