Hadi Asgari, Shamiram Issavi, Victor Bet-Tamraz and Amin Afshar-Naderi 17 July 2019 Case Studies (Last updated: September 2020) This case study was used as part of a UK government-funded report into the persecution of Christians worldwide. The case involves four Christians handed long jail sentences: Victor Bet-Tamraz, his wife Shamiram Issavi, and Christian converts Amin Afshar-Naderi and Hadi Asgari. Clockwise from top-left: Hadi Asgari, Shamiram Issavi, Amin Afshar-Naderi, Victor Bet-Tamraz. Case referenced by Article18, Amnesty International, OHCHR, Center for Human Rights in Iran, UK Parliament, Forbes, Middle East Concern. Short Summary On 26 December 2014 plain-clothed security officers raided Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz’s house during a Christmas celebration. They temporarily arrested all the attendees. Pastor Victor and Christian convert Amin Afshar-Naderi were detained. Later on Pastor Victor’s wife, Shamiram Issavi, and another convert, Hadi Asgari, were arrested. Pastor Victor was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, Amin to 15 years, Hadi to 10 years, and Shamiram to 5 years. Background events Pastor Victor is an Assyrian pastor. His church was officially recognised by the Iranian government until 2009. He led a Pentecostal Assyrian Church in Shahr-Ara, Tehran, before it was shut down by Iran’s Ministry of the Interior in March 2009. Pastor Victor was a target of continuous harassment by the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) for many years. He held Persian-speaking services for years at his church. In March 2009 the Assyrian Member of the Iranian Parliament, Yonathan Betkolia, announced the closure of the church, by order of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, as it offered a Persian-language service attended by converts from Islam. Pastor Victor refused to stop his Persian-language services while the church was temporarily closed. For that reason and following pressure from the authorities, the church removed him from leadership and stopped Persian-language services, and then the authorities re-opened the church but without Pastor Victor. On 26 December 2014 plain-clothed security officers raided Pastor Victor’s house during a Christmas celebration. They temporarily arrested all the attendees. They separated men from women and searched them, seizing all Bibles, mobile phones, and identity documents. Pastor Victor and Amin were detained. Pastor Victor was verbally charged with “conducting evangelism” and “illegal house-church activities”, among other charges that amount to the charge of “acting against national security”. He was released on bail (approx. $110,000) on 1 March 2015. Following Pastor Victor’s arrest, his wife Shamiram was ordered to meet with officers of the Intelligence and National Security Organisation. She was questioned and interrogated for several hours. She was told to fill out various forms and write down information concerning their church- and house-group activities and they also requested a list of all members of their house-church, with their details. On 26 August 2016, MOIS security officials raided Amin’s home in Firoozkooh, in the Alborz Mountains north-east of Tehran, where friends had gathered for a picnic. Amin asked to see the arrest warrant, which the officials did not produce, and instead showed him their gun, saying: “this is our warrant”. Amin was then beaten and arrested. There were no apparent reasons for the raid apart from their Christian faith. The MOIS officials then asked all the individuals to fill in a form with their personal details, including their religious and church affiliation, their involvement in house-churches and social-media passwords. All were then taken to the Firoozkooh prosecutor’s office, where their charges of “house-church activities” were read out to them. The women were released but the MOIS officials took five men to Evin Prison for interrogation. The men included Amin, Hadi, Ramiel Bet-Tamraz (the son of Pastor Victor), and Mohammad Dehnavi. All were members of Tehran Pentecostal Assyrian Church before it was shut down by Iran’s Ministry of the Interior in March 2009. Hadi, Mohammad and Amin are converts to Christianity, but Ramiel is an Assyrian Christian. The families were initially unable to obtain information about the whereabouts of those detained. The following day they were allowed to make brief calls to inform their families that they were held in Tehran’s Evin Prison. During the entire period, they were not given access to lawyers. Hadi and Amin were charged with “acting against national security” and “organising and establishing house-churches”. Shortly after the arrests, two of the wives of these men were removed from their jobs on the orders of Iranian security forces. On 10 October 2016, Ramiel and Mohammad were released after submitting bail equivalent to $33,000 each. At that time they had not been informed of any charges against them. They were later charged with “acting against national security” and “organising and establishing house-churches”, and Ramiel faced additional charges related to the ministry of his father. In February 