Continued detention and lack of information about the condition of Pedram Abhar, a Baha'i citizen
HRANA News Agency – Pedram Abhar, a Baha’i citizen living in Tehran, is still being held in the detention center of a security institution despite the passage of 9 days since his arrest. Mr. Abhar was arrested by security forces on November 20. During the arrest, the officers searched his father’s house in Shiraz and confiscated some of the family’s personal belongings, as well as pictures, books, and works related to the Baha’i faith. In addition, on December 2, the officers went to his home in Tehran with this Baha’i citizen for an inspection.
According to HRANA, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, Pedram Abhar, a Baha'i citizen living in Tehran, remains in detention and unknown.
Mr. Abhar was arrested by security forces on November 20 and taken to an unknown location. After the arrest, the officers searched his father’s home in Shiraz and confiscated some of his personal belongings, including a residential deed, photo frames and books related to the Baha’i faith, his birth certificate, national ID card, passport, and family members’ cell phones, as well as his laptop and hard drive. The officers then went to his home in Tehran with the Baha’i citizen on December 20 to search it.
According to a friend of Mr. Abhar's family, despite repeated follow-ups by Pedram's family, the Shiraz Prosecutor's Office has not yet given them a clear answer regarding the reasons for their son's arrest and whereabouts. Also, Pedram's family's personal belongings, including family identification documents, are still under the custody of an unknown security agency and have not been returned to them.
Earlier, a source with knowledge of Mr. Abhar told HRANA: “Pedram Abhar left Shiraz for Bushehr at 10 a.m. on Sunday, November 20. While he had stopped briefly to rest in the Arjan Plain, he was surrounded again by three unknown cars before leaving and, after being arrested, was returned to his parents’ home in Shiraz. The officers, who numbered about 13, searched the home of the Baha’i citizen’s family.”
According to this informed source, on December 2, Pedram Abhar was transferred from the detention center of a security institution in Shiraz to the Shiraz Prosecutor's Office.
As of the time of writing this report, no information is available on the reasons for the arrest, the charges brought, the arresting agency, and the location of this citizen's detention.
Pedram Abhar is 37 years old, single, and a Baha'i citizen living in Tehran.
Skylar Thompson, external relations officer for the Human Rights Activists in Iran, said in response to the news: "The organization strongly condemns discriminatory practices against religious minorities in Iran. We call on Iran to take concrete steps to ensure that Iranians, especially Baha'i citizens, can enjoy religious freedoms, including the free exercise of their religious beliefs."
Baha'i citizens in Iran are deprived of freedoms related to religious beliefs. This systematic deprivation occurs despite the fact that, according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of religion and to change their religion with conviction, as well as the freedom to manifest it, either individually or in community with others and in public or in private.
According to unofficial sources, there are more than 300,000 Baha'i citizens in Iran, but the Iranian constitution only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not recognize the Baha'i religion. For this reason, the rights of Baha'is in Iran have been systematically violated over the past years.
Source: HRANA
