US condemns Iran for flogging convert for taking Communion 19 October 2020 News Mohammad Reza (Youhan) Omidi was given 80 lashes on 14 October for drinking wine as part of Communion. The US State Department has condemned the flogging of Iranian convert Mohammad Reza (Youhan) Omidi for drinking Communion wine. Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus tweeted on Friday that the US was “deeply disturbed” by reports of Youhan’s flogging, noting that he had already spent two years in prison because he belonged to a house-church. “We condemn these unjust punishments and urge Iran to allow all Iranians the freedom to practise their beliefs,” Ms Ortagus wrote. Deeply disturbed by reports Iran lashed Mohammad Reza Omidi 80 times for drinking communion wine. He already served two years in prison for belonging to a house church. We condemn these unjust punishments and urge Iran to allow all Iranians the freedom to practice their beliefs.— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) October 16, 2020 Youhan was lashed 80 times on 14 October, a month to the day after he began serving two years in internal exile – another punishment related to his house-church membership. Youhan had received a summons on 10 October from the authorities in his home city of Rasht, more than 1,000km north of his city of exile, ordering him to travel back home at his own expense to receive his lashes. However, when he went to the local authorities in his city of exile, Borazjan, to seek permission to travel back to Rasht, they carried out the lashes then and there. Youhan was sentenced to the 80 lashes in September 2016, alongside two of his fellow house-church members, Mohammad Ali (Yasser) Mossayebzadeh and Zaman (Saheb) Fadaie, by a Rasht civil and revolutionary court which at the same time refused to convict them of “acting against national security” by conducting house-churches. That conviction – and accompanying 10-year sentences – was instead imposed on them, and their pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, a year later by a revolutionary court in Tehran. Youhan’s prison term was later reduced to two years, but Yousef and Saheb remain in prison. This was not Youhan’s first experience of lashes. He was also given 80 lashes in 2013, alongside one other house-church member, for the same reason: they had used wine with Communion. Speaking to BBC Persian, Article18’s advocacy director Mansour Borji called Youhan’s flogging “inhumane and humiliating”, adding that Youhan had also been imprisoned and then sent into exile “solely for his Christian belief”. “Now, as a Christian and just for the performing a religious ritual that all Christians do around the world, he has suffered 80 lashes,” he said. Mr Borji also highlighted the case of fellow converts Sam Khosravi and Maryam Falahi, whose two-year-old adopted daughter Lydia is due to be removed from their care because they are Christians. He called on the international community to “go beyond slogans and not just express concern about the situation of Christian citizens’ rights, but show in practice that this matters to them”. “If they are to make concessions to Iran in economic and trade exchanges, they should make this conditional on the observance of human-rights standards in Iran,” he said.
Iranian convert lashed 80 times for drinking Communion wine 14 October 2020 News Iranian convert Mohammad Reza (Youhan) Omidi was today lashed 80 times for drinking wine as part of Holy Communion. It is illegal for Muslim Iranians to drink alcohol, but exceptions are made for recognised religious minorities, including Christians. However, Iran does not recognise converts as Christians. This lack of recognition is also the reason Youhan spent the last two years in prison and is now living in internal exile – because of his membership of a house-church, which is the only available Christian fellowship for converts in Iran. Youhan began his two-year term in exile in the southwestern city of Borazjan one month ago today. Then, on Saturday 10 October, he received a summons from the authorities in his home city of Rasht, more than 1,000km north of Borazjan, to travel back home at his own expense to receive his lashes. However, when he went to the local authorities in Borazjan to seek permission to travel back to Rasht, they carried out the lashes then and there. Youhan and two of his fellow house-church members, Mohammad Ali (Yasser) Mossayebzadeh and Zaman (Saheb) Fadaie, were sentenced to the 80 lashes in September 2016 – by a Rasht civil and revolutionary court which at the same time refused to convict them of “acting against national security” by conducting house-churches. That conviction – and accompanying 10-year sentences – was instead imposed on them, and their pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, a year later by a revolutionary court in Tehran. This was not Youhan’s first experience of lashes. Youhan was also given 80 lashes in 2013, alongside one other house-church member, for the same reason: they had used wine with Communion. However, on both occasions friends of Youhan say he was grateful for the relative leniency shown him by those carrying out the sentence, after he explained to them that he had not acted with impropriety but had only shared in one cup of wine as an act of worship to God.
