___TH CONGRESS

__d Session I

H. R.

To call for targeted sanctions on the judges, prosecutors and investigators of the Islamic Republic’s Islamic Revolutionary Courts.

To call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately end sham trials, denial of access to counsel, coerced confessions, torture, and all violations of human rights endemic in its judicial system, and immediately release all political prisoners.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. _______ (for himself, Mr. ____________, Ms. _________, Mrs. _________, and Mr. __________) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on _________________________________________________________________

A  BILL

To impose sanctions on the judges, prosecutors and investigators of the Islamic Republic’s Islamic Revolutionary Courts, which are involved in sham trials, torture, and inhumane treatment and sentencing of Iranian protesters and political dissidents.

  1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
  2.          tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
  3. SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  4. This Act may be cited as the Targeting Oppressive
  5. Officers to Mitigate Abuse in the Iranian Judiciary Act (the
  6. “TOOMAJ Act”).
  7. SECTION 2. FINDINGS.
  8. Congress makes the following findings:
  9.          (1) Torture is deeply contrary to both the laws and
  10.  ethical values of the United States, as well as to
  11.  international norms. This universal denouncement of
  12.  torture finds its reflection in several domains: through
  13.  the U.S. criminal code, specifically 18 U.S.C. §§ 
  14. 2340–2340A; in International treaties, highlighted by
  15. the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT);
  16. within customary International law; across centuries of the
  17. Anglo-American legal tradition; and in the longstanding
  18. policies of the United States.
  19.          (2) Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human
  20. Rights guarantees the right to life, liberty, and security of
  21. person. Article 9 of such Declaration prohibits arbitrary
  22. arrests or detentions and Article 18 of such Declaration
  23. guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience,
  24. and religion.
  25.          (3) As a member state of the United Nations and other

