Several bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives have presented a resolution (H. RES. 100) supporting the Iranian people in their desire for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear Republic of Iran while condemning the Iranian government for violations of human rights and state-sponsored terrorism.
The resolution notes that beginning in 2017, the Iranian regime suppressed protests with the repressive force that resulted in at least 25 deaths and 4,000 arrests. It also acknowledges the November 2019 protests that spread to at least 100 cities throughout Iran, resulting in the deaths of about 1,500 people in less than two weeks, and thousands more were detained.
The current protests ignited in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who was arrested by the morality police enforcing Iran’s mandatory dress code laws. The protests, which are being led by women and youth, demand social freedom and political change. The protests reflect the more than four decades of organized resistance against the Iranian dictatorship, led most recently by women who have endured torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and death.
The resolution highlights that in several months of continuing protests in hundreds of cities throughout Iran, the regime’s security forces have killed hundreds and arrested tens of thousands of protesters, with some at risk of execution.
The Department of State’s 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices cites that Iran’s “government and its agents reportedly committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, most common executions for crimes not meeting the international legal standard of ‘most serious crimes’ or for crimes committed by juvenile offenders, as well as executions after trials without due process.”
The resolution urges the Administration to work with United States partners and allies to condemn the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian regime and establish a mechanism by which the United Nations Security Council can monitor such violations.
It also notes that the United Nations Human Rights Council established a fact-finding mission to conduct an independent investigation into the ongoing deadly violence related to the protests in Iran that began on September 16, 2022, and that the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a resolution to expel Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) for the remainder of its 4-year term ending in 2026.
The resolution also condemns the Iranian regime for arbitrarily and brutally suppressing ethnic and religious minorities, including Iranian Kurds, Baluchis, Arabs, Christians, Jews, Baha’is, Zoroastrians, and even Sunni Muslims, and depriving them of their basic human rights, and in many cases executing them. The Iranian people have been deprived of their fundamental freedoms and are rejecting monarchic dictatorship and religious tyranny, as evident in their protest slogans.
In conclusion, the resolution expresses support for the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear Republic of Iran, while condemning the Iranian government for violations of human rights and state-sponsored terrorism. It calls on the international community to work to bring accountability to the Iranian government and provide support to the Iranian people in their quest for human rights and democratic governance.
Key characteristics of the H. RES. 100
- Resolution 100 in the US Congress sponsored by a bipartisan House majority. The names of the signatories are listed on the official website of the US Congress.
- 225 representatives of the American people supported the request of the Iranian people for a democratic republic.
- Support for Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point plan for the future of Iran.
- Among the signatories, the names of some members of the leadership of both parties, the heads of 11 out of 20 committees, the heads of 60 sub-committees, and the 28 members of foreign committees are noticeable.
- The support of the majority of the US House of Representatives for a resolution in the first 50 days of 118th Congress, 1st Session is unprecedented.
The resolution greatly angered the regime. Immediately, its official and unofficial representatives, including Raisi, its foreign minister Amir-Abdollahian, and the regime’s lobbyists, along with remnants of the monarchy, created an unprecedented mobilization to attack the sponsors of the resolution to withdraw their signatures and prevent other representatives from joining.
They bombarded the representatives’ offices with tens of thousands of emails, machine-generated letters, and fake documents, but they could not even deter and regret one representative from his/her decision. In contrast, in less than a month, the number of signatories to the resolution has exceeded 225 representatives.
