IV 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 754 
Condemning the Government of Iran for its gross human rights violations. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 14, 2014 
Mr. ROYCE (for himself and Mr. ENGEL) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning the Government of Iran for its gross human 
rights violations. 
Whereas Iran is a member of the United Nations and a sig-
natory to both the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Polit-
ical Rights, among other international human rights trea-
ties, without reservation; 
Whereas in violation of these and other international obliga-
tions, officials of the Government of Iran continue to per-
petrate gross violations of the fundamental human rights 
of the Iranian people; 
Whereas Iranian women are increasingly subject to heinous 
acid attacks, either condoned by, or sponsored by, the 
Government of Iran, through the Basij and other vigi-
lante groups; 
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Whereas the Parliament of Iran recently enacted a law pro-
viding legal protection to private citizens to enforce a 
strict Islamic dress code and other behavior prescribed 
under Sharia law, emboldening the Basij and other vigi-
lante groups; 
Whereas the Government of Iran ‘‘manipulates the electoral 
process’’, according to the United States Department of 
State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
2013, ‘‘severely limit[ing] citizens’ right to change their 
government peacefully through free and fair elections’’; 
Whereas following voting irregularities that resulted in the 
election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Gov-
ernment of Iran brutally suppressed peaceful political dis-
sent from wide segments of civil society during the Green 
Revolution in 2009 in a cynical attempt to retain its un-
democratic grip on power; 
Whereas the Government of Iran has kept the principal lead-
ers of the Green Revolution, Mir Hussein Moussavi and 
Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest since February 
2011; 
Whereas the United States Department of State consistently 
finds that Iranian authorities have ‘‘limited freedom of 
association through threats, intimidation, the imposition 
of arbitrary requirements on organizations, and the ar-
rests of group leaders and members’’; 
Whereas the United States Department of State’s Virtual 
Embassy Tehran website highlights human rights viola-
tions and abuses in Iran on a weekly basis; 
Whereas the Government of Iran continues to restrict free-
dom of speech and peaceful assembly, particularly for 
journalists and human rights activists; 
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Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situ-
ation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran 
found in its August 2014 report that the laws and poli-
cies of the Government of Iran ‘‘continue to place overly 
broad restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression 
and access to information’’, including ‘‘severe content re-
strictions, intimidation and prosecution of Internet users 
and limitations on Internet access through throttling and 
filtering’’; 
Whereas the ability of religious freedom and human rights 
activists to freely express themselves, and mobilize civil 
society, is actively thwarted by the Government of Iran; 
Whereas the Special Rapporteur found that the Government 
of Iran continues to apply capital punishment to offend-
ers convicted of crimes below the international human 
rights law threshold of ‘‘most serious crimes’’; political 
prisoners; and juvenile offenders, including 8 individuals 
in 2014 believed to be less than 18 years of age at the 
time of their alleged crimes; 
Whereas Iranian women continue to face legal and societal 
discrimination, as well as rampant domestic violence, 
which is not specifically prohibited under domestic law; 
Whereas, on October 25, 2014, Iranian authorities executed 
Reyhaneh Jabbari, an Iranian woman convicted of killing 
a man she said she stabbed in self-defense during a sex-
ual assault, an execution preceded by the lack of due 
process, including a reported forced confession; 
Whereas the United States Department of State issued a 
statement condemning Jabbari’s execution and calling on 
Iran to ‘‘respect the fair trial guarantees afforded to its 
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people under Iran’s own laws and its international obliga-
tions’’; 
Whereas the United States Commission on International Reli-
gious Freedom found in its 2014 Annual Report that the 
Government of Iran ‘‘continues to engage in systematic, 
ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, in-
cluding prolonged detention, torture, and executions 
based primarily or entirely upon the religion of the ac-
cused’’; 
Whereas the Government of Iran persecutes such religious 
minority groups as the Baha’is, Christians, Sufi, Sunni, 
and dissenting Shi’a Muslims (such as imprisoned Aya-
tollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi) through harass-
ment, arrests, and imprisonment, during which detainees 
have routinely been beaten, tortured, and killed; 
Whereas since 1999, the United States Department of State 
has repeatedly designated Iran as a ‘‘country of par-
ticular concern’’ for severe violations of religious freedom 
pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act of 
1998 (Public Law 105–292), most recently on July 28, 
2014; 
Whereas the Government of Iran has long persecuted with 
particular intensity the Baha’i community, the largest 
non-Muslim religious minority in Iran, who number at 
least 300,000, and are viewed as ‘‘heretics’’, and there-
fore are subjected to repression on the grounds of apos-
tasy; 
Whereas according to the United States Commission on 
International Religious Freedom, since 1979, Iranian au-
thorities have killed or executed more than 200 Baha’i 
