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Islam, while 2 others are serving 15 years of imprisonment for associating with Bahá'í institutions;

Whereas the Iranian Government's deliberate policy to expel Bahá'ís from universities once it becomes known that they are Bahá'ís has not changed;

Whereas Bahá'ís continue to be banned from studying at Iranian universities and therefore were forced to create their own Bahá'í Institute of Higher Education (BIHE) using private homes and volunteer faculty throughout Iran, yet in July 2002, Iranian Revolutionary Guards intimidated students and systematically disrupted qualifying examinations for the Bahá'í university in nine districts by videotaping the proceedings, interrogating students, and confiscating Bahá'í books and examination papers;

Whereas the Iranian Government's deliberate policy to deny Bahá'ís any position of influence, such as in the educational sector, has not changed;

Whereas in 1998, officers of the Iranian Government arrested 36 faculty members of the Bahá'í school and seized textbooks, scientific papers, computers, desks and benches from 532 Bahá'í homes and, in March 2003, a Bahá'í was re-imprisoned for, among similar charges, educating and training Bahá'í youth in various professions and crafts;

Whereas the Iranian Government's deliberate policy to deny Bahá'í individuals employment if they identify their religion has not changed;

Whereas some 10,000 Bahá'ís were dismissed from government positions and educational institutions in the 1980s because of their religious beliefs, many remain unemployed and receive no unemployment benefits or pensions,

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while others have been required to return salaries or pensions paid to them before they were dismissed;

Whereas the Iranian Government's deliberate policy to destroy the Bahá'í community's cultural roots inside the country has not changed;

Whereas the Iranian Government has refused to permit Iranian Bahá'ís to elect their leaders, refuses to return confiscated Bahá'í community properties, refuses to allow Bahá'ís to assemble as a community, and has demonstrated a desire to impose its own religious ideology on Bahá'í youth, as shown by the arrest of 17 Bahá'í boys and girls, in June 2002, on the way to a camp for Bahá'í teaching and cultural activities;

Whereas the Iranian Government's deliberate policy to destroy the Bahá'í community's cultural roots outside the country has not changed;

Whereas in February 2001, Iranian authorities denied visas to non-Iranian Bahá'ís holding Indian, South Korean, Japanese, and United States passports who were part of the Bahá'í International Community's delegation to the Regional Preparatory Conference for the United Nations' World Conference Against Racism, held in Tehran; and Whereas the Government of Iran's deliberate policy of slowly

1

strangling the Bahá'í community's viability is in direct violation of international norms expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has not changed: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That Congress

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(1) expects the Government of Iran to uphold the rights of all its nationals, including the members

of the Bahá'í Faith, in a manner consistent with

Iran's obligations under the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights and other international agreements guaranteeing the civil and political rights of its citizens, including freedom of thought, conscience, and religion;

(2) condemns the deliberate policy of the Government of Iran to undermine the viability of the Bahá'í community;

(3) urges the Government of Iran to permit Bahá'í students to attend, and Bahá'í faculty to teach, at Iranian universities, as well as to permit the Bahá'í Institute of Higher Education to continue teaching functions among Bahá'í youth without dis

turbance;

(4) urges the Government of Iran to eliminate employment discrimination against Bahá'ís in both public and private sectors, and to distribute pensions and unemployment benefits without respect to belief

or religious affiliation;

(5) urges the Government of Iran to demonstrate its commitment to human rights, democ

racy, and religious freedom by making a legislative

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enactment to clarify that the civil and political rights

of all unrecognized minorities or communities, such

as the Bahá'ís, are to be respected regardless of

their religious beliefs;

(6) urges the Government of Iran to allow the reestablishment of Bahá'í institutions, to give individuals the freedom to manifest their religion, and to return all confiscated Bahá'í properties;

(7) urges the United States representative to

the United Nations to pursue a resolution on human rights violations in Iran, including specific mention

of the the situation of the Bahá'ís, and calls for reestablishment of the mandate of the Special Representative on Iran at the United Nations Commis

sion on Human Rights; and

(8) calls upon the President to continue

(A) to assert that the United States regards the human rights practices of the Government of Iran, particularly its treatment of the Bahá'í community and other religious minori

ties, as a significant factor in the foreign policy of the United States Government regarding Iran; and

(B) to encourage other governments to continue to appeal to the Government of Iran,