Iran’s ID-card policy turns unrecognised religious minorities into ghosts 28 January 2020 Analysis By Fred Petrossian The Islamic Republic’s decision to remove the “other religions” option from the national ID-card application form looks set to deny millions of Iranians their citizenship. Under the new regulations from the National Census Bureau, ID-card applicants must choose only from the short list of recognised religions: Islam, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity. Members of unrecognised religious minorities, such as Baha’is, Yarsan, Mandaeans, and Christian converts – whose conversions are not recognised – will either have to deny their beliefs or live as ghosts, devoid of citizenship rights. Human rights defender and Nobel Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi has written a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to protest against the new policy. Said Mahmoudi, professor of international law at Stockholm University, told Article18 the policy is a “violation of a basic obligation of international law” and a “flagrant breach” of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which Iran has signed. According to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” At the same time, Article 19 of Iran’s own constitution states: “All people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; and colour, race, language, and the like, do not bestow any privilege.” But in spite of these pledges, European researcher Behnaz Hosseini, who has published numerous articles and books on religious minorities, told Article 18: “The Shiite state wants to keep minorities marginalised in order to hold onto power itself. The regime intensifies the pressure on minorities to make them immigrate, or, in the case of the Yarsan, to rob them of their own identity by Islamising them.” Fear-based obedience The Islamic Republic’s efforts to “identify” minorities have increased in recent months. In September, the Minister of Education said children who profess an unrecognised religious faith at school were engaging in “propaganda” and should be banned. In other words, from the outset, the government of religious apartheid seeks to institutionalise fear-based obedience in the children of religious minorities. The persecution of religious minorities began in the early days of the revolution, with the arrest and execution of Baha’is and extrajudicial killings of Christian converts and those who stood up for them. Persons belonging to even the recognised minorities, including Sunni Muslims, became at best second- or even third-degree citizens. But this new policy marks a new chapter in Iran’s marginalisation of religious minorities, creating a new minority of unseen ghosts within the Islamic Republic, who exist outside of the system – ghosts whose only crime is their refusal to deny their religious beliefs. In converting a group of citizens into ungodly ghosts, Iran is following in the footsteps of other inhumane political systems, such as apartheid South Africa, which marginalised blacks, or Nazi Germany, where Jews were rounded up and killed. By denying its citizens the right to receive a national identification card only because of differences in religious belief, the Islamic Republic has shown once again that it is serious about repressing religious minorities, in spite of persistent international condemnation.
Iranian Christian prisoner sends condolences to plane victims 21 January 2020 News An Iranian Christian serving a ten-year prison sentence for his membership of a house-church has shared his condolences with the families of those who lost loved ones during the recent downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane. Article18 obtained a copy of the handwritten letter that Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh sent from his cell in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. In the letter, dated 14 January, he expressed his “warmest and deepest condolences to the families of the victims” whom he said had been brought to “eternal silence”. Below is a translation of the letter, which was written in Persian: In his letter, Nasser expresses his ‘warmest and deepest condolences to the families of the victims’.. “In the name of God,“Now six days have passed since the eternal silence of 176 human beings. “Those noble and blessed souls who surrendered their lives to the Creator of life. “What can we say except condolences to the mourners, except empathy and compassion for the bereaved?“I express my warmest and deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the incident involving the Ukrainian plane.”Christian prisoner, Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, Evin14 January 2020 Nasser has written several letters from prison, querying the charges against him and his heavy sentence. In October, Nasser asked how involvement in house-churches could be considered an “action against national security”. He added that he could not understand why he had been given such a long prison sentence, noting that Christians are one of Iran’s “recognised” religious minorities. Previously, in a letter in August 2018, Nasser posed three questions: “Would it be even possible for a committed Christian – who was born and raised in Iran and whose forefathers lived in this land for thousands of years, and who is a servant to the God who has called him to a ministry of reconciliation – to act against the national security of his own country? “Is the fellowship of a few Christian brothers and sisters in someone’s home, singing worship songs, reading the Bible and worshiping God acting against national security? “Isn’t it in fact a clear violation of civil and human rights, and an absolute injustice, to receive a ten-year prison sentence just for organising ‘house churches’, which are a sanctuary sanctified as a place to praise and worship God due to closure of churches in Iran?” Nasser is one of at least 19 Iranian Christians currently incarcerated on national security-related charges, stemming from the peaceful practice of their faith. Article18’s latest annual report, released yesterday, provides details of these prisoners and of the myriad ways in which Christians’ rights continued to be violated in Iran in 2019.
