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The House Committee on Special Rules offers the following substitute to HR 1066:
A RESOLUTION
Expressing support for the Iranian people's desire for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear1
Republic of Iran and condemning violations of human rights and state sponsored terrorism2
by the Iranian government; and for other purposes.3
WHEREAS, beginning in 2017 and continuing for several months after protests erupted in4
more than 100 cities, the Iranian regime suppressed such protests with repressive forces that5
resulted in at least 25 deaths and 4,000 arrests, including decorated wrestling champion6
Navid Afkari, who was later executed in September 2020 amidst international outrage; and7
WHEREAS, on November 15, 2019, popular protests against the Iranian regime began and8
spread rapidly to at least 100 cities throughout the country, and reports indicate that Iranian9
security forces used lethal force, about 1,500 people were killed during less than 2 weeks of10
unrest, and thousands more were detained during these protests; and11
WHEREAS, beginning in September 2022, anti-government protests ignited in response to12
the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22 year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who was arrested by the13
morality police that enforce Iran's mandatory dress code laws; and14
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WHEREAS, women and youth have led the 2022 protests in Iran, demanding social freedom15
and political change; and16
WHEREAS, these protests are rooted in the more than four decades of organized resistance17
against the Iranian dictatorship, which most recently have been led by women who have18
endured torture, sexual and gender based violence, and death; and19
WHEREAS, in several months of continuing protests in hundreds of cities throughout Iran,20
the regime's security forces have killed hundreds and arrested tens of thousands of protesters,21
two of whom, Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard (both 23 years old), were hung on22
December 8 and 12, 2022, in Tehran and Mashhad, while dozens more have been convicted23
of "Moharebeh" (waging war on God) and are at risk of execution; and24
WHEREAS, according to a December 9, 2022, Amnesty International report, "Iran's security25
forces have killed with absolute impunity more than 40 children and injured many more in26
a bid to crush the spirit of resistance among the country's youth and retain their iron grip on27
power at any cost"; and28
WHEREAS, the similarity in slogans and tactics used by protests nationwide reflect the29
overarching demands of the Iranian people and point to the organized nature of the protests;30
and31
WHEREAS, in the 116th Congress, the House of Representatives passed House Resolution32
752, "Supporting the rights of the people of Iran to free expression, condemning the Iranian33
regime for its crackdown on legitimate protests, and for other purposes"; and34
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WHEREAS, House Resolution 752 urges the administration to work to convene emergency35
sessions of the United Nations Security Council and to work with United States partners and36
allies to condemn the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian regime and37
establish a mechanism by which the United Nations Security Council can monitor such38
violations; and39
WHEREAS, on November 24, 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Council established40
a fact-finding mission to conduct an independent investigation into the ongoing deadly41
violence related to the protests in Iran that began on September 16, 2022; and42
WHEREAS, on December 14, 2022, the United Nations Economic and Social Council43
(ECOSOC) adopted a resolution to expel Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women44
(CSW) for the remainder of its four-year term ending in 2026; and45
WHEREAS, the Department of State's 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,46
released on April 13, 2022, cites that Iran's "government and its agents reportedly committed47
arbitrary or unlawful killings, most commonly executions for crimes not meeting the48
international legal standard of 'most serious crimes' or for crimes committed by juvenile49
offenders, as well as executions after trials without due process"; and50
WHEREAS, on October 25, 2021, the United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on the51
situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran Javaid Rehman told the United52
Nations General Assembly that almost all executions in the country constituted an arbitrary53
deprivation of life, noting the "extensive, vague, and arbitrary grounds in Iran for imposing54
the death sentence, which quickly can turn this punishment into a political tool"; and55
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WHEREAS, the Iranian regime has arbitrarily and brutally suppressed ethnic and religious56
minorities, including Iranian Kurds, Baluchis, Arabs, Christians, Jews, Baha'is, Zoroastrians,57
and even Sunni Muslims; deprived them of their basic human rights; and has in many cases58
executed them; and59
WHEREAS, the Iranian people have been deprived of their fundamental freedoms, for which60
reason they are rejecting monarchic dictatorship and religious tyranny, as evident in their61
protest slogans; and62
WHEREAS, in the 115th Congress, the House of Representatives passed House Resolution63
4744 which called on the United States to "condemn Iranian human rights abuses against64
dissidents, including the massacre in 1988 and the suppression of political demonstrations65
