‘End criminalisation of peaceful expression of faith,’ UN rapporteur tells Iran 19 August 2019 News Javaid Rehman (UN Photo/Jean Marc Ferré/Flickr) Iran’s failure to uphold freedom of religion or belief is a central concern of the latest report by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran. Javaid Rehman notes that, as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is obliged to provide its citizens with “freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of their choice, or not to have or adopt a religion, and the freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest their religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching”. He points out that, while Christians are a recognised religious minority, alongside Jews and Zoroastrians, such recognition is not afforded to Muslims who convert to Christianity. “Even for the recognised religious minorities, there is no provision under the legal system of the Islamic Republic of Iran permitting conversions from Islam, which is considered apostasy,” he writes. “This puts Christian converts from Islam at risk of persecution. Apostasy is not codified as an Islamic Penal Code offence, but conversion from Islam is punishable by death.” While in reality it is rare for converts to Christianity to be sentenced to death, Mr Rehman notes that the possibility remains and has precedent in the case of pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who was sentenced to death in 2010. Meanwhile, as converts are “not granted access to officially recognised Christian churches,” Mr Rehman says this “forces them to gather clandestinely in informal ‘house churches’”, attendance of which can lead to “arrests, detention and repeated interrogations about their faith”. “Most Christian converts who have been arrested and detained have been charged with ‘propaganda against the system’, ‘propagation of Zionist evangelical Christianity’ or ‘administering and managing the home churches’,” Mr Rehman adds. He cites the recent example of Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, one of nine Christians arrested in Rasht in early 2019, and also the case of pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, who is facing a ten-year prison sentence, and his wife and son, who were also given prison sentences because of their Christian activities. Mr Rehman adds that converts have been “subjected to sexual abuse and ill treatment” during detention. “One young woman had reportedly been repeatedly subjected to sexual assault by a policeman, leaving her traumatized and requiring treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in a psychiatric hospital,” he writes. “In a separate case, a young male Christian convert detained in Tehran was allegedly hit with wooden sticks and his head banged against a wall.” Mr Rehman’s very first recommendation to the Supreme Leader is an amendment to Article 13 of Iran’s Constitution, such that “all religious minorities and those who do not hold any religious beliefs are recognized and able to fully enjoy the right to freedom of religion or belief”. He calls for amendments to “all articles in the Islamic Penal Code that discriminate on the basis of religious or belief”, and for due process and fair-trial guarantees, “including access to a lawyer of their choosing” to be afforded to all persons accused of a crime. (Matthias and four of his co-defendants recently had their bail amounts increased tenfold after insisting on being allowed to choose their own lawyer.) Mr Rehman also calls on Iran’s government to “refrain from targeting members of recognized and non-recognized religious minorities with national security-related charges”, to “refrain from persecuting peaceful religious gatherings in private homes and other premises, refrain from convicting religious leaders and cease the monitoring of citizens on account of their religious identity”, and to “end the criminalisation of the peaceful expression of faith”. He also wants places of worship for all religious minorities to be opened, including “new churches throughout the country”. Mr Rehman had pledged last month to look into the treatment of Christian converts in Iran “very seriously”, saying he was “personally very concerned” about the issue.
