UN Secretary-General's Report on Persistent Discrimination Against Religious Minorities
In his latest report, the United Nations Secretary-General reported the continued discrimination against religious minorities by the Islamic Republic.
The UN Secretary-General presented his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, June 18, 2020, detailing the continuing repression and discrimination against religious and denominational minorities, particularly Christians. In the report, the UN Secretary-General called on the Islamic Republic to protect the rights of religious minorities and end all forms of discrimination against them without delay.
Nada al-Nashif, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented the report and, at the UN Human Rights Council meeting, expressed concern about the escalating conflict between the Islamic Republic and Israel and called for an immediate reduction in tensions.
He reiterated his concern, noting that Israeli attacks in densely populated areas and reports of civilian casualties had occurred, and added: "Thousands of residents of parts of Tehran have fled their homes due to warnings covering large areas. It is essential that both sides fully comply with international law, particularly regarding the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure in densely populated areas, and I call on all influential parties to prioritize negotiations."
In another part of its report, NADA also referred to numerous cases of repression of Christians, including the arrest of three Christian citizens named "Jahangir Alikhani", "Hamed Malamiri" and "Gholam Ishaqi", adding: "These citizens are among the Christians who were arrested by the Islamic Republic's security forces during raids in Nowshahr and Chalus on October 2 and 3, 1403. These individuals had previous arrests and were subjected to lengthy interrogations and pressure to deny their faith. They were tried on November 17, 1403 and released on bail after a while. Javad Amini and his wife Farzaneh Ahmadi are also among the other converts who were arrested in these raids and subjected to severe interrogations."
In his report, he again referred to the arrest of over 40 Christians on January 6, 1403, who were arrested by security agents at two separate gatherings to celebrate Christmas.
The Christian organization "Article 18" also issued a statement in this regard, referring to the military conflicts between the Islamic Republic and Israel, and wrote: "We express our sympathy to all civilians in Iran, Israel, and throughout the region whose lives have been disrupted by violence that they neither chose nor played a role in." In the aforementioned statement, Article 18 called for refraining from attacking civilian infrastructure and for Christians and other religious minorities, who have been oppressed and persecuted by the regime for years, to be able to exercise their rights in the future and after the conflicts end.