Christian convert, 65, sentenced to three years in prison 21 January 2020 News Esmaeil Maghrebinezhad, a 65-year-old convert to Christianity, has been sentenced to three years in prison for “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs”. He was sentenced under Article 513 of the Islamic Penal Code, which provides for a punishment of between one and five years in prison. His sentencing, on 11 January, followed a court hearing on 8 January at Branch 105 of the Civil Court in Shiraz. He has 20 days to appeal. Esmaeil, who was arrested at his home in January 2019, is still facing two other charges: “propaganda against the the Islamic Republic”, “membership of a group hostile to the regime”. A fourth charge, of apostasy, for which he could have faced the death sentence, was dropped at a court hearing in November. At that same November court hearing, the judge ruled that the case against him regarding “propaganda against the Islamic Republic” was “applicable”, because he had created a Telegram channel in which he had “promoted evangelical Christianity”. ‘Disproportionate’ The 8 January hearing focused solely on the charge of “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs in cyberspace”, for which Esmaeil was found guilty because he had reacted with a smiley-face emoji to a message that had been sent to his phone, which poked fun at the ruling Iranian clerics. Article18’s Advocacy Director, Mansour Borji, said the sentence was a “disproportionate reaction to something so ordinary. “The other charges that Esmaeil is facing, as well as the now-quashed charge of apostasy, related to his conversion to Christianity. This may reveal the real reason why he’s been charged for something that most ordinary Iranians do on a daily basis.” Esmaeil’s defence team had pointed out that he was not even the originator of the joke. Esmaeil’s family were initially hopeful of better news, after the charges of apostasy, for which he could have faced the death sentence, were dropped. In October, Esmaeil’s bail was increased tenfold after he responded to a question from the judge about whether he had insulted Islam and was an apostate by saying that he had never insulted Islam and that different ayatollahs had different opinions over the question of apostasy. Harassment Esmaeil converted to Christianity nearly 40 years ago and has since been regularly harassed by Iran’s security forces, despite Iran’s own constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran ratified in 1975, both guaranteeing freedom of religion, including the right to hold a religion of one’s choosing and to propagate that religion. Esmaeil’s daughter, Mahsa, told Article18 last year she believed her father was being harassed in part because she and her husband, Nathan, who now live in America, continue to pastor Christians in Iran through the Internet. Article18’s latest annual report, released yesterday, highlighted the harassment faced by Mahsa’s father and also Nathan’s parents, who received several visits from intelligence agents in 2019, with the agenda of putting pressure on them and damaging their reputation in the community. Background Around ten years after Esmaeil’s conversion, an attempt was made on his life, which he only narrowly survived. Esmaeil’s late wife, Mahvash, also converted to Christianity, in 1999, but when she died, in 2013, Esmaeil was prevented from burying her in a Christian cemetery, despite a letter from the head of the Anglican Church in Iran, Bishop Azad Marshall, stating that she was a “committed member of the Anglican Church in Iran, who had been baptised and confirmed”. Instead, her body was taken to a Muslim cemetery, where she was buried following a Muslim ceremony in the presence of security guards, with only five family members allowed to attend. Mahvash had also been interrogated on numerous occasions during the first years after her husband’s conversion and was fired from her job.
Exile and pressure on family members as violations of Christians’ rights continued in 2019 20 January 2020 News Iranian Christians continued to suffer multiple violations of their right to freedom of religion of belief in 2019, Article18’s latest annual report reveals. The report, a collaboration with Open Doors International, CSW and Middle East Concern, names 25 Christians arrested in 2019 and 13 Christians who received sentences of between four months and five years in prison for alleged “actions against national security”. Criminal cases against many other Christians went unreported, either because no-one raised awareness – arresting authorities frequently issue threats to prevent publicity – or because those involved requested confidentiality. At least 17 Christians were imprisoned at the end of 2019, all serving sentences based on national security-related charges. The sentences of 16 other Christians were upheld, while many others continued to wait, indefinitely, for their court summons or result of their appeal. Six Christians were released from prison during 2019, having completed their sentences, although one, Ebrahim Firouzi, was sent straight into “internal exile” for two more years in a remote city 1,000 miles from his home – the first time an Iranian Christian has endured such a punishment. Unprecedented Article18’s report notes that 2019 was the year in which Iranian intelligence agents began to harass family members of Iranian Christian converts who had fled the country, even though they may not be Christians themselves. The report highlights the case of Vahid (Nathan) Roufegarbashi and his wife Mahsa, who now live in America. The parents of both were harassed by Iranian intelligence agents in 2019, and Mahsa’s father, Esmaeil Maghrebinezhad, was arrested and charged with “propaganda against the state and insulting the sacred Iranian establishment”. He has just been sentenced to three years in prison. 