Title: Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act
This bill directs the President to identify and impose sanctions against senior members of the government of Iran and other persons who are responsible for or complicit in committing serious human rights violations, or engaging in censorship, the diversion of goods intended for the people of Iran, or public corruption.
The President shall identify and impose U.S. entry and financial sanctions against persons who are responsible for or complicit in the politically-motivated intimidation, detention, or trial in Iran of U.S. citizens or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
The Department of State shall submit to Congress a strategy to prevent elements of the Iranian regime from engaging in hostage-taking or the prolonged arbitrary detention of U.S. citizens or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
The bill authorizes the consolidation of certain Iran-related reports.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2365 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2365

  To impose additional sanctions with respect to serious human rights 
       abuses by the Government of Iran, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 30, 2018

   Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Nelson, and Mr. Cornyn) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To impose additional sanctions with respect to serious human rights 
       abuses by the Government of Iran, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking 
Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES POLICY ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY THE 
              GOVERNMENT OF IRAN.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Iran is a member of the United Nations, voted for the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is a signatory to 
        the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, among 
        other international human rights treaties.
            (2) In violation of these and other international 
        obligations, Iranian regime officials continue to violate the 
        fundamental human rights of the people of Iran.
            (3) The Iranian regime persecutes ethnic and religious 
        minority groups, such as the Baha'is, Christians, and Sufi, 
        Sunni, and dissenting Shi'a Muslims (such as imprisoned 
        Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi), through harassment, 
        arrests, and imprisonment, during which detainees have 
        routinely been beaten, tortured, and killed.
            (4) The 2016 Department of State Human Rights Report on 
        Iran noted ``severe restrictions on civil liberties, including 
        the freedoms of assembly, association, speech, religion, and 
        press. Other human rights problems included abuse of due 
        process combined with use of capital punishment for crimes that 
        do not meet the requirements of due process, as well as cruel, 
        inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; and disregard 
        for the physical integrity of persons, whom authorities 
        arbitrarily and unlawfully detained, tortured, or killed.''.
            (5) Over a 4-month period in 1988, the Iranian regime 
        carried out the barbaric mass executions of thousands of 
        political prisoners.
            (6) In 1999, the Iranian regime brutally suppressed a 
        student revolt that was one of the largest mass uprisings up 
        until that point in Iran since 1979.
            (7) Following voting irregularities that resulted in the 
        2009 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian 
        regime brutally suppressed peaceful political dissent from wide 
        segments of civil society during the Green Revolution in a 
        cynical attempt to retain its undemocratic grip on power.
            (8) Since February 2011 the leaders of Iran's Green 
        Movement, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, his wife 
        Dr. Zahra Rahnavard, and former Speaker of the Majles 
        (parliament) Mehdi Karroubi, have lived under strict house 
        arrest, ordered by Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
            (9) In response to anti-government demonstrations by 
        citizens of Iran that began in the city of Mashhad on December 
        28, 2017, and rapidly spread throughout urban and rural 
        populations across Iran in the following weeks, the Iranian 
        regime arrested many hundreds of Iranians and killed dozens 
        more.
            (10) The Iranian regime, in addition to using lethal force 
        and widespread detentions, shut down mobile Internet access and 
        worked to block access to social media applications, including 
        Telegram, Instagram, and Twitter, that citizens of Iran used to 
        share information and to organize and publicize the protests.
            (11) In those demonstrations, which constitute the most 
        significant anti-government demonstrations in Iran since June 
        2009, citizens of Iran protested against the system of 
        entrenched corruption and impoverishment in Iran, as well as 
        the Iranian regime's foreign policy of supporting terrorism.
            (12) Senior governmental, military, and public security 
        officials in Iran have continued ordering, controlling, and 
        committing egregious human rights violations and abuses that, 
        in many cases, represent official policies of the Iranian 
        regime.
            (13) The 2016 Department of State Human Rights Report on 
        Iran noted, ``According to the press, NGOs, and the testimony 
        of former prisoners, authorities often held political prisoners 
        in solitary confinement for extended periods, denying them due 
        process and access to legal representation. Political prisoners 
        were also at greater risk of torture and abuse in detention and 
        often mixed with the general prison population despite the 
        political crimes bill stipulation that they have their own 
        facilities.''.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that the 
United States should--
            (1) deny the Government of Iran the ability to continue to 
        oppress the people of Iran and to use violence and executions 
        to silence pro-democracy protestors;
            (2) support efforts made by the people of Iran to promote 
        the establishment of basic freedoms that build the foundation 
        for the emergence of a freely elected, open, non-corrupt, and 
        democratic political system; and
            (3) help the people of Iran produce, access, and share 
        information freely and safely via the Internet and other media.
    (c) Statement of Policy.--It shall be the policy of the United 
States to stand with the people of Iran who seek the opportunity to 
freely elect a government of their choosing, and increase the 
utilization of all available authorities to impose sanctions on 
officials of the Government of Iran and other individuals responsible 
for serious human rights abuses.