2017, Hadi and Amin started a hunger strike in prison in protest at the lack of due process and to demand adequate medical care and an end to the delays in their case. Hadi was suffering from a kidney infection and did not receive any medical attention. On 12 February, Amin became very ill as his blood pressure dropped. On 14 February, 11 days after their hunger strike, Mr Ali Akbar Bakhtiari, head of the Attorney General’s office, and his deputy visited Evin Prison. During their visit, they promised to investigate the situation of political prisoners and others imprisoned on account of their religious beliefs. Hadi and Amin were also summoned to defend their cases and as a result it was agreed that the amount of bail requested for their release would be reduced from 200 million to 170 million tomans (about $52,000) each. A promise was given that their cases would be attended to. Pastor Victor and Amin were summoned to a court hearing on 21 May 2017. The hearing took place at the 26th Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The hearing related to the charges laid against them following their arrest in December 2014. Pastor Victor and Amin attended the hearing, as did Hadi, Pastor Victor’s wife Shamiram, and their son Ramiel. The hearing could not be concluded in Amin’s case because the judge had not provided all necessary documents to the defendant’s lawyer. It was agreed that the lawyer would meet the judge at a later date after she had examined the documents, as the cases of Pastor Victor and Amin were linked. No verdict was issued. A further hearing then took place on 11 June 2017. On 3 July, the Judge, Mr Ahmadzadeh, gave his verdict. Pastor Victor was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, Amin to 15 years (including time already served) and Hadi to 10 years, all with a 2-year travel ban. The judge also raised the amount of bail for Amin to 270 million tomans (approximately $80,000) and 170 million tomans for Hadi (approximately $50,000). The legal representative of these men filed an appeal to overturn the sentences. Amin was finally released on bail equivalent to $80,000 on 25 July 2017. He was still on hunger strike until the day of his temporary release. His physical health had greatly deteriorated. Forty-eight hours after his release he was taken to hospital. The long-term effects of his time in prison remain a concern. (Hadi was initially unable to raise the bail demanded for his conditional release. The appeal court then refused to allow conditional release, but finally he was allowed conditional release on 11 April 2018 on submission of bail of 120 million tomans.) Pastor Victor, Hadi and Amin were summoned to a first appeal hearing on 25 April 2018. The two judges allowed the defendants and their lawyer to present their defence, but they informed them that there would probably be two further hearings. Shamiram charged and sentenced Shamiram was summoned to Evin Detention Centre, Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court, in Tehran on 19 June 2017. She was formally charged with “participating in foreign seminars”, as well as “acting against Iranian national security by being a member of the church leadership.” She was released after one day on bail of 100 million tomans (approximately $30,000). Shamiram had not been formally arrested or charged by the authorities in the past. Shamiram was called to attend a hearing on 31 July 2017 in Tehran at the 26th Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, under Judge Ahmadzadeh. Shamiram’s lawyer requested that the hearing be postponed as he had no access to the case files and needed to go through all case-related documents prior to the hearing. The hearing was then postponed to 21 August 2017. On 21 August, Shamiram and her lawyer appeared in court and requested another postponement in order to gather more information and to better prepare for the hearing. The hearing took place on 12 December 2017 and the verdict was delivered on 6 January 2018. Shamiram was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on charges of “action against national security”, “attending a foreign seminar” and “training church leaders to act against the regime”. There was a preliminary appeal hearing on 9 May 2018, but the judge spoke disrespectfully, making unsubstantiated claims against the family and would not allow Shamiram to speak in her defence. On 11 Jul 2018, Pastor Victor and Shamiram’s son Ramiel was sentenced to four months in prison, alongside Mohamad Dehnavi and Amir-Saman Dashti, for “acting against national security by attending house-churches” This followed a hearing on 18 June at the 26th branch of the revolutionary court in Tehran, under Judge Ahmadzadeh. Analysis Similar to case study 1, the prisoners of this case have been persecuted by the Iranian authorities for years, mainly for practising their faith. Though Christians are one of the few religious minority groups that are officially recognised in Iran’s constitution and provided limited protection and freedom to worship, the recognised churches are not allowed to worship or hold any services in Persian. (In theory, the Iranian constitution in five