2019 was also a year in which Christians were denied education. Christian convert Yousef Nadarkhani, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison, went on a three-week hunger strike in September to protest against the denial of education to his two children, Danial, 17, and Youeil, 15. Youeil was barred from school because he refused to take Islamic classes, while Danial was only readmitted to his school as a “guest”. And in December fellow Christian convert Fatemeh Mohammadi, 21, was kicked out of university, without explanation, on the eve of her exams. Just a few weeks later she was arrested, and at the time of writing her family have no knowledge of her whereabouts and remain very concerned for her safety. Hate speech against Christians was another trend that continued in 2019, as religious and political leaders in Iran continued to speak out against Christianity and assert that Christian converts, as apostates from Islam, should be put to death. Persian-speaking churches remained closed, while Christians continued to face challenges in obtaining Bibles and Christian literature. Bibles and related literature were consistently confiscated in searches by Iranian security agents, and it was reported that a bookseller, Mostafa Rahimi, was arrested in Bukan and sentenced to three months plus one day in prison for selling Bibles. All the while, the battle between appearance and reality continued, as Iranian leaders repeatedly claimed that Christians, as a recognised religious minority, enjoyed full religious freedom. Meanwhile, Christian converts, who are not recognised as Christians, were being rounded up in raids across the country, while even the “recognised” Christians of Assyrian and Armenian descent continued to be treated as second-class citizens. This pressure on Christians – both recognised and unrecognised – continued to lead hundreds of Christians to flee the country. The treatment of Christian prisoners also caused concern. In December, Zaman (Saheb) Fadaie, another Christian serving a 10-year sentence in Evin Prison, was suffering from a severe fever, but after initially being given medication he was denied further treatment despite the continuation of his symptoms. 2019 ended with the discovery that the grave of Rev Hossein Soodmand, the only Christian to have been officially executed for “apostasy”, had been desecrated. His family told Article18 the discovery “wounded our hearts yet again”. And 2020 has begun in much the same vein, with the incarceration of Ramiel Bet-Tamraz, the son of an Iranian-Assyrian pastor, the arrest of Christian convert Fatemeh Mohammadi, and the sentencing of Esmaeil Maghrebinezhad. Recommendations Article18’s report calls on Iran, as a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to: immediately and unconditionally release all Christians detained on spurious charges related to their faith or religious activities. uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief for every citizen, regardless of their ethnic or linguistic background, including converts from other religions. return confiscated churches, properties, and material belongings confiscated from Christians and other religious minorities. cease to use provisions such as Articles 220, 498, 499 and 500 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 national security-related crimes, as well as the right to be represented by a lawyer of their choice. Article18 also calls on members of the international community to hold Iran accountable for upholding its obligation to ensure and facilitate freedom of religion or belief for all of its citizens by highlighting this issue during political and/or economic discussions with, or concerning, Iran. Article18 thanks the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran for highlighting Iran’s mistreatment of Christians, especially converts, and asks for the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief to conduct his own investigation. You can download the full report here: Annual report – 2019 Violations Against Christians in IranDownload
Violations against Christians in Iran in 2019 20 January 2020 Reports Iranian Christians continued to suffer multiple violations of their right to freedom of religion of belief in 2019, Article18’s latest annual report reveals. The report, a collaboration with Open Doors International, CSW and Middle East Concern, names 25 Christians arrested in 2019 and 13 Christians who received sentences of between four months and five years in prison for alleged “actions against national security”. Criminal cases against many other Christians went unreported, either because no-one raised awareness – arresting authorities frequently issue threats to prevent publicity – or because those involved requested confidentiality. At least 17 Christians were imprisoned at the end of 2019, all serving sentences based on national security-related charges. The sentences of 16 other Christians were upheld, while many others continued to wait, indefinitely, for their court summons or result of their appeal. Six Christians were released from prison during 2019, having completed their sentences, although one, Ebrahim Firouzi, was sent straight into “internal exile” for two more years in a remote city 1,000 miles from his home – the first time an Iranian Christian has endured such a punishment. Article18’s report notes that 2019 was the year in which Iranian intelligence agents began to harass family members of Iranian Christian converts who had fled the country, even though they may not be Christians themselves. The report highlights the case of Vahid (Nathan) Roufegarbashi and his wife Mahsa, who now live in America. The parents of both were harassed by Iranian intelligence agents in 2019, and Mahsa’s father, Esmaeil Maghrebinezhad, was arrested and charged with “propaganda against the state and insulting the sacred Iranian establishment”. He has just been sentenced to three years in prison. 