All posts by Steve Dew-Jones.

In a year dominated by Covid-19, Iran still found time to persecute Christians in 2020, Article18’s annual report reveals.

The report, published today in collaboration with Middle East Concern, Open Doors, and CSW, shows that 15 Christians were being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison on account of their faith by the end of the year, while two others were living in internal exile and another was imprisoned on a disputed criminal charge.

A further 115 Iranian Christians were arrested in 2020, though only 52 of those arrests were publicly reported.

Meanwhile, two Iranian Christians were flogged for drinking wine as part of Communion, others were denied education or employment, and one couple were told they could no longer retain custody of their adopted daughter on account of their faith.

The vast majority of the Christians affected were converts from Muslim backgrounds, whom the state does not recognise as Christians, but Christians from the recognised Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities were also affected.

Indeed, the case study for this year’s report is the Iranian-Assyrian pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, who was forced to flee Iran in August 2020, with his wife Shamiram, after learning that their years-long appeals against lengthy prison sentences had finally been rejected.

The case study reveals how Victor and Shamiram faced 10 and five years in prison, respectively, for leading a house-church after Victor was removed from the leadership of a recognised Assyrian church for refusing to stop converts from attending.

Three of the converts from his church, who later joined his house-church, were also sentenced to 10 years alongside pastor Victor and have also now fled the country.

This case highlights how the state targets both converts to Christianity and those who minister to them.

The same is true in the case of Iranian-Armenian pastor Joseph Shahbazian, who was one of dozens of Christians arrested by Revolutionary Guards in a coordinated operation targeting homes and house-churches in Tehran, Karaj and Malayer on 30 June and 1 July 2020.

Iran recently denied persecuting Christians, in response to a formal query by six senior UN figures. But while it may be true that Christians from Armenian and Assyrian backgrounds are afforded some freedoms, the cases of Victor, Shamiram and Joseph show that this freedom only exists within strict confines.

Iran is a signatory of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, which defines religious freedom as including the right to “have or adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice” and to practise that religion “either individually or in community with others”.

Iran’s continued crackdown on house-churches shows that no such freedoms exist.

Article18’s report calls on the Iranian government to immediately and unconditionally release all Christians detained on spurious charges related to their faith or religious activities, and to uphold the right to freedom of religion of belief for every citizen, regardless of their ethnic or linguistic group, thereby amending Article 13 of the constitution to recognise fully the freedom of religion or belief of all faiths as envisaged by Article 18 of the ICCPR, to which Iran is a State Party, without reservation, and therefore legally bound to respect. 

We also call on the government to:

• Re-establish ownership of churches, properties and material confiscated from Christians and other religious minorities under security-related charges.

• Cease to use provisions such as Articles 498, 499, 500 and 513 of the Penal Code and Article 167 of the Iranian constitution to unjustly detain minority-faith adherents.

• Guarantee the right to counsel to all individuals charged with security-related crimes and to select a lawyer of their choice, therefore repealing the Note to Article 48 of Iran’s Criminal Procedures Regulations.

• Grant access to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran to allow him to thoroughly investigate Iran’s compliance with international law on human rights.

Finally, we call on members of the international community to assist in holding Iran accountable for upholding its obligation to ensure and facilitate freedom of religion or belief for all its citizens by highlighting this principle during political and/or economic discussions with, or concerning, Iran.

Iran has denied systematically persecuting Christians and called house-churches “enemy groups” of a “Zionist cult”, in response to a formal enquiry by six senior UN rights experts.

In a letter dated 11 November but only made public after Iran failed to respond within the 60-day deadline, the experts* – including the special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, and special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman – expressed “serious concern” over “numerous” reports of “continued systematic persecution” of Christians, “particularly discriminatory practices and violations of their human rights”.

Iran has since written a response, denying the accusations and claiming “nobody is prosecuted on religious grounds”. Instead, Iran says it has taken legal action against members of “enemy groups” and “private churches” (house-churches), which it accuses of belonging to a “Zionist Christian cult” with “anti-security purposes”.

What did the rapporteurs say?

The rapporteurs name 24 Iranian Christians reported by organisations including Article18 to be either currently in prison or awaiting summonses, and include details of each case.

They then go on to say that while they “do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of the information received,” they “wish to express our serious concern at the reported widespread repression against and persecution of persons belonging to the Christian minority in Iran, and in particular those who have converted from Islam”.

