The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called on the US government to ensure that religious refugees from Iran are always accepted, as it recommended once again that Iran be re-designated a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom”.

In its latest annual report, released yesterday, the independent, bipartisan commission referenced the cases of several Christians who were arrested, sentenced or imprisoned on account of their faith last year, including Anooshavan Avedian, Yasser Akbari, Hakop Gochumyan, Mina Khajavi, Laleh Saati, and Matthias Ali-Haghnejad.

The report also noted the plight of refugees, including Iranian Christians, in Turkey, and called on the US government to “permanently reauthorise” the Lautenberg Amendment, which aids persecuted Iranian religious minorities seeking refugee status in the United States.

USCIRF noted that Iranian Christian refugees in Turkey have faced the threat of deportation, with Turkish authorities “reportedly denying that deportation to Iran would pose a threat to their safety”. It also noted the long waits for third-country resettlement some refugees in Turkey have experienced, as well as “restrictions on their internal freedom of movement”. 

Article18 has reported on the plight of Iranian Christian refugees in Turkey, as well as in other countries such as Georgia and Sweden, and said there is a “critical need” for new resettlement opportunities and sponsorship programmes.

USCIRF said religious-freedom conditions in Iran “remained poor” last year, particularly for religious minorities and religious dissidents. It also noted that Iran was had the highest number of reported cases of medical neglect, and the third highest number of documented instances of torture.

Article18 has reported on numerous occasions how Christian prisoners have been subjected to psychological and in some instances physical torture, as well as denial of medical care. This month alone, we have reported on the cases of Amir-Ali Minaei, a 31-year-old who was beaten by a prison officer after asking for medical treatment, as well as 63-year-old Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, who was sent back from hospital to Evin Prison just two days after suffering a stroke in his solitary-confinement cell.

“Authorities subjected prisoners detained on religious grounds to torture and severe punishment, including by denying them medical care,” the report noted. “The government also continued to systematically harass, intimidate, and target religious minorities through its arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, forced closure of businesses, destruction of property, and promotion of online hate speech.”

Iran had the third-highest number of individuals on USCIRF’s FoRB Victims List – of documented cases of individuals detained or imprisoned due to their religion or belief – and the commission called for the imposition of targeted sanctions against judges who had presided over FoRB-related cases.