2019 was also a year in which Christians were denied education. Christian convert Yousef Nadarkhani, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison, went on a three-week hunger strike in September to protest against the denial of education to his two children, Danial, 17, and Youeil, 15. Youeil was barred from school because he refused to take Islamic classes, while Danial was only readmitted to his school as a “guest”. And in December fellow Christian convert Fatemeh Mohammadi, 21, was kicked out of university, without explanation, on the eve of her exams. Just a few weeks later she was arrested, and at the time of writing her family have no knowledge of her whereabouts and remain very concerned for her safety. Hate speech against Christians was another trend that continued in 2019, as religious and political leaders in Iran continued to speak out against Christianity and assert that Christian converts, as apostates from Islam, should be put to death. Persian-speaking churches remained closed, while Christians continued to face challenges in obtaining Bibles and Christian literature. Bibles and related literature were consistently confiscated in searches by Iranian security agents, and it was reported that a bookseller, Mostafa Rahimi, was arrested in Bukan and sentenced to three months plus one day in prison for selling Bibles. All the while, the battle between appearance and reality continued, as Iranian leaders repeatedly claimed that Christians, as a recognised religious minority, enjoyed full religious freedom. Meanwhile, Christian converts, who are not recognised as Christians, were being rounded up in raids across the country, while even the “recognised” Christians of Assyrian and Armenian descent continued to be treated as second-class citizens. This pressure on Christians – both recognised and unrecognised – continued to lead hundreds of Christians to flee the country. The treatment of Christian prisoners also caused concern. In December, Zaman (Saheb) Fadaie, another Christian serving a 10-year sentence in Evin Prison, was suffering from a severe fever, but after initially being given medication he was denied further treatment despite the continuation of his symptoms. 2019 ended with the discovery that the grave of Rev Hossein Soodmand, the only Christian to have been officially executed for “apostasy”, had been desecrated. His family told Article18 the discovery “wounded our hearts yet again”.
Christian convert Fatemeh Mohammadi arrested in Tehran 16 January 2020 News Twitter @Marymohammadii Christian convert Fatemeh Mohammadi has been arrested in Tehran and taken to an unknown location, according to the Persian-language news agency HRANA. The 21-year-old, who after her conversion now prefers to be known as Mary, was reportedly arrested on Sunday near Azadi Square, where protests were taking place following the Iranian government’s admission of guilt in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane. A number of protesters were reportedly arrested on Sunday evening, as protests took place in several Iranian cities, though it is as yet unclear whether Mary was partaking in any demonstration. There has since been no news of Mary’s safety or whereabouts and her family are said to be very concerned about her. On the day of her arrest, Mary published a series of tweets in which she said the Iranian people were facing “soft repression” through being spoon-fed only news that the regime wanted them to read. In her tweets, she used hashtags that, when translated, mean “hard-pressed” and “suppression is the norm”. She added that tackling “soft repression” is even harder than tackling the “hard repression” of batons and tear gas and said the Iranian regime is “institutionalising false beliefs through selective coverage of the news”, and “lies that are bigger and more repetitive make them more believable”. مقابل این جریان میایستاد امروز وقتی یک نفوذی و یا فریفته در میان جمعیتِ معترضان شعار استعفای خامنهای سر میدهد، مردم آن را تکرار نمیکردند و تا حد زیادی— Mary mohammadi ماری محمدی (@marymohammadii) January 12, 2020 As Article18 has reported, Mary is a rare example of a Christian activist still living in Iran and she has already spent six months in prison as a result of her Christian activity, which was deemed “action against national security” and “propaganda against the system”. Last month Mary, an English-language student, was kicked out of her Tehran university, without explanation, on the eve of her exams. She told Article18 she believed she had been expelled as a result of her prior conviction and human rights activism. “The denial of basic and fundamental rights, such as the right to education, certainly can act as a pressure mechanism and is used as a lever to apply pressure on religious minorities and human rights activists in the hope that individuals will halt their activities and abandon their beliefs,” she said. “Depriving me of my education is certainly intended to exert pressure upon me, and silence me.” Background Last year Mary faced fresh criminal charges relating to her “improper” wearing of hijab. The charges, which were eventually quashed, were brought against her after she initially went to police to complain of an assault. Mary is active on social media and just a day before being kicked out of university tweeted about the cases of ten fellow Christian converts currently in prison in Iran as a result of their peaceful religious activities. In a series of tweets, Mary highlighted the sentencing of nine converts in Rasht to five years in prison and the one-year sentence given to a 61-year-old fellow woman convert in Karaj, the sister city to Mary’s home city of Tehran. “Christmas is fast approaching, and security officials are lurking behind Christians,” Mary wrote, in Persian, in a tweet that also included a link to the video recorded by Rokhsareh Ghanbari before she took herself to prison to begin her sentence. جشن کریسمس در منزل #شخصی منجر به بازداشت او توسط وزارت اطلاعات شد.کریسمس ۲۰۲۰ نزدیک است و ماموران امنیتی بیش از پیش در کمین مسیحیان هستند.