The rapporteurs say they are “particularly concerned” about the “criminalization of freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression in the repressive methods applied by the Iranian state agencies, including the Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to suppress the right of members of Christian communities to observe, worship and teach their faith”. 

They also criticise reported “judicial harassment” and lack of due process, as well as “ambiguously formulated [charges] such ‘acting against national security’ or ‘propaganda against the state’ to systematically restrict the peaceful exercise of this right [to freedom of religion or belief]”.

“Should the facts alleged be confirmed,” the rapporteurs write, “they would constitute severe violations of international human rights law”, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.

The rapporteurs conclude by calling on Iran to provide detailed responses to the allegations, including: 

• “Grounds for the arrest, detention and conviction of all the individuals mentioned, and updated information about their cases.

• Explanation of “how the national courts interpret the terms ‘acting against national security’ and ‘propaganda against the state’, when considering cases of minority religions and persons belonging to religious minorities, and how these interpretations are compatible with the international norms and standards on freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression, and freedom of peaceful assembly and association”.

• What “measures and policies [are being] undertaken to ensure that persons belonging to the Christian minority, including those converting from Islam, are not discriminated against in all walks of life, and fully enjoy their human rights, including freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, freedom of expression and freedom peaceful assembly and association”.

How has Iran responded?

The response by the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran, submitted two days after the 10 January deadline, begins by stating that religious minorities in Iran are “entitled to all freedoms and civil rights, as stipulated in the Constitution”.

Then, after denying prosecuting anyone on religious grounds, the letter claims the 24 individuals mentioned, “under cover of promoting Christianity, were in fact communicating with evangelical Zionism with a view to enmity and confrontation with the Islamic Establishment and subversive act against it through organized cults and holding illegal and secret meetings to deceive citizens and exploit the deceived persons, particularly children”. 

“Therefore,” it is claimed, “the offenses committed by the aforesaid have been dealt with pursuant to legal regulations on the grounds that they had committed offenses set out in the Islamic Penal Code, and not for conversion to Christianity.”

Iran also denies arbitrarily detaining Christians – “no arbitrary act has been committed” – and says allegations of torture to extract confessions are “totally unsubstantiated”, and those of mistreatment during interrogation and detention – and refusal to inform families about detention – are “untrue and unfounded”.

According to the response, “no domicile and religious gatherings were raided. What has happened was limited inspection, instructed by judicial authorities, in full respect of religious and legal boundaries, for the purposes of gathering information and tools of offense”.

Allegations of “heavy and long punishment” are also alleged to be “untrue”, as are claims of any “house inspection or search” at the homes of “Christian domiciles” over Christmas.

This goes against the testimony of Iranian-Assyrian pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz and his wife, Shamiram – two of the named Christians – who testified that Victor’s first arrest, and that of two Christian converts, took place during a raid on the Bet-Tamraz home as they celebrated Christmas in 2014.

Confiscation of property is not denied, but it is claimed that only instruments “found to have been used for commission of crimes” have been seized, and that “most” were later “restituted” to their owners.

It should be noted here that Bibles and other Christian literature are routinely confiscated as evidence of a “crime” during raids on house-churches, and rarely returned.

Rev Victor testified that in his case the arresting agents took “took almost 1,000 books from my house”, as well as “bank documents and other personal belongings”, and that “they still have a lot of these things in their possession”.

It is also claimed that “no defendant has been punished for apostasy, and there is no such record”. In fact, one Iranian Christian convert, Hossein Soodmand, has been hanged for apostasy, while others have been sentenced to death, only for the sentence to be later overturned after an outcry, as in the case of Yousef Nadarkhani – who is another of the named Christians, as he is now back in prison on other charges.

Iran’s response ends by detailing the charges against the named Christians, including Yousef, most of which relate to alleged membership of “enemy groups” and/or “setting up an illegal private church to promote Zionist evangelical Christianity”.

*The letter was also signed by the vice-chair of the working group on arbitrary detention, Elina Steinerte; special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan; special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clement Nyaletsossi Voule; and special rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes.

More details have emerged of the harsh treatment of four Christian converts sentenced in October to a combined 35 years in prison.

Mehdi Akbari, Fatemeh Sharifi and Simin Soheilinia were sentenced to 10 years in prison and Mehdi Rokhparvar five – all on the same charge of “acting against national security by forming a house-church”.

