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Two UN special rapporteurs and an Assyrian Christian couple forced to flee Iran after being sentenced to a combined 15 years in prison joined representatives from Article18 and Open Doors International at the UN Human Rights Council launch of our joint annual report last week.

The main contributions of the speakers are summarised below.

Javaid Rehman

The UN’s special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Javaid Rehman, began the session by explaining that although the focus of his report was the response of the security forces to the protests in the wake of the killing of Mahsa Amini, he “also documented some very substantial concerns as regards ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities”. 

Mr Rehman said he had “serious concerns” regarding Kurds and Baluchis, but added: “They’re also minorities, but they are constitutionally recognised. Now, in terms of the non-recognised minorities, in particular the Christian converts and the Bahais, they really face the worst kind of persecution. They face arbitrary arrest, detention, and imprisonment. 

“And I noted in my presentation that there is an unacceptable level of persecution and harassment of members of these communities – they face arbitrary arrest and the destruction and confiscation of their properties. There are various other forms of threats, and Christian converts are actually the most vulnerable in the sense that they are not recognised: it is very difficult for the state and the state ideology to accept that Muslims, or Shia Muslims, would convert to another religion.”

Mr Rehman noted that although apostasy is “not contained in the Constitution or legislative framework as a capital offence, but in Sharia law this could and this does carry the death penalty, and therefore the judges use Article 167 of the Constitution to interpret apostasy as an offence that carries the death penalty. And we have a number of instances where people have been charged with the death penalty. 

“But inevitably a lot of Christian converts are charged with offences that carry national-security allegations: that they are breaching national security, and therefore they are persecuted, they are tortured, and they are made to somehow recant – to say that ‘OK, we’re no longer Christians’ – which is contrary to their moral and personal conscience. 

“So I remain extremely concerned at the situation of Christian converts, and I’m looking forward to some concrete recommendations as to how we can ensure that people of diverse religions or beliefs could live in a society which is overwhelmingly dominated by a particular ideological faith, and they are imposing that faith on the rest of the community.”

Fernand de Varennes

The second speaker was Fernand de Varennes, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, who said he wanted to “present an even broader context as to what has occurred in relation to the Christian minority and other religious or belief minorities in Iran”.

Mr de Varennes highlighted the plight of the Bahais, before adding that the targeting of minorities “seems to be increasing also in relation to other religious minorities in Iran, and in the more general region”, including what he said “seems to be a policy of systemic persecution of groups such as specifically Christian converts, but also atheists, or non-believers, and Gonabadi dervishes”. 

“We are seeing not only in Iran, but in neighbouring countries also, a rise of nationalism, which has a religious tint, and this means a polarisation, the use of identity politics by certain politicians around ‘majority’ identity,” he said. “… Who are at the receiving end of this situation, where majoritarian nationalism has a religious tint? Minorities. Minorities are identified as the ‘others’, as ‘foreign’, ‘different’, a ‘danger’.” 

The special rapporteur said that while the trend wasn’t “unique to Iran, it is extremely serious in Iran, and we have to understand this more general context to try to find solutions. What can we do? … Are we doing enough? Are we even doing anything serious in terms of the international community?” 

He added that he felt it was time for the UN to “recognise where we’re failing”. 

“And in my view the United Nations is failing,” he said, “by not recognising sufficiently where some of the most serious, brutal abusive violations of human rights have occurred. And this is with minorities, including religious or belief minorities in many parts of the world.” 

Mr de Varennes concluded by highlighting his recommendation for a new legal framework and treaty for minorities “that actually identifies, clarifies, and tries to protect the human rights of those who are the most vulnerable right now, the most marginalised, and these are minorities, including religious or belief minorities in Iran, and other minorities in many parts of the world”. 

“Some would say that it’s not realistic, governments will never accept a new treaty to protect minorities,” he said. “But that should not prevent us from trying to improve the protection of those who cannot protect themselves – minorities, including in countries such as Iran.” 

Victor Bet-Tamraz

Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for leading a house-church, was the next to speak, beginning by holding up a copy of a Persian-language Bible.

“This is a Persian Bible, which is illegal in Iran,” he said. “If you have it, that is a crime for you.” 

Pastor Victor explained that he had pastored both Assyrian and Persian-speaking communities for over 40 years, saying: “As a member of recognised minority groups, we faced significant limitation, discrimination, control, and constant monitoring regarding … our religious practices. 

“Two weeks after the revolution in 1979, the extreme persecution of Farsi-speaking pastors began. Convert pastors and leaders were targeted, attacked, and in some cases murdered. 