…ویدیویی که قبل از معرفی خود به زندان ضبط کرد:https://t.co/EK1y9suika#آپارتاید_دینی#حق_انتخاب_دین#آزادی_عقیده#اجرای_احکام_نانوشته— Mary mohammadi ماری محمدی (@marymohammadii) December 20, 2019 Asked by Article18 whether she believed her tweets may have led to her expulsion from university, she responded: “Of course, all the activities, writings, statements and any action taken by members of minority groups and activists, especially those living in Iran, is constantly monitored by the Islamic Republic… Any such activism could lead to being denied a right, and my recent tweets may have made the authorities even more determined.” Iran is the ninth hardest place to be a Christian, according to the annual report from religious-freedom watchdog Open Doors International, released yesterday. Mary referenced the analysis of Open Doors in her recent interview with Article18, saying “it is impossible to provide a comprehensive assessment of the overall situation of Christians in Iran because we don’t have access to all the information about the rights violations against them … but what is striking is that, according to the statistics released every year by organisations such as Open Doors about the numbers of Christians in the world and the countries in which they are most persecuted – and the Islamic Republic’s authorities’ own admission of the growth of Christianity in Iran as a result of conversions – the Islamic Republic, which does not tolerate the right to choose religion, or freedom of thought, is now likely to feel more threatened and weakened and to therefore intensify its battle against these people”. Campaign Last year, Mary began a campaign calling for all Iranian Christians – whether from Christian families or converts – to be permitted to go to church. When asked by Article18 whether she feared for her safety, she responded that she was ready to return to prison, if necessary, in order to fight for the rights of Christians in Iran. In an article for HRANA, Mary challenged the common misconception that, as there are over 300 churches in Iran and Christians are one of the few “recognised” religious minorities, they are free to practise their faith in Iran. In fact, as Mary pointed out, those churches are only accessible to members of Iran’s historically “Christian” Armenian and Assyrian communities, whose numbers have fallen dramatically from around 300,000 to perhaps a third of that as a result of emigration, and not the ever-growing community of “Persian Christians” – converts from a Muslim background, of whom there are believed to be between 500,000 and 800,000. And, as Article18 has reported, even the “recognised” Christians are treated as second-class citizens and closely monitored to ensure they don’t share their faith with Muslim-born Iranians. Mary said she believes not enough is known about the situation of Christians in Iran – particularly converts – compared to the significant amount of publicity and advocacy work relating to other rights issues. “When people talk about women’s rights or against the death penalty, everyone is supporting them. But every time you talk about Christians’ rights, many people say it’s impossible,” she said. “I want to use the campaign to educate people that converts are [considered] inferior.” And while she said she was not optimistic about the chances of her campaign succeeding, she said she hopes that one day all Christians in Iran will be able to “have a place to praise God, without security guards”.
Iran is 9th hardest place to be a Christian – report 15 January 2020 News Iran remains the ninth hardest country in which to be a Christian, according to the latest annual report of religious-freedom charity Open Doors International. Christians in Iran continue to be subjected to “extreme” levels of persecution, according to Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List. As in the 2019 list, Iran ranks in ninth place, behind only North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Sudan and Yemen. And in fact Iran shares the same overall “persecution score”, of 85/100, as the countries in seventh and eighth place: Sudan and Yemen. Open Doors’ researchers explain that government officials are the primary “drivers” of persecution in Iran, and that converts from Islam “bear the brunt” of the persecution. “The government sees them [converts] as an attempt by Western countries to undermine Islam and the Islamic regime of Iran,” the researchers write. “Leaders of Christian convert groups have been arrested, prosecuted and have received long prison sentences for ‘crimes against the national security’.” The researchers further note that although the historical communities of Armenian and Assyrian Christians are “recognised and protected by the state”, they are “treated as second-class citizens and are not allowed contact with Muslim-background Christians (speaking Persian) or to have them attend church services”. Even the church services of these recognised Christians are monitored, they add, and any contact with converts comes with a high risk of arrest and imprisonment. During the reporting period for the 2020 World Watch List (1 November 2018 – 31 October 2019), Open Doors reports that at least 194 Christians were arrested – 114 of them in just one week – while an even greater number (at least 282) were “attacked” through sexual harassment or physical or mental abuse (including beatings or death threats) during raids on their house-churches and/or interrogation. Open Doors adds that “since many incidents go unreported, the numbers must be understood as being minimum figures.” Furthermore, religious and political leaders in Iran continued to “speak out against Christianity”, while “legalised discrimination” against non-Muslims continued in a variety of arenas, including education, adoption, employment and inheritance. Open Doors notes that the situation for women, who “according to some estimates … [comprise] the majority of house-church members”, is “particularly precarious” given that they have “little legal protection”. At the same time, the researchers report that more men are arrested than women, and that “in contrast to women, men are not seen as ‘misguided’ [and therefore treated leniently] but as wilfully making wrong choices. Thus their punishment is harsher and they are more likely to suffer physical abuse and torture”. The increased pressure on men, with many facing long-term imprisonment, means many are “forced to migrate to the West, which weakens the Church, depriving it of experienced and mature male leaders”, Open Doors reports. The researchers also highlight how “disproportionately high levels of bail” are used to “financially ruin” arrested Christians, who have to give this money up if they flee the country, as many are even actively encouraged to do. “The government uses the bail-system in such a way that it is purposely