[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2365 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2365
To impose additional sanctions with respect to serious human rights
abuses by the Government of Iran, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 30, 2018
Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Nelson, and Mr. Cornyn)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To impose additional sanctions with respect to serious human rights
abuses by the Government of Iran, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking
Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. UNITED STATES POLICY ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY THE
GOVERNMENT OF IRAN.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Iran is a member of the United Nations, voted for the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is a signatory to
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, among
other international human rights treaties.
(2) In violation of these and other international
obligations, Iranian regime officials continue to violate the
fundamental human rights of the people of Iran.
(3) The Iranian regime persecutes ethnic and religious
minority groups, such as the Baha'is, Christians, and Sufi,
Sunni, and dissenting Shi'a Muslims (such as imprisoned
Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi), through harassment,
arrests, and imprisonment, during which detainees have
routinely been beaten, tortured, and killed.
(4) The 2016 Department of State Human Rights Report on
Iran noted ``severe restrictions on civil liberties, including
the freedoms of assembly, association, speech, religion, and
press. Other human rights problems included abuse of due
process combined with use of capital punishment for crimes that
do not meet the requirements of due process, as well as cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; and disregard
for the physical integrity of persons, whom authorities
arbitrarily and unlawfully detained, tortured, or killed.''.
(5) Over a 4-month period in 1988, the Iranian regime
carried out the barbaric mass executions of thousands of
political prisoners.
(6) In 1999, the Iranian regime brutally suppressed a
student revolt that was one of the largest mass uprisings up
until that point in Iran since 1979.
(7) Following voting irregularities that resulted in the
2009 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian
regime brutally suppressed peaceful political dissent from wide
segments of civil society during the Green Revolution in a
cynical attempt to retain its undemocratic grip on power.
(8) Since February 2011 the leaders of Iran's Green
Movement, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, his wife
Dr. Zahra Rahnavard, and former Speaker of the Majles
(parliament) Mehdi Karroubi, have lived under strict house
arrest, ordered by Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
(9) In response to anti-government demonstrations by
citizens of Iran that began in the city of Mashhad on December
28, 2017, and rapidly spread throughout urban and rural
populations across Iran in the following weeks, the Iranian
regime arrested many hundreds of Iranians and killed dozens
more.
(10) The Iranian regime, in addition to using lethal force
and widespread detentions, shut down mobile Internet access and
worked to block access to social media applications, including
Telegram, Instagram, and Twitter, that citizens of Iran used to
share information and to organize and publicize the protests.
(11) In those demonstrations, which constitute the most
significant anti-government demonstrations in Iran since June
2009, citizens of Iran protested against the system of
entrenched corruption and impoverishment in Iran, as well as
the Iranian regime's foreign policy of supporting terrorism.
(12) Senior governmental, military, and public security
officials in Iran have continued ordering, controlling, and
committing egregious human rights violations and abuses that,
in many cases, represent official policies of the Iranian
regime.
(13) The 2016 Department of State Human Rights Report on
Iran noted, ``According to the press, NGOs, and the testimony
of former prisoners, authorities often held political prisoners
in solitary confinement for extended periods, denying them due
process and access to legal representation. Political prisoners
were also at greater risk of torture and abuse in detention and
often mixed with the general prison population despite the
political crimes bill stipulation that they have their own
facilities.''.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that the
United States should--
(1) deny the Government of Iran the ability to continue to
oppress the people of Iran and to use violence and executions
to silence pro-democracy protestors;
(2) support efforts made by the people of Iran to promote
the establishment of basic freedoms that build the foundation
for the emergence of a freely elected, open, non-corrupt, and
democratic political system; and
(3) help the people of Iran produce, access, and share
information freely and safely via the Internet and other media.
(c) Statement of Policy.--It shall be the policy of the United
States to stand with the people of Iran who seek the opportunity to
freely elect a government of their choosing, and increase the
utilization of all available authorities to impose sanctions on
officials of the Government of Iran and other individuals responsible
for serious human rights abuses.
SEC. 3. DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON
CERTAIN PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR OR COMPLICIT IN HUMAN
RIGHTS ABUSES, ENGAGING IN CENSORSHIP, ENGAGING IN THE
DIVERSION OF GOODS INTENDED FOR THE PEOPLE OF IRAN, OR
ENGAGING IN CORRUPTION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter (or more frequently if
the President determines it appropriate based on new information
received by the President) for the following 4 years, the President
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
containing a determination of whether any senior officials of the
Government of Iran or other Iranian persons meet the criteria described
in--
(1) section 105(b), 105A(b), 105B(b), or 105C(b) of the
Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment
Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8514(b), 8514a(b), 8514b(b), or
8514c(b)) or section 105D(b) of such Act (as added by section 5
of this Act); or
(2) paragraph (3) or (4) of section 1263(a) of the Global
Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title
XII of Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note).
(b) Form of Report; Public Availability.--
(1) Form.--Each report required by subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified
annex.
(2) Public availability.--The unclassified portion of a
report required by subsection (a) shall be posted on a publicly
available Internet website of the Department of the Treasury--
(A) in English, Farsi, Arabic, and Azeri; and
(B) in precompressed, easily downloadable versions
that are made available in all appropriate formats.
(c) Sources of Information.--In preparing a report required by
subsection (a), the President may utilize any credible publication,
database, Internet-based resource, and any credible information
compiled by any government agency, nongovernmental organization, or
other entity provided to or made available to the President.
(d) Definition.--In this section, the term ``appropriate
congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee
on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and
(2) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES POLICY ON HOSTAGE-TAKING BY THE GOVERNMENT OF
IRAN.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Since 1979 the Iranian regime has engaged in various
destabilizing activities that undermine the national security
of the United States and its allies and partners.
