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IV

108TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION

H. CON. RES. 319

Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continuing repression of the religious freedom and human rights of the Iranian Bahá'í community by the Government of Iran.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 30, 2003

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. LANTOS, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continuing repression of the religious freedom and human rights of the Iranian Bahá'í community by the Government of Iran.

Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, and in 2000, Congress, by concurrent resolution, declared that it holds the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including members of the Bahá'í Faith;

Whereas the followers of Bahá'u'lláh, who constitute the largest religious minority in Iran, are not recognized under the Iranian Constitution and are deprived thereby of adequate legal protection;

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Whereas Congress has deplored the Government of Iran's

persecution of the Bahá'í community and has condemned Iran's execution of more than 200 Bahá'í and the imprisonment of thousands of others solely on account of their religious beliefs;

Whereas on February 22, 1993, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights published a confidential Iranian Government document revealing that these repressive actions are part of a deliberate policy to destroy the Bahá'í community, a deliberate policy that was designed and approved by the highest officials in the Iranian Government;

Whereas in 2002, when the United States was not a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the resolution against human rights abuses in Iran failed to pass for the first time in 17 consecutive years;

Whereas in 2003, a resolution against human rights abuses in Iran was not introduced for a vote at the meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights;

Whereas the Government of Iran is now free to continue its systematic and deliberate policy to destroy the Bahá'í community in the absence of international monitors;

Whereas the use of harassment, in the form of arrests, suspended sentences, and short-term detentions against the Iranian Bahá'ís have increased since the failure in 2002 to adopt the United Nations resolution against human rights abuses in Iran;

Whereas four Bahá'ís remain imprisoned in Iran solely because of their religious beliefs, 1 serving a 4-year sentence and another a life sentence for apostasy from

•HCON 319 IH

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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

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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

⚫HCON 319 IH

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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 dem

onstrate its commitment to human rights, democ

racy, and religious freedom by making a legislative

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