“When I started my ministry, like any other pastor [in Iran], I was obligated to cooperate with the government, providing them with detailed information and reports on our church activities, [though] I did not comply. With time, things took a turn for the worse. My situation escalated as I faced increase interrogation, close monitoring and threats to my family, especially to my children. 

“During one of my interrogations, with a smirk on his face, my interrogator told me ‘Children [go] missing every day. Car accidents happen to most of the people,’ while reminding me of the traumatic experiences [of] MOIS [Ministry of Intelligence] officers trying to kidnap my teenage child. 

“In 2009 the government shut down my church, followed by the closure of other Pentecostal Assyrian churches. Later, during a private Christmas gathering in 2014, I was arrested and held in solitary confinement for 65 days for a crime I did not commit. 

“My charges were ‘acting against national security’, ‘evangelism’, and ‘promoting terrorism’. Back then, no-one thought that the government would close down all our churches, and arrest pastors and leaders. No-one thought they could get away with persecuting Assyrian and Armenian leaders [so] obviously. 

“And yet, subsequently, almost all evangelical Persian-speaking churches have been closed. And because of this, today evangelical Assyrian Christians and Pentecostals, as well as Christian converts, have no place to worship; you can’t imagine! 

“My wife and I, we were eventually forced to flee Iran, facing a combined 15 years in prison only for continuing to minister to convert Christians, as should be our right under the international covenant. Instead, we were arrested and labelled ‘spies’ and ‘terrorists’. 

He concluded: “We want our churches back, our charges to be dropped, and our members to have the right to gather and to worship in our own church buildings.” 

Shamiram Issavi

Pastor Victor’s wife, Shamiram, who was sentenced to five years in prison on trumped-up charges of “spying”, was next to speak.

“As my husband said, it is difficult to remember and to mention what has happened to us as a family,” she said. “I remember when I was in the midst of all this persecution, I wrote a letter to the United Nations. But due to the fear of making the situation much worse, I didn’t send it. 

“You know, for 44 years, the Iranian government has [used] fear as an arm to control its own citizens, and to impose its own ideology and its belief. Particularly the women are vulnerable in this situation; they are … humiliated, they are discriminated. But I’m so happy that today I am the witness of widespread protests, and the people, especially the young generation, who are breaking the wall of fear… And for me, now is the time [for] fear to go away and people [to] stand for their rights.

“Since September last year we saw these widespread protests, following the death of Mahsa Amini. But I’m sad to say this such treatment is not new for me. From the very beginning of the revolution, we are the witnesses of harassment, violation, discrimination, for women and for most of the people. 

“As a Christian, working in the Bible Society and later on ministering in the church, I am the witness of this discriminating behaviour towards women. And it seems that we are forced to believe this is the normal life that we have to live. When standing for our rights, women will be labelled as ‘prostitutes’, as ‘low class’, ‘uneducated’, and sometimes even the ‘spies of the Western countries’. Nobody listens to what they really want. 

“As a Christian, if we ask for our legal rights and freedom, we will be labelled as ‘poisonous fungus and cancerous tumours who should be operated on and separated’ from their own community. This is the [kind of] public statement that our political leaders are making. And if you refuse [to comply], as my husband and myself did, we have to be silenced, by whatever means they want to find.

“In the time of interrogation, it [seemed] funny to [them to] humiliate me, to break me down. They said that all my activities, my ministry, my faith, and the way that we have worked with the people [was] just to give them the freedom to [explore] their sexual desire. Nothing more than that. And [that] my faith is nothing and is compared to like worshipping a chimney or a dog! 

“The Iranian government has a track record of lying, deceiving, arresting Christians based on lies. Without any solid proof, they put them in the prison. 

“You know, when my son was arrested, I nearly had a heart attack, because I heard that their accusation is that they have arrested him in an armed gang opposing the government. And the truth was that my son and his family and his friends were only in a picnic gathering together, and having fun with each other. 

“This was the accusation. And they knew that this is baseless, but yet he was in the prison, and he was charged. 

“We had to send our daughter away from us, because she was threatened for her life. These are not simple [things] to bear. That is why I understand fully why the mothers of our country now are in pain, and having a difficult time when they see their children are in the prison, without any real charges. The accusations are all lies about these people; they just want a normal life. And I am not here speaking about myself, I am here speaking about the truth of Iranian people who are suffering [at the hands of] the government. 

“I ask the United Nations to publicly call on the Iranian government to uphold the right [of] freedom of religion or belief for every citizen, whatever they want to believe, and to hold Iran accountable for its inhuman treatment, of women rights in particular, and for all the people of my country. And this is the [word] that today is [being spoken] in the streets and everywhere, and all over the world, that freedom is for women, freedom and life. This is what we are asking for every human being back in my country.”