leaders; 
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Whereas ordinary Iranian citizens who belong to the Baha’i 
faith are disproportionately targeted, interrogated, and 
detained under the pretext of national security; 
Whereas senior governmental, military, and public security 
officials in Iran are responsible for ordering, controlling, 
and committing gross human rights violations that, in 
many cases, represent national policies of the Iranian re-
gime; 
Whereas the United States Department of the Treasury, pur-
suant to section 413 of the Iran Threat Reduction and 
Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8753), 
issued a General License in September 2013 to permit 
the exportation of services and the transfer of funds for 
activities related to human rights and democracy building 
projects in Iran, which facilitate United States non-
governmental organizations’ activities that increase Ira-
nian access to information and freedom of expression; 
Whereas since 2010, the United States Department of the 
Treasury, in consultation with the United States Depart-
ment of State, has sanctioned 19 Iranian officials and 18 
Iranian entities for their involvement or complicity in se-
rious human rights abuses or in restricting the freedom 
of expression or assembly of the Iranian people; 
Whereas the most recent designation was for Morteza 
Tamaddom, former Governor-General of Tehran Prov-
ince, designated May 23, 2014, under Executive Order 
13628 for his involvement in censorship and other activi-
ties that limit the freedom of expression and freedom of 
assembly of Iran’s citizens; 
Whereas the United States led the effort in the United Na-
tions Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the 
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Special Rapporteur on Iran in order to further expose 
Iranian human rights abuses; and 
Whereas it is important that the President of the United 
States consistently and rigorously exercise the statutory 
authorities granted by the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 
Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 and the Iran 
Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 
to impose sanctions on officials of the Government of 
Iran and other individuals directly responsible for human 
rights abuses, engaging in censorship, or engaging in the 
diversion of goods intended for the people of Iran: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) calls on the Government of Iran to abide by 
all of its international and domestic obligations with 
respect to human rights and civil liberties, including 
freedoms of assembly, speech, and press; 
(2) deplores the dramatic rise in executions of 
Iranian citizens by authorities since the election of 
President Hassan Rouhani in June 2013; 
(3) condemns, in particular, the recent cruel 
execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari, an Iranian woman 
convicted of killing a man she said she stabbed in 
self-defense during a sexual assault; 
(4) deplores the Government of Iran’s mistreat-
ment of its religious minorities, including through 
the deprivation of life, liberty, and property; 
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(5) condemns, in particular, the Government of 
Iran for its relentless persecution of its Baha’i mi-
nority; 
(6) calls on the Government of Iran to release 
all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience; 
(7) notes that the Administration has des-
ignated only one Iranian person for the commission 
of serious human rights abuses under the Com-
prehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Di-
vestment Act, as amended, since May 30, 2013; 
(8) urges the President to increase the utiliza-
tion of all available authorities, including the Com-
prehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Di-
vestment Act of 2010, to impose sanctions on offi-
cials of the Government of Iran and other individ-
uals directly responsible for serious human rights 
abuses, including by freezing those individuals’ as-
sets and barring their entry into the United States; 
(9) urges the United States Government to 
adopt and implement the following recommendations 
of the United States Commission on International 
Religious Freedom with respect to Iran— 
(A) continue to seek that violations of free-
dom of religion or belief and related human 
rights are part of multilateral or bilateral dis-
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cussions with the Government or Iran whenever 
possible, and continue to work closely with Eu-
ropean and other allies to apply pressure 
through a combination of advocacy, diplomacy, 
and targeted sanctions; 
(B) continue to speak out publicly and fre-
quently at the highest levels about the severe 
religious freedom abuses in Iran, press for and 
work to secure the release of all prisoners of 
conscience, and highlight the need for the inter-
national community to hold authorities account-
able in specific cases; and 
(C) continue to call on Iran to cooperate 
fully 
with 
the 
United 
Nations 
Special 
Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in 
Iran, including allowing the Special Rapporteur, 
as 
well 
as 
the 
United 
Nations 
Special 
Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, 
to visit and continue to support an annual 
United Nations General Assembly resolution 
condemning severe violations of human rights, 
including freedom of religion or belief in Iran 
and calling for officials responsible for such vio-
lations to be held accountable; 
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(10) condemns the undemocratic elections proc-
ess that denies Iranians the ability to freely choose 
their own government; and 
(11) stands with the people of Iran who seek 
the opportunity to freely elect a government of their 
choosing. 
Æ 
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