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:
This resolution condemns Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the international covenants on human rights. Further, it calls on Iran to immediately release all imprisoned or detained Baha'is, and it urges the President and the Department of State to impose sanctions on Iranian officials and others who are responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses against Iran's Baha'i community.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 578 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 578

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

                              May 14, 2020

    Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Boozman) 
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, 2016, 2017, and 2018, Congress declared 
        that it--

    (1) deplored the religious persecution by the Government of Iran of the 
Baha'i community; and

    (2) would hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the 
rights of all Iranian nationals, including members of the Baha'i Faith;

Whereas according to the United States Commission on International Religious 
        Freedom's 2017 annual report, ``Since 1979, [Iranian] authorities have 
        killed or executed more than 200 Baha'i leaders, and more than 10,000 
        [Baha'i] have been dismissed from government and university jobs [in 
        Iran]'';
Whereas the Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of 
        human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran (A/74/188), dated July 18, 
        2019, provides, in part--

    (1) the Iranian authorities and the Iranian criminal justice system 
regard the Baha'is as ``unprotected infidels'';

    (2) ``the Baha'i Faith is regarded as a `misguided sect' and Baha'i 
worship and religious practices are deemed heresy'';

    (3) ``Baha'is have been murdered with impunity and violations of their 
human rights have not been investigated.'';

    (4) members of the Baha'i Faith ``frequently face charges such as 
`breaching national security', `propaganda against the holy regime of the 
Islamic Republic of Iran' or `propaganda activities against the regime in 
the interests of the Baha'i sect''';

    (5) ``Since August 2005, more than 1,168 Baha'is have been arrested and 
charged with vaguely worded offences.'';

    (6) ``There were a total of 95 Baha'is reportedly arrested in 2018, 
compared with at least 84 in 2017 and 81 in 2016.'';

    (7) ``On 1 January 2019, the court of appeal of Isfahan reportedly 
condemned, in separate judgments, nine Baha'i citizens to a total of 48 
years of prison. They had been charged with `membership of the illegal 
Baha'i community and propaganda against the regime by spreading the Baha'i 
Faith in the society.''';

    (8) Since 2007, in response to a letter from the Security Unit of the 
Public Place Supervision Office of the Islamic Republic of Iran to police 
commanders throughout the country, Baha'is have been banned from specific 
professions, to halt their entry into high earning businesses; and

    (9) ``Since 2013, there have been more than 803 incidents of violations 
of economic rights of the Baha'is, including arbitrary shop closures, 
unfair dismissals from employment and the actual or threatened revocation 
of business licenses.'';

Whereas the Iran section of the Department of State's 2018 Report on 
        International Religious Freedom provides, in part--

    (1) ``[N]on-Shia Muslims and those affiliated with a religion other 
than Islam, especially members of the Baha'i community, continued to face 
societal discrimination and harassment, and employers experienced social 
pressures not to hire Baha'is or to dismiss them from their private sector 
jobs.''; and

    (2) ``The law bars Baha'is from founding their own educational 
institutions. A Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology order 
requires universities to exclude Baha'is from access to higher education or 
expel them if their religious affiliation becomes known.'';

Whereas, on March 11, 2020, the Department of State released the 2019 Country 
        Reports on Human Rights Practices, which provides, in part--

    (1) Iranian ``[a]uthorities barred Baha'i students from higher 
education''; and

    (2) ``According to a Baha'i International Community report April 2018, 
Iranian authorities directed authorities in Houthi-controlled areas of 
Yemen to harass and detain Baha'is because of their religious 
affiliation'';

Whereas the Baha'i International Community has documented more than 26,000 items 
        of anti-Baha'i propaganda in Iran's official and semi-official media 
        since January 2014.
Whereas since 2019, the Government of Iran has excluded Baha'is from receiving 
        national identification cards, which are required for accessing basic 
        everyday necessities, including obtaining a passport, making bank 
        transactions, and getting work permits.
Whereas the Iranian Parliament (formally known as the ``Islamic Consultative 
        Assembly'') is considering a bill to amend Articles 499 and 500 of Book 
        5 of the Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran to 
        criminalize all activities in support of any religious minority that is 
        not recognized under Iran's constitution.
Whereas the Government of Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil 
        and Political Rights, done at New York December 19, 1966, and the 
        International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, done at 
        New York December 16, 1966, 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 who are ``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 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and 
        the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 
        Rights;
            (2) calls on the Government of Iran --
                    (A) to immediately release the imprisoned or 
                detained Baha'is and all other prisoners held solely on 
                account of their religion;
                    (B) to end its state-sponsored campaign of hate 
                propaganda against the Baha'is; and
                    (C) to reverse state-imposed policies denying equal 
                opportunities to higher education, earning a 
                livelihood, due process under the law, and the free 
                exercise of religious practices;
            (3) calls on the President and the Secretary of State, in 
        cooperation with responsible nations--
                    (A) to immediately condemn the Government of Iran's 
                continued violation of human rights; and
                    (B) to 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 Iranian Baha'i community.
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