Mansour Borji

Following the testimonies of Victor and Shamiram, Article18’s director, Mansour Borji, outlined the major findings of the joint report, as well as holding up photographs of several of those sentenced or serving sentences in 2022, including Iranian-Armenian pastors Joseph Shahbazian and Anooshavan Avedian, and Christian converts Mina Khajavi and Malihe Nazari, Sara Ahmadi and Homayoun Zhaveh, and Yasser Akbari.

“Yasser Akbari’s handicapped child sadly died last year,” Mr Borji explained. “He was only given a few days to attend the funeral – only after the funeral had taken place. He still continues to serve that 10-year prison sentence for holding Bible studies.” 

Mr Borji added: “Religious minorities, including Christians, continue to be deprived of their rights to practise a faith of their own choosing, in violation of Iran’s obligation as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR].

“In the year of the death of Mahsa Amini, a young lady from the city of my own birthplace, when Iranians poured out on the streets demanding justice, the report argues that the protests at their core are a cry for freedom – the freedom of Iranian people to live in a way that corresponds with their beliefs.” 

Gloria Lecesse

Finally, Ms Lecesse from Open Doors International highlighted a few of the report’s recommendations.

Firstly, Ms Lecesse called on Iran to “uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief for every individual, regardless of their ethnic or linguistic group, and including converts”, amending Article 13 of the Constitution so as “to recognise freedom of religion or belief for all, and not just for a selected number of minority groups”. 

“Currently, Article 13 only recognises three groups – Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians as the only religious minorities legally allowed to exist within the limits of the law, which is a much broader limitation than what international human rights law allows for restricting freedom of religion or belief,” she explained. 

“The Iranian government interprets these three recognised minorities to refer only to historical ethnic minority communities in Iran, which is, for example, the Assyrian and Armenian Christian communities. And they are allowed to exist because they constitute a historical heritage for the nation, and as long as they operate within the very restricted interpretation of freedom of religion or belief that the Iranian government is allowing them to operate within. That is really more of a matter of cultural heritage rather than faith. So these minorities, for example, have a lot of limitations, and Victor has been telling you a bit about them. For example, they’re not allowed to have a Bible in Persian or any religious literature in Persian, or to hold a religious service in Persian as well. So they have to be very careful about what they do and how they do it, or they will be harassed, persecuted and imprisoned by the government. 

“And all other minorities, for example, the Bahai, remain unrecognised by the law and afforded no rights under the constitution. So, legally they’re not even allowed to exist and to believe in their own God and in their own religion. So it is imperative that Iran amends Article 13 of the Constitution as to uphold freedom of religion or belief, as enshrined by Article 18 of the ICCPR, which is a treaty that Iran has ratified, without reservation. 

Secondly, Ms Lecesse called on Iran to “cease the criminalisation of house-church organisation and membership, and to allow Christians of all ethnic backgrounds, and everyone really, to worship freely and collectively”, which she said was “a natural consequence of implementing the first recommendation”.

“Freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief is an integral part of freedom of religion or belief, and it cannot be confined to an official church building,” Ms Lecesse said. “International human rights law allows for individuals to worship freely wherever they wish. So if they want to meet up in a house and pray together, international human rights law allows them to do that, and Iran is legally bound to respect these standards.”

Finally, Ms Lecesse called on Iran to “release immediately and unconditionally all Christians detained on charges that are related to their peaceful religious activities, and [to] stop using criminal code provisions … to unjustly detain religious minority faith adherents”. 

She also called on Iran to allow Mr Rehman to visit the country, and to “fully cooperate with the recently established fact-funding mission tasked to investigate the deteriorating situation of human rights in the country since the start of the protests in September 2022”. 

Ms Lecesse concluded: “Shamiram described a situation where the government wants to normalise, almost, this pattern of systematic violations of human rights, and we’re just not going to allow them to do that. So we’ll keep speaking up, until all Iranians have their freedom, inherent dignity and rights respected.”

SR’s response

Before moving on to a time of Q&A, Mr Rehman responded to the comments made by reading out Article 18 of the ICCPR, to which Iran is a signatory:

“Article 18.1 says: ‘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 the 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.’ 

“So the key points are really quite central for our understanding: that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and everyone has the right to have a religion, to adopt another religion, of his or her choice, without any coercion,” he said. 

“And these are what we call ‘non-derogable’. You cannot derogate from that. Whatever religion or faith I choose for myself, there must not be any interference; the state cannot say, ‘Well, you know, there are public security issues, national security.’ This is my choice! And this is very important for all states to recognise, including Iran. 

