[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16] [Senate] [Pages 23225-23226] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 57--CONCURRENT RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE EMANCIPATION OF THE IRANIAN BAHA'I COMMUNITY Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Reid, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Sessions) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations: S. Con. Res. 57 Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996, 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 Baha'i Faith, Iran's largest religious minority; Whereas Congress has deplored the Government of Iran's religious persecution of the Baha'i community in such resolutions and in numerous other appeals, and has condemned Iran's execution of more than 200 Baha'is and the imprisonment of thousands of others solely on account of their religious beliefs; Whereas in July 1998 a Baha'i, Mr. Ruhollah Rowhani, was executed by hanging in Mashhad after being held in solitary confinement for 9 months on the charge of converting a Muslim woman to the Baha'i Faith, a charge the woman herself refuted; Whereas 4 Baha'is remain on death row in Iran, 2 on charges on apostasy, and 12 others are serving prison terms on charges arising solely from their religious beliefs or activities; Whereas the Government of Iran continues to deny individual Baha'is access to higher education and government employment and denies recognition and religious rights to the Baha'i community, according to the policy set forth in a confidential Iranian Government document which was revealed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1993; Whereas Baha'is have been banned from teaching and studying at Iranian universities since the Islamic Revolution and therefore created the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education, or Baha'i Open University, to provide educational opportunities to Baha'i youth using volunteer faculty and a network of classrooms, libraries, and laboratories in private homes and buildings throughout Iran; Whereas in September and October 1998, Iranian authorities arrested 36 faculty members of the Open University, 4 of whom have been given prison sentences ranging between 3 to 10 years, even though the law makes no mention of religious instruction within one's own religious community as being an illegal activity; Whereas Iranian intelligence officers looted classroom equipment, textbooks, computers, and other personal property from 532 Baha'i homes in an attempt to close down the Open University; Whereas all Baha'i community properties in Iran have been confiscated by the government, and Iranian Baha'is are not permitted to elect their leaders, organize as a community, operate religious schools, or conduct other religious community activities guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Whereas on February 22, 1993, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights published a formerly confidential Iranian government document that constitutes a blueprint for the destruction of the Baha'i community and reveals that these repressive actions are the result of a deliberate policy designed and approved by the highest officials of the Government of Iran; and Whereas in 1998 the United Nations Special Representative for Human Rights, Maurice Copithorne, was denied entry into Iran: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That Congress-- (1) continues to hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including members of the Baha'i community, 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; (2) condemns the repressive anti-Baha'i policies and actions of the Government of Iran, including the denial of legal recognition to the Baha'i community and the basic rights to organize, elect its leaders, educate its youth, and conduct the normal activities of a law-abiding religious community; (3) expresses concern that individual Baha'is continue to suffer from severely repressive and discriminatory government actions, including executions and death sentences, solely on account of their religion; (4) urges the Government of Iran to permit Baha'i students to attend Iranian universities and Baha'i faculty to teach at Iranian universities, to return the property confiscated from the Baha'i Open University, to free the imprisoned faculty members of the Open University, and to permit the Open University to continue to function; (5) urges the Government of Iran to implement fully the conclusions and recommendations on the emancipation of the Iranian Baha'i community made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, Professor Abdelfattah Amor, in his report of March 1996 to the United Nations Commission of Human Rights; (6) urges the Government of Iran to extend to the Baha'i community the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international covenants of human rights, including the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and equal protection of the law; and (7) calls upon the President to continue-- (A) to assert the United States Government's concern regarding Iran's violations of the rights of its citizens, including members of the Baha'i community, along with expressions of its concern regarding the Iranian Government's support for international terrorism and its efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction; (B) to emphasize that the United States regards the human rights practices of the Government of Iran, particularly its treatment of the Baha'i community and other religious minorities, as a significant factor in the development of the United States Government's relations with the Government of Iran; (C) to emphasize the need for the United Nations Special Representative for Human Rights to be granted permission to enter Iran; (D) to urge the Government of Iran to emancipate the Baha'i community by granting those rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international covenants on human rights; and (E) to encourage other governments to continue to appeal to the Government of Iran, and to cooperate with other governments and international organizations, including the United Nations and its agencies, in efforts to protect the religious rights of the Baha'is and other minorities through joint appeals to the Government of Iran and through other appropriate actions. Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, it is with a heavy heart that my esteemed colleagues and I bring to the Senate's attention for the eighth time in 18 years the plight of Iran's Baha'is by submitting today the Baha'i Resolution of 1999. Since the 1997 election of President Mohammad Khatami, the world has watched Iran with great anticipation of change. Indeed, under Khatami, Iran has witnessed some small, incremental steps toward democratization, transparency, and an attempt to assert the rule of law. As recent demonstrations at Tehran University have shown, the Iranian people are eager for reform, the kinds of changes that would allow Iran to become a member in good standing of the international community. The Iranian people have suffered much in the last 20 years. A regime desperate to maintain control at all costs has executed hundreds of thousands of Iranians of all religious and political backgrounds. Iran's economy is in shambles, many of its best and brightest have fled, and the government's pursuit of policies supporting terrorism and the development of weapons of mass destruction have made Iran a pariah state in the international community. It is good to remember, as we focus on the plight of specific groups in Iran, that all of Iran's citizens, Shi'a, Sunni, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i, have been victimized by the Iranian regime. However, today we focus on the group that, man for man and woman for woman, has fared the worst under Iran's revolutionary government--the Baha'is. Since the Islamic Revolution and consequent seizure of power by the Ayatollah Khomeni, the Baha'is have endured tremendous hardships that continue to this day. Large numbers have been killed and many other have disappeared and are presumed dead. Unlike other religious minorities in Iran such as Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, the Baha'is are not recognized in the Iranian Constitution and subsequently do not enjoy the rights, minimal though they may be, normally granted Iranian citizens. [[Page 23226]] The refusal of Iran to protect the rights of the Baha'i community is ironic. The Baha'is do not advocate insurrection, violence, or political partisanship. Their faith requires them peacefully to observe the laws of the country. For the Iranian government to regard the Baha'is as a threat, when all they desire is to be able to live in accordance with their religious beliefs is truly outrageous. Now, imagine if you will what it would be like to live in a world where you and your children are not recognized as citizens simply because of your religion. Imagine your government seizing your only outlet for a higher education. Imagine fearing arrest simply for adhering to a set of beliefs and a way of life that you and your family hold dear. Unfortunately, this nightmarish scenario is all too real for 300,000 members of the Baha'i religion in Iran who need not expend any effort imagining such a situation, because they have the misfortune of living it. Even after their signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the recent election of President Khatami, the Iranian government still shows no sign of easing its subjugation of Iran's largest religious minority. Tehran continues to oppress, persecute, and undermine the Baha'i's way of life. Under such pressure, we fear that an already tragic past can only lead to a bleaker future. Since 1979 the Baha'i community has been denied the right to assemble officially, conduct religious ceremonies--including the proper burial of their dead--and attend Iranian schools of higher education. Baha'is are denied the same job and pension opportunities as their non-Baha'i neighbors and by law. They cannot even collect on insurance policies. The denial of access to schools of higher education has been a particular hardship to the Baha'is, who hold as one of the central tenets of their faith the supreme importance of education. In order to educate their youth, the Baha'is have created a network of university level courses, accredited by the University of Indiana and taught in the homes of Baha'i professors. Over 900 Baha'is have enrolled in the Open University and many more have benefited from their programs. In the Fall of 1998, for no other reason than to harass the Baha'i community, Iranian police raided over 500 homes associated with the Open University. Police arrested hundreds of professors and seized massive amounts of classroom and laboratory equipment, computers, and textbooks. To this day, three professors remain in jail. One has been sentenced to a ten year imprisonment and two have received seven year terms all for the `sin' of involving themselves in teaching Baha'i studies which, according to the Iranian authorities constituted ``crimes against national security.'' (In recent years, the Iranian government has gradually stepped up its harassment of the Baha'is, as exemplified in the 1998 raids on the Open University. With the raids came the realization that Tehran was not afraid to publicly display its maltreatment of the Baha'is. It was in this same year that Iran executed Mr. Ruhollah Rowhani.) Mr. Rowhani was accused by the Iranian government of forcibly converting a Muslim woman to the Baha'i faith. Before Mr. Rowhani's hanging in July 1998, the woman totally refuted the charges, stating that she had been raised as a Baha'i, making it impossible and unnecessary for Mr. Rowhani to impress his religion upon her. Mr. Rowhani spent the nine months prior to his execution in solitary confinement, and most telling, no sentence was ever passed. It is in recognition and in memory of the recent one-year anniversary of Mr. Rowhani's execution that we submit this resolution. The Baha'i Resolution expresses our strong disapproval of the Iranian government's treatment of the Baha'is and reminds Iran that the development of a relationship between our two countries depends greatly on Tehran's record of human rights. Equally important, it is a statement of America's values. It sends a message to perpetrators of persecution everywhere that our eyes will not be averted. And it reassures Iran's Baha'is, indeed all of those persecuted in Iran, that America is with them and will continue to shine sunlight on the abuses of Iran's government while we plead, and pray for change there. ____________________