Posted: 10 Mar 2009
You can access the text of the Senate Resolution, S. Res. 71 here (text in full below)
[Congressional Record: March 9, 2009 (Senate)]
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 71--CONDEMNING THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN FOR ITS STATE-
SPONSORED PERSECUTION OF THE BAHA'I MINORITY IN IRAN AND ITS CONTINUED
VIOLATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Snowe, and
Mr. Brownback) submitted the following resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Res. 71
Whereas, in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000,
2006, and 2008, 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, in November 2007, the Iranian Ministry of
Information in Shiraz jailed Baha'is Ms. Raha Sabet, age 33,
Mr. Sasan Taqva, age 32, and Ms. Haleh Roohi, age 29, for
educating underprivileged children and gave them 4-year
prison terms, which they are serving;
Whereas Ms. Sabet, Mr. Taqva, and Ms. Rooshi were targeted
solely on the basis of their religion;
Whereas, on January 23, 2008, the Department of State
released a statement urging the Government of Iran to release
all individuals held without due process and a fair trial,
including the 3 young Baha'is being held in an Iranian
Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Shiraz;
Whereas, in March and May of 2008, Iranian intelligence
officials in Mashhad and Tehran arrested and imprisoned Mrs.
Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi,
Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet,
and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, the members of the coordinating group
for the Baha'i community in Iran;
Whereas, on February 11, 2009, the deputy prosecutor in
Tehran, Mr. Hassan Haddad, announced that those seven leaders
will go on trial at a Revolutionary Court on charges of
``espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and
propaganda against the Islamic Republic'';
Whereas the lawyer for these seven leaders, Mrs. Shirin
Ebadi, the Nobel Laureate, has been denied all access to the
prisoners and their files;
Whereas these seven Baha'i leaders were targeted solely on
the basis of their religion; and
Whereas the Government of Iran is party to the
International Covenants on Human Rights: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored
persecution of the Baha'i minority in Iran and its continued
violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights;
(2) calls on the Government of Iran to immediately release
the seven leaders and all other prisoners held solely on
account of their religion, including Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi,
Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie,
Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Vahid Tizfahm,
Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, and Ms. Haleh Roohi; and
(3) calls on the President and Secretary of State, in
cooperation with the international community, 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, including Mrs. Fariba
Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr.
Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr.
Vahid Tizfahm, Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, and Ms. Haleh
Roohi.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of a
resolution that I am offering with my colleagues, Senators Brownback,
Menendez, Snowe, and Whitehouse. This resolution condemns the Iranian
government's persecution of its own Baha'i community and urges the
Obama administration to speak out strongly against this continued
injustice.
The Baha'i Faith, the world's youngest independent monotheistic
religion, was founded in Iran in 1844. Today, it is practiced by more
than 5 million people across the planet, from Bangalore, India to
Beaverton, Oregon. Roughly 300,000 of these adherents still live in
Iran. Although Baha'i teachings emphasize equality, unity, and peace,
Iranian authorities have viewed the religion as an apostasy and have
treated it as a threat since the beginning.
The current Islamic Republic has been particularly hostile to Baha'i
practitioners since its establishment in 1979. In 1983, Iran's
government formally banned all Baha'i religious institutions and
criminalized membership in them and service to them. The regime has
officially recognized Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians as religious
minorities. It refuses to extend this same status to the Baha'is, even
though they make up Iran's largest religious minority. According to the
State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Report, the
regime continues to create ``a threatening atmosphere for nearly all
non-Shi'a religious groups, most notably for Baha'is.'' The government
routinely seizes personal property from members of the Baha'i
community, denies access to education and employment opportunities, and
detains Baha'is based solely on their religious beliefs.
Last year, the Iranian regime imprisoned seven leaders of the Baha'i
community. In February 2009, Tehran's deputy prosecutor announced that
these seven leaders would be tried on charges of ``espionage for
Israel, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the
Islamic Republic.'' Not surprisingly, the regime provided no evidence
to support these preposterous accusations and has refused to allow a
lawyer for the seven to even meet with them. These actions are clear
and unambiguous violations of Iran's international commitments under
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Some in the
international community have already condemned this mockery of justice,
and rightly so. My colleagues and I believe the time has now come to
add the United States Senate to this growing chorus of voices.
Our resolution is simple and straightforward. It denounces the
Iranian government's persecution of the Baha'is and calls on the regime
to immediately release all prisoners held for their religious beliefs,
including the seven Baha'i leaders. It further calls on President
Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to work with the
international community in condemning the Iranian regime for its
repeated human rights violations.
I hope that colleagues will join me and Senators Brownback, Menendez,
Snowe, and Whitehouse in supporting this commonsense resolution.
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