international institutions, the Islamic Republic of Iran is

  1. bound by international commitments concerning human
  2. rights and the rule of law. Nevertheless, the Islamic
  3. Republic of Iran has systematically and consistently
  4. curtailed the ability of Iranian citizens to exercise
  5. fundamental freedoms without fear of retribution.
  6.         (4) The judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran
  7. consists of a Chief Justice, who is responsible for
  8. overseeing court administration, and several classes of
  9. courts, including Islamic Revolutionary Courts, which are
  10. tasked with trying prisoners accused of subverting the
  11. Islamic Republic. The trials of Iranian political prisoners
  12. and prisoners of conscience typically are held before
  13. judges of these Islamic Revolutionary Courts.
  14.          (5) Unlike an adversarial system, the Islamic Republic’s
  15. judicial model is inquisitorial. The inquisitorial system
  16. gives judges a significant role in deciding what evidence
  17. will be considered, whether the accused can access legal
  18. counsel or a fair trial, and the outcome of a case.
  19.          (6) The Islamic Revolutionary Courts oversee cases
  20. involving political crimes, and employ well-documented
  21. practices that deny fairness and subvert justice. This
  22. includes denying access to counsel, refusing to disclose
  23. the nature of charges, using torture and sexual violence to
  24. extract confessions, and using coerced confessions in
  25. proceedings, among others.
  26.         (7) On September 16, 2022, a 22-year-old woman
  27. named Mahsa Jina Amini, died in the detention of the
  28. Morality Police after being beaten and detained for
  29. allegedly transgressing the Islamic Republic’s morality
  30. laws concerning women’s dress. This tragic incident
  31. triggered widespread anti-gender apartheid,
  32. pro-democracy protests across all of Iran, which have
  33. become known globally as the “Woman Life Freedom”
  34. movement.
  35.                 (8) In the course of the protests, the Iranian
  36. security forces’ violent crackdown included mass arrests,
  37. well-documented beating of protestors, stifling
  38. internet access, and shooting protestors with live
  39. ammunition. Weeks into the protests, Iranian security
  40. forces had reportedly killed, blinded, or injured hundreds
  41. of civilian protestors, including women and children.
  42.          (9) By November 2022, reports were ongoing
  43. and confirmed that the Islamic Republic had commenced
  44. an intensive crackdown on protestors, characterized
  45. by crimes against humanity, including mass
  46. imprisonment of tens of thousands of civilians, torture,
  47. gender and sexual violence, and heightened persecution
  48. of ethnic and religious minorities.
  49.                  (10) On December 12, 2022, Majid Reza
  50. Rahnavard became the first publicly executed Iranian for
  51. charges stemming from his alleged involvement in the
  52. protests. In the time since, many others have been
  53. executed, and many more have been detained, tortured 
  54. and killed in secret, and their families have been
  55. threatened.
  56.          (11) Toomaj Salehi is an Iranian dissident and
  57. rap artist who criticizes the Islamic Republic’s oppressive
  58. policies through his music. He is widely revered inside
  59. Iran for directly challenging the Islamic Republic’s denial
  60. of human rights. He was arrested in October 2022, in the
  61. aftermath of the Woman Life Freedom protests, and has
  62. endured intense psychological and physical torture,
  63. including prolonged solitary confinement. In July 2023, he
  64. was sentenced to over six years of prison for “corruption
  65. on Earth,” a crime manufactured by the Islamic Regime to
  66. silence dissent. On November 18, 2023, Salehi was
  67. released from prison on bail. A few days later, he issued a
  68. public statement revealing the depth of torture he had
  69. endured at the hands of the Islamic Republic. On
  70. November 30, 2023, Toomaj Salehi was re-arrested on
  71. charges of publishing false information and disturbing
  72. public opinion.  On April 24, 2024, Salehi’s attorney
  73. confirmed that despite a remand from the Islamic
  74. Republic’s Supreme Court, the Islamic Revolutionary
  75. Court overseeing Salehi’s case issued a death sentence to
  76. Toomaj Salehi.
  77.          (12) Examples of victims of the Islamic Revolutionary
  78. Courts are plentiful. Vahid Afkari is a 37-year-old Iranian
  79. who was arrested along with his brothers Habib and
  80. Navid Afkari during the 2018 Iranian protests. All three  
  81. were tortured into confessing to killing a security officer.
  82. Navid was executed in 2020. Vahid Afkari remains
  83.  imprisoned, and has been held in solitary
  84. confinement for over 1,000 days. He is denied medical
  85. treatment for the injuries he has sustained from torture
  86. and suicide attempts.
  87.                  (13) Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian human
  88. rights Activist, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and
  89. the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights
  90. Center, a human rights organization based in
  91. Tehran. She has been repeatedly prosecuted by the
  92. Islamic Republic due to her outspoken positions against
  93. the government’s human rights abuses. She is currently
  94. imprisoned, and routinely subjected to prolonged solitary
  95. confinement, psychological torture, and physical abuse.
  96.          (14) Fatemeh Sepehri is an Iranian political and
  97. women's rights activist and a political prisoner. She is a
  98. signatory of the “Statement of 14 Political Activists,” a
  99. series of open letters that called for the resignation of the
  100. Supreme Leader of Iran, the abolition of the Islamic
  101. Republic, and the establishment of a secular democracy.
  102. She was arrested on September 21, 2022 during the
  103. Woman Life Freedom protests, and is imprisoned in
  104. solitary confinement.
  105.          (15) Saman Yasin, a well-known and acclaimed 27-
  106. year-old Kurdish artist and rapper, has been a vocal critic
  107. of the Islamic Republic and openly supported Woman Life
  108. Freedom protestors in his social media. In November
  109. 2022, he received a death sentence, which he appealed,
  110. and his case was sent back to the Islamic Revolutionary
  111. Court, where it remains pending. Yasin has been denied a
  112. fair trial, and suffers ongoing psychological and physical
  113. torture while imprisoned.
  114. SECTION 3. SANCTIONS ON JUDGES OF THE ISLAMIC