(2) These activities include the hostage-taking or
prolonged arbitrary detentions of United States citizens and
other persons with connections to Canada, the United Kingdom,
France, and other countries allied with the United States.
(3) The Iranian regime has detained on fabricated claims a
significant number of United States citizens, including Siamak
and Baquer Namazi and Xiyue Wang, as well as United States
legal permanent resident, Nizar Zakka, in violation of
international legal norms.
(4) The Iranian regime has not provided information on the
whereabouts of or assistance in ensuring the prompt and safe
return of Robert Levinson, despite repeated promises to do so,
after he was kidnapped while visiting Iran's Kish Island on
March 9, 2007--making him the longest held hostage in United
States history.
(5) The Iranian regime reportedly uses hostages as leverage
against foreign investors to exact business concessions in
foreign investment deals.
(6) The type of hostage-taking enterprise put in place by
the Iranian regime is a crime against humanity and a violation
of customary international law.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the President should fully utilize all necessary and
appropriate measures to prevent the Iranian regime from
engaging in hostage-taking or the prolonged arbitrary detention
of United States citizens or aliens lawfully admitted to the
United States for permanent residence, to include--
(A) the use of extradition to try and convict those
individuals responsible for ordering or controlling
such hostage-taking or arbitrary detention; and
(B) the use of the Department of Homeland
Security's Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit
to target such individuals; and
(2) the United States should encourage its allies and other
affected countries to pursue the criminal prosecution and
extradition of state and non-state actors in Iran that assist
in or benefit from such hostage-taking to prevent such state
and non-state actors from engaging in this practice in the
future.
(c) Statement of Policy.--It shall be the policy of the United
States Government not to pay ransom or release prisoners for the
purpose of securing the release of United States citizens or aliens
lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence taken
hostage abroad.
(d) Strategy.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that contains a
strategy to prevent elements of the Iranian regime from engaging in
hostage-taking or the prolonged arbitrary detention of United States
citizens or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent
residence.
SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO PERSONS WHO ENGAGE IN
CERTAIN ACTIONS AGAINST UNITED STATES CITIZENS OR IRANIAN
PERSONS.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United
States should coordinate with allies and partners of the United States
and other countries whose citizens may be subject to politically
motivated detention or trial in Iran, to apply sanctions against
persons that are responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for
ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, such detention or trial.
(b) In General.--Title I of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions,
Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 is amended by inserting
after section 105C (22 U.S.C. 8514c) the following:
``SEC. 105D. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO PERSONS WHO ENGAGE
IN CERTAIN ACTIONS AGAINST UNITED STATES CITIZENS OR
IRANIAN PERSONS.
``(a) In General.--The President shall impose sanctions described
in section 105(c) with respect to each person on the list required by
subsection (b).
``(b) List of Persons Who Engage in Certain Actions Against United
States Citizens or Iranian Persons.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this section, the President shall submit to
the appropriate congressional committees a list of persons that
the President determines, based on credible evidence are
responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering,
controlling, or otherwise directing, the politically motivated
intimidation, abuse, extortion, or detention or trial in Iran
of citizens of the United States or aliens lawfully admitted to
the United States for permanent residence.
``(2) Updates of list.--The President shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees an updated list under
paragraph (1)--
``(A) each time the President is required to submit
an updated list to those committees under section
105(b)(2)(A); and
``(B) as new information becomes available.
``(3) Form of report; public availability.--
``(A) Form.--The list required by paragraph (1)
shall be submitted in unclassified form but may contain
a classified annex.
``(B) Public availability.--The unclassified
portion of the list required by paragraph (1) shall be
posted on a publicly available Internet website of the
Department of the Treasury and of the Department of
State.
``(c) Termination of Sanctions.--The provisions of this section
shall terminate on the date that is 30 days after the date on which the
President--
``(1) determines and certifies to the appropriate
congressional committees that the Government of Iran is no
longer complicit in or responsible for the wrongful and
unlawful detention of United States citizens or aliens lawfully
admitted to the United States for permanent residence; and
``(2) submits to the appropriate congressional committees
the certification described in section 105(d).''.
(c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the
Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of
2010 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 105C
the following new item:
``Sec. 105D. Imposition of sanctions with respect to persons who engage
in certain actions against United States
citizens or Iranian persons.''.
(d) Amendments to General Provisions.--Section 401 of the
Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of
2010 (22 U.S.C. 8551) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``and 305'' and
inserting ``, 105D, and 305''; and
(2) in subsection (b)(1)--
(A) by striking ``or 105C(a)'' and inserting ``,
105C(a), or 105D(a)''; and
(B) by striking ``or 105C(b)'' and inserting
``105C(b), or 105D(b)''.
SEC. 6. CONSOLIDATION OF CERTAIN REPORTS.
(a) In General.--Any and all reports required to be submitted to
Congress under this Act, any amendment made by this Act, or a covered
provision of law that are subject to a deadline for submission
consisting of the same unit of time may be consolidated into a single
report that is submitted to Congress pursuant to such deadline.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--A consolidated report under subsection
(a) shall contain all information required under all applicable
provisions of this Act, amendments made by this Act, covered provisions
of law, and other provisions of law.
(c) Covered Provisions of Law.--In this section, the term ``covered
provision of law'' means the following:
(1) The Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-172; 50
U.S.C. 1701 note).
(2) The Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and
Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.).
(3) The Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of
2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et seq.).
(4) The Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012
(22 U.S.C. 8801 et seq.).
(5) Section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8513a).
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