,i  #aagth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ijge  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,september #bi1      
#bjbb,mr4 ,schiff 7for himself1 ,mr4    
,cohen1 ,mr4 ,doggett1 ,mr4             
,krishnamoorthi1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,ms4     
,speier1 ,mr4 ,swalwell1 ,mr4 ,quigley1 
,mr4 ,moulton1 and ,ms4 ,ross7          
introduced the following bill2 which was
 referred to the ,committee on ,foreign 
,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to call on the    
,islamic ,republic of ,iran to          
immediately end violations of the human 
rights1 and facilitate the              
unconditional1 immediate release1 of all
 arbitrarily detained individuals1      
including peaceful protesters1 political
 prisoners1 and prisoners of conscience1
 and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short    
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,support for ,iranian ,political        
,prisoners ,act4  #b4 ,findings         
,congress makes the following findings3 
7#a7 ,article #c of the ,universal      
,declaration of ,human ,rights          

guarantees the right to life1 liberty1  
and security of person4 ,article #i of  
such ,declaration prohibits arbitrary   
arrests or detentions and ,article #ah  
of such ,declaration guarantees the     
right to freedom of thought1 conscience1
 and religion4  7#b7 ,as a member state 
of the ,united ,nations and other       
international institutions1 the ,islamic
 ,republic of ,iran is bound by         
international commitments concerning    
human rights and the rule of law4       
,nevertheless1 the ,islamic ,republic of
 ,iran has systematically and           
consistently curtailed the ability of   
,iranian citizens to exercise           
fundamental freedoms without fear of    
retribution4  7#c7 ,on ,september #ac1  
#bjbb1 #bb-year-old ,masha ,amini was   
detained by the ,islamic ,republic of   
,iran's ,morality ,police1 for allegedly
 having visible hair under her          
headscarf4  7#d7 ,on ,september #ai1    
#bjbb1 in response to her death1        
protesters took to the streets across   

,iran4 ,the ,iranian ,government sought 
to put down these protests with         
violence1 which has resulted in the     
deaths of at least #dh people1 including
 #bj-year-old ,hadis ,najafi1 who was   
shot multiple times by security forces  
according to eyewitnesses1 and the      
arrests of hundreds more4  7#e7 ,on     
,october #f1 #bjba1 the ,united ,nations
 ,office of the ,high ,commissioner for 
,human ,rights released a statement     
expressing grave concern regarding the  
consistent practice of the ,islamic     
,republic of ,iran to deny medical      
treatment to detainees1 including       
political prisoners4 ,denials of medical
 treatment worsened during the year     
#bjba due to the spread of ,,covid-#ai  
throughout prisons4 ,the statement also 
called for the unconditional release of 
human rights defenders1 attorneys1      
political prisoners1 peaceful           
protesters1 and all other persons       
deprived of liberty for expressing views
 or otherwise exercising rights in the  

,islamic ,republic of ,iran4  7#f7 ,on  
,december #af1 #bjba1 the ,general      
,assembly of the ,united ,nations       
adopted ,resolution #gf_/agh1           
criticizing the practices of the        
,islamic ,republic of ,iran and calling 
on the ,islamic ,republic of ,iran to   
implement significant reforms1          
including-- 7,a7 ensuring that no person
 is subject to torture or other cruel1  
inhuman1 or degrading treatment2  7,b7  
ceasing the widespread and systematic   
use of arbitrary arrests and detentions2
  7,c7 releasing persons detained for   
exercising the human rights and         
fundamental freedoms2 and  7,d7         
improving the conditions of prisons4    
7#g7 ,according to the #bjba ,country   
,reports on ,human ,rights ,practices   
issued by the ,department of ,state1 the
 ,islamic ,republic of ,iran took few   
steps during the year #bjba to identify1
 investigate1 prosecute1 or punish      
persons at all levels of the ,iranian   
,government and the ,iranian security   

forces4 ,such reports include credible  
accounts that the ,islamic ,republic of 
,iran or agents of the ,islamic         
,republic of ,iran1 have been implicated
 in-- 7,a7 unlawful or arbitrary        
killings2  7,b7 forced disappearances2  
7,c7 torture or cruel1 inhuman1 or      
degrading treatment2  7,d7 arbitrary    
arrest or detention2  7,e7 harsh or     
life-threatening prison conditions2     
7,f7 lack of judiciary independence1    
particularly regarding the revolutionary
 courts2  7,g7 severe restrictions on   
free expression and media1 including    
censorship1 criminalization of libel and
 slander1 and violence1 threats of      
violence1 unjustified arrests1 and      
prosecutions against journalists2 and   
7,h7 serious restrictions on and        
harassment of domestic or international 
human rights organizations4  7#h7 ,the  
#bjba ,country ,reports on ,human       
,rights ,practices further reported that
 political prisoners in the ,islamic    
,republic of ,iran were at greater risk 