articles talks about the rights and the safety of minority groups: Article 13 specifies the freedom of the three recognised religious groups, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians. Article 14 talks about the human rights of non-Muslims. Article 64 gives religious-minority groups the right to elect their own representatives in the parliament. Article 26 permits them to form political, social and professional parties. Article 19 speaks of the equality of all people, groups and ethnicities before the law.) They are not allowed to share their faith with Muslims or permit converts to participate in their church activities. If they do, the church may face severe persecution, such as the closing down of the church and imprisoning of church leaders. The case of Pastor Victor is a good example of such a situation. In this case, the law does not protect them. Therefore, as described above, Pastor Victor and his leadership team have been a target of harassment, arbitrary arrest, detention, imprisonment and unfair trials. Though their cases are faith-based, they have been given political charges. Moreover, those detained or charged often have to obtain and hand over exorbitant amounts for bail, which are often forfeited as some choose to flee the country in the knowledge that they are very unlikely to receive a fair trial and just verdict. Those awaiting trial who flee the country are tried in absentia. Many will face a gruelling legal process, and until their case is heard, which could take several years, their lives are in limbo. Therefore, the majority of the Christians arrested in the last few years and later released, either after finishing their prison sentences or temporarily released on bail, received severe warnings and threats against any further Christian activity. Once released, they are closely monitored, and risk re-arrest and imprisonment if they engage in or are suspected of engaging in any Christian activity. The International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a signatory, states: “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice and freedom either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.” Based on Article 18, religious-minority groups including those who have changed their religious affiliation should not be denied the right, in community with others or in private, to practise their religious beliefs or use their own language to worship. Therefore, Iran should be held accountable to uphold its obligations under its own constitution as well as international law (Article 18) to improve religious freedom and belief in the country for all peoples of Iran. The UK should call for the acquittal of Pastor Victor, Shamiram, Hadi and Amin. Iran should be pressured to change unjust and oppressive policies against religious minorities. UK involvement A question was raised by Mr Gregory Campbell MP, on 11 July 2017, to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office suggesting the FCO issue a statement to the Iranian government regarding the treatment of Pastor Victor, Amin and Hadi. The FCO responded on the 17 July 2017, saying: The Government is aware of reports regarding Pastor Victor, Amin and Hadi. The Government notes the worrying trend of harassment of Christians in Iran and strongly condemns any mistreatment of religious minorities in the country. We regularly raise our concerns about the human rights situation in Iran both in London and Tehran. We call on Iran to cease harassment of religious minorities and to fulfil its international and domestic obligations to allow freedom of religion to all Iranians. Latest updates In January 2020 Ramiel was summoned to Tehran’s Evin Prison to serve his four-month sentence. He submitted himself on 7 January. He was released on 26 February following the outbreak of the coronavirus and told he would not need to return to complete his sentence. Several appeal hearings for Pastor Victor, Shamiram, Hadi, Amin and fellow Christian convert Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi were scheduled in 2019 only to be postponed, with a variety of excuses given. In one instance, on 13 November, the court was said to be “too crowded”. The pattern continued in 2020 with another postponement in February due to a procedural issue, then another in June, that time without excuse. Finally, on 19 July 2020, Pastor Victor received a telephone call from his lawyer, informing him that his appeal had been rejected and no further hearing would take place. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the same was true in Shamiram’s case, though the couple feared it would be, given that their cases had been officially merged by the new judge, Ahmad Zargar, in February 2019. Finally, on 11 August, their worst fears were confirmed as Shamiram was summoned to Evin to begin her sentence. She was given five days to turn herself in. The night before Shamiram was due to begin her sentence, the couple fled Iran to seek asylum abroad. In September 2020, Pastor Victor spoke with Article18 about all that had happened. The three converts, Amin, Kavian and Hadi, have also fled Iran to escape their own lengthy prison terms.