Lawyers and activists call on judiciary to overturn ‘illegal’ adoption ruling against converts 13 October 2020 News One hundred and twenty lawyers and activists have written an open letter to the head of the judiciary in Iran, asking him to overturn a court’s decision to remove a two-year-old girl from her adoptive parents because they are Christian converts. Sam Khosravi and his wife Maryam Falahi’s appeal against the ruling, issued in July, was rejected last month, despite the judge in his initial ruling acknowledging that their daughter, Lydia, felt an “intense emotional attachment” to them. The judge also said there was “zero chance” another adoptive family would be found for Lydia, given her chronic health problems. Now, in a letter published by Iran-based Borna and Ensaf news agencies, the signatories have called on the head of the judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, to annul the verdict, which they say goes against both national and international law. As a signatory to the international Convention on the Rights of the Child, they say Iran is duty bound first of all to consider the child’s wellbeing, and that Iran’s own constitution makes no reference to a person’s religion when denoting who is eligible to adopt a child. “The constitution, mother of all laws, in its 19th article explicitly speaks of the equality of all Iranian citizens and nationals, regardless of their race, language, religion, etc., such that belonging to a particular religion can never be a source of superiority or discrimination,” they write. “In particular, regarding the care and protection of abused or unaccompanied children, the constitution pays attention only to human and moral aspects, meaning that any Iranian citizen, regardless of his or her religion, can apply for custody of a child.” “Nowhere in these laws or regulations is there any mention of the religion of the applicant, but, rather, in the first place, being an Iranian citizen and of good moral character is the criterion for eligibility,” they add. They note that Sam and Maryam are “well respected” and “honourable” citizens, who have been found to be of good moral character in their city and also by the state welfare organisation that initially granted them custody of Lydia. In later seeking to remove Lydia from their care, the state welfare organisation acted “illegally”, the signatories write, failing also to take into account Lydia’s serious heart condition and the “love and affection between the child and her parents”. “The duty of the judiciary is to support and realise the individual rights of Iranian citizens and to establish judicial justice,” the signatories conclude, calling on Mr Raisi to “issue an appropriate order to stop the execution of this sentence, and to make a proper ruling to annul any such future sentences, which are against the law and Sharia”. In so doing, they say Mr Raisi will “show the importance of judicial justice in Iran and the realisation of individual rights and the protection of children in society by the judiciary”. You can read the full text of the letter and list of signatories below: Mr Raisi, Honourable Chairman of the Judiciary, Greetings and prayers, Respectfully, citing the third, 19th, 34th, 37th, 38th, 154th, and 156th articles of the constitution. The constitution, mother of all laws, in its 19th article explicitly speaks of the equality of all Iranian citizens and nationals, regardless of their race, language, religion, etc., such that belonging to a particular religion can never be a source of superiority or discrimination. In particular, regarding the care and protection of abused or unaccompanied children, the constitution pays attention only to human and moral aspects, meaning that any Iranian citizen, regardless of his or her religion, can apply for custody of a child from the state welfare organisation. At the same time, the law for the protection of abused and orphaned children exists to support children who either no longer have parents, or whose parents do not have the competence or ability to care for and raise their children. The legislature has set out in this law, and subsequent laws, and explicitly stated that Iranian nationals who are eligible, in terms of having the financial means and moral rectitude, can apply to the state welfare organisation for guardianship of a child. Nowhere in these laws or regulations is there any mention of the religion of the applicant, but, rather, in the first place, being an Iranian citizen of good moral character is the criterion for eligibility. It should also be noted that, according to the 12th and 13th articles of the constitution, those who belong to Iran’s recognised religions [including Christians], as authorised in the constitution, will have no restrictions in this field to prevent them from applying for guardianship of a child – those such as Sam Khosravi and Maryam Falahi, who are honourable Christian citizens of the country. Not only are this couple well respected in [their city of] Bushehr, but they have also, with great moral care, dignity, and humanity, requested custody of a child from the welfare organisation, to which this institution also agreed through its legal procedures. And during the subsequent two years, their adopted child has become their shining light. But, unfortunately, the welfare organisation later filed an illegal request to the court to revoke the couple’s custody of the child. The court for family affairs and later the court for appeals, without considering the rules of jurisprudence, as well as religious and human commonalities, or the health of this child – including a medical certificate outlining her severe heart disease – and regardless of the love and affection created between the child and her parents, has ordered the cancellation of their custody. This ruling has also been issued without considering the need to serve the best interests of the child and his or her health, as obligated by