House Resolution, Amnesty International censure the Iranian regime’s inaction in addressing the poisoning of Iranian schoolgirls
A bipartisan congressional caucus of nearly 20 lawmakers was announced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) on Thursday, April 20. The congressional caucus, called the Iranian Women Congressional Caucus, will serve as a forum for members of the US Congress to discuss issues and developments related to women’s freedom and democracy in Iran.
The first move by the Congressional Caucus was a joint resolution condemning the chemical attack on Iranian school girls. The resolution is the latest move by Congress to condemn the current Iranian regime and support the thousands of women and girls protesting for a secular, democratic, and nuclear-free Iran.
The resolution, H. RES. 310, condemns the inaction by the Islamic Republic of Iran in addressing the poisoning of Iranian schoolgirls, the Daughters of the Iranian Revolution.
The resolution highlights the recent poison gas attacks on schoolgirls in Iran and the Iranian regime’s violent suppression of schoolgirls, men, and women participating in demonstrations.
It calls for transparent accountability for all killings of protesters by Iranian security forces. It urges the United States government to initiate a formal process for an independent investigation of the gas attacks on schoolgirls in Iran.
Additionally, the resolution calls on the US to work with the United Nations to send an independent fact-finding mission to Iran and with the World Health Organization to provide a transparent report to Congress based on an independent investigation of how these attacks are taking place and who is behind these attacks on schoolgirls in Iran.
The resolution rightly states that the protests in Iran 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.
The Iranian Women Congressional Caucus aims to highlight the bravery and resilience of Iranian women in their fight for equality and human rights. The co-chairs of the caucus are Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Nancy Mace (R-SC).
The new committee is expected to work towards supporting the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear free Republic of Iran and condemning violations of human rights and state-sponsored terrorism by the Iranian regime.
Millions of schoolgirls at risk of Poisoning – Amnesty International
Meanwhile, Amnesty International issued an urgent action on April 18. The urgent action states, “The rights to education, health and life of millions of schoolgirls are at risk amid ongoing chemical gas attacks deliberately targeting girls’ schools in Iran. Since November 2022, thousands of schoolgirls have been poisoned and hospitalized. The authorities have failed to investigate and end the attacks adequately and dismissed girls’ symptoms as “stress,” “excitement,” and/or “mental contagion.”
The text of the US 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. Sánchez, 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 an 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.