in 1999, 2009, and 2017, and pressure the Government of Iran to provide family members66
detailed information that they were denied about the final resting places of any missing67
victims of such abuses"; and68
WHEREAS, on January 13, 2022, a United Nations report urged "the international69
community to call for accountability with respect to long-standing emblematic events that70
have been met with persistent impunity, including the enforced disappearances and summary71
and arbitrary executions of 1988 and the November 2019 protests"; and72
WHEREAS, the killings of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 were carried out based73
on a fatwa to execute all political prisoners who remained loyal to the Iranian Resistance, and74
subsequent death commissions were formed on July 19, 1988, whose members included the75
current Iranian regime's President, Ebrahim Raisi; an official from the Ministry of76
Intelligence; and a state prosecutor, to implement the fatwa; and77
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WHEREAS, the United States should be involved in any establishment of an international78
investigation into the 1988 extrajudicial killings of Iranian dissidents; and79
WHEREAS, senior Iranian government, military, judicial, and security officials have for80
decades ordered or committed egregious human rights violations and acts of terror; and81
WHEREAS, on June 30, 2018, tens of thousands of people gathered in Paris at the Free Iran82
gathering where they supported advocates for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear83
Republic of Iran as well as showed support for the opposition leader Mrs. Maryam Rajavi's84
10-point plan for the future of Iran, which calls for the universal right to vote, free elections,85
and a market economy and advocates for gender, religious, and ethnic equality, as well as a86
foreign policy based on peaceful coexistence and a non-nuclear Iran; and87
WHEREAS, on July 2, 2018, the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office announced it had foiled88
a terrorist plot against the "Free Iran 2018–the Alternative" gathering held on June 30, 2018,89
in support of the Iranian people's struggle for freedom; and90
WHEREAS, Assadollah Assadi, a senior Iranian diplomat based in the Iranian embassy in91
Vienna, Austria, was arrested in Germany and in February 2021 was convicted in Belgium92
and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in connection with the planned terror plot in Paris93
at the Free Iran gathering; and94
WHEREAS, Assadollah Assadi served as the third secretary of the Iranian embassy in95
Austria; and96
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WHEREAS, instead of representing the interests of the Iranian people, the Iranian regime97
has long used its Foreign Ministry and diplomatic representations abroad to orchestrate terror98
plots and whitewash gross human rights violations in Iran; and99
WHEREAS, on December 15, 2022, the Special Court for Combatting Corruption and100
Organized Crime (SPAK) in Albania sentenced an Iranian national to ten years in prison on101
terrorism-related charges, including attempts to engage in espionage and the assassination102
of Iranian dissidents in Albania; and103
WHEREAS, Iran's malign activities in the Balkans pose a serious threat to United States'104
national security interests; and105
WHEREAS, on November 23, 2022, the Department of the Treasury announced additional106
action on Iranian security forces, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)107
forces, for their violent crackdown on antigovernment protests in Iran's Kurdistan Province108
and surrounding areas; and109
WHEREAS, according to the statement issued by the Department of State on110
November 23, 2022, "The United States continues to support the Iranian people as they111
protest nationwide."; and112
WHEREAS, the General Assembly of Georgia recognizes Iran as the number one state113
sponsor of terrorism worldwide and furthermore condemns any actions to allow the Iranian114
regime to facilitate nuclear or other terroristic plots.115
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF116
GEORGIA that the members of this body condemn past and present Iranian state sponsored117
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terrorist attacks against United States citizens and officials as well as Iranian dissidents,118
including the Iranian regime's terror plot against the "Free Iran 2018–the Alternative"119
gathering in Paris.120
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body call on relevant United States121
government agencies to work with European allies, including those in the Balkans where Iran122
has expanded its presence, to hold Iran accountable for breaching diplomatic privileges as123
well as on nations to prevent the malign activities of the Iranian regime's diplomatic missions124
with the goal of closing them down and expelling its agents.125
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body stand with the people of Iran126
who are legitimately defending their rights for freedom against repression as well as127
condemn the brutal killing of Iranian protestors by the regime.128
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body recognize the rights of the129
Iranian people and their struggle to establish a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear Republic130
of Iran.131
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized132
and directed to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to the133
public and the press.134
H. R. 1066 (SUB)
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