Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SR145 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	III
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. RES. 145
5	5	Protecting the Iranian political refugees, including female former political
6	6	prisoners, in Ashraf–3 in Albania.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	MARCH27, 2025
9	9	Mr. T
10	10	ILLIS(for himself, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr.
11	11	C
12	12	RUZ, Mr. PETERS, Mr. DAINES, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr.
13	13	G
14	14	ALLEGO, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. COONS, and Mr. MARKEY)
15	15	submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
16	16	on Foreign Relations
17	17	RESOLUTION
18	18	Protecting the Iranian political refugees, including female
19	19	former political prisoners, in Ashraf–3 in Albania.
20	20	Whereas, since October 2023, the Iranian regime has increas-
21	21	ingly acted as the epicenter of terrorism in the region,
22	22	from supporting proxies that vehemently oppose peace in
23	23	the Middle East, to threatening commercial shipping and
24	24	free trade in the Red Sea and from targeting American
25	25	forces in the region, to providing missile and drones to
26	26	rogue actors, all of which pose serious risks to regional
27	27	peace and security and endanger the vital interests of the
28	28	United States;
29	29	Whereas the downfall of dictator Bashar al-Assad—a key ally
30	30	of the Iranian regime—exposes, but does not diminish,
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33	33	•SRES 145 IS
34	34	Iran’s role as the primary malign actor in the region as
35	35	it continues to adapt its destabilizing tactics through
36	36	proxies and illicit influence, and the regime’s efforts to
37	37	sow chaos, undermine regional stability, and threaten
38	38	United States and allied interests persist and may evolve
39	39	in unexpected and dangerous way that will demand un-
40	40	wavering vigilance and decisive action to counter their ag-
41	41	gression which thwarts movement toward peace and sta-
42	42	bility in the region;
43	43	Whereas Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of
44	44	terrorism today;
45	45	Whereas the Iranian people have rejected the regime ruling
46	46	Iran through several rounds of major demonstrations, en-
47	47	gulfing all 31 provinces of Iran calling for change;
48	48	Whereas the Iranian regime has resorted to killing, torture,
49	49	sexual violence, and imprisonment of protesters, and sev-
50	50	eral thousand protesters since 2017 have been killed, and
51	51	many more have been imprisoned;
52	52	Whereas, in the first 4 months of Masoud Pezeshkian’s presi-
53	53	dency, the judiciary of the Iranian regime has executed
54	54	over 500 prisoners, including political prisoners and at
55	55	least 17 women, sometimes publicly, and has increased
56	56	the use of hand amputation as punishment;
57	57	Whereas the Iranian regime has been intent on eliminating
58	58	the Iranian political refugees who survived Tehran’s re-
59	59	pression and were first based in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, in
60	60	the mid-1980s;
61	61	Whereas, starting in 2012, the United States Government
62	62	and the United Nations initiated the relocation of nearly
63	63	3,000 Iranian dissidents from Camp Ashraf, Iraq, where
64	64	they were repeatedly attacked by the Iranian regime’s
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67	67	•SRES 145 IS
68	68	proxies, and facilitated their gradual relocation in 2013,
69	69	2014, and 2015 to Albania;
70	70	Whereas the relocation of these Iranian political refugees to
71	71	Albania from Iraq was completed in September 2016,
72	72	and the refugees, a third of them women, are now resid-
73	73	ing in Ashraf–3 near Tirana in Albania;
74	74	Whereas, on April 19, 2016, before the relocation of the ma-
75	75	jority of the residents to Albania, in a letter to a Euro-
76	76	pean Parliament Vice-President, the Prime Minister of
77	77	Albania wrote, ‘‘Albania is fully engaged and committed
78	78	to ensure for the Iranian refugees all rights stipulated in
79	79	the Geneva Convention 1951, in the European Human
80	80	Rights Convention and in the whole international legisla-
81	81	tion.’’;
82	82	Whereas over 900 women and men of Ashraf–3 are former
83	83	political prisoners who endured torture while in prisons
84	84	and many of them are witnesses of the 1988 massacre
85	85	of political prisoners and other political killings in Iran,
86	86	among them eyewitnesses of crimes committed by
87	87	Ebrahim Raisi;
88	88	Whereas these witnesses must be fully protected for potential
89	89	testimonies before international courts investigating the
90	90	1988 massacre and other grave human rights violations
91	91	in Iran;
92	92	Whereas, in November 2021, the Swedish Judiciary moved
93	93	the whole court in Stockholm to Albania for 2 weeks to
94	94	facilitate hearing testimonies of 7 former Iranian political
95	95	prisoners now residing in Ashraf–3, whose testimony was
96	96	characterized as critical for a trial related to the 1988
97	97	massacre;
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100	100	•SRES 145 IS
101	101	Whereas, in December 2023, a Swedish court confirmed the
102	102	earlier ruling by the lower court of a life sentence for