“There are limitations imposed only on the manifestation of religion. And even here, it is very important that we look at those limitations, but a key point before I go into that is Article 18.2, which says ‘No-one shall be subjected to coercion, which will impair his freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of his choice.’ 

“Now, all of what we have discussed is a consistent coercion and impairment, and I regret to say that this is happening in Iran.”

Mr Rehman concluded: “Article 18.3 says, ‘Freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law.’ So it has to be established first in law. And then these limitations are only legitimate if they’re necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals and fundamental rights and freedoms of others. So all of these charges which we have heard about ‘national security’, that is illegitimate; that violates international obligations which Iran has adhered to.”

Q&A

The first of two comments from the audience came from Diane Alai, the UN representative of the Bahai International Community, who thanked Victor and Shamiram for their testimonies, saying it was “very painful for all religious minorities to hear what all religious minorities are suffering, because we’re all together in this in the Islamic Republic of Iran”. 

“And it’s such a shame,” she added. “There is a film that was done by IranWire that is called ‘The Cost of Discrimination’. And it shows what this discrimination costs not only to the individual but also to Iran, that it deprives Iran of the capacity to benefit from the contribution of members of those minorities.

“So in all solidarity, I hope for an Iran where everybody, as you mentioned, Special Rapporteur, will have the right to practise and worship in whichever way they wish.” 

Finally, a citizen of Azerbaijan said it was “really disturbing” to hear the testimonies of Victor and Shamiram and added that he was “a bit surprised to hear” Iranian-Armenians were also under pressure.

Mr Borji replied by referencing the two Armenian pastors sentenced last year to 10 years in prison, adding: “As long as they are not using [the] Persian language as the language of their worship [and] Christian literature, they could be immune [from] certain pressures from the government, but they are not fully entitled to their rights as citizens. 

“For instance, the Armenians cannot become a president or a judge, or take high office, and you can take that discrimination to the extreme of imprisonment if they violate Iran’s unwritten codes of practice.”

The event can be watched in full by clicking on the video below or visiting the YouTube page of the World Evangelical Alliance:

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, joined Article18’s director, Mansour Borji, and two Iranian Christian survivors of persecution, Mojtaba Hosseini and Sara Fooladi, for the UK parliament presentation of our joint annual report last week.

The 22 March event was hosted by Fiona Bruce, the UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for FoRB and chair of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA).

The main contributions of the speakers are summarised below.

Fiona Bruce

Opening the meeting, Ms Bruce said: “The Islamic Republic of Iran, as we know, is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the ICCPR, which articulates a right to have or adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice, and to publicly manifest that in worship, observance, practice and teaching. But we know that that is far from what is happening in practice in Iran today, and indeed has been the case for a very, very long time.

“Last September, mass protests erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini, murdered because she was deemed to have failed properly to adhere to the dress code of the majority faith, a dress code that had been imposed for almost 44 years on Iranian women of all faiths and none. And of course, we all know what’s happened since then. Many protests, many brave people; some have lost their lives. And we have some brave people here today.”

Mansour Borji

Mr Borji began his speech by outlining the major findings of the report, before highlighting the cases of Joseph Shahbazian and Anooshavan Avedian, two Iranian-Armenian pastors sentenced last year to 10 years in prison for holding prayer meetings in their homes, and Christian convert Malihe Nazari, who is now serving a six-year sentence.

“Yesterday afternoon, as I landed at Heathrow, I discovered that Malihe was recently given a three-day leave from Evin Prison to visit her son, who is fighting in an aggressive form of cancer,” Mr Borji said. “She was asked to return to prison on the Iranian New Year Day.”

Mr Borji also highlighted the cases of Homayoun Zhaveh, a 64-year-old with advanced Parkinson’s disease, and his wife, Sara Ahmadi, who are serving a combined 10-year sentence. 

“At the start of the New Year, those Christians and many others like them, and also those from other religious minorities across Iran, are missed by their loved ones around the festive haftsin table,” he said. “We continue to see the incredible courage of the Iranian Christians and other oppressed religious minorities standing strong, despite the real risk of arrest, detention, imprisonment, and even execution, but they need our support.”

Mr Borji ended by highlighting three of the recommendations given in the report: to “call on the Government of Iran to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief for every citizen; release immediately and unconditionally all Christians detained on charges related to their faith or religious activities; and cease the criminalisation of church organisation and membership, allowing Christians of all ethnic backgrounds to worship freely and collectively, as Persian-speaking Christians still have no place to worship”. 