of torture and abuse in detention and   
were often mixed with the general prison
 population4 ,former prisoners in the   
,islamic ,republic of ,iran reported    
that government authorities often       
threatened political prisoners with     
transfer to criminal wards1 where       
attacks by fellow prisoners were more   
likely4 ,human rights activists and     
international media organizations       
reported cases of political prisoners   
confined with persons accused of and    
convicted of violent crime4 ,the        
,islamic ,republic of ,iran also often  
exiled political prisoners to prisons in
 remote provinces far from the families 
of such prisoners as a means of         
reprisal1 denied such prisoners a right 
to correspondence and access to legal   
counsel1 and held such prisoners in     
solitary confinement for long periods4  
7#i7 ,according to the organization     
,iran ,human ,rights1 in ,october of    
#bjba1 political prisoners ,shapour     
,ehsanirad1 ,pouya ,ghobadi1 ,esmail    

,gerami1 ,akbar ,bagheri1 and ,akbar    
,shirazi were seriously injured after   
being attacked by prisoners accused of  
or convicted of violent crime4  7#aj7   
,according to the ,united ,nations      
,special ,rapporteur on the situation of
 human rights in the ,islamic ,republic 
of ,iran1 the ,ministry of ,intelligence
 of the ,islamic ,republic of ,iran and 
the ,intelligence ,organization of the  
,islamic ,revolutionary ,guard ,corps   
control secret detention centers with   
deplorable conditions4 ,such centers    
often house1 for extended pretrial      
detentions1 political prisoners and     
other persons arbitrarily arrested on   
national security charges4 ,for example1
 ,ali ,younesi and ,amirhossein ,moradi 
have been arbitrarily detained in       
section #bji of ,evin ,prison since such
 persons were arrested in ,april of     
#bjbj4 ,evin ,prison1 a notorious       
facility located in ,tehran1 is under   
the control of the ,ministry of         
,intelligence of the ,islamic ,republic 

of ,iran and is a primary prison for    
political detainees4  7#aa7 ,attorneys  
who defend political prisoners detained 
by the ,islamic ,republic of ,iran are  
regularly arrested1 detained1 and       
subjected to excessive punishments for  
engaging in regular professional        
activities4 ,the ,islamic ,republic of  
,iran also continues to imprison        
attorneys and others affiliated with the
 advocacy group ,defenders of ,human    
,rights ,center4 ,according to the      
,center for ,human ,rights in ,iran1 not
 less than #e human rights              
attorneys--,soheila ,hejab1 ,payam      
,derafshan1 ,mohammad ,nafari1          
,amirsalar ,davoudi1 and ,nasrin        
,sotoudeh--were in prison during the    
year #bjba for performing human rights  
work4  7#ab7 ,with limited options for  
recourse1 political prisoners regularly 
participate in hunger strikes to raise  
awareness about prison conditions and   
the plight of political prisoners1 who  
are often denied medical treatment4 ,in 

,january of #bjbb1 according to         
reporting by ,radio ,free               
,europe_/,radio ,liberty1 #f prisoners  
in ,evin ,prison went on a hunger strike
 following the death of jailed ,iranian 
poet and filmmaker ,baktash ,abtin4 ,at 
least #c other prisoners at the         
,gharchak ,women's ,prison and the      
,greater ,tehran ,central ,penitentiary 
joined the hunger strike4 ,radio ,free  
,europe_/,radio ,liberty reported that  
dozens of prisoners are believed to have
 died in the prisons of the ,islamic    
,republic of ,iran due to mistreatment1 
including beatings1 torture1 and a lack 
of proper medical care4  7#ac7 ,in      
,august of #bjba1 following the release 
of footage of mistreatment and torture  
at ,evin ,prison1 the ,bureau of        
,democracy1 ,human ,rights1 and ,labor  
of the ,department of ,state issued a   
statement stating that the recently     
leaked footage of the notorious ,evin   
,prison confirms what we have long      
known3 torture is systemic in ,iranian  