  115. REVOLUTIONARY COURTS.
  116.          (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress
  117. that—
  118.          (1) the United States shall stand with and support
  119. the people of Iran in their demand for fundamental
  120. human rights and an end to gender apartheid;
  121.          (2) the United States shall continue to hold the
  122. Islamic Republic of Iran, and all its branches of
  123. government, including the judiciary and its judges,
  124. accountable for abuses of human rights, crimes against
  125. humanity, corruption, and the export of terrorism; and
  126.          (3) the Islamic Republic must immediately end its gross
  127. violations of internationally recognized human rights.
  128. (b) IN GENERAL.—
  129.          (1)        DETERMINATION        REQUIRED.—Not        later
  130. than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this
  131. Act, the President shall determine whether the sanctions
  132. listed in paragraph (2) apply with respect to each
  133. foreign person described in subsection (c), and
  134. impose all applicable such sanctions with respect
  135. to each such foreign person and entity.
  136.          (2)  SANCTIONS  LISTED.—The  sanctions  listed
  137. in this paragraph are the following:
  138.                    (A) Sanctions described in section 105(c) of the
  139. Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and
  140. Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8514(c)).
  141.         (B) Sanctions applicable with respect to a
  142. person pursuant to Executive Order 13553 (50 U.S.C.
  143. 1701 note; relating to blocking property of certain
  144. persons with respect to serious human rights abuses by
  145. the Government of Iran).
  146.          (C) Sanctions applicable with respect to a
  147. person pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C.
  148. 1701 note; relating to blocking property and prohibiting
  149. transactions with persons who commit, threaten to
  150. commit, or support terrorism).
  151.          (D) Sanctions applicable with respect to a
  152. person pursuant to Executive Order 13818 (relating to
  153. blocking the property of persons involved in serious
  154. human rights abuse or corruption).
  155.          (E) Sanctions applicable with respect to a person
  156. pursuant to Executive Order 13876 (relating to imposing
  157. sanctions with respect to Iran).
  158.          (F) Penalties and visa bans applicable with
  159. respect to a person pursuant to section 7031(c) of the  
  160. Department of State, Foreign Operations, and
  161. Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021.
  162.          (3) FORM OF DETERMINATION.—The determination
  163. required by paragraph (1) shall be provided in an
  164. unclassified form but may contain a classified annex
  165. provided separately containing additional contextual
  166. information pertaining to justification for the issuance of
  167. any waiver issued, as described in paragraph (1)(C)(ii).
  168. The unclassified portion of such determination shall be
  169. made available on a publicly available internet website of
  170. the Federal Government.
  171. (c) FOREIGN PERSONS DESCRIBED.—The foreign persons
  172. described in this subsection are the following:
  173.          (1) Adjudicators and investigators
  174. including judges, prosecutors and investigators of the
  175. various branches of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts
  176. involved in overseeing, committing, or adjudicating based
  177. on inhumane treatment of prisoners of conscious
  178. including political prisoners from detention to sentencing.
  179. (d) CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT.—
  180.          (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after
  181. receiving a request from the chairman and ranking
  182. member of one of the appropriate congressional
  183. committees with respect to whether a person meets the
  184. criteria of a person described in subsection (c), the
  185. President shall—
  186.          (A) determine if the person meets such criteria; and
  187.          (B) submit a classified or unclassified report to such
  188. chairman and ranking member with respect to such
  189. determination that includes a statement of whether or not
  190. the President imposed or intends to impose sanctions
  191. with respect to the person pursuant to this section.
  192.          (2)          Appropriate        congressional        commitTEES
  193. DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate
  194. congressional committees’’ means—
  195.          (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
  196. the House of Representatives; and
  197.                           (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of
  198. the Senate.
  199. SECTION 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
  200. It is the policy of the United States that—
  201. (1) the legal and bureaucratic apparatus of the Islamic
  202. Revolutionary Courts facilitates the Islamic Republic in
  203. shielding human rights abuses from scrutiny;
  204. (2) judgments, sentences and other official acts that
  205. emanate from the Islamic Revolutionary Courts should
  206. not be afforded judicial deference by the international
  207. legal community, and may serve as evidence of torture
  208. and human rights violations;
  209. (3) the Islamic Republic of Iran should immediately stop
  210. violating the human rights of political prisoners or any
  211. person with a proceeding before the Islamic
  212. Revolutionary Courts, including by—
  213.          (A) torture;
  214.          (B) assault;
  215.          (C) denial of access to health care; and
  216.          (D) denial of a fair trial; and
  217. (4) the Islamic Republic of Iran should immediately
  218. release all political prisoners, including Toomaj Salehi.
  219. SECTION 5. DEFINITIONS.
  220. In this Act:
  221. (1) POLITICAL PRISONER.—The term ‘‘political prisoner’’
  222. means a person who has been detained or imprisoned on
  223. politically motivated grounds and may include persons
  224. that—
  225.          (A) have used violence;
  226.          (B) have advocated violence or hatred; or
  227.          (C) have committed a minor offense that serves as a
  228. pretext for politically motivated imprisonment.
  229. SECTION 6. SEVERABILITY.
  230. If any provision of this Act, or the application of such
  231. provision to any person or circumstance, is found to be
  232. unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, or the
  233. application of that provision to other persons or
  234. circumstances, shall not be affected.