SEC. 3. DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON 
              CERTAIN PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR OR COMPLICIT IN HUMAN 
              RIGHTS ABUSES, ENGAGING IN CENSORSHIP, ENGAGING IN THE 
              DIVERSION OF GOODS INTENDED FOR THE PEOPLE OF IRAN, OR 
              ENGAGING IN CORRUPTION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter (or more frequently if 
the President determines it appropriate based on new information 
received by the President) for the following 4 years, the President 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
containing a determination of whether any senior officials of the 
Government of Iran or other Iranian persons meet the criteria described 
in--
            (1) section 105(b), 105A(b), 105B(b), or 105C(b) of the 
        Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment 
        Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8514(b), 8514a(b), 8514b(b), or 
        8514c(b)) or section 105D(b) of such Act (as added by section 5 
        of this Act); or
            (2) paragraph (3) or (4) of section 1263(a) of the Global 
        Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title 
        XII of Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note).
    (b) Form of Report; Public Availability.--
            (1) Form.--Each report required by subsection (a) shall be 
        submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified 
        annex.
            (2) Public availability.--The unclassified portion of a 
        report required by subsection (a) shall be posted on a publicly 
        available Internet website of the Department of the Treasury--
                    (A) in English, Farsi, Arabic, and Azeri; and
                    (B) in precompressed, easily downloadable versions 
                that are made available in all appropriate formats.
    (c) Sources of Information.--In preparing a report required by 
subsection (a), the President may utilize any credible publication, 
database, Internet-based resource, and any credible information 
compiled by any government agency, nongovernmental organization, or 
other entity provided to or made available to the President.
    (d) Definition.--In this section, the term ``appropriate 
congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee 
        on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 
        and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES POLICY ON HOSTAGE-TAKING BY THE GOVERNMENT OF 
              IRAN.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Since 1979 the Iranian regime has engaged in various 
        destabilizing activities that undermine the national security 
        of the United States and its allies and partners.
            (2) These activities include the hostage-taking or 
        prolonged arbitrary detentions of United States citizens and 
        other persons with connections to Canada, the United Kingdom, 
        France, and other countries allied with the United States.
            (3) The Iranian regime has detained on fabricated claims a 
        significant number of United States citizens, including Siamak 
        and Baquer Namazi and Xiyue Wang, as well as United States 
        legal permanent resident, Nizar Zakka, in violation of 
        international legal norms.
            (4) The Iranian regime has not provided information on the 
        whereabouts of or assistance in ensuring the prompt and safe 
        return of Robert Levinson, despite repeated promises to do so, 
        after he was kidnapped while visiting Iran's Kish Island on 
        March 9, 2007--making him the longest held hostage in United 
        States history.
            (5) The Iranian regime reportedly uses hostages as leverage 
        against foreign investors to exact business concessions in 
        foreign investment deals.
            (6) The type of hostage-taking enterprise put in place by 
        the Iranian regime is a crime against humanity and a violation 
        of customary international law.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the President should fully utilize all necessary and 
        appropriate measures to prevent the Iranian regime from 
        engaging in hostage-taking or the prolonged arbitrary detention 
        of United States citizens or aliens lawfully admitted to the 
        United States for permanent residence, to include--
                    (A) the use of extradition to try and convict those 
                individuals responsible for ordering or controlling 
                such hostage-taking or arbitrary detention; and
                    (B) the use of the Department of Homeland 
                Security's Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit 
                to target such individuals; and
            (2) the United States should encourage its allies and other 
        affected countries to pursue the criminal prosecution and 
        extradition of state and non-state actors in Iran that assist 
        in or benefit from such hostage-taking to prevent such state 
        and non-state actors from engaging in this practice in the 
        future.
    (c) Statement of Policy.--It shall be the policy of the United 
States Government not to pay ransom or release prisoners for the 
purpose of securing the release of United States citizens or aliens 
lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence taken 
hostage abroad.
    (d) Strategy.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that contains a 
strategy to prevent elements of the Iranian regime from engaging in 
hostage-taking or the prolonged arbitrary detention of United States 
citizens or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent 
residence.

SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO PERSONS WHO ENGAGE IN 
              CERTAIN ACTIONS AGAINST UNITED STATES CITIZENS OR IRANIAN 
              PERSONS.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States should coordinate with allies and partners of the United States 
and other countries whose citizens may be subject to politically 
motivated detention or trial in Iran, to apply sanctions against 
persons that are responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for 
ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, such detention or trial.
    (b) In General.--Title I of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 
Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 is amended by inserting 
after section 105C (22 U.S.C. 8514c) the following:

``SEC. 105D. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO PERSONS WHO ENGAGE 
              IN CERTAIN ACTIONS AGAINST UNITED STATES CITIZENS OR 
              IRANIAN PERSONS.

    ``(a) In General.--The President shall impose sanctions described 
in section 105(c) with respect to each person on the list required by 
subsection (b).
    ``(b) List of Persons Who Engage in Certain Actions Against United 
States Citizens or Iranian Persons.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this section, the President shall submit to 
        the appropriate congressional committees a list of persons that 
        the President determines, based on credible evidence are 
        responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, 
        controlling, or otherwise directing, the politically motivated 
        intimidation, abuse, extortion, or detention or trial in Iran 
        of citizens of the United States or aliens lawfully admitted to 
        the United States for permanent residence.
            ``(2) Updates of list.--The President shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees an updated list under 
        paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) each time the President is required to submit 
                an updated list to those committees under section 
                105(b)(2)(A); and
                    ``(B) as new information becomes available.
            ``(3) Form of report; public availability.--
                    ``(A) Form.--The list required by paragraph (1) 
                shall be submitted in unclassified form but may contain 
                a classified annex.
                    ``(B) Public availability.--The unclassified 
                portion of the list required by paragraph (1) shall be 
                posted on a publicly available Internet website of the 
                Department of the Treasury and of the Department of 
                State.
    ``(c) Termination of Sanctions.--The provisions of this section 
shall terminate on the date that is 30 days after the date on which the 
President--
            ``(1) determines and certifies to the appropriate 
        congressional committees that the Government of Iran is no 
        longer complicit in or responsible for the wrongful and 
        unlawful detention of United States citizens or aliens lawfully 
        admitted to the United States for permanent residence; and
            ``(2) submits to the appropriate congressional committees 
        the certification described in section 105(d).''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the 
Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 
2010 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 105C 
the following new item:

``Sec. 105D. Imposition of sanctions with respect to persons who engage 
                            in certain actions against United States 
                            citizens or Iranian persons.''.
    (d) Amendments to General Provisions.--Section 401 of the 
Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 
2010 (22 U.S.C. 8551) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``and 305'' and 
        inserting ``, 105D, and 305''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``or 105C(a)'' and inserting ``, 
                105C(a), or 105D(a)''; and
                    (B) by striking ``or 105C(b)'' and inserting 
                ``105C(b), or 105D(b)''.

SEC. 6. CONSOLIDATION OF CERTAIN REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--Any and all reports required to be submitted to 
Congress under this Act, any amendment made by this Act, or a covered 
provision of law that are subject to a deadline for submission 
consisting of the same unit of time may be consolidated into a single 
report that is submitted to Congress pursuant to such deadline.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--A consolidated report under subsection 
(a) shall contain all information required under all applicable 
provisions of this Act, amendments made by this Act, covered provisions 
of law, and other provisions of law.
    (c) Covered Provisions of Law.--In this section, the term ``covered 
provision of law'' means the following:
            (1) The Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-172; 50 
        U.S.C. 1701 note).
            (2) The Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and 
        Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.).
            (3) The Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 
        2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et seq.).
            (4) The Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 
        (22 U.S.C. 8801 et seq.).
            (5) Section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
        for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8513a).
                                 <all>