Christian activist arrested while filing complaint about assault 12 July 2019 News A young female Christian convert and activist who spent six months in prison for her membership of a Tehran house-church was arrested on Tuesday for “improper” hijab, HRANA reports. Fatemeh Mohammadi, 19, who completed her jail sentence in the spring of last year, initially went to the police to complain she had been assaulted by a woman wearing a chador, who had taken issue with her “improper” wearing of her headscarf on a bus. But when Fatemeh complained to police, the chador-wearing woman was released and Fatemeh was detained – until 3am on Wednesday morning, when she was released with a warning. Fatemeh is a rare activist among Christians in Iran, and especially converts. She writes on a variety of social issues and has also run a campaign called “KHMA” (from the Persian for “Church is Christians’ Right”), which petitions for all Christians, including converts, to be given the right to worship in a church. She has fearlessly campaigned, despite the knowledge that her activism will likely land her in prison again. Earlier this year, Fatemeh wrote an open letter to Iran’s Minister of Intelligence, accusing him of violating the constitution by targeting Christians. This came after Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi publicly admitted to “inviting” Christian families for questioning to ask them why they had converted. In her letter, Fatemeh accused him of violating Article 23 of the constitution, which states that “no-one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief”. She added that intelligence officials were wrong to search the properties of the converts because the Christians had committed no crime, and said they were “summoned”, not invited, to “inspect their opinion and attempt to remove them from their beliefs”. Fatemeh was arrested at a house-church meeting in November 2017 and sentenced to six months in prison in April 2018; she was then released, owing to time already served in the women’s ward of the notorious Evin Prison. Her letter, which was published by HRANA, referenced Mr Alavi’s acknowledgment that the Christians who were questioned were “ordinary people”, who had jobs “such as selling sandwiches”. As Article18 reported, this statement marked a huge shift away from Iran’s usual rhetoric that converts are agents of the West who have undergone significant training to undermine national security. Fatemeh’s letter queried whether the members of her house-church were not also “ordinary”, saying it comprised “several housewives, a salesperson, guard, agricultural engineer, taxi driver, student and others with similar professions … aged between 19 and 60”. “Were we not ‘ordinary people’ who were threatened by plainclothes agents who searched the house and ransacked everything, without hesitating?” she asked. Fatemeh also questioned why Christians are prevented from “talking about their beliefs with their peers”, while Muslims can freely engage in “propaganda” at schools, universities, mosques and shrines. She added that those who had been interrogated would no doubt have seen all these advertisements about Islam, yet, “for whatever reason, they have decided to believe in Christianity, while they are not allowed to go to church, will not hear church bells … not see Christian TV and not have the experts available to them to add to their information”. She called for “open, free and secure spaces” where people can discuss their ideas with “peace of mind” and said “identifying Christians in an attempt to harass them and enquire into their beliefs is a flagrant violation of the constitution and other domestic and international laws”. Fatemeh also called on human rights groups to do more to highlight the “oppression” of Persian-speaking Christians in Iran, whom she said are an overlooked minority, recognised and researched only by the international community. She said Iranian officials should devote their energies to compiling statistics on the numbers of converts in order to “learn the well-founded roots of their problems in this country and society as Christians, not identifying them just for the purpose of inspecting their opinions”. Fatemeh published another letter in June last year, in which she accused her interrogators of sexual harassment. Fatemeh was arrested alongside Majidreza Souzanchi, 35, who is still in Evin Prison, serving a five-year sentence – for his membership of the house church and “conducting evangelism” – that in January was reduced to two years. Both of their cases were highlighted in Article18’s annual report in January, which documented rights violations against Christians in 2018. Majidreza was one of at least 14 Christians still in prison in Iran at the start of 2019. Article18 is aware of the arrests of at least a further 37 Christians so far this year.
