Constraints on Religious Freedom in Iran Today
On Sunday, December 8, a ceremony was held under the auspices of the Iranian Republicans Association (Washington D.C.) at George Washington University, with the main topic being the state of religious freedom in Iran today. A report from this ceremony.
At the beginning of this ceremony, one minute of silence was observed in honor of those who died in the November 2019 protests. The first speaker of the ceremony was Jack Healey, an American human rights activist known in America as “Mr. Human Rights.” In brief remarks, Jack Healey emphasized that solutions to combating human rights violations should be sought from those who themselves suffer from human rights violations. He encouraged attendees to have great ambitions and work in defense of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a progressive document.
Discrimination Against Sunnis is Institutionalized in Law
Next, Mohammadhassan Hosseini-bar, a Baluch and Sunni activist, spoke harshly about the violation of Sunni rights in Iran. He emphasized that there are no official statistics on the Sunni population in Iran, but it is estimated that approximately one-quarter of Iran’s population is Sunni. Hosseini-bar said that despite the large Sunni population, Sunnis are deprived of the right to be elected to high positions such as supreme leader and presidency. He emphasized that in practice, they have not even allowed a single Sunni minister to be appointed throughout all these years. Even for employment in government institutions, civil service exams include questions about Shiite jurisprudence and velayat-e faqih, and in many institutions, including intelligence and military agencies, the employment of Sunnis is practically forbidden. Hosseini-bar, noting that discrimination is institutionalized in the constitution and statutory laws, said: “According to the constitution, Twelver Shiism is the official religion of the country, and this is unchangeable forever.”
Hosteini-bar continued by saying that Sunnis in Tehran are not permitted to build even one mosque, and Sunnis are encouraged in various ways to change their religion to Shiism. He recalled that a few years ago, the oldest Sunni mosque in Mashhad was demolished overnight, and even an imam who had gone to Afghanistan was assassinated in Herat. Hosseini-bar also mentioned Mullah Fadelrahman Kohei, who officially supported the recent protests of the people and was arrested along with seven of his supporters, and there has been no news of him for two weeks.
Iran Ranks Fifth Among Countries That Persecute Christians
Next in the ceremony, Reverend Farhad Sabk-rouh, who converted from the Sabian Mandean faith to Christianity, spoke. He had a history of arrest and prolonged harassment in Iran, the last time being arrested in 2011 and forced to leave Iran.
Reverend Farhad Sabk-rouh began his remarks by remembering those who died in recent protests and said it is strange that in the 21st century we still need to gather for this reason, as many people in Iran are subjected to harm and persecution simply for their beliefs. He emphasized, what Christian rights should I defend when our compatriots are shedding blood from human rights violations? As a Christian and a member of Iranian society who is myself wounded, what else can we say but that we want this situation to end? Today, many religious minorities have chosen to emigrate from their homeland due to pressure.
Sabk-rouh continued by saying Iran ranks fifth among countries that persecute and mistreat Christians. Citing a long list of those who have lost their lives in Iran because of their belief in Christianity, he said that last year alone more than 170 Christian converts were arrested, and four of them have received definitive death sentences. Many others have been deprived of university education or job promotion.
Reverend Sabk-rouh said many churches, especially Protestant churches, have been shut down. Only churches that worship in Armenian or Assyrian languages are allowed to operate, and the activities of the one or two remaining Persian-language churches are conditional upon the presence of an Intelligence Ministry representative in their prayer sessions. The establishment of house churches and underground churches is also persecuted as action against national security.
Sabk-rouh concluded by saying: “I was continuously interrogated for 17 years, but I have no wish other than peace, security, and freedom for our country, Iran.”
Mohammad Ali Taheri After Years in Prison is Now Under House Arrest
Mehdi Sang-sefidi, a mysticism trainer at Erfan-e Halgheh Circle and one of Mohammad Ali Taheri’s students, was another speaker at this ceremony.
By showing a clip about the situation of this group and Mohammad Ali Taheri, he said that according to government sources, one percent of Iran’s population are followers of Erfan-e Halgheh Circle; a population that has been subjected to suppression for the past ten years with efforts to eliminate their spiritual leader, Mohammad Ali Taheri. Sang-sefidi emphasized that I am here today as the voice of Mohammad Ali Taheri, the Erfan-e Halgheh Circle, and people who strive for opposition to tyranny and seeking justice.
This speaker introduced Mohammad Ali Taheri, the founder of Erfan-e Halgheh Circle, and said that his spiritual discoveries began many years ago and after some time they started public teaching. However, in the 1380s, security forces at the Tharallah headquarters repeatedly arrested, tortured, and eventually imprisoned Taheri, who remained imprisoned until May of this year and is now under house arrest.
Sang-sefidi also emphasized that during this time many of his students were also arrested and tortured, and news agency Hrana has mentioned 300 of them by name, but our estimate is over a thousand. He concluded by saying the era of today is an era of confrontation of ideas, and one cannot wage war against ideas with a sword.
Iranian Society Has Evolved and is Responding to the Persecution of Bahais
Kavyan Sadeghzadeh Milani, a physician and human rights defender of the Bahai faith, was the last speaker of this ceremony. Referring to Article 12 of the Constitution regarding the official religion of the country, he said that even in areas where Sunnis are the majority, religious apartheid and discrimination are common. Milani said that religious apartheid indeed has different layers, and in Article 13, Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian religions are mentioned, but religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism are not mentioned. He also said that in Article 14 of the Constitution, it is stated that the government and people are obliged to treat followers of other religions with justice and fairness, but there is no mention of rights, and justice and fairness are relative concepts subject to interpretation. Milani emphasized that all of this contradicts the principles of human rights and an open, democratic society free from religious persecution.
Milani, referring to the persecution of Bahais at the beginning of the revolution, said: “As a child, my father, who was a leader of the Bahai community, was abducted and no news of him was ever received, and even his body was not handed over to us.” He continued: “At that time, no one from Iran’s intellectual and political society raised their voice, but thankfully today republicans are holding sessions about this. This shows we have evolved, Iranian society has evolved, and perhaps because of the cruelty and wickedness of the Islamic Republic, we have traversed in this speed the path of transformation that Europe took over several centuries.”
Milani concluded his remarks by saying: “The demand of all of us who have suffered persecution from those seeking power in tomorrow’s Iran is that they learn from this period and take responsibility.” He also emphasized that in Iran, many Shiites themselves do not have freedom of speech and expression and are under persecution.
Secularism Bound by Democratic Principles is the Solution to the Problem
At the end of this ceremony, the program moderator read a statement from the Iranian Republicans Association (Washington D.C.) on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. In part of this statement, it stated: “As long as secularism bound by democratic principles is not realized in Iran, the problems of victims of lack of religious freedom in Iran will not be fundamentally solved. Although believers of other religions and esoteric sects are mostly not politically motivated and only want to exercise their rights, the characteristic of the power structure of the Islamic Republic, secularization in society, and the reduction of believing Shiites have made the fulfillment of their rights a practical threat to the regime’s survival.”
The final statement also read: “Therefore, the solution to problems in this field is ultimately political, and we believe that a peaceful transition to democracy based on cultural pluralism can solve problems in the field of religious and ideological freedoms. Therefore, democratic political forces and advocates of religious and cultural tolerance are expected to give greater attention to problems and constraints in the above field in their programs and positions.”
Source: DW