He concluded: “We would like to British government and distinguished members of this house to firmly stand with the Iranian people, calling for a hopeful future where the right to freedom of religion or belief is respected for all. This will truly be a happy Nowruz, or ‘new day’.” 

Mojtaba Hosseini

Mojtaba, whose Notes From Prison are being published on Article18’s website, described his journey of coming to faith in Christ, and his subsequent arrests and more than three years’ imprisonment.

“I was 18 when I converted to Christianity, alongside a couple of family members, including my dad,” he explained. “As we were keen and needed to learn more about our faith and how to practise it, we went to the official church building in our city, Shiraz. But unfortunately, they didn’t welcome us, as the government had banned Persians from taking part in the official church gatherings of Armenian and Assyrian Iranians. 

“Farsi-speaking Christians like me have no place to worship in Iran, so we, with other Christian families, had to gather in our own houses. As a result, when I was 20 years old, I was arrested in my house with other Christian family members, without legal procedures. 

“They put handcuffs on me, they blindfolded me, and put me in a car and took me to an unknown place. And I was put in a solitary confinement for 22 days, with many heavy interrogations, and threats of torture and death.” 

A year later, Mojtaba explained, he was given a suspended sentence of eight months on charges of “propaganda against the government by cooperating with foreign organisations”. 

“They said I was cooperating with organisations being supported by Israel, the US and sometimes the UK,” he recalled.

“After that, we were constantly under intense surveillance, such as our phones being tapped, as we continued to gather in our own houses secretly and worship our God, as there was no place for Farsi speakers like us to worship God. 

“It led to another arrest when I was 24. This time, after over a month being in solitary confinement, with heavy interrogations, and lots of mental and emotional torture from the interrogators and also the jail guards, they sent me to the public prison, with no kind of official court sessions or legal procedures, such as no right to have a lawyer. 

“And they transferred me to this public prison of Shiraz, called Adel Abad, with 8,000 prisoners in it. And I was kept there for three years, among dangerous criminals, in terrible conditions.

“For 20 months, I didn’t even know how long my sentence was, and how long I would stay in this prison. It was not legal to keep me for so long without giving me a sentence. And it was an incredibly painful time as I waited. 

“And finally, after 24 months, my final sentence was three years and eight months in prison on charges including ‘creating illegal groups’, which was our just simple gatherings, peaceful gatherings, worshipping God together, and also charges like ‘threats against national security’.” 

Mojtaba said that even after his release “I was forced to leave Iran and I became a refugee in Turkey, which continued the pain and suffering my family and I had to bear for my faith”. 

“For every individual who faces persecution such as this, it’s not only about the individual, but also a large group of people around them, such as family and friends, who suffer in some ways more,” Mojtaba said. “The simplest rights in life become the most prominent wishes for these people: for example, a simple hug from my mum, and not to be able to see my nieces and take them to the park and buy them an ice cream. And it is just because [of] these people’s faith, belief in God, in Jesus, a God who they like to worship.” 

Mojtaba ended with a question: “What is the solution for these people? Some Christian Iranians are disappointed in international support; we can’t see the improvements.” 

But he added: “Many people at the moment have put their hope in brave men and women who are protesting against the oppression of the dictatorship regime. And we as Christians also hope in this revolution of women, life, freedom, [and] under the umbrella of that hopefully Christians can practise their faith freely in future.”

Sara Fooladi

“My story begins when I became a Christian in 2000 and joined a house-church,” Sara explained. “We used to gather in a house-church, because as Christian converts we were not allowed to attend the official church buildings of Armenian and Assyrian Iranians. We had no place to worship, except in each other’s houses. 

“Gathering with others in these circumstances was always full of fear and trembling, because the government thinks such gatherings are illegal, and considers them a crime: a crime that carries heavy penalties of up to 10 years in prison.” 

Because of the constraints, Sara explained how converts “try to gather in a safe way, and in small numbers to worship; they have to sing songs in a low voice, communicating over the phone with code words. We could only obtain a Bible after looking everywhere to finally get hold of a copy through risky ways, and after many complications, as the Bible seems to be considered a forbidden book in Iran”. 

“I know that this story of my arrest for worshipping in a private gathering in a house may be astonishing to you and hard to believe,” Sara said. “Our home church was a normal, peaceful gathering of Christians like the thousands of Bible study groups that are held in this country every day. We prayed, sang Christian songs, studied the Bible together, and tried to meet the needs of each other and the community around us. 