article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, [to which Iran is a signatory] and the rules and principles of law, as well as failing to comply with jurisprudential religious verdicts and principles of child rights. Therefore, considering that the duty of the judiciary is to support and realise the individual rights of Iranian citizens and to establish judicial justice, we ask His Excellency, as the head of this branch, in line with the principles mentioned in the constitution, jurisprudential rules, and the religious verdicts of some senior clerics, to issue an appropriate order to stop the execution of this sentence, and to make a proper ruling to annul any such future sentences, which are against the law and Sharia. Of course, His Excellency’s worthy order will show the importance of judicial justice in Iran and the realisation of individual rights and the protection of children in society by the judiciary. Bahareh Rahnama – ActressSaba Alaleh – Child rights activistHossein Ahmadiniaz – Lawyer, NetherlandsBahar Sahraian – Lawyer, IranMajid Nikouei – Lawyer, TehranGhazaleh Delfan – Civil rights activistRoghayeh Bakhtiari – Lawyer, BushehrAsma Rostamipour – Lawyer, BushehrEsmat Shahpar – Lawyer, BushehrYekta Zarei – Lawyer, BushehrBatoul Kadari – Lawyer, BushehrAyla Alaleh – Civil rights activistIman Nasrollahi – Civil rights activistLida Talebi – Civil rights activistPantea Alaleh – Civil rights activistHamed Ghaznavizadeh – Civil rights activistSaber Solati – Civil rights activistReza Rasouli – Civil rights activistAfsaneh Alaleh – Civil rights activistMahnaz Sababeh – Civil rights activistOmran Farokh Moradi – Lawyer, SanandajMina Amini – Civil rights activistArezoo Abolfazli – Civil rights activistSadegh Alaleh – Civil rights activistGhazal Bohrani – Civil rights activistNavideh Asghari – Civil rights activistMansour Moazami – Civil rights activistElham Zeraat Pisheh – Lawyer, ShirazAzar Sepahyani – Human rights activistAyda Raisi – Child rights activistNahid Moradi – Civil rights activistGoli Ejaghloo – Child rights activistMasoud Ahmadian – Lawyer, TehranZinat Izadi – Lawyer, Fars ProvinceAzam Tajdini – Lawyer, BushehrBabak Zarei – Lawyer, Fars ProvinceSomayeh Asadi – Lawyer, BushehrSaeed Torabi – LawyerNazanin Salari – Lawyer, ShirazAlireza Zare – LawyerSomayeh Eskandari – Lawyer, ArsenjanMehdi Yazdani – LawyerFatemeh Yazdani – LawyerFatemeh Nariman – Lawyer, AhvazGhazal Paymard – Lawyer, ShirazAdel Zarei – Lawyer, Shiraz Amin Farzan – Lawyer, ReyMahnaz Sasanpour – Lawyer, ShirazGhodsieh Ghodsbin – Lawyer, Fars ProvinceMahboobeh Foroogh – Lawyer, ShirazAbdolvahed Najafi – Lawyer, Fars ProvinceMajid Nazerzadeh – Lawyer, BushehrEhsan Hosseini – Lawyer, NourabadSorour Rezaei – LawyerYaser Izadpanah – Lawyer, ShirazYashar Kazemi – Lawyer, TehranSolamaz Nouri – Lawyer, ShirazMohammad Hadi Jafarpoor – Lawyer, ShirazFatemeh Eskandari – Lawyer, Bandar AbbasMahdokht Damghanpoor – LawyerLeili Hosseini Shakib – LawyerFarhid Ahmadi – Lawyer, ShirazSiavash Hadaegh – Lawyer, ShirazBehnaz Adiban – Lawyer, ShirazLeila Shafaie – Lawyer, TehranFarshid Rofoogaran – Lawyer, TehranBehzad Hakimizadeh – Lawyer, SaqqezSiamak Naser – Lawyer, SanandajAmin Moradi – Lawyer, ShirazParisa Dehghani – Lawyer, Fars ProvinceRaheleh Khosravi – Lawyer, Fars ProvinceSoudabeh Farahi – Lawyer, ShirazFarshid Yadollahi – LawyerMarjan Eslami – Lawyer, TehranMasoud Feridoonnejad – Lawyer, ShirazMahboobeh Nasiri – LawyerLeila Bahrami – Civil rights activistLeila Heidari – Lawyer, TehranMaryam Shirzadian – LawyerHaleh Shakeri – LawyerMostafa Khosravi Nejad – Lawyer, DamghanHeidar Rezaei – LawyerPeyman Firouzi – LawyerBehzad Avar – Lawyer, SanandajGhahreman Karimi – Lawyer, KermanshahHossein Komeili Esfahani – LawyerAsa Ebrahimi – Lawyer, ShirazMojtaba Raisi – LawyerMina Dashtbali – Social workerBehnaz Mehrjerdi – Lawyer, TehranAliasghar Ghaferi – LawyerMostafa Hassani – LawyerVahid Salemi – LawyerKourosh Tahery Dadar – Lawyer, ShirazAmir Razmjooie – LawyerMaryam Farahi – Lawyer, ShirazAli Dehghanian – Lawyer, ShirazGholamreza Mahmoudi – Lawyer, Fars ProvinceRoohangiz Salari – Civil rights activistSamaneh Hosseini – Lawyer, ShirazEstareh Ansari – LawyerYasaman Taghipoor – LawyerBabak Zare Lavasani – Lawyer, TehranFatemeh Rezaei – Lawyer, AradanFatemeh Mirzaei – LawyerMandana Ahmadpoor – Lawyer, ShirazHossein Kavian – LawyerMaliheh Jabari – Lawyer, ShirazAndisheh Jafari – Psychologist and child rights activistMohsen Alamdari – Lawyer, ShirazAliasghar Ghafari – Lawyer, ShirazSaeedeh Hosseinzadeh – Lawyer, Bandar AbbasFirouz Rasti – Civil rights activistAli Chahi – LawyerHamid Estakhr – Lawyer, VaraminFatemeh Alaei – LawyerAfshin Parsaei – LawyerMaryam Farahi – LawyerSaeedeh Hosseinzadeh – LawyerHaleh Mousavian, Tehran – Lawyer
Christian convert among women prisoners of conscience to describe ‘white torture’ 8 October 2020 News By Fred Petrossian ‘White Torture’ was written by Narges Mohammadi. Christian convert Mary Mohammadi is among 12 female current and former prisoners of conscience interviewed as part of a new book on “white torture” inside Iran’s prisons. The book, written by Narges Mohammadi, who was yesterday released after over five years in prison, also includes the testimonies of two Baha’is and two Sufi dervishes – other oppressed religious minorities in Iran – and British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. The 12 interviewees highlight the numerous ways in which “white torture” was used against them, including solitary confinement, prolonged interrogations, threats to family members, and lack of access to medical care. The author warns that the effects of these tortures will be lifelong. Christian convert Mary Mohammadi, who served six months in prison for her membership of a house-church and was given another suspended sentence earlier this year for her part in Tehran protests, explained the “terrible” insults she was subjected to, particularly targeting her parents and her Christian faith. “For example, they would call