Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act (MAHSA Act) is a United States federal law that was enacted on April 24, 2024 as a bipartisan human rights and anti-terrorism legislation in the United States that, for the first time, imposes sanctions and holds accountable leaders of the Islamic Republic regime in Iran for their domestic suppression, crimes against humanity, and international terrorism. [1] [2]
The legislation was first introduced as a bill in the 117th Congress right at start of the Woman Life Freedom protests in Iran. Its intention is to put sanctions on the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. [3] The bill was reintroduced as H.R. 589 [4] to the House of Representatives and as S.2626 [5] to the US Senate in the 118th congress. This legislation was passed by the United States Congress in April 23, 2024 and signed into law by US President Joe Biden on April 24, 2024.
Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian woman who while on vacation in Tehran, she was arrested and died from a collapse in court as shown by the surveillance footage, She died three days later in their custody. [6] She was arrested for improperly wearing her compulsory hijab. [6] Her name became the codename for the Woman Life Freedom revolution.
Human rights abuses in Iran have been widely documented. They span from violation of the rights of ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQ communities, children, and religious minorities. [7] As a result of these violations, the UN has had a special rapporteur since 1984. [8] The current special rapporteur, Javaid Rehman is not allowed entry to Iran. In March 2023, Mr. Rehman expressed that, "The scale and gravity of the violations committed by Iranian authorities, especially since the death of Ms. Amini, points to the possible commission of international crimes, notably the crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual violence, and persecution." [9]
Moreover, the UN Human Rights Council has adopted resolution S35/1: [10]
“On the deteriorating situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially with respect to women and children, adopted on 24 November 2022, the Human Rights Council decided to establish an independent international fact-finding mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran." [10]
From the start of the Woman Life Freedom Revolution in September 2022 until mid-January 2023, 522 protestors were killed, 70 of them children. Close to 20,000 people have been arrested and imprisoned. [11] Many of the prisoners, including the two journalists who broke the news of Mahsa Amini's death, are still in prison. [12] [13] [14] Activists, artists, actors were/ are serving sentences, including a rapper, Toomaj Salehi, who has been in solitary confinement for more than five months without having committed any crimes. [15] [16] Several prisoners have received death sentences [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] with no access to proper council and several protesters have already been executed. [17] [19] [22] Many detainees have been tormented by physical, psychological, and sexual torture. [18] [19] [23]
More than 5000 schoolgirls were poisoned by chemical agents in organized, deliberate, distributed attacks spanning the whole country and affecting close to 100 schools between November 30, 2022, and March 16, 2023 . [24] [25] [26] The full list of atrocities committed against the people of Iran are beyond the scope and focus of this page, but to list a few, the downing of the Ukrainian passenger airliner (PS-572), the Bloody Aban Massacre, and Iran's consistent ranking as the country with the highest executions per capita in the world. [27]
The first major act of terrorism linked to the Islamist group that later forms the Islamic Republic of Iran was the arson of Cinema Rex killing more than 377 people. The Islamic republic has conducted several terrorist attacks directly or through proxies; a select list of which are included in Iran and state-sponsored terrorism. According to the March 2023 testimony of General Lloyd Austin, there has been 83 Iran-backed proxy group attacks against Americans since President Joe Biden took office in 2021. The following is a list of Iran-backed proxy groups according to Council on Foreign Relations: [28]
Country | Militia | Iranian Influence |
---|---|---|
Afghanistan | Taliban | Weak |
Afghanistan | Fatimiyoun Brigade | Strong |
Bahrain | Al Ashtar Brigades | Strong |
Iraq | Kata'ib Hezbollah | Strong |
Iraq | Badr Organization | Strong |
Iraq | Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq | Strong |
Lebanon | Hezbollah | Strong |
Pakistan | Zainabiyoun | Strong |
Palestinian Territories | Hamas | Weak |
Palestinian Territories | Palestinian Islamic Jihad | Moderate |
Palestinian Territories | Harakat al-Sabireen | Strong |
Syria | Quwat al-Ridha | Strong |
Syria | Baqir Brigade | Strong |
Yemen | Houthi movement | Moderate |
After the Iran hostage crisis, the Iran–United States relations deteriorated. The United States designated Iran's Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), as a terrorist organization under president Obama's administration before designating the entire IRGC as a terrorist organization under president Trump's administration. The Islamic Republic has committed conducted terrorist activities and assassinations and attempted terrorism and assassination plots in many countries including: Turkey, [29] Greece, [30] Thailand, [31] Argentina, [32] Germany, [33] France, [34] United Kingdom, [35] and the US. [36] Some of these assassination plots were targeting former senior US officials including the former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. [37]
The United States Congress has made the following determinations. [3] [4]
Congress found the following:
MAHSA Act will require the President of the United States to annually determine whether the following sanctions apply to entities and individual: [4]
MAHSA Act was drafted by Xiyue Wang and introduced by congressman Jim Banks, and as of June 22, 2023, it has 128 cosponsors (60 Democrats, and 68 Republicans). [4] The bill has received lots of grassroots advocacy including call campaigns, Tweets, representative town hall attendance, and politician visitations by the Iranian-American citizens, communities, and allies. It has been endorsed by NUFDI, [38] the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), [39] National Solidarity Group of Iran, [40] Alliance for the Rights of all Minorities (ARAM), [38] Iran Working Group of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable, [38] the International Organization to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR), [38] the Cyrus Forum, [38] the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), [38] and United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI). [38]
The bill was Marked-up by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. It passed the committee with unanimous consent voice vote with an amendment from Representative Cory Mills. [4] [41] On June 22, 2023, the bill was reported by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and placed on the Union Calendar to be voted on the House floor. [4]
HR 589 was considered under suspension of rules and passed the House floor with overwhelming majority of the representatives voting for it. 410 representatives voted for the MAHSA Act (209 Republicans and 201 Democrats), Representatives Ilhan Omar, Thomas Massie, and Cori Bush voted against the bill, and 20 representatives did not vote on the bill. [4]
MAHSA Act's Senate companion bill was introduced to the Senate by Senators Marco Rubio and Alex Padilla on 7/27/2023. [5] [42] According to the Iran International, Senator Ben Cardin was holding up MAHSA Act from being considered for a markup session by the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. [43] [44] However, with continued advocacy of mostly the Iranian-American community, it was scheduled for a marked-up on April 16, 2024. [45]
On April 16, 2024, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations marked up the Senate bill with amendments by Senators Schatz, Murphy, and Cardin, which significantly weakened the legislation. These amendments removed provisions that would hold the regime in Iran accountable for its past human rights violations, introduced a four-year sunset clause, expanded sanction exceptions, and added additional sanction waivers. Many human rights activists and Iranian American groups expressed strong dissatisfaction with these changes, particularly the broad sanction exceptions that could limit the bill’s enforcement and create loopholes. [46]
Senator Cardin faced sharp criticism for undermining human rights commitments by excluding accountability for past human rights violations of the regime in Iran and limiting it to future offenses. The weakening of the bill sparked outrage among human rights activists, who voiced their concerns on social media. As a result of these fundamental changes, human rights activists and Iranian American groups urged Congress to advance the House version of the bill instead. [47] [46] [48]
The MAHSA Act (the same version that had previously passed the House) was incorporated in the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act which was passed with a bipartisan and overwhelming majority of the Representatives (360 Yea to 58 Nay) on April 20, 2024. It passed in the Senate on April 23, 2024 as a part of the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act package which passed as a part of the National Security Act, 2024 and signed into law by President Joseph Biden in April 2024. [49]
Mohammad-Javad Ardeshir Larijani is an Iranian conservative politician and former diplomat. He is currently a top adviser to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in foreign affairs and secretary of High Council for Human rights, Judiciary of Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Basij or Niru-ye Moghāvemat-e Basij, full name Sâzmân-e Basij-e Mostaz'afin, is a paramilitary volunteer militia within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and one of its five branches. The force is named Basij; an individual member is called basiji in the Persian language. As of July 2019, Gholamreza Soleimani is the commander of the Basij.
One of the most dramatic changes in government in Iran's history was seen with the 1979 Iranian Revolution where Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown and replaced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The authoritarian monarchy was replaced by a long-lasting Shiite Islamic republic based on the principle of guardianship of Islamic jurists,, where Shiite jurists serve as head of state and in many powerful governmental roles. A pro-Western, pro-American foreign policy was exchanged for one of "neither east nor west", said to rest on the three "pillars" of mandatory veil (hijab) for women, and opposition to the United States and Israel. A rapidly modernizing capitalist economy was replaced by a populist and Islamic economy and culture.
The American Iranian Council (AIC) was formed in 1990 as a US-based bi-partisan think tank focused upon promoting better relations between the United States and Iran. Former United States Secretary of State Cyrus Vance was the original honorary Chair of the organization. The AIC is an academic research and education organization that is focused upon improving the dialogue between two countries that often fail to take into account misperceptions, misunderstandings, and mischaracterizations. The AIC seeks to help policy makers as well as concerned citizens become better aware of the interests in common to both countries.