“However, one day in February 2013, as we gathered together to share fellowship, suddenly 13 officers stormed the house, without showing any court order. They insulted us, threatened and shouted abuse at us. They terrified us; they treated us like criminals! They handcuffed us and took us to the detention centre without even letting us inform our families.

“They put us in a cell so dirty that I got lice in my hair, and they cut my hair. They took us for interrogations from the evening to the next morning, until the point of exhaustion. 

“We experienced all kinds of white torture. They played the sound of torture of [other] prisoners, which was a technique to create terror in us. There was a lot of pressure on us because they threatened not only us, but also our families. 

“In court, when the judge heard about the social activities of our church, he was very impressed. Nevertheless, under the pressure of the officials of the Ministry of Intelligence, he was forced to issue a prison sentence for us. He told us: ‘I respect you! You are honest, honourable and useful people for the society, but I have to issue these sentences.’ 

“After our temporary release, we went to some important government institutions and said: ‘We are ready to go to prison for becoming Christians, but we disagree with the accusations made against us. We did not act against national security. We did not violate the civil laws.’ But none of these institutions had the power to challenge the order of the Ministry of Intelligence.” 

After two other church members were arrested, Sara explained how she was “forced to leave Iran, in tears”.

She concluded: “One day Iran will be free and the world will be in awe of the valuable social service that Iranian women converts to Christianity have taken despite many restrictions. I am happy for the people of my country, who, hand in hand, are dancing to freedom today with a new awareness. Hoping for a prosperous, and free Iran.”

Nazila Ghanea

Ms Ghanea began her speech by referencing the murders nearly 30 years ago of pastors Mehdi Dibaj – who was sentenced to death for his “apostasy” – and Haik Hovsepian, who successfully campaigned for his friend’s release but was killed three days later.

“This kind of cynical playing with public sentiment, playing the media, trying to accuse falsely Christians of these heavy crimes has been going on for many, many years,” she said.

And while Christians are one of only three recognised religious minorities in Iran, Ms Ghanea noted that “it is also blatantly clear that that recognition does not apply to evangelical Christians [or] to converts”.

Even the recognised Christians of Armenian and Assyrian descent face “discriminatory treatment”, Ms Ghanea said, but separation along ethnic lines “became a way to sift the acceptable yet discriminated Christians from those that may [be converts]”. 

“I don’t know what this great fear of converts is [about],” she said, “but it’s very real.”

Ms Ghanea referred to her own experiences in the mid-90s of seeing guards in Isfahan “standing outside the churches, checking IDs to allow ethnic Christians in, and to demand that Christians use a language other than Persian,” which she said was “effectively a total prohibition and ban on Christian [converts] going to church – churches that are allegedly recognised, but access to it is monitored and banned”. 

“Effectively, we should say that Christian converts, and Christians that have Persian as their language and are not ethnically distinct, are also not recognised,” she said. “That’s what we see [in] practice.”

There’s “certainly no equality or non-discriminatory treatment” even for recognised minorities, Ms Ghanea said, adding: “Even their MPs are forced to be parachuted around the world, and to say that they are, for example, ‘the freest Jews in the Middle East’. I don’t know who buys that, but there is pressure even on their MPs to become part of the PR machine, let alone the non-recognised.” 

Ms Ghanea also noted that, until the mid-90s, the Christian community “did not want their case raised in UN fora”.

“I understand it’s for each community to decide how it wants to champion [their] human rights,” she said, “and perhaps all possible domestic channels had been exhausted and it was then out of desperation, really, that the case then came to the UN, and it has been on the agenda since then, fairly consistently.”

Ms Ghanea bemoaned that the last time the Special Rapporteur on FoRB was allowed access to Iran was in December 1995, when “Professor Abdelfattah Amor visited Iran for roughly 10 days, went to three cities; he had some 40 recommendations. All of them remain valid today; progress has not been made on any of them. Many of them have become much more alarming since then.”

Ms Ghanea added that Christians are not just being “seriously” deprived of their right to freedom of religion, but also to other rights such as to “due process, no torture, access to a lawyer, non-discrimination, the rights of women and girls … freedom of expression”. 

Ms Ghanea noted that “it hurts even more” for Christians’ real “crimes” to be cloaked under false charges such as “acting against national security”.

“Your [real] crime is that you are Christian; your crime is that you have Christian literature; your crime is that you gather with other Christians in house-churches; and your crime is that you converted,” she said. 

The special rapporteur said the recent changes to Articles 499 and 500 of the penal code were “particularly alarming because they are yet another layer of efforts to clothe the the real crimes against Christians and other religious minorities, and they are being clothed in legality. And we do not fall for it, and we must make sure that nobody else falls for it.”