the church a gambling house, or say, ‘Why do you read the Bible? Go read the Qur’an!’” Mary explained. “They would go into the most private corners of my life, which had nothing to do with them at all, and make derogatory remarks. And I couldn’t understand why, when I was interrogated about Christianity, I was blindfolded and made to face the wall – and they would only take it off when I was writing – but then when they wanted to talk to me about personal issues as a woman, I was not blindfolded and made to look at them.” Mary said that some questions they asked her were “very personal, and no-one has the right to question you about them”, and that “after long, heavy interrogations, I cried, I called on Christ, I spoke to Him, and I prayed”. ‘I’d rather be interrogated than left alone in my cell’ One of the most striking elements of the book is the interviewees’ depictions of the immense loneliness they experienced in solitary confinement. Nigara Afsharzadeh, a Turkmen national given a five-year sentence in 2014 for alleged spying, explains how she was reduced to talking to ants. Narges Mohammadi (Twitter @UnitedForNarges) “The cell was silent and there was no sound,” she said. “I scoured the cell just to find something like an ant, and whenever I did, I would talk to it for hours. “When they brought me lunch, I would crush up some rice and throw it on the floor to attract an ant. I just wanted another living thing in my cell! I was overjoyed when a fly came in one time!” Sedigheh Moradi, who has spent several periods in prison for her alleged links to dissident groups, explained how on one occasion she was so happy to be joined in her cell by another prisoner, a Christian woman, that “when she came into the cell and took off her blindfold, I hugged and kissed her”. Baha’i former prisoner of conscience Sima Kiani summed up the sentiment of so many others when she said: “I would rather be interrogated than left alone in a cell.” Rights activist Atena Daemi, who is currently serving a new two-year sentence after already spending five years in prison, explained solitary confinement as “like a closed box” or “a tin which you feel is being pounded outside by a hammer, to crush it”. “All the time, suddenly and without warning, they will open the door with a loud crash,” she said. “They have the power to do whatever they want with you, and you have no power at all.” Threats and deprivations Another pattern in the book is the huge range of different tactics employed by interrogators in an effort to bend the prisoner to their will. The former prisoners explain that during interrogations it became clear that the interrogators weren’t looking so much for information – they said it seemed they already knew everything – but that instead they sought only to demoralise the prisoner so much that they would confess to their alleged crimes and do anything else they wanted. Among the tactics employed are frequent threats to family members. Christian convert Mary Mohammadi said the interrogators frequently insulted her parents and faith. Mahvash Shahriari, another Baha’i citizen who spent 10 years in prison, said the threats made against her husband and son were “the most difficult” aspects of her interrogations. “The interrogator told me that your son comes here twice a week, and this is ‘dangerous’ because there he may have an ‘accident’, or that your husband shouldn’t come because, if he does, he will be arrested and executed immediately for apostasy,” she said. Zahra Zahtabchi, who is serving a 10-year sentence for alleged links with the MKO opposition group, said that when she told her interrogators that her daughters may attend her trial, she was told: “Your sentence is death, so it would be better if they didn’t come.” Meanwhile, Hengameh Shahidi, a journalist and rights activist sentenced in 2018 to 12 years and nine months in prison, explained how one interrogator told her that he loved her, and even waited for her after her release from prison so that he could propose to her. “He promised that if I married him, he would close my case forever,” she said. “My answer was that I was willing to accept any sentence imposed on me provided I never had to see him again.” Some of the tactics were more subtle. Reyhaneh Tabatabaei, another journalist and activist tried three times on charges of “propaganda against the state”, explained that she had been given a war novel to read in prison, which she read seven times, and “later realised how reading this book and imagining scenes of war and killing and death, while in a cell, put more pressure on me”. But others were very obvious. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is on temporary released from prison but still faces the threat of fresh charges, explained how she was denied medical care in prison, including even tablets prescribed for her, and that when prison guards came to bring her food, they would constantly sniff their noses, which put her off her food. Embed from Getty Images Sufi dervish Nazila Nouri, who spent a year in prison, said the toilet in her cell had no door, nor wall to provide you with any semblance of privacy. “The sewage was leaking out, and the cell stunk so much that it made us nauseous,” she said. Resistance and hope Yet despite all they have endured, there is a real message of hope in the book, evidence that any attempts to crush their spirits have failed. “I know that the future of my country will be bright, and that prejudice, hatred and enmity will soon disappear,” Sima Kiani says. Hengameh Shahidi, who has undergone several hunger strikes during her incarceration, said such strikes have provided her and prisoners like her with a way of “showing resistance and protesting against oppression”. So while ‘White Torture’ is a book about pain, it is also a portrayal of hope and resistance. ‘White Torture’ was published in Persian at the end of August. Translations into English, Swedish and German are expected to be finalised later this month.