prisons4 ,we call on the ,islamic       
,republic of ,iran to release all       
political prisoners and to treat all    
prisoners with dignity4  7#ad7          
,according to the organization ,united  
for ,iran1 more than #eef prisoners of  
conscience1 including persons jailed for
 religious beliefs1 were held in #bjj or
 more prisons in the ,islamic ,republic 
of ,iran as of ,may of #bjbb4  #c4      
,statement of ,policy ,it is the policy 
of the ,united ,states that-- 7#a7 the  
,islamic ,republic of ,iran should allow
 the ,united ,nations ,special          
,rapporteur on the situation of human   
rights in the ,islamic ,republic of     
,iran unimpeded access to facilitate the
 full implementation of the mandate of  
the ,united ,nations ,special           
,rapporteur1 including-- 7,a7           
investigating alleged violations of     
human rights that are occurring or have 
occurred both within prisons and        
elsewhere2  7,b7 transmitting urgent    
appeals and letters to the ,islamic     

,republic of ,iran regarding alleged    
violations of human rights2 and  7,c7   
engaging with relevant stakeholders in  
the ,islamic ,republic of ,iran and the 
surrounding region2  7#b7 the ,islamic  
,republic of ,iran should immediately   
end violations of the human rights of   
political prisoners or persons          
imprisoned for exercising the right to  
freedom of speech1 including-- 7,a7     
torture2  7,b7 assault2  7,c7 denial of 
access to health care2 and  7,d7 denial 
of a fair trial2  7#c7 all arbitrarily  
detained individuals1 including peaceful
 protesters1 political prisoners1 and   
prisoners of conscience1 should be      
unconditionally and immediately         
released2  7#d7 all diplomatic tools of 
the ,united ,states should be invoked to
 ensure that all arbitrarily detained   
individuals1 including political        
prisoners and prisoners of conscience in
 the ,islamic ,republic of ,iran are    
released1 including raising individual  
cases of particular concern2 and  7#e7  

all officials of the ,government of the 
,islamic ,republic of ,iran who are     
responsible for human rights abuses in  
the form of politically motivated       
imprisonment should be held to account1 
including through the imposition of     
sanctions pursuant to the ,global       
,magnitsky ,human ,rights               
,accountability ,act 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4     
#ajaja et seq47 and other applicable    
statutory authorities of the ,united    
,states4  #d4 ,assistance for prisoners 
of conscience and political prisoners   
,the ,secretary of ,state is authorized 
to continue to provide assistance to    
civil society organizations that support
 arbitrarily detained individuals1      
including prisoners of conscience and   
political prisoners in the ,islamic     
,republic of ,iran1 including           
organizations that-- 7#a7 work to secure
 the release of such prisoners2  7#b7   
document violations of human rights with
 respect to such prisoners2  7#c7       
support international advocacy to raise 

awareness of issues relating to such    
prisoners2  7#d7 support the health1    
including mental health1 of such        
prisoners2 and  7#e7 provide            
post-incarceration assistance to enable 
such prisoners to resume normal lives1  
including access to education1          
employment1 or other forms of           
reparation4  #e4 ,definitions ,in this  
,act3 7#a7 ,arbitrarily detained ,the   
term arbitrarily detained1 with respect 
to an individual1 means an individual   
deprived of liberty due to the exercise 
of the rights or freedoms described--   
7,a7 in article #g1 #ac1 #ad1 #ah1 #ai1 
#bj or #ba of the ,universal            
,declaration of ,human ,rights2 or  7,b7
 in article #ab1 #ah1 #ai1 #ba1 #bb1    
#be1 #bf or #bg of the ,international   
,covenant on ,civil and ,political      
,rights4  7#b7 ,political prisoner ,the 
term political prisoner means a person  
who has been detained or imprisoned on  
politically motivated grounds and may   
include persons that-- 7,a7 have used   

violence2  7,b7 have advocated violence 
or hatred2 or  7,c7 have committed a    
minor offense that serves as a pretext  
for politically motivated imprisonment4 
7#c7 ,prisoner of conscience ,the term  
prisoner of conscience means a person   
who-- 7,a7 is imprisoned or otherwise   
physically restricted solely in response
 to the peaceful exercise of the human  
rights of such person2 and  7,b7 has not
 used violence or advocated violence or 
hatred4