Continued Detention and No Information About the Condition of Pedram Abhar, Bahai Citizen
Hrana News Agency – Pedram Abhar, a Bahai citizen residing in Tehran, remains detained in a security institution despite nine days having passed since his arrest. Mr. Abhar was detained by security forces on November 30. During the arrest, officials conducted a search of his father’s house in Shiraz and confiscated some personal belongings of this family as well as images, books and works related to the Bahai faith, taking them away. Furthermore, officials visited his residence in Tehran on December 2 along with this Bahai citizen for inspection.
According to Hrana News Agency, the news organ of the Iranian Human Rights Activists Movement, Pedram Abhar, a Bahai citizen residing in Tehran, remains in detention with no information available.
Mr. Abhar was detained by security forces on November 30 and transferred to an unknown location. After the arrest, officials conducted a search of his father’s house in Shiraz and confiscated some personal belongings including a residential property deed, photo frames and books related to the Bahai faith, identity card, national ID card, passport and mobile phones of family members, as well as this citizen’s laptop and hard drive. Officials then visited his residence in Tehran on December 2 along with this Bahai citizen for inspection.
According to one of Mr. Abhar’s family friends, despite repeated follow-ups by Pedram’s family, the Shiraz Prosecutor’s Office has not provided a clear response regarding the reasons for the arrest and the location where their son is being held. Additionally, the family’s personal belongings including family identification documents remain under the custody of an unidentified security institution and have not been returned to them.
Previously, an informed source told Hrana regarding Mr. Abhar: Pedram Abhar left Shiraz at 10 a.m. on Sunday, November 30, heading to Bushehr. While he had stopped briefly at Dasht-e Arjan to rest, before moving again he was surrounded by 3 unknown vehicles and after arrest was taken back to his parents’ house in Shiraz. The officials, numbering approximately 13 people, searched the house of this Bahai citizen’s family.
According to this informed source, on December 1, Pedram Abhar was transferred from a security institution’s detention center in Shiraz to the Shiraz Prosecutor’s Office.
As of the time of filing this report, no information is available regarding the reasons for arrest, charges, the detaining institution, and the location of this citizen’s detention.
Pedram Abhar is 37 years old, single, and a Bahai citizen residing in Tehran.
Skyler Thompson, director of external relations of the Iranian Human Rights Activists Movement, said regarding this news: This organization strongly condemns discriminatory practices against religious minorities in Iran. We call on Iran to take specific steps to ensure that Iranians, particularly Bahai citizens, can enjoy religious freedoms, including the free exercise of their chosen religious practices.
Bahai citizens in Iran are deprived of freedoms related to religious beliefs, this systematic deprivation occurring while under Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance, either individually or in community with others and in public or in private.
Based on unofficial sources in Iran, there are more than 300,000 Bahai citizens, but Iran’s constitution only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism officially and does not recognize the Bahai religion. For this reason, the rights of Bahais in Iran have been systematically violated over the years.
Source: Hrana