Reflections on the start of the school year for those deprived of education 5 October 2020 Features By Mary Mohammadi Iranian Christian convert Mary Mohammadi was expelled from university last December, without explanation, on the eve of her English-language exams. Nearly a year on, Mary poetically describes the immense impact of this deprivation of education and how it feels for those like her to see children and students begin another academic year without them. In the land in which I breathe, the month of Mehr, when school begins again, holds no more significance for me any longer than the other 12 months of the year. Mehr, which with each passing year reopens the wounds and tears apart the hearts of those deprived of education – one through poverty, another because of their religious or political beliefs, and still another by prison bars. Whether you’ve been denied entry to school or university, or kicked out, deprivation of education is like life imprisonment or exile that has been issued in absentia, or the verdict of a court case you haven’t even been allowed to read. They torture us in this hell, as if there were no other way to line their pockets. Whether by the gun, the rope, or torture, or just by putting you under so much pressure to tempt you to want to take your own life. But another tool they use that isn’t obvious, and that few people see, is the deprivation of fundamental rights – the bare minimum that enables a person to survive. The one deprived of education soon realises how much more there is to it than the simple lack of presence on a campus, decoration of a wall with a degree, or even just the joy of learning in the classroom. Everything is affected – your work, income, social status, identity, mental health, satisfaction with yourself, your life, your place in society, your independence; and as a woman it’s even harder to remain patient and endure, in a society so opposed to women and femininity, though crying out for them both. You have entered a chain of successive and horrible deprivations. It’s not only the government; your community too – former classmates and friends, who compound the blow by being so ready to take their side. As time goes by and the consequences of your deprivation of education intensify, leading to exclusion from society, they even begin to forget you, as what happened to you fades from their minds. There is nothing to stop you tumbling down the steep slope towards bitterness and longing for revenge, but you know that path only ends in misery.There may have been no bloodshed, or explosive sound; no ugly iron bars like in prison. But this just means that no-one sees you or hears your pain. They don’t kill you instantly, but make you wish for death, instead of fearing it. The deprivation they have prepared for you is so hard, constricting and life-destroying that it is as if you have been nailed to a cross, or buried alive up to your neck, and you have to stay there until you die. Everyone, from the torturer to the spectator, watches for no more than a few minutes, and then the entertainment ends. The spectators don’t even bother to watch you die; they happily leave you and their seats behind, one by one. And you, half-dead, with bloodshot eyes from the pressure and the pain of it all, watch each departure almost inertly, through only the movement of your eyes. You are rejected – from society and from whatever else has life in it. But unbeknown to them, tomorrow will be their turn, they are next in line, and everything that happened to you will happen to them. Your story is repeated, even to the point that eventually it becomes too repetitive for people to take notice of it. This is the sad story of those deprived of education. But with all our tears and wounds, even our lifeless corpse, we can laugh at the coming humiliation and despair of the tyrant, because surely he is doomed to collapse and annihilation. The closer the oppressor and tyrant come to the abyss and their moment of collapse, the more fitful and fruitless their desperate attempts to save themselves become. I don’t seek pity, lamentation, or mourning. I stand here only to expose these unspoken dimensions of oppression, until the day comes when I see the realisation of the inalienable rights of every victim of human rights violations, and celebrate the imminent fall of the oppressor and tyrant, and to purify humanity as soon as possible from this shameful stain of injustice.
UN member states express ‘deep concern’ over Iran’s human rights abuses 1 October 2020 News Forty-seven UN member states signed a joint statement read out at the Human Rights Council in Geneva last week, condemning Iran’s human rights abuses. The statement, read out by the German representative on 25 September, expressed “deep concern” about violations of freedom of expression, association and assembly, as well as lack of fair-trial provisions, ill-treatment of detainees, and the continued use of the death penalty. The 47 countries commended the “unwavering courage” of human rights defenders in Iran, including lawyers, and called for the release of those who have been detained, and of all other prisoners of conscience. The statement also called on Iran to allow the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, access to the country. Mr Rehman, in his latest report, released ahead of this latest session of the Council, called on Iran to “immediately and unconditionally” release all prisoners of conscience, including “those imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief”. He noted the recent removal of the “other religion” category from Iran’s national ID card, which he said “raised fears” that non-recognised religious groups including Christian converts would not be able to obtain an ID unless they were willing to lie about their beliefs. Mr Rehman also called on Iran to “protect the rights of all persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities” and “address all forms of discrimination against them”. He welcomed Iran’s release of as many as 120,000 prisoners at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in February, but noted that the mass release did not include “most human rights defenders, lawyers, dual and foreign nationals, conversationists, religious and ethnic minorities and prisoners of conscience imprisoned on national security charges” – including most Christian prisoners. The rapporteur also called for “prompt, independent and impartial investigations into all acts of violence … including deaths and injuries of protesters and ill-treatment in custody”. Christian convert Fatemeh (Mary) Mohammadi was among the many arrested for taking part in the protests in January following Iran’s admission of guilt in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, and she reported severe mistreatment and abuse at the hands of those who detained her. Mary was later given a suspended prison sentence and lashes for her participation in the protests. Mr Rehman called for the release of all those detained for exercising their “rights to freedom of opinion, expression, association and peaceful assembly” in this way. His report also called on Iran to: Abolish the death penalty.Ensure fair trial provisions, including access to a lawyer of one’s choosing.Release all foreign and dual nationals held on questionable charges.Improve hygiene in prisons to prevent further spread of Covid-19.Protect women and girls against discrimination and inequality.
