This resolution condemns the deliberate gas attacks on schoolgirls in Iran (up to 7,000 schoolgirls were poisoned in at least 290 attacks, according to human rights groups) and Iran's suppression of individuals participating in demonstrations. The resolution also urges the United States to initiate a formal process for an independent investigation and to work with the United Nations in investigating the gas attacks on schoolgirls in Iran.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 310 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 310
Condemning the inaction by the Islamic Republic of Iran in addressing
the poisoning of Iranian schoolgirls, the Daughters of the Iranian
Revolution.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 20, 2023
Ms. Jackson Lee (for herself, Ms. Mace, Ms. Ross, Mr. Curtis, Mr.
Payne, Mr. Bacon, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Costa, Mr. Peters,
Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Moskowitz, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Pappas, Mr.
Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr. Gooden of Texas, Mr. Cohen,
Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mrs. Kim of California, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Mike
Garcia of California, and Ms. Chu) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the inaction by the Islamic Republic of Iran in addressing
the poisoning of Iranian schoolgirls, the Daughters of the Iranian
Revolution.
Whereas the Iranian people have been deprived of their fundamental freedoms for
which reason they are rejecting monarchic dictatorship and religious
tyranny, as evident in their protest slogans;
Whereas more than 5,000 schoolgirls at more than 26 schools in 29 of Iran's 31
provinces have now been hit by the poison gas since the first attacks in
the city of Qom in November 2022;
Whereas, according to a October 5, 2022, report by France 24, ``Iran schoolgirls
lead protests over Mahsa Amini['s] death'';
Whereas, since the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022, many schoolgirls
have been active in protests and tearing up pictures of Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling for his death;
Whereas the Iranian regime has been slow to respond, and angry parents are
turning out in droves to challenge the regime and are calling the
attacks ``targeted and deliberate'' to keep girls from getting an
education;
Whereas protests have erupted in more than a dozen cities across Iran over the
poisoning of thousands of schoolgirls and the government's inability to
contain the growing crisis with chants of ``Death to the child-killing
regime.'';
Whereas, in several cities, security forces have unleashed tear gas against
people who were peacefully protesting the lack of action taken by the
government to provide safety and security for schoolgirls;
Whereas the Iranian judiciary has targeted journalists who have reported on the
schoolgirls' poisonings, accusing them of ``spreading lies and rumors'';
Whereas the United States and the United Nations (UN) have called on the Iranian
regime to fully investigate the suspected poisonings of schoolgirls and
hold those responsible to account;
Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spokeswoman Ravina
Shamdasani has said, ``We're very concerned about these allegations that
girls are being deliberately targeted under what appear to be mysterious
circumstances.'';
Whereas the World Health Organization's (WHO) spokeswoman Margaret Harris stated
that the agency contacted national health authorities and medical
professionals about these incidents while ``using other means to
understand more about the event so that we have better evidence'';
Whereas medics, teachers, and parents accuse the Iranian authorities of
silencing victims of suspected poisoning attacks;
Whereas the Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, has ignored the attacks for more
than 100 days and has responded with blaming protestors for the gas
attacks on schoolgirls;
Whereas, on September 16, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) Amini was killed in
custody by the Iranian ``morality police'', which sparked the nationwide
uprising for the last six months;
Whereas women and youth have led the 2022 protests in Iran, demanding social
freedom and political change;
Whereas these protests are rooted in the more than four decades of organized
resistance against the Iranian dictatorship, which have been led by
women who have endured torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and
death;
Whereas, according to a December 9, 2022, Amnesty International report, ``Iran's
security forces have killed with absolute impunity at least 44 children
and injured many more in a bid to crush the spirit of resistance among
the country's youth and retain their iron grip on power at any cost'';
Whereas the similarity in slogans and tactics used by protests nationwide
reflects the overarching demands of the Iranian people and points to the
organized nature of the protests;
Whereas, on December 14, 2022, 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;