Cross put back on top of Tabriz church after outcry 10 July 2019 News The cross has been replaced on top of the forcibly closed Assyrian church in Tabriz following a global outcry. In the 9 July photo Article18 has been able to obtain, some men can be seen placing the cross back on the tower. It was torn down on 9 May as agents from the Ministry of Intelligence and EIKO, an organisation under the direct control of the Supreme Leader, stormed the church, changed all the locks and ordered the church warden to leave. Ten days after the closure and just two days after Article18 broke the news, the Assyrian representative to the Iranian Parliament, Yonathan Betkolia, openly criticised the move in an open letter to the president, Hassan Rouhani, and called for the cross to be restored. Then last month a senior legal adviser to the president publicly questioned the legality of the closure and also the recent banning of religious-minority teachers from nursery schools. Aliakbar Gorji Azandaryani asked the governor of East Azerbaijan Province to look into why the church had been closed, saying he had “serious doubts about the legality”, referring to Articles 9, 19, 20, 26, 36 and particularly 13 of Iran’s constitution, which states that religious minorities are recognised and free to perform their religious ceremonies. He added that the move also went against several of the provisions of Iran’s Charter of Citizens’ Rights, which President Rouhani launched in 2016, and called upon the governor of East Azerbaijan Province to “do all he can to find out about the details of this case, including the background reasons for the seizure of the church and the authority that issued the order” – in this case EIKO. Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, welcomed the news that the cross has been restored to the top of the Tabriz church and called for a retraction of the court order and clarification that the church has also now been restored to its rightful owners – the Assyrian Evangelical Christian community. “We welcome this move and believe it to be a good first step after elements within both the Iranian parliament and government recognised the illegality of the church’s seizure and confiscation,” he said. “We hope the confiscation order, which was first issued in 2011 and finally enacted two months ago yesterday, will now be officially revoked. “We will continue our advocacy efforts until we see the rights of the Christians in Tabriz to use this property fully restored, and hope that no such illegal and repressive actions are repeated in the future – for this or any other church.” A former church leader with the Assyrian Evangelical Church thanked Article 18 and the other organisations that have led advocacy efforts, including the World Council of Churches, World Council of Reformed Churches, and World Evangelical Alliance.
US Secretary of State laments ‘intense’ persecution of Christians in Iran 9 July 2019 News The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, yesterday lamented the “intense” persecution of Christians in Iran, during a speech in Washington, DC. “Persecution of the faithful is especially intense inside the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he told the audience at a CUFl event. “The regime’s militant adherence to the noxious tenets of the Islamic Revolution dictates all elements of life – and especially the suppression of other faiths. “In Iran, if Muslims try to convert [to become] non-Muslims, the penal code calls for the death sentence. The government does not recognise converts to Christianity. It levies beatings and solitary confident on Christians caught worshipping in volition of government dictates.” مایک پمپئو: کارمان با ایران تمام نشده!.وزیر خارجه آمریکا در نشست «اتحاد مسیحیان برای اسرائیل» گفت: متنفران از اسرائیل مانند حماس، حزب الله و جهاد اسلامی، نسبت به گذشته، پول کمتری از ایران دریافت میکنند تا بتوانند به فعالیتهای تروریستیشان ادامه دهند. pic.twitter.com/i7ewCjyAUv— ManotoNews (@ManotoNews) July 9, 2019 Mr Pompeo highlighted the case of Yousef Nadarkhani and his three fellow “Church of Iran” members, who he noted are currently serving ten-year prison sentences for “promoting Zionist Christianity and running house churches”. “Instead of following the normal summons procedure, the authorities raided the Christians’ homes, beat them, and used electroshock weapons on them, then threw them into Evin Prison, a regime dungeon inside of Tehran,” Mr Pompeo said. “The Iranian ayatollahs have grievously deprived the Iranian people of their most basic, simple, fundamental human right – their right to worship,” he added. In May, Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Mahmoud Alavi, openly admitted to summoning Christian converts for questioning, saying mass conversions were “happening right before our eyes”. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, last week called the treatment of converts in Iran “very disturbing”, and pledged to “look into the issue very seriously”. At least 37 converts have been arrested in Iran so far this year, including eight in Bushehr last week. Meanwhile on Sunday five “Church of Iran” members from Karaj submitted themselves to the city’s central detention centre to begin their jail sentences for “propaganda against the state”.