US Vice President ‘appalled’ at sentencing of 62-year-old woman convert 2 August 2019 News (Twitter @VP) US Vice President Mike Pence says he is “appalled” by the one-year jail sentence given to a 62-year-old woman convert to Christianity. Rokhsareh (Mahrokh) Ghanbari was notified of her sentence on Monday, two days after her appearance at a Revolutionary Court in Karaj. She was convicted of “propaganda against the system”. Mr Pence said Mahrokh had been punished “for exercising her freedom to worship”. He added that the “persecution” of people like Mahrokh and pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, who is facing a 10-year prison sentence, were “an affront to religious freedom”. Iran must free Mahrokh Kanbari today. Whether Sunni, Sufi, Baha’i, Jewish or Christian, America will stand up for people of faith in Iran like Marokh and Pastor Bet Tamraz whose persecutions are an affront to religious freedom.— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) August 2, 2019 Mahrokh was arrested just before Christmas 2018 during a raid on her home in Karaj. She was then detained and interrogated from morning until evening for ten days, before being released on bail of 30 million tomans (around $2,500). In January, she was forced to visit an Islamic cleric to receive religious “instruction” and be offered the chance to reconvert to Islam. Victor Bet-Tamraz was arrested during a raid on his home while celebrating Christmas in 2014. He was later charged with “conducting evangelism” and “illegal house-church activities”, and other charges amounting to “acting against national security”, and sentenced to ten years in prison. Victor’s wife, Shamiram Issavi, was later interrogated and charged with “membership of a group with the purpose of disrupting national security” and “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security”, and sentenced to five years in prison. Their son, Ramiel, was then among a group of five Christians arrested during a picnic gathering in Tehran in August 2016. He was later sentenced to four months in prison for “acting against national security” and “organising and establishing house churches”, then released owing to time already served.
Woman convert, 62, sentenced to year in prison 29 July 2019 News (Middle East Concern) A 62-year-old woman convert to Christianity has been sentenced to one year in prison for “propaganda against the system”, reports Middle East Concern. Rokhsareh (Mahrokh) Ghanbari was notified of her sentence today, two days after her appearance at a Revolutionary Court in Karaj. Middle East Concern reported that the judge was “very rude” and “tried to humiliate Mahrokh after she disagreed with him”. Mahrokh was one of five female converts arrested just before Christmas during a raid on her home in Karaj. The names of the other four women have not yet been made public. The officers confiscated several of Mahrokh’s belongings, including her mobile phone, Bibles and other Christian materials. Mahrokh was then detained and interrogated from morning until evening for ten days, before being released on bail of 30 million tomans (around $2,500). Middle East Concern said her treatment caused “distress to family and friends, who thought she would have been shown greater respect on account of her age”. In January, Mahrokh was forced to visit an Islamic cleric to receive religious “instruction” and be offered the chance to reconvert to Islam.
‘Judge of Death’ increases converts’ bail tenfold after they insist on choosing lawyer 26 July 2019 News Mohammad Moghiseh has earned the nickname the ‘Judge of Death’ for his harsh treatment of prisoners of conscience. (Photo: Fars/Ali Khara) Five of the nine converts arrested earlier this year in Rasht had their bail increased tenfold at a court hearing in Tehran on Wednesday, after insisting upon being defended by their own lawyer. The five men – Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, Shahrooz Eslamdoust, Behnam Akhlaghi, Babak Hosseinzadeh and Mehdi Khatibi – wanted Moshgani Farahani to defend them, but Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, who has earned the nickname the “Judge of Death” for his harsh treatment of prisoners of conscience, rejected their choice and demanded they were defended by a lawyer of the court’s choosing. When they refused, Judge Moghiseh increased their bail amount to the equivalent of $130,000 each, and, being unable and unprepared to pay such an amount, they were transferred to Ward 4 of Tehran’s Evin Prison. The other four – Khalil Dehghanpour, Hossein Kadivar, Kamal Naamanian and Mohammad Vafadar – decided to defend themselves and were therefore released on their pre-existing bail (the equivalent of $13,000 each) until their next hearing on Sunday. The nine were arrested during raids on their homes and house-churches in January and February. Seven of them – all except Abdolreza and Shahrooz – were released on bail in March, after posting the equivalent of $13,000 each. Abdolreza and Shahrooz were detained. All nine were charged with “acting against national security” and “promoting Zionist Christianity”. The nine are members of the non-Trinitarian “Church of Iran”, the denomination of the imprisoned pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and his three church members, Zaman (Saheb) Fadaie, Mohammad Ali Mossayebzadeh, and Mohammad Reza Omidi, who are all serving ten-year prison sentences. Yesterday, the vice-chair of the United States International Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Nadine Maenza, called for Pastor Yousef’s immediate release, saying: “The Iranian government has vilified and deprived the basic rights of Pastor Nadarkhani and of many other Iranians simply for exercising their freedom of belief. This must stop. I call on the government of Iran to live up to its commitments to its citizens under international law.” It was a year ago this week that plainclothes security forces violently arrested Pastor Yousef and his fellow church members – Pastor Yousef and his son were both tasered – before taking them away to serve sentences also on charges of “acting against national security” and “promoting Zionist Christianity”.