Whereas the Department of State's 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices, released on April 13, 2022, cites that Iran's ``government
and its agents reportedly committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, most
commonly 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'';
Whereas, on October 25, 2021, the United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on
the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Javaid
Rehman, told the United Nations General Assembly that almost all
executions in the country constituted an arbitrary deprivation of life,
noting the ``extensive, vague and arbitrary grounds in Iran for imposing
the death sentence, which quickly can turn this punishment into a
political tool'';
Whereas, on January 13, 2022, a United Nations report has urged ``the
international community to call for accountability with respect to long-
standing emblematic events that have been met with persistent impunity,
including the enforced disappearances and summary and arbitrary
executions of 1988 and the November 2019 protests'';
Whereas the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 was carried out
based on a fatwa to execute all political prisoners, including women and
schoolgirls, who remained loyal to the Iranian Resistance, and
subsequent death commissions were formed on July 19, 1988, whose members
included the current Iranian regime's President, Ebrahim Raisi, an
official from the Ministry of Intelligence, and a state prosecutor, to
implement the fatwa;
Whereas, to date, 229 Members of the House of Representatives in the 118th
Congress have signed on as cosponsors of H. Res. 100, ``Expressing
support for the Iranian people's desire for a democratic, secular, and
nonnuclear Republic of Iran, and condemning violations of human rights
and state-sponsored terrorism by the Iranian Government.'';
Whereas the large presence of young people, especially female students, in the
recent protests have angered authorities, and in a speech broadcasted on
Iran's state TV on October 3, 2022, the Supreme Leader promised to
punish youths who were involved;
Whereas, over the past four decades, the Iranian regime has falsely attributed
acid attacks on women, the litany of murders of writers and
intellectuals, and the murder of Christian priests to foreign elements
and the democratic opposition to the regime;
Whereas women from all walks of life and social inclinations have played a
prominent role in the nationwide uprising;
Whereas the rallying cry of protesting women inside and outside Iran is ``With
or without hijab, onward to revolution.'', which rejects compulsory
hijab and respects women's freedom to choose their own attire;
Whereas the people of Iran, both men and women, are against compulsory religion,
compulsory hijab, and compulsory government;
Whereas the efforts by regime authorities to minimize these poisonings are
reflected in the remarks by the Minister of Education of Iran on
February 15, 2023, in which he said, ``Most of the poisoning of students
in Qom is caused by rumors that have scared the people and students, and
some of them had pre-existing diseases'';
Whereas, according to a March 6, 2023, report by the judicial news agency,
Mizan, the head of Iran's judiciary, instead of arresting the
perpetrators of the crime, they threatened those who exposed this crime
and stated, ``The local Justice Departments in all provinces were
ordered to set up a branch in the provincial capital to summon the
people who spread lies in the case of poisonings'';
Whereas a statement by the Ministry of Interior on March 12, 2023, attributed
chemical attacks to ``mischievous and adventurous'' students ``with the
aim of closing classes'' and ``using smelly substances'', or to
``opponents and enemies (of the state)'';
Whereas Iranian state-run media have quoted experts that poisonous gas used to
target schoolgirls is of the kind that is not available to the public;
Whereas physicians and nurses are prohibited from sharing any information about
the poisoning of the schoolgirls; and
Whereas senior Iranian Government, military, judicial, and security officials
have for decades ordered or committed egregious human rights violations
and acts of terror: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns--
(A) the deliberate gas attacks on the schoolgirls
in Iran; and
(B) the violent suppression by the Iranian regime
of schoolgirls, men, and women who participating in
demonstrations, and calls for transparent
accountability for all killings of protesters by
Iranian security forces; and
(2) urges the United States Government to--
(A) initiate a formal process for an independent
investigation of the gas attacks on the schoolgirls in
Iran;
(B) work with the United Nations to send an
independent fact-finding mission to Iran; and
(C) work with the World Health Organization to
provide a transparent report to Congress, based on an
independent investigation, on how these attacks are
taking place and who is behind these attacks on
schoolgirls in Iran.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E342)
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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