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 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 183 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 183

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 28, 2021

    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, 2018, and 2020, 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 United Nations General Assembly Resolution on the Situation of Human 
        Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran (A/RES/75/191), dated December 
        16, 2020, expresses serious concern about--

    (1) ``ongoing severe limitations and increasing restrictions on the 
right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief'';

    (2) ``restrictions on the establishment of places of worship'';

    (3) ``undue restrictions on burials carried out in accordance with 
religious tenets'';

    (4) ``attacks against places of worship and burial''; and

    (5) ``other human rights violations, including but not limited to 
harassment, intimidation, persecution, arbitrary arrests and detention, and 
incitement to hatred that leads to violence against persons belonging to 
recognized and unrecognized religious minorities'';

Whereas, on January 29, 2020, the United States Commission on International 
        Religious Freedom ``condemned an Iranian court order allowing 
        authorities to confiscate properties owned by Baha'is in the village of 
        Ivel in Mazandaran Province'';
Whereas the Iran section of the Department of State's 2019 Report on 
        International Religious Freedom states that--

    (1) ``The government bars Baha'is from all government employment and 
forbids Baha'i participation in the governmental social pension system. 
Baha'is may not receive compensation for injury or crimes committed against 
them and may not inherit property. A religious fatwa from the supreme 
leader encourages citizens to avoid all dealings with Baha'is.'';

    (2) ``Baha'is and those who advocated for their rights reported Baha'is 
continued to be major targets of social stigma and violence, and 
perpetrators reportedly continued to act with impunity. Even when arrested, 
perpetrators faced diminished punishment following admissions that their 
acts were based on the religious identity of the victim.'';

    (3) ``There continued to be reports of non-Baha'is dismissing or 
refusing employment to Baha'is, sometimes in response to government 
pressure, according to [the Baha'i International Community] and other 
organizations monitoring the situation of the Baha'is.''; and

    (4) ``According to media and NGO reports, Baha'is continued to face 
charges that included `insulting religious sanctities,' `corruption on 
earth,' `propaganda against the system,' `espionage and collaboration with 
foreign entities,' and `actions against national security.' Charges also 
included involvement with the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), 
a university-level educational institution offering mainly distance 
learning, that the government considered illegal.'';

Whereas, on March 11, 2020, the Department of State released the 2019 Country 
        Reports on Human Rights Practices, which states that Iranian authorities 
        ``barred Bahai students from higher education'';
Whereas the Baha'i International Community documented a more than 50-percent 
        increase in hate propaganda directed against the Baha'is in the 12-month 
        period ending in August 2020 compared to prior years with more than 
        9,500 such articles, videos, or web pages appearing in Iranian 
        government-controlled or government-sponsored media;
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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