Convert refused asylum in Germany arrested on return to Tehran 24 July 2019 News (Bild) An Iranian convert to Christianity refused asylum in Germany and deported back to Iran was arrested “immediately” upon her arrival in Tehran, according to German newspaper Bild. Fatemeh Azad, 58, was then reportedly released on bail and is now awaiting trial. Fatemeh’s asylum claim was rejected in early May, even though her lawyers had protested that she could face the death penalty if she returned to Iran. Technically, Iranian law allows for converts to Christianity to be sentenced to death for apostasy, but there have not been many recent examples of this. It is, however, very common for converts to be charged with “actions against national security” and handed prison sentences of between one and 15 years. Bild reports that Fatemeh converted to Christianity in 2015, against the will of her husband, along with her three sons, Payam, Peyman and Pouriya, and that all four fled to Germany in the November of that year. Two of her children have since been granted asylum, according to Bild, but the third has also been threatened with deportation. Amnesty International has asked the German government to review its policy on Iranian converts seeking asylum, in light of the threats facing those who return home. Fatemeh’s lawyer, Christopher Lingau, told Bild that her application was denied “on the grounds that in her interview she was unable to substantiate her commitment to the Christian faith”. But her pastor in Germany, Frank Sattler, said she “regularly attended church services” and that her verbal expression of faith and baptism were sufficient proof of the sincerity of her faith. In an interview with German news site domradio.de, politician Volker Kauder, a member of the governing CDU, said he was “worried that Christians are being sent back to countries where they are persecuted” and added that Germany is not allowed to deport asylum seekers to countries where they could face the death penalty, whether or not their asylum claim is genuine.
Church ban ‘worse than prison’ for woman convert who lost appeal 23 July 2019 News Two months after two converts were told they had lost their appeals against jail sentences for “spreading propaganda against the regime”, it has emerged that one of them has also been banned from all social activities for two years after her release. Fatemeh Bakhtari, who is known as Aylar, will be unable to attend any group meeting of more than two people, effectively cutting her off from gathering with her co-religionists. A local contact of Article18 said this prospect was harder for Aylar than her one-year jail sentence. Aylar was first summoned for interrogation three years ago and threatened that she would be re-arrested if she continued to meet with other converts. But Aylar carried on attending house-church meetings as she “didn’t see anything illegal in gathering with others to worship”. When she was next arrested, Aylar was ridiculed for her faith and threatened. Then during her appearance before the court, the presiding judges, Hassan Babaee and Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, spent more time encouraging her to return to Islam than discussing her alleged crime. She was asked to recant her faith and told that if she did, the charges against her would be dropped. When she refused, the judges told her to expect their verdict in a few days. Four months later, on 18 May, she and her co-defendant, Zaman (Saheb) Fadaie, were notified that their sentences had been upheld. Since then, Aylar has been living with the knowledge that she may be summoned to begin her sentence at any moment. In some instances, this process drags on for years and until that summons, Aylar will live with the prospect of prison hanging over her like a cloud. Zaman is already serving a separate ten-year sentence, issued in July 2017, for forming a “house church” and “promoting Zionist Christianity”. He was taken to serve that sentence in Evin Prison in July 2018, alongside his pastor, Yousef Nadarkhani, and two other members of their Rasht church – Mohammad Ali Mossabayeh and Mohammad Reza Omidi, who are also converts. Nine other members of the Rasht “Church of Iran” group have been arrested this year. In March, seven of them were released on bail, but two were held.