Karaj converts begin jail sentences 8 July 2019 News Left to right: Yaghoob Nateghi, Milad Goodarzi, Amin Khaki, Alireza Nourmohammadi and Shahab Shahi. Five Iranian converts submitted themselves to the central detention centre in Karaj on Saturday to begin their jail sentences for “propaganda against the state”. Manoto News broadcast footage of the men, four of whom have young children, waving goodbye to their loved ones. Amin Khaki, Milad Goodarzi, Yaghoob Nateghi, Shahab Shahi and Alireza Nourmohammadi – all members of the non-Trinitarian “Church of Iran” – were arrested during raids on their homes and workplaces in December 2017. They were released in early 2018 after each posting bail of 30 million tomans (around $7,000). In March 2019, Milad, Yaghoob, Shahab and Alireza were sentenced to four months in prison; Amin, who has already spent a year in prison for his religious activities, was given 14 months. Their appeals were rejected last month. Converts to Christianity continue to be targeted in Iran. Just last week, eight converts were arrested in the south-western city of Bushehr. Article18 reported that this took the number of arrests to 34 so far this year. Article18 is now aware of three further arrests – two in Tehran and another in Bushehr – taking the total to at least 37. In May, Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Mahmoud Alavi, openly admitted to summoning Christian converts for questioning, saying mass conversions were “happening right before our eyes”. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, last week called the treatment of converts in Iran “very disturbing”, and pledged to “look into the issue very seriously”. A scan of part one of the court verdict against the five men. Part two of the court verdict.
Independent Review of UK Support for Persecuted Christians 8 July 2019 Reports Although Christians in the Armenian and Assyrian churches may practise their faith within strict confines, persecution in Iran is on the rise for others and most of it is targeted at Christians from a Muslim background and Protestant Christians. Just before Christmas 2018, 114 Christians were arrested, several house churches were raided in nine different cities, and the arrests continued into 2019. On his return to Iran in February 1979, Khomeini promised religious freedom to Christians and other religious minority groups. Just eight days after the revolution, Arastoo Sayah, an Anglican pastor, was beheaded in his church office in Shiraz. The brutality of the early revolution has given way to systematic pressure and intense persecution against Christians during the past 40 years. As more disillusioned Iranians turn to Christianity, the regime intensifies their intimidation against Christians. Almost all Farsi speaking Christian churches were closed down or forced to change their language to Armenian or Assyrian. (The only Farsi churches open are the Anglican/Episcopal churches in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz. However, the churches have been controlled and monitored by the state and converts are not allowed to attend those churches.) House churches have been regularly targeted, their members and leaders have been arrested and imprisoned. Since October 2010, the state has started a new campaign against Christians by propagating hate speech and incitement of hatred against Christians on state sponsored media. The vast majority of hate propaganda is against Protestant Christians and converts to Christianity accusing them of treason, “plotting against the regime and Islam,” “being part of the West’s soft war against the regime,” and “being spies of the West and Israel.” In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF, once again, listed Iran as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for severe violation of human rights and religious freedom. Open Doors World Watch List has also listed Iran number 9 in its 2019 annual report.