impoverishing prosecuted Christians and encouraging them to leave the country… It is likely that the Iranian authorities are using persecution to enrich themselves,” they write. The researchers conclude: “As long as the right-wing sees Iran as an Islamic country for Shiite Muslims threatened by Western (Christian) countries and culture, Christians, especially converts, will be persecuted. “… In the view of the government, and to a lesser in the view of society in general, ethnic Persians are by definition Muslim, and therefore ethnic Persian Christians are considered apostates. This makes almost all Christian activity illegal, especially when it occurs in the Persian language – be it evangelism, Bible training, publishing Christian books or preaching in Persian. “…Only the historical communities of Armenians and Assyrians are accepted as Christian by the regime, although they are treated as second-class citizens as well. Any other form of Christianity is treated as a dangerous Western influence, which explains why many Christians, especially converts from Islam to Christianity, are convicted for crimes against national security.” You can download Open Doors’ full report on Iran here: World Watch List – IranDownload
Denial of education ‘used as lever to pressure religious minorities’ 13 January 2020 News An Iranian Christian convert kicked out of university last month, without explanation, has spoken with Article18 about the decision and about the general situation of converts in Iran. Fatemeh Mohammadi, who now prefers to be known as Mary, is a rare example of a Christian activist still living in Iran. The 21-year-old has already spent six months in prison as a result of her Christian activity, which was deemed “action against national security” and “propaganda against the system”. The text below is a translation of the interview, which was conducted in Persian. 1. Although you were not told of the reason for your expulsion from university, what do you think led to the decision? It appears that my religious beliefs and having a prior conviction [because of Christian activities] on security-related charges, as well as my human rights activism, are the reasons for banning me from further education. The denial of basic and fundamental rights, such as the right to education, certainly can act as a pressure mechanism and is used as a lever to apply pressure on religious minorities and human rights activists in the hope that individuals will halt their activities and abandon their beliefs. Depriving me of my education is certainly intended to exert pressure upon me, and silence me. 2. You have written tweets about the sentencing of nine Christian converts, and in support of the those killed during the recent protests in Iran. To what extent do you think the decision to expel you from university was a reaction to those tweets? Of course, all the activities, writings, statements and any action taken by members of minority groups and activists, especially those living in Iran, is constantly monitored by the Islamic Republic. I was also barred from my education last year – perhaps that was an ultimatum. But given that my first ban did not result in my complete expulsion, perhaps this second ban could be seen as a more serious repeat of that ultimatum. Any such activism could lead to being denied a right, and my recent tweets may have made the authorities even more determined. 3. You have been denied education before. Is your situation similar now and to what extent may it be possible for this new ban to be lifted? Given that I have not been informed of the reason for the denial of my education, it is hard for me to comment. It is sometimes not easy to predict the decisions and reactions of the relevant institutions. The Islamic Republic, by imposing numerous restrictions and deprivations on its people, commits a sort of self-harm as it incites the anger and discontent of many different groups of people. 4. Every year, during Christmas, we witness increased harassment and arrests of Christians. What do you think are the reasons for this? At Christmas, Christian celebrations and services are different, more attractive and more populated than they are during the rest of the year. What better time for the Iranian security forces to be able to trap multiple Christians in one operation, rather than having to bother to identify each one! Some Christians may also invite their friends. I believe there are two main reasons why they may target people more at this time. Firstly, because the violent raids on services and festivities could increase fear among those present and act as a deterrent; at Christmas time, when Christians are celebrating, and gatherings are more crowded, it is a good time to repress those who are exploring Christianity. Secondly, news of the arrests of Christians at Christmas could act to deter other Christians from celebrating. But experience has shown us that increasing pressure on citizens in fact often acts to make them more determined to exercise their rights. So not only does raiding Christian worship services not help the Islamic Republic achieve its aims; it actually makes them more likely to fail. 5. How do you assess the level of discrimination against Christian converts in 2019? In my opinion, it is impossible to provide a comprehensive assessment of the overall situation of Christians in Iran because we don’t have access to all the information about the rights violations against them. There are many Christians who will have been arrested, sentenced, imprisoned and deprived of their rights in the past year who we won’t even have heard of. So we don’t have much information, but what is striking is that, according to the statistics released every year by organisations such as Open Doors about the numbers of Christians in the world and the countries in which they are most persecuted – and the Islamic Republic’s authorities’ own admission of the growth of Christianity in Iran as a result of conversions – the Islamic Republic, which does not tolerate the right to choose religion, or freedom of thought, is now likely to feel more threatened and weakened and to therefore intensify its battle against these people.
The Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s chief instrument of repression 10 January 2020 Analysis In the wake of the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, Article18 explains how his Revolutionary Guard Corps became one of the chief instruments of the regime’s ongoing repression of ordinary Iranians, including Christians. Embed from Getty Images It all changed on 19 October 2010, when Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, listed the spread of house-churches among the “critical threats” facing the Islamic republic. In that moment, the Supreme Leader had given the green light to his “guardians of the revolution” that here was another threat to be eliminated, in whatever way they saw fit. Khamenei’s speech ushered in a decade of violent raids on house-churches across the country – the first taking place just two months later – as hundreds of new Christians were rounded up and taken in for questioning. Why had they converted? Who was behind it? Were they working with America, or Israel? The charges arrested Christians faced suddenly changed. They were now “actors against national security” and could be sentenced accordingly to up to ten years in prison. Many were, and continue to be. There are currently at least 20 Christians behind bars in Iran on precisely such charges. Dozens more have gone before them. Many others have fled the country to escape a similar fate. And behind it all are Ayatollah Khamenei’s most loyal servants, his chief protectors, the Revolutionary Guards, or “Sepah”, a corporation created in the early months of the revolution with the sole purpose of defending the new Iran, through whatever means necessary. In the early years, as Iran fought an eight-year-long war with Iraq, the guards’ objective was clear: defend Iran’s borders. But when the war ended, in August 1988, the future of this force had to be reimagined. Soon, the guardians of the revolution became concerned with far more than only protecting the country against military invasion; its remit was expanded to include any perceived threat – from within or without Iran – against the Iranian regime and its objectives. Khamenei coined the phrase “cultural invasion” to speak about the threats facing Iran from within. This was a phrase he used even before he became Supreme Leader, in his presidency, giving him the license to wage war against anything he considered to be a “foreign influence” – be it reformists or liberals within the regime, or anyone else who didn’t subscribe to his hardline take on Shia Islam. And this desire to oppose any form of dissent from reformists – particularly during the rule of liberal president Mohammad Khatami from 1997 to 2005 – was strongly influenced by the Revolutionary Guards, including General Soleimani, who was among the signatories of a 1999 letter providing the president with an ultimatum to turn on his own student supporters, who were protesting, or the Revolutionary Guards would have to interfere. Meanwhile, the guards began to exert their influence on an international stage, seeking to establish Shia supremacy across the region. In the last decade alone, their Quds Force, led by the recently assassinated general, has wrought its influence throughout the Middle East by supporting its allies: from Hizbollah and Hamas in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, to the Houthis in Yemen and other militias in Iraq and Syria. But the force has also been responsible for tackling perceived threats at home, and ever since Khamenei’s October 2010 speech, Christians have been counted among them. In July 2017, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards released photographs showing a hoard of Christian artefacts – including boxes of Bibles and worship CDs – apparently confiscated in recent raids, though without any clarification as to where or when the items had been procured. A photograph published by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, showing some of the confiscated items. At the time, Article18’s Advocacy Director, Mansour Borji, told Christian news website World Watch Monitor that “one important factor in this story is that the news is published not by the judicial authorities or Ministry of Intelligence, but by the Revolutionary Guards, which is the military organisation responsible for maintaining state security. “I think the bigger question is why this military institution now seems to be mandated with the responsibility to crackdown on house-churches, and why they blow the trumpet about the arrest of Christians and the confiscation of their religious material? “Why would a secure and stable government be so troubled by New Testaments and books on Christian discipleship? How can they claim to have respect for the rights of religious minorities, and then parade Christian literature as evidence of criminal activity?” Over the recent Christmas period, eyebrows were raised as senior Iranian officials including Ayatollah Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif came forward, as usual, to wish Christians in Iran and elsewhere a “merry Christmas”. In the same month, the grave of the only Iranian Christian officially executed, by court order, for apostasy was being demolished. These same figures have presided over the continuing crackdown on Christians in