Bill Text: CA AJR22 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Iranian persecution of religious minorities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-07-16 - From printer. [AJR22 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AJR22-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AJR 22 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Miller
JULY 15, 2009
Relative to Iranian persecution: Baha'i.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 22, as introduced, Miller. Iranian persecution of religious
minorities.
This measure would condemn the Government of Iran for its
sponsored persecution of members of the Baha'i faith and would
request the Government of Iran to immediately release Baha'i leaders,
and all other prisoners in Iran who are held solely on account of
their religion.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, In November 2007, the Iranian Ministry of Information in
Shiraz jailed Ms. Raha Sabet, 33 years of age, Mr. Sasan Taqva, 32
years of age, and Ms. Haleh Roohi, 29 years of age, of the Baha'i
faith for educating underprivileged children and condemned them all
to four-year prison terms, which they are currently serving; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Sabet, Mr. Taqva, and Ms. Roohi were targeted solely
because of their religion; and
WHEREAS, On January 23, 2008, the United States Department of
State released a statement urging the Government of Iran to release
all individuals held without due process and a fair trial, including
three young Baha'i teachers held in an Iranian Ministry of
Intelligence detention center in Shiraz; and
WHEREAS, In March and May of 2008, Iranian intelligence officials
in Mashhad and Tehran arrested and imprisoned Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi,
Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr.
Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, members
of the national coordinating group for the Baha'i community in Iran;
and
WHEREAS, On February 11, 2009, the deputy prosecutor in Tehran,
Mr. Hassan Haddad, announced that the seven Baha'i leaders, will go
on trial at a Revolutionary Court on charges of "espionage for
Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the
Islamic Republic"; and
WHEREAS, The lawyer for these seven leaders, Mrs. Shirin Ebadi,
the Nobel Laureate, has been denied all access to the prisoners and
their files; and
WHEREAS, The Government of Iran is party to the International
Covenants on Human Rights; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature condemns the Government of
Iran and its continued violation of the International Covenants on
Human Rights; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature requests on the Government of Iran
to immediately release the seven Baha'i leaders and all other
prisoners who are held solely on account of their religion, including
Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi,
Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr.
Vahid Tizfahm, Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, and Mrs. Haleh Roohi;
and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.