Ms Ghanea also called on Article18 and partners Open Doors, CSW and Middle East Concern to “give more attention” in future reports to the plight of refugees.

“Thousands are just waiting and waiting and waiting in Türkiye, with no end in sight to when they can be resettled,” she said. “We must address that, too.”

The rapporteur ended with a note of hope, referring to the establishment of the fact-finding mission to Iran in November, when cries of “zan, zendegi, azadeh” (women, life, freedom) were “echoed by many of the delegations” at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. 

“The pain that Christians have suffered in Iran, unfortunately, is now being shared by many others in Iran,” she said. “And perhaps that is the beginning of a new culture of human rights in that country.” 

Q&A

The first question came from CSW president, Mervyn Thomas, who asked: “What international levers are there against Iran that may be used by individual countries, like the UK, or members of IRFBA? Magnitsky-type sanctions?”

Ms Bruce said she agreed “Magnitsky-type sanctions should be used for breaches of freedom of religion or belief much more”. 

“I’m hopeful that we’re on a journey with regard to those sanctions,” she said. “It’s very early days; the legislation was only introduced a few years ago, and obviously there have been some big issues to address with authoritarian countries, in particular regarding the war against Ukraine, and also issues coming out of China. 

“But nonetheless, I think you’re absolutely right, that we need to keep pressing our government and other governments to use these sanctions on issues of FoRB.”

Ms Ghanea acknowledged the disappointment felt towards the UN, but said there are “many obstacles” and that the UN’s hands are “tied in every possible way”. 

“The United Nations Human Rights mechanisms are those of a state-centred system,” she explained. “It is the states that decide them, and if they are not inclusive enough, that is precisely the reason. 

“UN Human Rights mechanisms have some leverage if there is an independent judiciary, if there is a free media, if there is an active civil society; if the victims of human rights violations have access to individual complaints, which Iran has not allowed for any of the UN human rights treaties. There are many ifs there. If there is an independent national human rights institution. We have a national human rights institution in Iran; it is not independent. Is there free access [for] Iranian civil society to report their situation? Are the UN Special Rapporteurs – who, after all, at least we know they are independent – are they able to visit Iran? 

“Again, this game that Iran plays. Iran says that there is a standing invitation for all UN rapporteurs to be able to freely visit Iran. They never allow that visit to actually take place.” 

Ms Ghanea said that when violations against religious minorities were raised in a recent communication to Iran, “the response we got from Iran was a long document with many pictures of spilt blood and bodies from [the terrorist attack on] Shah Cheragh [shrine in Shiraz]. They did not actually respond to the individual communication.” 

She ended by calling for more collaboration, including on resettlement of refugees.

“States should be much more joined up in all of their activities,” she said. “We don’t want resettlement to be the response to religious persecution – people should not be obliged to leave their countries – but sometimes they are forced to. And we need to look at that. 

“And we need to look at all engagement with [Iran] having human rights at its heart. States have various relationships that they need and various issues that they need to have on the agenda, but human rights must be part of it. Magnitsky sanctions are certainly one of those actions. If there are any trade or other agreements raised, if there are prisoner releases; this topic should be on the table the whole time.”

The second question came from Middle East Concern’s Rob Duncan, who asked what options are available for Iranian Christians after they are arrested and released on bail.

Mr Borji said that for many people, waiting for long sentences to be handed out was in itself a “crushing” experience that “not many people can endure”, and therefore many leave the country.

“Facing the prospect of 10 years in prison is not everybody’s cup of tea,” he said, “so many of them end up in transit countries, places like Türkiye, which is a double vulnerability: being forced out of your own home and your own country, and now being in [another] country, [and] stagnant. Many refugees [have] no place to go from there, and many of them actually have expressed that ‘the pressure, the trauma we’re facing here is much more than what we have faced back home’.”

The next question came from another CSW representative, Wael Aleji, who asked: “Is there any psychological support available for victims and their families, and human rights defenders, inside and outside Iran?” 

Mojtaba said his experience “hasn’t been easy” but thanked Mr Borji and Article18 for being a “constant presence” whilst he was in prison, who “became a bridge between us [who] didn’t have any voice, to all the Western churches”.

Mojtaba added that he had also benefited from Article18’s trauma-awareness course, which he said was “really helpful”, but said he knew Mr Borji was limited in terms of resources and “needs a lot of support”. 

However, he added that although many people had offered psychological support, many of those did not have the sufficient experience of Iran, which he said “prevented me from sharing all my emotions, as I didn’t want to be disappointed”.

