Jan 26

WHEN:

Jan 26th 2:00pm - Jan 26th 3:30pm

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing

Religious Freedom and Women’s Rights in Iran

Thursday, January 26, 2023
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET
Virtual

Hearing Transcript

Hearing Summary

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) held a virtual hearing on religious freedom and its impact on women’s rights in Iran.

Since the killing of Mahsa Zhina Amini in September 2022, Iranians have participated in months of protest against mandatory religious headscarf laws and other restrictions on religious freedom and other human rights. Iran’s government has responded with violence and the mass arrests of men, women, and children. Women and girls who protested peacefully for their religious freedom have been sexually assaulted, raped, tortured, and killed while detained.

Iranian state violence is worsening in the wake of decades of systematic, egregious, and ongoing religious freedom violations. The government falsely considers Baha’is a “deviant sect” of Islam and has cracked down even more harshly on the community in recent months. Government security forces have opened fire on Sunni worshippers leaving mosque, raided Christmas celebrations, conducted mass arrests of Yarsanis, and issued severe sentences against Gonabadi Sufis. Men who murder women for violating their family honor evade sentences similar to those for other kinds of homicides on religious grounds. Iran also continues to use religion as the basis to target LGBTQI+ people, including sentencing two activists to death in 2022 for their advocacy for lesbian women in Iran.

Iran’s issuance in recent weeks of multiple death sentences on religiously grounded charges of “Enmity against God” and “Corruption on Earth” poses a grave danger to Iranian religious prisoners of conscience and raises credible concerns of mass executions in the months to come. Witnesses identified major religious freedom violations in Iran during the protests and highlighted available policy options for the Joseph R. Biden administration and Congress.

Opening Remarks

Panel I

  • Jennifer Gavito, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iran, Iraq, and Public Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State

Panel II

  • Hon. Javaid Rehman, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Panel III

  • Marjan Keypour Greenblatt, Founder and Director, Alliance of Rights of All Minorities Iran
    Written Testimony
  • Tschika McBean, Human Rights Officer, Baha’is of the United States Office of Public Affairs
    Written Testimony
  • Kate Meyer, Litigation Staff Attorney, International Refugee Assistance Project
    Written Testimony

Witness Biographies

Submitted for the Record

Statement by a Christian Iranian Refugee

This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should register online and can email [email protected] for any questions or to schedule an interview. The video recording of the hearing will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please contact Danielle Ashbahian at [email protected] or (202) 702-2778.