After years in prison and exile, Ebrahim Firouzi cleared of new charges 29 September 2020 News Iranian Christian convert Ebrahim Firouzi has already spent six years in prison followed by nearly a year in internal exile 1,000 miles from his home. Now, just two days ago, on Sunday 27 September, the 33-year-old was summoned to the local prosecutor’s office to face fresh charges which could have led to another prison sentence of up to six years. The prosecutor, after listening to Ebrahim for just 10 minutes, dismissed the claims against him, but Ebrahim has spoken to Article18 of the dismay he feels at the continuing pressure placed upon him by intelligence agents, even in exile. “The reports by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence was the only ‘evidence’ against me, which was just a bunch of unsubstantiated claims with nothing to support it,” Ebrahim told Article18. Ebrahim had been summoned on new charges of “insulting the sacred”, which carries a maximum five-year custodial sentence, and “propaganda against the state through promoting the Christian faith”, which can be punished with up to a year in prison. This isn’t the first time Ebrahim has faced such charges. His initial 10-month prison sentence, after his arrest way back in 2011, followed charges of “propaganda against the regime, insulting Islamic sacraments, and acting against national security”. He was later acquitted. But when he was re-arrested in March 2013, Ebrahim faced fresh charges of “propaganda against the regime by establishing and organising Christian gatherings” and “having contacts with anti-revolutionary networks outside Iran”, which resulted in a one-year prison sentence, followed by two years in exile. Then, when it came to be time for Ebrahim’s release, in January 2015, instead of being sent into exile, Ebrahim was retried on new charges of “gathering and collusion” and “actions against national security”, which resulted in a fresh five-year sentence. When eventually Ebrahim was released from prison, in October last year, he was given just two weeks at home before being sent into exile. Then, when he travelled back home from exile to sort out some family affairs – related to his mother’s death while he was in prison – Ebrahim’s exile was extended by an additional 11 months. He is still not set to attain his freedom for another two years, but intelligence agents continue to harass him and seek to condemn him to yet further punishments. Why the new charges? “They accused me of ‘insulting the sacred’,” Ebrahim explained to Article18, “but I asked whether there was any shred of evidence to prove this, or any report by the locals to back this up. “Since my first arrest and trial, the charge of ‘insulting the sacred’ has been automatically brought against me, but in all my previous trials I have been acquitted from this charge as there has never been any evidence to support the claim.” Ebrahim also challenged what evidence the intelligence agents had brought to the prosecutor to charge him with “propaganda against the state”. Again, there seemed to be none. The prosecutor then quizzed Ebrahim on why he had contacted “foreign” media outlets such as Article18, to which Ebrahim responded that he had a right to freedom of speech and that he had not been given the opportunity to tell his version of events to any national media outlets. Ebrahim was then asked why a handful of Bibles had been posted to him, to which he responded that he had not ordered the Bibles and could not be held accountable for someone else’s actions in sending them to him. “Wasn’t this a question for the sender?” he asked. Ebrahim finally explained to the prosecutor that even though he had now spent seven years in imprisonment and exile, he had never acted against the law – neither in prison or exile – but had been constantly harassed by intelligence agents, even in exile. He added that he had been advised by his pastor to use his time in exile for personal growth through online theological studies, but that now his laptop and mobile phone had been confiscated from him and therefore he had been deprived even of this opportunity. The prosecutor responded that the contents of his devices would be investigated and may then be returned in a couple of months, depending on the results of the investigation. Finally, the prosecutor dismissed the case against Ebrahim and advised him against any further evangelism or promotion of the Christian faith.
Remembering Ravanbakhsh, the ‘soul giver’ 28 September 2020 Features At 6am on 28 September 1996, Christian convert Mohammad Bagher Yusefi (known as “Ravanbakhsh”, or “soul giver”) left his home in Sari, northern Iran, at his wife Akhtar’s request, to buy some bread. He’d agreed to return home soon afterwards to take the children – Ramsina (10), and Stephen (7) – to school, as he often did. But on this occasion, the 32-year-old never returned home. Instead, an hour after leaving, he called his wife and said just one short sentence: “Take care of yourself and the children.” And then the phone cut off. Ravanbakhsh with his wife Akhtar and children Ramsina and Stephen. The next time Akhtar received a call, it was from the local authorities, at around 4pm the same day, telling her that her husband had had an “accident”. “I said to myself that his car is still at home,” Akhtar recalled in a conversation with Article18. “So how could he have been in an accident?” When she arrived at the courthouse, Akhtar was told that her husband had committed suicide – his body had been found hanging from a tree a long way from their home – and was presented with a note that read: “I have a family problem and am unhappy with life and want to commit suicide.” “They didn’t even give us the note,” Akhtar said. “The only held it up for a moment.” Akhtar says she knew it was “impossible” that her husband had committed suicide, but in the days that followed both she and her mother-in-law, who she says “loved me very much”, were put under intense pressure to give their signatures to pre-written statements acknowledging that Ravanbakhsh had taken his own life. And, under pressure, they did. “My mother-in-law was worried that I might be accused of apostasy,” Akhtar recalls. Akhtar adds that she was further pressured to say that she and Ravanbakhsh had had an argument and that he had left in a rage and committed suicide.“I said that I wouldn’t accept such a thing even if you took my life!” she said. When Akhtar refused to do this, her husband’s family was told they should sue her. “Every effort was made to make us accept it was a suicide,” Akhtar explained. But there were few who really believed it, and Amnesty International later included Ravanbakhsh’s death in its 1997 report on “unlawful state killings” by the Iranian regime. A pattern Ravanbakhsh wasn’t the first Iranian Christian to die in suspicious circumstances after the 1979 revolution. Just eight days after the birth of the Islamic Republic, Rev Arastoo Sayyah was murdered in his church office in Shiraz. A year later, Bahram Dehqani-Tafti, the only son of the first ethnic Persian Anglican bishop, was driven to a remote area near Tehran’s Evin Prison and shot dead. His father had previously survived an assassination attempt, and his secretary was later also shot. In 1990, Hossein Soodmand, who Akhtar describes as “like a father” to her, was hanged for apostasy and remains the only Iranian Christian officially killed on such a charge. Then, in the space of six months in 1994, first Iranian-Armenian pastor Haik Hovsepian and then Rev Mehdi Dibaj and Rev Tateos Michaelian were found dead following their own “accidents”. Ravanbakhsh (far left) pictured alongside other Assemblies of God leaders, including Hossein Soodmand (bottom row, second left) and Haik Hovsepian (in the red shirt). Both Rev Hovsepian and Rev Dibaj had been very significant figures in Ravanbakhsh and Akhtar’s lives. Ravanbakhsh was ordained by Rev Hovsepian and later pastored his old church in Gorgan. The couple had even moved into his old house at first, before being ordered not to live there. Meanwhile, when Rev Dibaj was in