‘Now I know even innocents can be jailed’ – Sevada Aghasar after his conditional release 22 July 2019 News Iranian-Armenian Christian Sevada Aghasar has been granted “conditional release” from prison after serving half of his five-year sentence for “acting against national security through house-church activities”. Sevada was released from Tehran’s Evin Prison yesterday lunchtime and will not have to return providing he upholds the conditions of his release, which will likely mean a prohibition from evangelism. Today, on his Instagram page, Sevada wrote: When I was child, I thought that only criminals and malefactors would be prisoned. Then I got younger and knew that debtors and mistakers would be prisoned too.Now I know that even innocents could be prisoned!! Thank God, I’m free now. The 30-year-old was sentenced to five years in prison in April 2015 at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Karaj, a city near Tehran. After failing with his appeal, he began serving his sentence on 4 July 2017. He had also spent six months in detention following his initial arrest, which counted towards his time served. Sevada was first arrested in August 2013 alongside two Christian friends, Ebrahim Firouzi, with whom he was later sentenced, and Masoud Mirzaei, who was also arrested but later released. Ebrahim, a convert to Christianity, remains in Karaj’s Rajaei Shahr Prison. Late last year his mother, who had been battling ill health for some years, passed away without the opportunity to see her son one last time. In July 2016, Kobra Kamrani, who was 56 when she died, had pleaded with the authorities to release her son to help take care of her, as she had lost her eyesight and also had cancer. But her request was rejected and in December 2018 she died and was buried without her son being able to see her or attend her funeral. Sevada was granted temporary release from prison twice during his time in prison, the second of which came at Easter 2019, when he sang with his church choir on Easter Sunday, as was his custom before his imprisonment, and also celebrated his 30th birthday while on leave. He was also granted one week’s leave in May 2018.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran 18 July 2019 Reports Iran’s failure to uphold freedom of religion or belief is a central concern of the latest report by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran. Javaid Rehman notes that, as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is obliged to provide its citizens with “freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of their choice, or not to have or adopt a religion, and the freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest their religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching”. He points out that, while Christians are a recognised religious minority, alongside Jews and Zoroastrians, such recognition is not afforded to Muslims who convert to Christianity. “Even for the recognised religious minorities, there is no provision under the legal system of the Islamic Republic of Iran permitting conversions from Islam, which is considered apostasy,” he writes. “This puts Christian converts from Islam at risk of persecution. Apostasy is not codified as an Islamic Penal Code offence, but conversion from Islam is punishable by death.” While in reality it is rare for converts to Christianity to be sentenced to death, Mr Rehman notes that the possibility remains and has precedent in the case of pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who was sentenced to death in 2010. Meanwhile, as converts are “not granted access to officially recognised Christian churches,” Mr Rehman says this “forces them to gather clandestinely in informal ‘house churches’”, attendance of which can lead to “arrests, detention and repeated interrogations about their faith”. “Most Christian converts who have been arrested and detained have been charged with ‘propaganda against the system’, ‘propagation of Zionist evangelical Christianity’ or ‘administering and managing the home churches’,” Mr Rehman adds. He cites the recent example of Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, one of nine Christians arrested in Rasht in early 2019, and also the case of pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, who is facing a ten-year prison sentence, and his wife and son, who were also given prison sentences because of their Christian activities. Mr Rehman adds that converts have been “subjected to sexual abuse and ill treatment” during detention. “One young woman had reportedly been repeatedly subjected to sexual assault by a policeman, leaving her traumatized and requiring treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in a psychiatric hospital,” he writes. “In a separate case, a young male Christian convert detained in Tehran was allegedly hit with wooden sticks and his head banged against a wall.” Mr Rehman’s very first recommendation to the Supreme Leader is an amendment to Article 13 of Iran’s Constitution, such that “all religious minorities and those who do not hold any religious beliefs are recognized and able to fully enjoy the right to freedom of religion or belief”. He calls for amendments to “all articles in the Islamic Penal Code that discriminate on the basis of religious or belief”, and for due process and fair-trial guarantees, “including access to a lawyer of their choosing” to be afforded to all persons accused of a crime. (Matthias and four of his co-defendants recently had their bail amounts increased tenfold after insisting on being allowed to choose their own lawyer.) Mr Rehman also calls on Iran’s government to “refrain from targeting members of recognized and non-recognized religious minorities with national security-related charges”, to “refrain from persecuting peaceful religious gatherings in private homes and other premises, refrain from convicting religious leaders and cease the monitoring of citizens on account of their religious identity”, and to “end the criminalisation of the peaceful expression of faith”. He also wants places of worship for all religious minorities to be opened, including “new churches throughout the country”. Mr Rehman had pledged last month to look into the treatment of Christian converts in Iran “very seriously”, saying he was “personally very concerned” about the issue.
