On Wednesday December 18, 2019, the U.S. House of Representative unanimously passed the H. Res 752 supporting the rights of the Iranian people “to free expression” and “condemning the Iranian regime for its crackdown on legitimate protests, and for other purposes.” The lead sponsors of the resolution are Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL and Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC).
Recognizing the November uprising as the “most significant antigovernment protests in Iran”, the resolution called on the Administration to “to work to convene emergency sessions of the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council to condemn the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian regime and establish a mechanism by which the Security Council can monitor such violations.” It also urged the Administration to “expedite the license of communications technology to Iran to improve the ability of the Iranian people to speak freely” and called on “companies to reject requests by the regime to cut off the Iranian people from social media and other communications platforms.” Moreover, it urged the President and Secretary of State “to work with the international community to ensure that violations of human rights are part of all formal and informal multilateral or bilateral discussions with and regarding Iran.”
In his opening remarks, Chairman Elliot Engle (D-NY) recognized the horrifying violence that have ensued since the start of the protests and announced the resolution should serve as “our strong opposition to the regime.” Lead Republican, Congressman McCaul (R-TX) said, the Resolution is “in full support of the protesters” and “now is the time to act so that we can topple the regime and free the Iranian.” One of the main co-sponsors of the Resolution, Congressman Deutch (D-FL) recognized the “importance of bi-partisan American leadership in advancing American values and that’s the leadership we are providing today.”
The Iran protests which reached close to 200 cities across all provinces was met with harshest crackdown resulting in more than 1500 people killed, 4,000 injured and 12,000 arrested. The bi-partisan resolution is timely and will facilitate the needed attention to the plight of the Iranian people and those currently under torture and threat of execution in the Iranian prisons.