prison, it had been Ravanbakhsh and Akhtar that had looked after his two sons – they lived with them for six years – and it was to their house that he would come when given any leave from prison. So, needless to say, when Akhtar was told her husband had committed suicide, she had good reason to believe there may be another explanation. Remembering Ravanbakhsh Akhtar describes her husband as “a very good and faithful man” and keen evangelist – the reason for his nickname. “I married him because of his faith,” she said. The couple had gotten to know each other at the Garden of Sharon in Karaj, a Christian retreat centre later confiscated by the Executive Headquarters of Iman’s Directive (EIKO), an organisation under the direct stewardship of Iran’s Supreme Leader. Akhtar describes Ravanbakhsh, who became a Christian at the age of 24 after accidentally coming across a Christian radio broadcast, as a simple man with simple tastes, and recalls how he had to hire a suit, trousers and shoes for their wedding. “Our wedding ceremony was very simple,” she added. She also says he was “very obedient” in his role as a church leader, serving Gorgan, Sari and the surrounding area. “My husband was a very good man, and very obedient to the church and its pastors,” Akhtar said. The day before his death, Ravanbakhsh and Akhtar had been with some church members on a day trip, but she recalls her husband seeming “very worried”. “He didn’t say anything when I asked, but I felt that he had been summoned again for questioning,” Akhtar recalled. “When we came back home, before going to sleep he said that he had to go out early in the morning to pray and meet someone.” Ravanbakhsh had been taken for interrogation several times before, including just a week after the two converts had married, so when he went missing, Akhtar naturally “thought he must have been taken in for questioning again”. But this time, the reality was even harder to compute. Life after Ravanbakhsh Akhtar was prevented from leaving Iran for four years after her husband’s death – an exit ban was placed against her name. But in 2000, she and the children managed to leave the country for South Korea, where they lived in a village near Seoul for three years, ministering to Iranian Christians there. Then in 2003, the family relocated to Canada, where they still reside. Akhtar with her children, Steve and Ramsina. For seven years, Akhtar went on annual trips to Afghanistan with a Christian organisation that valued her Persian tongue. But she explained that her ministry to this organisation came to an abrupt halt in 2014 when the leader of the group, a South African, and his two children were killed by the Taliban. “After the assassination, I still wanted to go to Afghanistan,” Akhtar explained, recalling this latest tragedy to cross her path. “But my children were alone in Canada, and I was worried that if something happened to me, they would be left homeless.” https://www.facebook.com/danielkbli/posts/10157340452676751
Victor Bet-Tamraz reflects on 10-year sentence that forced him out of Iran 25 September 2020 Features Iranian-Assyrian pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz has spoken exclusively to Article18 about how his years of service to the Church in Iran ultimately led to a 10-year prison sentence that forced him out of the country. In the 30-minute video interview, Pastor Victor says leaving Iran was the “hardest decision of my life” and one he was “forced to take”. The pastor, who began working with the legally recognised Assyrian Pentecostal Church in 1975, fled Iran last month with his wife Shamiram Issavi after they were informed their appeals against a combined 15 years in prison had been rejected. In the wide-ranging interview, the pastor describes his arrest on 26 December 2014, as he celebrated Christmas with his family and other Christian friends, and how he was then held for 65 days in solitary confinement. The Iranian state media later claimed he had never even seen the colour of the prison walls – to which Pastor Victor responds: “Indeed I didn’t see the colour of the prison! They are right! Because I always had to wear a blindfold over my eyes!” The pastor also explains the conditions of his confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison: “Inside Ward 209, which is a famous ward for political prisoners – and my case was considered completely a political and ‘security’-related case. It seems Christianity, or at least Protestantism, is considered fundamentally political! – you are inside a cell that is 2.2 metres long, 1.5 metres wide, and 4 metres high. “The lights are constantly on for 24 hours. The light on the door is on, the light on the wall behind you is on, the light in the hallway is on, and ‘Quran Radio’ is on for 24 hours.” Pastor Victor says he was forced to ask before they would let him visit the toilet – and that they would make him wait before allowing him to go – and that when he became very unwell and couldn’t sleep for eight nights, it was only on the last of these nights that they finally allowed him to see a doctor. When eventually he was released and later convicted of “actions against national security”, Pastor Victor says it “hurt to know you haven’t committed any crime, nor made any particular mistake, and that your only crime is that you love Christ and worship God, and that this is a crime for Christians in Iran”. ‘A game for the cat, but death for the mouse’ The pastor also explains the “very difficult time” he and Shamiram endured in the following three years after his 2017 sentencing – Shamiram was later sentenced in January 2018 – as their appeals dragged on and on. “It was a very difficult time, all this waiting,” he says. “There were usually three or four appeal hearings scheduled each year, and when they announced the date – two months before each hearing – your worrying started and you no longer had peace of mind, because you didn’t know what would happen. “Then there is the hearing itself, when it is just you and the judge. There is no one else. The lawyer is with you, but they [the judges] don’t listen to anyone anyway. It seems they have already decided. It’s just a game. You come and go. But when this game is over, that’s the hard part. “There is a saying in Persian: ‘It’s a game for a cat, but death for the mouse.’ You experience this death several times during each year – at least three or four times – so in three years, if you add it up, we experienced this 12 times!” Pastor Victor then explains his and Shamiram’s “extremely difficult” decision to leave: “I didn’t want to leave Iran at all. If they gave me two years, three years in prison, I would have endured it. But they issued the verdict very late, and I am almost 66 years old now. You can imagine, if I would go to prison now, I would go in alive, but most likely I wouldn’t come out alive.” “But leaving Iran was the hardest journey I’ve ever made,” he adds. “You can’t easily leave your homeland, where you grew up. The hardest part of a person’s life is leaving his homeland. Your homeland is where you belong. My ‘belongings’ weren’t a house, a car, or the streets. My ‘belongings’ were the people I served for 45 years all over the country. It was love, it was affection, it was hope, it was life; it was sitting at each other’s tables.“Being separated from these dear people is extremely difficult. I think every Iranian who has had these experiences knows what pain it causes in the hearts of human beings. It was the hardest decision of my life, and one I was forced to take.” The pastor concludes by saying that while now “the types of pressures and stresses that we felt for so long are no longer there, still our first week [outside Iran] was really hard. “There were a lot of memories: hope, picturing the eyes of the people you said goodbye to, the people whose absence is hard and won’t allow you to be very comfortable here. It’s true that you have no problem physically, but mentally you are somewhere else; those ‘belongings’ I talked about are somewhere else: they can never be left or forgotten. We hope to see them again one day.”