Iran, where only “recognised” Christians of Armenian and Assyrian origin are permitted to practise their Christian faith, and even they are treated as second-class citizens and prohibited from sharing their faith with others. Only this week one of their number, Ramiel Bet-Tamraz, the son of an Assyrian pastor, began a four-month prison sentence issued to him because he had ignored this prohibition. Ramiel’s parents, Victor Bet-Tamraz and Shamiram Issavi, are facing ten and five years in prison, respectively, because they too have refused to remain tight-lipped when asked about their faith by curious Muslim-born Iranians. Iran is a signatory of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the binding International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which provide for full religious freedom including the freedom to share one’s faith with others and to choose to change one’s religion. However, despite its frequent claims to the contrary, Iran continues to deny these freedoms to its citizens, using the fearsome Revolutionary Guards as its chief weapon to be wielded against those who step out of line. The Revolutionary Guards may have been helpful to the West in combatting terrorists abroad including the Taliban and ISIS, but the guards also continue to unleash a terror of their own on the Iranian people, including, but by no means limited to, its Christians.
Iran bulldozes grave of pastor executed for apostasy 9 January 2020 News All that now remains of the pastor’s unmarked grave is the soil under which he was once buried. The grave of the only Iranian Christian to have been executed on official charges of apostasy has been demolished. The body of Rev Hossein Soodmand was buried on the edge of the Beheshte-Reza cemetery in Mashhad after his execution nearly 30 years ago, in December 1990. In all the years since, the only sign that anyone was buried there was a concrete slab. Now, even that has been removed. When the family went to pay their respects on the anniversary of his execution, on 3 December, all that remained was soil. The pastor’s daughter, Rashin Soodmand, who now lives in Europe, gave her reaction to Article18: “As a member of the family of this martyred pastor, I can say that the recent disrespect shown to our father’s grave wounded our hearts yet again. “Our father was killed cruelly and contrary to the law. They buried him in a place they called la’anatabad [accursed place], without our knowledge, and did not even give our family the opportunity to say goodbye to him, or to see his lifeless body. “For years we had to travel to this remote place to visit his unmarked grave, and we were not even allowed to construct a gravestone bearing his name. “And now they want to completely remove the only sing of him left for us. We will take our appeal to any relevant national or international institution about this disrespect and cruelty.” Pastor Soodmand converted to Christianity before the Islamic revolution and was active in Christian organisations including the Bible Society, and led the Episcopolican church of Isfahan and later the Assemblies of God church in Mashhad. He was arrested in 1990 and was tortured and held in solitary confinement for one month. During a short furlough from prison, his friends advised him to leave the country to save his life, but the pastor preferred to stay, saying to his worried friends: “By following the example of the great shepherd of the flock, the Lord Jesus Christ, I am willing to sacrifice my life for my sheep. My escape from these dangers would weaken the flock of God and discourage them. I don’t want to be a bad example to them, so I am ready to go to jail again and, if necessary, even to give my life for them.” Two weeks after resubmitting himself to prison, the pastor was executed after being convicted of apostasy by a special court of clergy. His family was informed after the execution had been carried out. Rev Soodmand remains the only Iranian Christian to have been executed for apostasy following an official court order, although others have been sentenced to death including Rev Mehdi Dibaj and Yousef Nadarkhani. Rev Dibaj was eventually acquitted after nine years in prison but then killed in suspicious circumstances five months later. His body was found days after his disappearance, in a park in a suburb of Tehran, with multiple stab wounds to his chest. Yousef Nadarkhani was also eventually acquitted of the charge but later rearrested on the now much more common charge of “actions against national security”. He is now serving a ten-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison. Continued destruction of Christian symbols In the past four decades, there have been numerous reports of the destruction of religious-minority cemeteries, including those of Baha’is, Mandaeans and Christians, as well as those of the victims of the mass killings of political prisoners in 1988. Most recently, late last month unidentified people desecrated part of the 15th century Armenian cemetery in Isfahan, as reported by Mohabat News. Crosses and tombstones were broken in the cemetery, which was listed among national heritage sites 18 years ago. The Islamic Republic has not only closed down and confiscated Persian-speaking churches; it has also destroyed historical churches and monuments in recent years.