Saleh Nikbakht is an Iranian lawyer and academic. He is the spokesman for the Society of Political Prisoners in Iran.
Tasnim News Agency is a semi-official news agency in Iran associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Launched in 2012, its purpose is to cover a variety of political, social, economic and international subjects along with other fields.
Hossein Salami is an Iranian military officer who is the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Born in Golpayegan, he joined the IRGC during the Iran–Iraq War, when he was a college student. He rose through the ranks, becoming deputy commander. On 21 April 2019, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, appointed him as the new Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, replacing major general Mohammad Ali Jafari.
The Guidance Patrol or morality police is an Islamic religious police force and vice squad in the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Guidance Patrol enforce Sharia–Islamic law—per laws in Iran; this is most often the enforcement of Islamic dress code, such as ensuring women in the country wear hijabs. The Guidance Patrol was formed in 2005 as a successor organisation to the older Islamic Revolution Committees, and reports to the Supreme Leader.
Events in the year 2022 in Iran, which is dominated by protests.
On 16 September 2022, 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, died in a hospital in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol, the religious morality police of Iran's government, arrested Amini for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards. The Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that she had a heart attack at a police station, collapsed, and fell into a coma before being transferred to a hospital. However, eyewitnesses, including women who were detained with Amini, reported that she was severely beaten and that she died as a result of police brutality, which was denied by the Iranian authorities. The assertions of police brutality, in addition to leaked medical scans, led some observers to believe Amini had a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke due to head injuries received after her arrest.
Civil unrest and protests against the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran associated with the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini began on 16 September 2022 and carried on into 2023, but were said to have "dwindled" or "died down" by spring of 2023. As of September 2023, the "ruling elite" of Iran was said to remain "deeply entrenched" in power. The protests were described as "unlike any the country had seen before", the "biggest challenge" to the government, and "most widespread revolt", since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Woman, Life, Freedom (Kurdish: Jin, Jiyan, Azadî, ژن، ژیان، ئازادی, is a slogan that originated within the women-led Kurdish movements. This slogan transcended its initial context and garnered global recognition following the 2022 protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Jina Amini, who was in custody of Iran’s morality police for “improper” clothing. The phrase rapidly became a universal rallying cry, symbolizing resistance against oppression and the fight for women's rights.
Fatemeh Sepehri is a political and women's rights activist and a political prisoner from Iran.
This is a broad timeline of the ongoing series of protests against the government of Iran, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on 16 September 2022. Amini had fallen into a coma after having been detained by the Guidance Patrol, allegedly for wearing an "improper" hijab—in violation of Iran's mandatory hijab law—while visiting Tehran from Saqqez.
The Shah Cheragh attack was a terrorist attack that occurred on 26 October 2022 at Shah Cheragh mosque, a Shia pilgrimage site in Shiraz in southern Iran, in which at least 13 people were killed.
Toomaj Salehi is an Iranian rapper mainly known for his protest songs concerning Iran's societal issues and the policies of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In July 2023, the Iranian Government sentenced Salehi to six years in prison for participating in the 2022 Iran protests. On 24 April 2024 Salehi was sentenced to death for charges linked to Iran's 2022–23 Woman, Life, Freedom movement, before it was overturned in June 2024.
The ongoing Mahsa Amini protests broke out following the death of Mahsa Amini while she was under arrest by the Guidance Patrol of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Reactions to her death and the following crackdown on protestors by law enforcement are both domestic and international.
The Neighbourhood Youth Alliance of Iran or United Youth of Iran is an alliance of 30 local grassroots groups of Iranian youth from different provinces under a common leadership of "The Covenant" created during the Mahsa Amini protests in late 2022. The Alliance organises protests and aims to overthrow the Islamic Republic, replacing it by a secular (anti-islamic) state that respects international human rights treaties including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Mohammed Ghobadlou was an Iranian man executed for his participation in the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests. He was charged with murder and moharebeh, which translates to "waging war against God", and was sentenced to death. He was accused of running over Iranian special police units in Parand city with a car, killing Farid Karampour Hassanvand and injuring five of police units.
Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, was an Iranian woman whose arrest in Tehran for opposing mandatory hijab and subsequent death in police custody sparked a wave of protests throughout Iran. People and governments around the world reacted widely to her death. Her death sparked widespread protest in Iranian society, resulting in major protests in various cities in Iran and acts of solidarity around the world. Amini's death ignited the global Woman, Life, Freedom movement - "Woman, Life, Freedom", which demands the end of compulsory hijab laws and other forms of discrimination and oppression against women in Iran. She and the movement were selected as candidates for the Sakharov Prize in 2023 by European Parliament for defending freedom and human rights.