103	103	Hamid Noury, implicated in the 1988 massacre where he
104	104	was an official in Gohardasht Prison;
105	105	Whereas the Iranian regime has stepped up terrorist attacks
106	106	against its opponents and has used blackmail, terror
107	107	threats, hostage-taking, sham judicial proceedings, and
108	108	other means of intimidation against western nations to
109	109	compel them to silence Iranian opponents living abroad;
110	110	Whereas, on several occasions, including in the last week of
111	111	December 2023, the Iranian regime carried out large-
112	112	scale cyberattacks against Albania to pressure the Gov-
113	113	ernment of Albania to undermine or end its hosting of
114	114	Iranian political refugees;
115	115	Whereas experience has shown that any lack of decisiveness
116	116	or concessions to Tehran only emboldens the Iranian re-
117	117	gime for its destructive actions;
118	118	Whereas the Iranian regime has, over the past few months,
119	119	stepped up threats against Ashraf–3, and given what the
120	120	regime has done since October 7, 2023, far more vigi-
121	121	lance on the part of the United States is required to en-
122	122	sure the complete protection and rights of Ashraf–3 resi-
123	123	dents in Albania;
124	124	Whereas, on December 12, 2023, the Iranian regime started
125	125	sham trials in absentia for 104 veteran members of the
126	126	Iranian Resistance, who, since years ago, have been pri-
127	127	marily based in Europe, including in Albania, to create
128	128	a phony legal precedent against them and secure their ex-
129	129	tradition to Iran by misusing INTERPOL Red Notices,
130	130	impose limitations, or set the stage for terror attacks
131	131	against them;
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134	134	•SRES 145 IS
135	135	Whereas the Iranian regime is doing its utmost through any
136	136	means to prevent Ashraf–3 residents from speaking up
137	137	against the regime;
138	138	Whereas the leadership role of women in Ashraf–3 has doubly
139	139	heightened the Iranian regime’s misogynous hysteria
140	140	against the political refugees in Ashraf–3;
141	141	Whereas over 4,000 parliamentarians around the world and
142	142	130 former world leaders have expressed their support
143	143	for Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for the Future
144	144	of Iran, which calls for the universal right to vote, free
145	145	elections, a market economy, separation of religion and
146	146	state, and advocates for gender, religious, and ethnic
147	147	equality, a foreign policy based on peaceful coexistence,
148	148	peace in the Middle East, and a nonnuclear republic
149	149	Iran; and
150	150	Whereas, in sharp contrast to Iran’s institutionalized misog-
151	151	yny, this Ten-Point platform has adequately addressed
152	152	women’s equality, including ‘‘complete gender equality in
153	153	the realms of political, social, cultural and economic
154	154	rights. An equal participation of women in political lead-
155	155	ership, abolishment of any form of discrimination. The
156	156	right to choose one’s own clothing freely, the right to
157	157	freely marry and divorce, and to obtain education and
158	158	employment. Prohibition of all forms of exploitation
159	159	against women under any pretext.’’: Now, therefore, be it
160	160	Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 1
161	161	(1) the Iranian political refugees in Ashraf–3, 2
162	162	in rejection of the Iranian regime’s demands, must 3
163	163	be afforded their fundamental rights of freedom of 4
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166	166	•SRES 145 IS
167	167	expression and assembly and legal political activities 1
168	168	in Albania; 2
169	169	(2) the United States Government condemns 3
170	170	the Iranian regime’s threats and nefarious actions 4
171	171	against the Government of Albania, including 5
172	172	cyberattacks and threats against the Iranian dis-6
173	173	sidents in Ashraf–3 in Albania; 7
174	174	(3) the United States Government should take 8
175	175	prompt and appropriate steps in accordance with 9
176	176	international law, including the Universal Declara-10
177	177	tion of Human Rights, the International Covenant 11
178	178	on Civil and Political Rights, the European Conven-12
179	179	tion on Human Rights, and the 1951 Convention 13
180	180	Relating to the Status of Refugees, to help the Gov-14
181	181	ernment of Albania ensure and uphold all funda-15
182	182	mental rights of Ashraf–3 residents within the 16
183	183	framework of the above conventions, including the 17
184	184	right to life, liberty, security, protection of property, 18
185	185	and freedom of expression and assembly; 19
186	186	(4) the United States Government strongly op-20
187	187	poses Iran’s misuse of the INTERPOL Red Notices 21
188	188	to impose restrictions or limitations or set in motion 22
189	189	the extradition of Iranian dissidents to Iran; and 23
190	190	(5) the United States Government must con-24
191	191	tinue close and regular cooperation with the Govern-25
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194	194	•SRES 145 IS
195	195	ment of Albania and the residents of Ashraf–3 to 1
196	196	ensure the complete protection and fundamental 2
197	197	rights of Ashraf–3 residents. 3
198	198	Æ
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