There are other religions also undergoing persecution-the Armenians, another people that have endured all sorts of tragedy over the years. They have a sizable community in Iran. They are subject to elimination of their school system, interference with their religious observances- things of that nature. We have to somehow dramatize this, and we could look into the technical aspects or that oil purchase you mentioned. My understanding is, we did embargo all commerce with Iran, and unless it is done through a third country or through an international consortium of some sort that operates through a third country, our sanctions would still apply. Mr. HYDE. It is through a Geneva-based trading company, Gatoil International; they are just the middleman. Mr. DERWINSKI. The Kurds are, in effect, an ethnic minority, and the Kurds have become political pawns in that area, in Turkey and Iraq, as well as in Iran. It would be fair to say that the Kurds have again, like the Armenians and others, have had a long, long history in which their sufferings have been consistent; they were used in World War I as pawns in the manipulations at the time, and World War II, and yet they are being persecuted now by the Iranian authorities. I have attended a couple of international conferences with delegates from Iran, from this new government-and I would be accurate if I said they almost are people from another world—it is impossible to communicate with them. In fact, I found that the other Moslem representatives from countries such as Kuwait, Jordan, et cetera, found it impossible to communicate with the clergymen who have been representing the Iranian Government, an organization called the Interparliamentary Union. They are totally isolated from the world community and evidently prefer that. Mr. HYDE. The Baha'is are important, but not an enormously—in terms of numbers-substantial group of people. The Kurds are more isolated, and the Armenians. I am wondering if common cause cannot be made with all of these groups against a country, a regime that seems to be brutal in its treatment of the nonorthodox, and it seems to me if the rest of the world is going to treat them normally because their own ox is not gored, if the United Nations might consider imposing sanctions, as they do against South Africa, and we limit our trade with them, then maybe something could be accomplished, but as long as they are going to trade with them, business as usual, and as long as our biggest ally is going to be an ally of theirs over there in the Middle East, I am not optimistic that any immediate results will occur. Mr. DERWINSKI. I do think that the point where we could at committee level and the support this subject deserves from the full committee, try to dramatize this issue so some attention starts to be focused on this issue. You are dealing with a small group of people who are relatively obscure in the eyes of the world community, and then you have a government that basically shuts its borders to a free flow of news. The few correspondents in Tehran are limited in where they could go and report, so you have a situation there where it is a basic lack of knowledge. This subcommittee has a record of taking on tough subjects, and sometimes I may not have agreed with the chairman, but I have always agreed with the fact that he has been willing to go into issues that others would walk away from. I think this is one where all of us here would agree that we have an obvious persecution, and I use the word genocide in an attempt to eradicate a religious minority, and it is one of the great tragedies at the present time. The U.N. resolution was weak, and, unfortunately, that was a disappointment by the world body, and I think what we could do is to start at the long, necessary effort to get public opinion behind our concern. Mr. BONKER. The very fact that we are conducting hearings will serve to focus attention on the plight of the Baha'is. It has been our experience in the past that holding hearings and bringing forth witnesses who will disclose the extent of the persecution often has, in and of itself, been helpful. We are open to suggestions, ways we can deal with this issue. There is quite a national community, either embracing the Baha'i faith or very sympathetic to their cause. Since the subcommittee has scheduled these hearings, I have encountered a number of people in my own district who are interested in the subject. They have either written to me or come forth at one of the many town hall meetings that I hold. I might add that in 4 years of chairing this subcommittee and dealing with a variety of human rights issues, this is the first time that anybody in my district has ever been aware of anything this subcommittee has done. It says something about the communication network that exists among the Baha'i community. They have a very strong faith and fraternal sense that draws them together in this common effort. If the Baha'is were to communicate with their own Members of Congress and to rally behind a resolution such as that submitted by Mr. Stark, or in some other form that might take shape in this Congress, that we might find something of a national movement. Mr. Derwinski, once again, it is really a pleasure to have you before the subcommittee. I hope you can stay, because there might be other questions, and you are something of a resident authority on this subject. Whatever is your pleasure. The subcommittee would now like to recognize the Honorable Pete Stark, who is a Representative from the State of California, and who has the only resolution on this subject that has been introduced in the House, House Concurrent Resolution 283. We will include it as part of the official record as well as the Baha'i resolution of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. [The information follows:] IV 97TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 283 Expressing the sense of Congress that the President and other official representatives of the United States should at every opportunity before international forums reiterate and emphasize the extent to which we deplore and condemn the religious persecution of peoples of the Baha'i faith by the Government of Iran. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 1982 Mr. STARK submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing the sense.of Congress that the President and other official representatives of the United States should at every opportunity before international forums reiterate and emphasize the extent to which we deplore and condemn the religious persecution of peoples of the Baha'i faith by the Government of Iran. Whereas the Government of Iran has persecuted peoples of the Baha'i faith, has killed more than one hundred individuals of the Baha'i faith since 1978, has jailed Baha'is unjustly, has confiscated and shut down Baha'i holy places and other community property, has banned Baha'i meetings, has dismissed Baha'is from public and private employment, has destroyed Baha'i homes and businesses, and has harassed or assaulted Baha'is in outlying villages trying to force them to recant their faith: Now, therefore, be it 1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that (a) in ac3 cordance with our own history and national traditions of op4 position to religious persecution, as well as in full respect for 5 international law and custom, the United States condemns 6 and opposes the religious persecution of peoples of the Baha'i 7 faith by the Government of Iran. 8 (b) The President and other official representatives of 9 the United States should at every opportunity before interna10 tional forums reiterate and emphasize the extent to which we 11 deplore and condemn the religious persecution of peoples of 12 the Baha'i faith by the Government of Iran. QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREDDONS Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, Federal Republic of, The Cormission on Human Rights, Guided by the principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Noting that it is imperative for all Member States of the United Nations to fulfil their obligations on the basis of international instruments to promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all individuals without distinction of any kind, Recalling General Assembly resolution 36/55 by which the General Assembly proclaimed the Declaration on the limination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, Recalling also General Assembly resolution 36/22 on the practice of summary ari arbitrary executions, Taking into account resolution 8 (XIV) of the Sub-Commission on Frevention of Discrimination and Frotection of Minorities, by which the Sub-Commission expressed its profound concerr. for the perilous situation facing the Baha'is in Iran, and the report 2/ by the Secretary-General pursuant to that resolution, In accordance with rule 69, paragraph 3, of the rules of procedure of the functional corissions of the Sconomic and Social Council. 1 General Assembly resolution 217 A (III). 2/ E/CH.4/1517. |