January 24, 2023
EMET EXPRESSES ITS PROFOUND GRATITUDE TO THE US SENATE FOR REINTRODUCING S. CON. RES. 47, a concurrent resolution commending the bravery, courage, and resolve of the women and men of Iran demonstrating in more than 80 cities and risking their safety to speak out against the Iranian regime's human rights abuses.
EMET would like to express our most profound gratitude to Chairman Robert Menendez, (Democrat, NJ) and to Senator Marsha Blackburn, (D-Tennesee), for their leadership in introducing this important bipartisan concurrent resolution.
As EMET has previously noted, Iranian dissidents have been under severe threat for courageously speaking out against the brutal and repressive theocracy in Iran. The purpose of this resolution is to formally condemn the impossibly brutal behavior of Iran and "impose human rights sanctions on officials and entities that are responsible for the repression of current protests and involved in violating the human rights of the Iranian people."
EMET, along with the US Senate, commends the bravery, courage, and resolve of the women and men of Iran who are participating in the current protests to defend their fundamental human rights; and risking their safety to speak out against the human rights abuses committed by the Iranian regime. Importantly, this resolution also condemns the brutal beating and death of Mahsa Amini and the violent suppression by the Iranian regime of women and men participating in the current demonstrations, including children, and calls for transparent accountability for all killings of protesters by Iranian security forces.
Says Sarah Stern, EMET Founder and President, "This resolution is a necessary first step at a time when thousands of courageous Iranian dissidents have risked their very lives, demonstrating for basic human rights and for freedom from religious coercion; at a time when at least 20,000 of them have been arrested by the regime, 4 have been publicly hung, 500 have been shot in the street, including 58 children,(that we know of). This also is coming at a time when the Islamic Republic of Iran has been an active partner with Russia in their brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine. Our next step is to call for hearings with groups associated with the Iranian dissidents, to find ways to help the dissidents to overcome this brutal regime, and to develop an effective "Plan B" for dealing with Iran. In the meantime, we wish to express our most profound appreciation and support to Chairman Bob Menendez, and to Senator Marsha Blackburn, who represent the best of bipartisanship in Congress and are the co-sponsors of this very important resolution."