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Recent Legislation Before
Congress May Make it Easier for U.S. Organizations to Conduct Humanitarian
Activities in Iran
December 16, 2009 – Washington,
D.C.
On
Monday, December 14, 2009, members of the House of Representatives introduced
legislation that may make it easier for organizations and individuals to
transfer goods and services that directly benefit the Iranian people: Stand with the Iranian People Act
(SWIPA), H.R. 4303 sponsored by Representatives Keith Ellison (D-MN) and
William Delahunt (D-MA) and the Iranian Digital Empowerment Act
(IDEA), H.R. 4301 sponsored by Representatives Jim Moran (D-VA), Bill
Delahunt (D-MA), and Bob Inglis (R-SC).
The
following provides background into the two Acts and possible effects of the
proposed legislations:
Stand with the Iranian
People Act (SWIPA), H.R. 4303
SWIPA
requests that U.S. foreign policy be altered to assure that “sanctions are
clearly targeted at the Government of Iran and individuals within the
Government of Iran, rather than the Iranian society as a whole, in order to
avoid creating hardship and inflicting harm on the Iranian people.” The legislation also requests that both national
and international sanctions against Iranian Government officials, including
officials of the Basij militia and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, be
increased while simultaneously encouraging cooperation between U.S. and
Iranian nongovernmental organizations and expediting the admission of Iranian
nationals to the U.S. who face punishment for engaging in “pro-democracy
activities inside Iran.”
In
order to accomplish these general goals, SWIPA makes the following
legislative changes: (1) the imposition of travel restriction against “any official
of the Government of Iran who is credibly alleged to have ordered, acquiesced
to, or participated in human rights abuses against the people of Iran;”(2)
the prohibition on procurement contracts with persons or companies that
provide censorship or surveillance technology to the Iranian government; and
(3) authorization of activities by U.S. non-profit organizations to engage in
humanitarian and people-to-people assistance.
While
the legislation creates a general framework for re-working U.S. foreign policy
vis-à-vis Iran, it does not change licensing requirements for organizations
or individuals engaged in conducting humanitarian activities in Iran. As a result, even if SWIPA were to pass,
individuals or organizations interested in exporting money, goods, or
services to Iran for humanitarian purposes would still be required to gain
the approval of the Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control
(“OFAC”) and the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security
(“BIS”).
Iranian Digital Empowerment
Act (IDEA), H.R. 4301
IDEA is intended to remove barriers under current
sanctions laws that prohibit the transfer of communications or anti-filtering
software or technology to Iran. In the
summer of 2009, both Microsoft and Google stopped providing instant messaging
service to Iranians under concerns that they would be in violation of U.S.
economic sanctions and subject to both civil and criminal penalties. In order to encourage companies to continue
providing similar services to Iranians, IDEA creates a new exception to the
general prohibition on exports to Iran for software and related services that
allow private Iranian citizens to (1) “circumvent online censorship and
monitoring efforts imposed by the Government of Iran” and (2) “enable personal
communication by the Iranian people.”
Companies engaged in such services would still be required
to obtain the approval of OFAC and the BIS by obtaining export licenses.
Both
laws were prompted by extensive efforts by the National Iranian American
Counsel (NIAC) in light of recent developments in Iran. While both SWIPA and IDEA may alter U.S.
foreign policy, the processes and procedures that currently exist for
exporting goods and services continue to be in place. As a result, individuals and companies may
still be subject to significant civil and criminal sanctions for exporting
any goods and services to Iran without obtaining proper federal approval and
should therefore seek the advice of qualified legal counsel.
For more information
about SWIPA or IDEA please
visit NIAC at http://www.niacouncil.org/. For a comprehensive look at sanctions
legislation please visit the Public
Affairs Alliance of America at http://www.paaia.org/galleries/default-file/PAAIA%20Iran%20Sanctions%20FINALver1.3.pdf.
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