Five family members among eight Christians arrested in Bushehr 3 July 2019 News Left to right: Pooriya Peyma, Fatemeh Talebi, Maryam Falahi, Sam Khosravi, Khatoon Fatolahzadeh, Sasan Khosravi, Marjan Falahi, and Habib Heydari Eight converts to Christianity, including five members of one family, were arrested in the southwestern city of Bushehr on Monday, 1 July. The arresting officers introduced themselves as agents from the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS). They stormed the Christians’ homes in a coordinated operation at around 9am, confiscating Bibles, Christian literature, wooden crosses and pictures carrying Christian symbols, along with laptops, phones, all forms of identity cards, bank cards and other personal belongings. Arresting agents also searched the work offices of at least two Christians and confiscated computer hard drives and security-camera recordings. The officers are reported to have treated the Christians harshly, even though small children were present during the arrests. Article18’s sources confirmed the names of the arrested Christians as Sam Khosravi, 36, and his wife Maryam Falahi, 35; Sam’s brother Sasan, 35, and his wife Marjan Falahi, 33; Sam and Sasan’s mother, Khatoon Fatolahzadeh, 61; Pooriya Peyma, 27, and his wife Fatemeh Talebi, 27; and Habib Heydari, 38. Khatoon Fatolahzadeh, whose arrest came after six cars carrying security officials turned up outside her home, was released the same day due to her age. Article18 understands that the rest of the Christians remain detained, with no access to lawyers, and are being held in solitary confinement in the MOIS office in Bushehr. These latest arrests bring the number of Christians arrested in Iran this year to at least 34: eight in Bushehr, nine in Rasht, 12 in Amol, two in Ahvaz, and one each in Hamedan, Shiraz and Isfahan. For security reasons, it has not yet been possible for Article18 to report fully on each incident. In May, Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Mahmoud Alavi, openly admitted to summoning Christian converts for questioning, saying mass conversions were “happening right before our eyes”. Speaking in London yesterday, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, branded the treatment of Christian converts in Iran as “very disturbing”, saying it was something he was “personally concerned about”, and pledging that in the coming years he will “look into the issue very seriously”. This isn’t the first incident to have affected Christians in Bushehr. In April, Article18 reported that 16 other converts from Bushehr lost their appeals against prison sentences for “propaganda activities against the regime through the formation of house churches”.
UN Special Rapporteur ‘very concerned’ by Iran’s mass arrests of Christian converts 3 July 2019 News Left to right: Simin Fahandej, Javaid Rehman, Hamid Gharagozloo, Bob Blackman MP, Mattie Heaven, and Richard Ratcliffe. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran spoke yesterday of his “serious concern” over the “disturbing” mistreatment of converts to Christianity in Iran. Javaid Rehman, who was speaking at the UK’s Houses of Parliament at an event hosted by the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR), said he was “personally very concerned” about converts being arrested for praying together and charged with acting against national security. The rapporteur also pledged that he would look into the issue “very seriously” in the coming years. Mr Rehman noted that although the Iranian constitution recognises Christians as a minority group, only those who belong to the historically Christian ethnic Armenian and Assyrian communities are permitted to practise their faith. Converts are not recognised. He added that even those religious minorities that are recognised – also Jews and Zoroastrians – face discrimination, sanctioned by the constitution. He used the example of Iran’s inheritance law, whereby a Muslim relative is given all property rights at the expense of non-Muslim next of kin. Mr Rehman said it “undermines religious freedom”. Another speaker at the event was UK Member of Parliament Bob Blackman, who highlighted the case of Yousef Nadarkhani, a Christian convert whom he noted was “arrested and beaten and is now serving ten years in prison just for praying with other Christians at a house church”. Other speakers highlighted the plight of other minority groups, such as the Gonabadi dervishes and Baha’is. IOPHR representative Hamid Gharagozloo noted that the dervishes have seen their homes and places of worship destroyed, while the group’s spiritual leader remains under house arrest. Meanwhile Simin Fahandej from the Baha’i International Community said that Bahai’s, as an unrecognised minority group, face “state-sponsored persecution … just for being Baha’i”. Richard Ratcliffe, husband of the jailed British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, urged the UK government to ensure that human rights were more than just a “nice to have” and “secondary issue” in future dealings with Iran.