Whereas it is believed the area inhabited by the Baloch people holds a large reserve of oil, natural gas, gold, and other minerals and comprises 1,000 miles of strategically significant coast line from the Persian Gulf and along the Arabian Sea;
Whereas the Governments of Iran and Pakistan systematically repress human rights, political expression, and civil society activists which has been reported by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International; Whereas the Government of Pakistan has refused to recognize the legitimate national aspirations of the Balochi people and has carried out a campaign of politically motivated murders and followed a policy known as `Kill and Dump' where Baloch activists are kidnapped and their bodies are later found in public, often mutilated; Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran found that the `Sistan-Balochistan is arguably the most underdeveloped region in Iran, with the highest poverty, infant and child mortality rates, and lowest life expectancy and literacy rates in the country';
Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran reports that `Baloch activists have reportedly been subject to arbitrary arrests and torture'; Whereas the Government of Iran prevents the Balochi or Azeri languages from being used in formal and public places;
Whereas the Baloch minority in Iran is mostly Sunni Muslim and subject to religious persecution by the ruling Shia theocracy; Whereas all the people of Iran and Pakistan have the right of self-determination, to choose their form of government, and to elect their leaders; and Whereas it is the policy of the United States to oppose aggression and the violation of human rights inherent in the subjugation of national groups like the Azeris in Iran and Baloch in Iran and Pakistan: Now, therefore, be it
Continue reading, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:H.RES.183:
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