Christian converts’ adopted child to be removed from their care 24 September 2020 News Lydia was just three months old when she was adopted by Iranian Christian converts Sam Khosravi and wife Maryam Falahi. Now, just one month before her second birthday, a court has ruled she must be taken away from them, as Sam and Maryam – who are currently appealing against convictions related to their membership of a house-church – are “not fit” to be her parents. The ruling, handed down by a court in their home city of Bushehr, southwestern Iran, on 19 July but not reported until now, was upheld by a court of appeal on Tuesday, 22 September, despite the judge in his initial verdict acknowledging that Lydia felt an “intense emotional attachment” to her adoptive parents and saying there was “zero chance” another adoptive family would be found for her, given Lydia’s health problems. It is now anticipated that Iran’s State and Welfare Organisation will seek to remove Lydia from Sam and Maryam’s care as soon as they are made aware of the failed appeal. And it is with the state, Sam and Maryam fear, that Lydia is likely to remain. Indeed, in his initial verdict Judge Muhammad Hassan Dashti acknowledged that Lydia faced an “uncertain future” and may spent “the rest of her life” in state care. But that didn’t prevent him from ruling against Lydia’s adoptive parents – and for one reason: they are Christian converts, and Lydia, though her parentage is not known, is considered a Muslim, and as such by law ought only to be cared for by Muslim parents. Sam and Maryam maintain that they were always clear about their conversion to Christianity; however, the judge ruled that Lydia – a nominally “Muslim” child – should never have been placed in their care. This fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, one of the most senior clerics in Iran, declares Sam and Lydia’s adoption “permissible”. In seeking to overturn the verdict, the couple’s lawyer managed to obtain two fatwas from Grand Ayatollahs – the most senior Shia Islamic authority in Iran – declaring that, owing to the “critical nature” of the case, poor health of the child and undisputed emotional attachment with her parents, Lydia’s adoption by Christian converts was “permissible”. But the appeal court judges, in their short ruling, made no reference to the fatwas and only declared that they were upholding the ruling as they had not been presented with any “specific or reasonable evidence” to overturn it. In his initial ruling, Judge Dashti was clearly sympathetic, noting that “in 13 years of marriage, [Sam and Maryam] didn’t have a child to bring light and warmth to their home”, as well as bemoaning Lydia’s “uncertain future” and strong bond with her parents. Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, explained that the wording the judge used indicated that his hands were tied. “The verdict clearly demonstrates the unwillingness of the judge to hand down this sentence,” he said, “and that he was coerced by the representative of the Ministry of Intelligence. It is another clear example of the lack of independence of the judiciary in cases involving Christians.” What now? The decision is a crushing blow to Sam and Maryam, for whom Lydia fulfilled a long-held dream, having been unable to have a child of their own. This fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Yousef Saanei declared that not only was the adoption “permissible” but that when Lydia grew up, she ought to have the right to choose her own faith. And the initial ruling came less than a month after Sam was sentenced to a year in prison, followed by two year’s internal exile, for “propaganda against the state” – related to the couple’s membership of a house-church – while both Sam and Maryam were also banned from employment within their specialist professions. Maryam has been a nurse for 20 years, while Sam works in the hospitality sector, but if their appeals fail, Maryam will no longer permitted to work for any national institution – including the hospital she has served for 20 years – while Sam will not permitted to work within the hospitality sector during his time in exile. Maryam was also fined 8 million tomans (around $400) – equivalent to four months’ salary for the average Iranian. Sam’s brother Sasan and his wife Marjan, who is Maryam’s sister, received similar sentences, as did three other converts. L to R: Pooriya Peyma, Fatemeh Talebi, Maryam Falahi, Sam Khosravi, Habib Heydari, Sasan Khosravi, Marjan Falahi. In his ruling, the judge named some of the Christian literature that had been confiscated from the converts’ homes, including copies of “Who is Jesus” and “Getting to know the Bible”. Article18’s Mansour Borji commented at the time: “Condemning these people to prison because of their possession of Bibles and Christian symbols is a clear demonstration that Iran’s Foreign Minister and others aren’t telling the truth when they say that ‘no-one is put in prison in Iran simply because of their beliefs’. “These people have done nothing that could be construed as ‘propaganda against the state’ or ‘acting against national security’, but nevertheless they have been treated so unjustly. The international community must hold Iran to account for this miscarriage of justice, and many others like it.”