Title: A resolution condemning the Government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Condemns the government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights.
Urges the President and the Department of State to: (1) condemn the Iranian government's continued violation of human rights and demand the immediate release of prisoners held solely on account of their religion, and (2) impose sanctions on Iranian officials and other individuals directly responsible for serious human rights abuses.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 139 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 139

Condemning the Government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its 
   Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International 
                       Covenants on Human Rights.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 25, 2017

    Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Boozman, and Mr. Durbin) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Condemning the Government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its 
   Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International 
                       Covenants on Human Rights.

Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2006, 
        2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016, Congress declared that it 
        deplored the religious persecution by the Government of Iran of the 
        Baha'i community and would hold the Government of Iran responsible for 
        upholding the rights of all Iranian nationals, including members of the 
        Baha'i Faith;
Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom 2016 
        Annual Report states--

    (1) ``The Baha'i community, the largest non-Muslim religious minority 
in Iran, long has been subject to particularly severe religious freedom 
violations. The government views Baha'is, who number at least 300,000, as 
`heretics' and consequently they face repression on the grounds of 
apostasy.'';

    (2) ``Since 1979, authorities have killed or executed more than 200 
Baha'i leaders, and more than 10,000 have been dismissed from government 
and university jobs.''; and

    (3) ``Over the past 10 years, approximately 850 Baha'is have been 
arbitrarily arrested.'';

Whereas the Department of State 2015 International Religious Freedom Report 
        states--

    (1) religious minorities in Iran ``continued to face societal 
discrimination, especially the Bahai community, which reported continuing 
problems at different levels of society, including personal harassment.'';

    (2) the Government of Iran ``continued to prohibit Bahais from 
officially assembling or maintaining administrative institutions, actively 
closed such institutions, harassed Bahais, and disregarded their property 
rights.'';

    (3) in Iran, ``Bahai blood may be spilled with impunity, and Bahai 
families are not entitled to restitution'' and ``Bahais cannot receive 
compensation for injury or crimes committed against them and cannot inherit 
property.'';

    (4) the Government of Iran ``requires universities to exclude Bahais 
from access to higher education or expel them if their religious 
affiliation becomes known.''; and

    (5) in Iran, ``Bahais are banned from government employment'' and 
``[t]here were reports of non-Bahais being pressured to refuse employment 
to Bahais or dismissing Bahais from their private sector jobs.'';

Whereas, on June 8, 2016, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation 
        of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Nations 
        Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief issued a joint 
        statement condemning the ``wave of incitement of hatred of the Baha'i 
        community reflected in speeches made by religious, judiciary and 
        political officials in the Islamic Republic of Iran'';
Whereas, on September 6, 2016, the United Nations Secretary-General issued a 
        report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran 
        (A/71/374), which stated that ``human rights violations have continued 
        at an alarming rate'';
Whereas, on December 17, 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a 
        resolution (A/RES/70/179), which ``[e]xpresse[d] serious concern about 
        ongoing severe limitations and restrictions on the right to freedom of 
        thought, conscience, religion or belief and restrictions on the 
        establishment of places of worship, as well as attacks against places of 
        worship and burial, as well as other human rights violations, including 
        but not limited to harassment, persecution and incitement to hatred that 
        lead to violence against persons belonging to recognized and 
        unrecognized religious minorities, including Christians, Jews, Sufi 
        Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Zoroastrians and members of the Baha'i Faith and 
        their defenders'';
Whereas since May 2008, the Government of Iran has imprisoned the 7 members of 
        the former ad hoc leadership group of the Baha'i community in Iran, 
        known as the Yaran-i-Iran, or ``friends of Iran''--Mrs. Fariba 
        Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, 
        Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm--and 
        these individuals were convicted of charges including ``spying for 
        Israel, insulting religious sanctities, propaganda against the regime 
        and spreading corruption on earth'' and sentenced to 20-year prison 
        terms, the longest sentences given to any prisoner of conscience in Iran 
        at that time, now reportedly reduced to 10 years;
Whereas beginning in May 2011, officials of the Government of Iran in 4 cities 
        conducted sweeping raids on the homes of dozens of individuals 
        associated with the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (referred to 
        in this Resolution as ``BIHE'') and arrested and detained several 
        educators associated with BIHE, with 16 BIHE educators ultimately 
        sentenced to 4- or 5-year prison terms, 7 of whom remain in prison;
Whereas scores of Baha'i cemeteries have been attacked, and in 2014, 
        Revolutionary Guards began excavating a Baha'i cemetery in Shiraz, which 
        is the site of 950 graves, and built a cultural and sport center on the 
        cemetery site;
Whereas the Baha'i International Community reported that there has been a recent 
        surge in anti-Baha'i hate propaganda in Iranian state-sponsored media 
        outlets, noting that--

    (1) in 2010 and 2011, approximately 22 anti-Baha'i articles were 
appearing every month;

    (2) in 2014, the number of anti-Baha'i articles rose to approximately 
400 per month; and

    (3) by 2016, the number of anti-Baha'i articles rose to approximately 
1,500 per month;

Whereas there are currently 90 Baha'is in prison in Iran;
Whereas the Government of Iran is party to the International Covenants on Human 
        Rights and is in violation of its obligations under such Covenants;
Whereas section 105 of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and 
        Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8514) authorizes the President to 
        impose sanctions on individuals ``responsible for or complicit in, or 
        responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the 
        commission of serious human rights abuses against citizens of Iran or 
        their family members on or after June 12, 2009''; and
Whereas the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (Public Law 
        112-158) amends and expands the authorities established under the 
        Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 
        (Public Law 111-195) to sanction Iranian human rights abusers: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns the Government of Iran's state-sponsored 
        persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation 
        of the International Covenants on Human Rights;
            (2) calls on the Government of Iran to immediately release 
        the 7 imprisoned Baha'i leaders, the 7 imprisoned Baha'i 
        educators, and all other prisoners held solely on account of 
        their religion;
            (3) calls on the President and the Secretary of State, in 
        cooperation with responsible nations, to immediately condemn 
        the Government of Iran's continued violation of human rights 
        and demand the immediate release of prisoners held solely on 
        account of their religion; and
            (4) urges the President and the Secretary of State to 
        utilize available authorities to impose sanctions on officials 
        of the Government of Iran and other individuals directly 
        responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses 
        against the Baha'i community of Iran.
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