Mr Borji said he was “glad the word ‘psychological care’ is now [being] brought to our consciousnesses a lot more”, but that “the need is vast, and we do need more organisations to prepare and also offer these services”. 

He added: “What we’ve done for these people – Mojtaba was very gracious – but it’s not enough.”

Ms Ghanea noted that the 22 days in solitary confinement that Mojtaba experienced itself amounted to torture. 

“The Special Rapporteur on torture said a number of years ago that that constitutes torture in and of itself,” she said.

Finally, Iranian-born Anglican vicar Pouya Heidari, who shared that he was also arrested in Iran, asked what can be done to address Christians being charged with political crimes while the Iranian government is “shamelessly saying ‘there is religious freedom in this country and people are exercising it’”.

In response, Ms Ghanea highlighted the work of Ms Bruce and IRFBA, through which 42 different states are “coordinating regularly and brainstorming regularly on how to draw attention [to] and advance the rights of religious or belief minorities, and to advance freedom of belief”.

“One of the newer innovations [of IRFBA] is also to champion prisoners of conscience,” she added.

On top of this, Ms Ghanea suggested that those drawing attention to abuses of the right to religious freedom should also focus on the other rights that are being violated.

“We know that the targeting is on grounds of religion or belief, but alongside that many other human rights are being violated that also deserve attention,” she said.

“We need to be able to communicate these accounts to – if I just look at the United Nations – the Special Rapporteur on the prohibition of torture, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, the Special Rapporteur on cultural rights, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges, the Special Rapporteur on upholding human rights while countering terrorism, because … when we wrote to the government of Iran regarding that case, they talked to us about terrorism. Well, even if you’re countering terrorism, and even if there were religious minorities that were amongst terrorists, they too have human rights. And we still need to uphold human rights, whilst countering terrorism. I know it’s fake, but I’m just saying: even in those instances, there are rights to be upheld.” 

Ms Bruce ended the meeting by reassuring the audience: “I don’t attend these meetings just to listen and then walk away. I always aim to undertake some action as a result.” 

The Special Envoy then pledged two pieces of action: “to have a meeting in the Foreign Office regarding this [report], and to look at how our international alliance can better network support for human rights defenders.

“And let’s see what we can do as an international alliance of 42 countries to draw together that support that’s available, and ensure that, where possible, it may be better resourced.”

A prominent Shia cleric has bemoaned how the younger generation of Iranians are leaving Shia Islam for other faiths, including Christianity, and said he views it as his responsibility to “bring them back”.

Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Javad Alavi Borujerdi, whose grandfather was one of the teachers of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, made the comments as part of a public address to Shia students in the religious city of Qom yesterday.

“Some people who are separating from us [leaving Shia Islam] came to me,” he said. “Among them, some young people have found a very strange desire for Zoroastrianism. Some people have told me that there is a house-church in Qom, and the number of Wahhabis has increased. Some even seem to be becoming Buddhists! These are our problems.

“God knows that the child who went and became a Christian, his responsibility will not be removed from my shoulders. This child is a Shiite. I have to bring him back. I have no right to abandon him. We can’t be complacent that he left!”

The ayatollah also admitted that the perception of the clergy has greatly diminished in modern-day Iran, and queried why.

“Many of these were people who always followed us and were by our side in everything,” he said. “What did we do to the people? Do the young people of the new generation have anything to do with us? We are strangers to them. They follow anyone but us! Why? What happened that we can not attract them anymore? 

“The imam of the mosque used to be the community’s pillar! People would die for him! Even girls who did not wear a full hijab would come to the imam and ask their religious questions. We are now only insisting that this girl fix her hijab, while her original beliefs are gone! Belief is one story; action is another. Belief precedes action, but belief has been damaged. We have a problem in passing this heritage to the next generation.”

Reacting to the comments, Article18’s director, Mansour Borji, said he noted several admissions in the speech: “Admission of the loss of religious credibility and traditional respect for the Muslim clergy, who are disconnected with the younger generation. Also, contrary to state propaganda that blames the declining interest of youth in Islamic observance – i.e. hijab – on the ‘the enemy’, Ayatollah Borujerdi points his finger at the autocratic state of Iran, by admitting that the faithfuls’ sacrifices have been abused. Despite that, the ayatollah fails to see that people can embrace other faiths for personal reasons too, and not just as a social reaction to a corrupt ruling class.”

Although the Iranian regime claims that as many as 95% of Iranians are Shia Muslims, a 2020 survey by a secular Netherlands-based research group found that less than one-third of respondents identified as Shiites, while nearly half said they no longer had any faith, and others said they had converted to other faiths such as Zoroastrianism or Christianity.