But little was previously known about their case, other than that Mehdi A and Mehdi R were both being held in Ward 4 of Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Now, Persian-language website humanrightsinir.org, which first reported on their case, has provided more details, including their harsh treatment by interrogators, weeks in solitary confinement, and harsh insults by notorious judge Mohammad Moghiseh.

What has been reported?

According to the new report, the four converts were first arrested during coordinated raids on their homes by intelligence agents on 28 January 2019 in the Ariashahr area of Tehran.

They were then all transferred to Ward 2A of Evin Prison, where they were placed in solitary confinement and interrogated “severely” for 30 days, before being released on bail of 800 million tomans each ($62,500 at the time) on 18 March 2019, pending the outcome of their trial.

They were tried on 16 June 2020 at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges of “acting against national security” and “forming an illegal evangelical Christian group” – under Article 498 of the Islamic Penal Code, relating to organisation of groups “hostile” to the regime.

They were also reportedly accused of “widespread association with missionary groups, as well as evangelical Christian groups outside the country – in Russia, Georgia, Turkey, and Armenia”.

Judge Moghiseh – who has earned the nickname the “Judge of Death” for his harsh treatment of prisoners of conscience – reportedly spoke “obscenely” to the Christians and would not listen to their defence, only citing the report of the intelligence agent.

He then increased their bail to 7 billion tomans ($220,000), reportedly saying: “Your actions are worthy of death! Who set this low bail amount for you, so you could be free to roam about on the streets?”

The two women were later freed on bail, but the men were transferred to Evin Prison and their sentences were communicated to them there on 17 October.

There are renewed fears over a parliamentary bill that threatens to facilitate the further repression of Iran’s religious minorities.

The bill was initially passed by the parliament in May but sent back for amendments by the Guardian Council a month later. 

And now, according to advocacy organisation ARTICLE 19, that process has been repeated, with the parliament passing an amended version on 1 November, only for the Guardian Council to call for further changes on 25 November.

The bill is understood now to be back with the parliament for a third time, and it appears clear there is an undimmed will to see it become law.

What does the bill say?

The bill proposes additions to articles 499 and 500 of the Islamic Penal Code – already two of the most commonly used laws in cases against Christians – which would provide law enforcers with even greater scope for bringing charges on vaguely-defined grounds.

Articles 499 and 500 relate to membership of and support for (“propaganda”) groups deemed “hostile” to the regime.

The proposed amendments seek to add extra wording to these articles, such as “propaganda contrary to Islam” – whether in the “real or virtual sphere” – and “deviant psychological manipulation” by “sects”.

According to Bahar Saba from ARTICLE 19, the latest changes to the bill are only semantic, for example replacing the words “insults to divine religions or Islamic branches” with “directs explicit curses at divine religions”.

The proposed punishment for these ill-defined “crimes” would include imprisonment, flogging, fines, and even the death penalty.

Christian converts are regularly charged with membership of “hostile” groups for belonging to house-churches, while Iran regularly contrasts its recognised Armenian and Assyrian Christian populations with the Christianity practised in house-churches, which is considered “deviant”, influenced by the West and Israel, and akin to a “sect”.

Background

Reacting to the original bill, human rights lawyer Hossein Ahmadiniaz, whose clients have included the jailed Christian convert Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, told Article18 it would “facilitate the repression and punishment of Christian converts and others belonging to unrecognised religious groups”.

“The law should protect citizens, including Christian converts and Baha’is, against the government,” he said. “But in Iran the law has become a tool to justify the government’s violent treatment of converts and other unrecognised minorities.”

Meanwhile, Hamid Gharagozloo from the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR) said: “By making it a crime to be part of a sect, and banning a group as a ‘sect’, it gives them an open hand to crush any form of uprising or dissatisfaction with the government… Any form of defiance will be labelled as a ‘sect’, and then it will be punishable by law.”

Even after the bill was returned by the Guardian Council for the first time, Article18’s advocacy director Mansour Borji warned it would likely return in a “perhaps more minimal form, but still the purpose of this legislation – which was tightening control – could be served by using a more legal language that would have it pass through the parliament and the Guardian Council.

“Therefore,” he added, “we shouldn’t let our guards down and relax, but must monitor the behaviour of the lawmakers and policymakers in Iran, who show an increasing pattern of abuse of religious freedom, because such things are not rare and can happen at anytime with an overwhelmingly conservative parliament and a government that on a daily basis is reported to have violated human rights.