CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2009–2010 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 22
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.
Digest Key
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.