The UN’s fact-finding mission (FFM) on Iran says it has only “scratched the surface” in “exposing the structural and institutional discrimination” against religious minorities, and called for the establishment of a follow-up body to investigate these and other rights violations.

Speaking as part of an interactive dialogue at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today, alongside the UN’s Special Rapporteur (SR) on Human Rights in Iran, the FFM’s Viviana Krsticevic said “more investigations into the unaddressed root causes [of religious discrimination were] required”, and that this was “one of the reasons” the FFM was recommending a renewal of its mandate, “as continued scrutiny is essential”.

The head of the FFM, Sara Hossain, added that “the enforcement of discriminatory laws and policies not only enables repression of women and girls” – the focus of the FFM’s mission, in the wake of the death in custody of Mahsa Amini – “but also other groups on grounds of ethnicity, religion and or political belief”. 

“The suppression of these all equally warrant this Council’s attention,” she said. “For this reason … we recommend that the council consider a follow-up body that could continue to investigate the serious human rights concerns already identified and also accompany accountability efforts.” 

“In this way,” she said, the Human Rights Council could “play a vital role in supporting Iranians right to truth, justice and reparations, and crucially, to prevent further cycles of violence”.

Article18 joined over 40 rights groups earlier today in calling for a renewal both of the SR on Iran’s mandate, and also “a complementary international independent investigative mechanism … to follow up on, and build upon, the work of the FFM”.

Ms Krsticevic also called for member states to offer “continued support” to “victims and survivors of persecution” by “supporting them in host countries [through] asylum, humanitarian visas and other support”.

Ms Krsticevic’s comments came in response to questions from the representatives of Australia and Germany, who had asked, respectively, what more could be done to “hold Iran to account … for targeting minority groups”, and how the international community could “contribute to the alleviation of the systematic discrimination against … religious minorities”. 

SR Mai Sato, presenting her first report to the council, highlighted once again how Christian converts are among the groups facing “troubling” religious discrimination in Iran, while concerns regarding freedom of religion or belief or the situation of religious minorities were also raised by the representatives of Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Moldova, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Spain, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

Argentina’s representative called on Iran to guarantee freedom of worship and expression “in the fullest sense” and “for legal provisions that affect these rights negatively to be repealed”, while Italy called on Iran “to take the necessary measures to guarantee religious freedom and to ensure that all individuals are treated equally and [are able to practise] their faith in peace and security”.

Human rights groups including Justice for Iran, Bahai International Community and Minority Rights Group (MRG) also highlighted the persecution of religious minorities, with the MRG spokesperson noting how the FFM had “rightly outlin[ed that] the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities predates and extends beyond the Women, Life, Freedom movement”.

Votes on the potential extensions to the SR and FFM’s mandates will be conducted before the conclusion of the current Human Rights Council session on 4 April.