•HRES 1310 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 1310 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 1310 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 1310 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, if this draft penal code is passed, it would seriously 
endanger the lives of all Baha’is, Muslim dissidents, 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 1310 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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