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US Congress Bill to Hold Iran Accountable for Human Rights Violations

US Congress Bill to Hold Iran Accountable for Human Rights Violations
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US Congress Bill to Hold Iran Accountable for Human Rights Violations

US Congress Bill to Hold Iran Accountable for Human Rights Violations

US Congressman Joe Wilson introduced Friday a bill that holds Iran accountable for human rights violations.

He issued a statement on introducing the “Iran Human Rights and Accountability Act of 2021,” which includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq.

“I introduced the Iran Human Rights and Accountability Act of 2021, which stands with the people of Iran and their desire to live in freedom and with basic human rights,” the statement read.

“I am grateful for the support of Congressmen Jim Banks and Greg Steube on this legislation,” Wilson added.

“This bill, introduced on the eve of the Iranian New Year of Nowruz, which marks the beginning of spring, may hopefully be the beginning of a new season for the people of Iran.”

He further recalled those lost during the crackdowns on peaceful protests, for which the regime is responsible.

Wilson considered that in any debate on US policy towards Iran, the rights of people to live in peace and freedom should not be forgotten.

The bill requires a determination on whether senior Iranian officials, including the Supreme Leader and senior ministers, meet the criteria for sanctions under the bipartisan Comprehensive Iran Sanctions and Divestment Act (CISADA) and an Executive Order by former President Barack Obama sanctioning human rights violators in Iran.

It further demands ensuring the US policy to support democracy and human rights is implemented in Iran, as well as the free flow of information into Iran, and holding the Iranian regime accountable for its human rights abuses against the people of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon.

According to the bill, a report into the wealth of the Supreme Leader of Iran including wealth obtained through corrupt or illicit activities is required.

It calls for issuing a report into human rights abuses in Iran in response to human rights protests in 2017, including a list by province in city of local law enforcement forces responsible for the violent crackdown.

In addition to the aforementioned requirements, the introduced bill requests a determination into whether Iran and its militias have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity against Iranian people and the people of Syria.

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Cuba Starts Freeing Prisoners Day after US Said it Would Lift Terror Designation

A person uses a cellphone inside a private cab in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Ley)
A person uses a cellphone inside a private cab in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Ley)
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Cuba Starts Freeing Prisoners Day after US Said it Would Lift Terror Designation

A person uses a cellphone inside a private cab in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Ley)
A person uses a cellphone inside a private cab in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Ley)

Cuba started releasing some prisoners Wednesday as part of talks with the Vatican, a day after President Joe Biden's administration announced his intent to lift the US designation of the island nation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
More than a dozen people who were convicted of different crimes — and some of them were arrested after taking part in the historic 2021 protests — were released during the day, according to Cuban civil groups following the cases of detainees on the island.
Among those freed was tattooist Reyna Yacnara Barreto Batista, 24, who was detained in the 2021 protests and convicted to four years in prison for attacks and public disorder. She was released from a prison in the province of Camagüey, and told The Associated Press that eight men were also freed along with her.
On Tuesday, the US government said it notified Congress about the intent to lift the designation of Cuba as part of a deal facilitated by the Vatican. Cuban authorities would release some of them before Biden's administration ends on Jan. 20, officials said.
Hours later, the Cuban foreign ministry said the government informed Pope Francis it would gradually release 553 convicts as authorities explore legal and humanitarian ways to make it happen.
Havana did not link the prisoners' release to the US decision on lifting the designation but said it was “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of the year 2025 declared by His Holiness,” referring to the Vatican's once-every-25-year tradition of a Jubilee, in which the Catholic faithful make pilgrimages to Rome.
Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez did not mention the release on Wednesday — consistent with his stance the day before, indicating they were separate issues — but mentioned removing Cuba from the list of states sponsors of terrorism.
“You can reverse a country’s status on that list, but the tremendous damage to U foreign policy cannot be undone,” he told the AP. “It has been proven that this list is not a tool or instrument in the fight against terrorism, but rather a brutal and mere tool of political coercion against sovereign states.”
The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, one of the civil groups, said that by 4 p.m. EST, 18 people had been released, including Barreto Batista.
“At three in the morning they knocked," Barreto Batista told the AP over the phone. "I was sleeping (in the cell) and they told me to gather all my things, that I was free.”
She said that she and the eight men were warned it was not a pardon or a forgiveness and that they had to be on good behavior or they could be sent back to prison.
“I am at home with my mother," she said. “The whole family is celebrating.”
In July 2021, thousands of Cubans took to the streets to protest widespread power outages and shortages amid a severe economic crisis. The government’s crackdown on the demonstrators, which included arrests and detentions, sparked international criticism, while Cuban officials blamed US. sanctions and a media campaign for the unrest.
In November, another Cuban nongovernmental organization, Justice 11J, said that 554 people remained in custody in connection with the protests.
Biden's intention to lift the US designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism is likely to be reversed as early as next week after President-elect Donald Trump takes office and Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio assumes the position of America’s top diplomat.
Rubio, whose family left Cuba in the 1950s before the communist revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, has long been a proponent of sanctions on the communist island.