Bushehr Christians bailed but could face long jail sentences 18 July 2019 News Left to right: Pooriya Peyma, Fatemeh Talebi, Maryam Falahi, Sam Khosravi, Khatoon Fatolahzadeh, Sasan Khosravi, Marjan Falahi, and Habib Heydari. Eight converts to Christianity arrested in the southwestern city of Bushehr earlier this month have been released on bail but could face lengthy jail sentences. The Christians – including five members of one family – have been charged with “actions against national security”, “gathering and collusion against the state”, and “membership of an illegal organisation” (house church), the maximum sentences for which would be 15 years in prison. They were released on 16 and 17 July after each posting bail of 300 million tomans (around $30,000). The arrests took place at around 9am on Monday 1 July, as officers introducing themselves as agents from the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) stormed the Christians’ homes in a coordinated operation, confiscating Bibles, Christian literature, wooden crosses and pictures carrying Christian symbols, along with laptops, phones, all forms of identity cards, bank cards and other personal belongings. The agents also searched the work offices of at least two Christians and confiscated computer hard drives and security-camera recordings. The officers treated the Christians harshly, even though small children were present during the arrests. The eight Christians are Sam Khosravi, 36, and his wife Maryam Falahi, 35; Sam’s brother Sasan, 35, and his wife Marjan Falahi, 33; Sam and Sasan’s mother, Khatoon Fatolahzadeh, 61; Pooriya Peyma, 27, and his wife Fatemeh Talebi, 27; and Habib Heydari, 38. Khatoon Fatolahzadeh was released on the day of her arrest, due to her age. Her arrest came after six cars carrying security officials turned up outside her home. The Christians were held in solitary confinement in the MOIS office in Bushehr and denied access to lawyers. They were also coerced to confess to their “crimes” on camera. Some associates of the Christians were later summoned for interrogation, then released. It is not yet known whether they also face charges.
Woman convert, 62, due in court next week 18 July 2019 News (Middle East Concern) A 62-year-old woman convert to Christianity arrested shortly before Christmas is due to appear in court next week, reports Middle East Concern. Rokhsareh (Mahrokh) Ghanbari has been summoned to appear at the Revolutionary Court in Karaj next Saturday, 27 July, where she will face charges of “propaganda against the system”. In January, Mahrokh was forced to visit an Islamic cleric to receive religious “instruction” and be offered the chance to revert to Islam. Mahrokh was one of five female converts arrested just before Christmas during a raid on her home in Karaj. The names of the other four women have not yet been made public. The officers confiscated several of Mahrokh’s belongings, including her mobile phone, Bibles and other Christian materials. Mahrokh was then detained and interrogated from morning until evening for ten days, before being released on bail of 30 million tomans (around $2,500). Middle East Concern said her treatment caused “distress to family and friends, who thought she would have been shown greater respect on account of her age”.