USCIRF Condemns Severe Medical Mistreatment of Imprisoned Gonabadi Sufi in Iran

USCIRF Condemns Severe Medical Mistreatment of Imprisoned Gonabadi Sufi in Iran

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is concerned by reports that Iranian officials are denying needed medical care to Farzaneh Gharehassanlou, a Gonabadi Sufi jailed at Vakilbad prison in Mashhad. Gharehassanlou is on hunger strike in protest of Iranian authorities’ severe medical mistreatment of her and fellow prisoners, including those who peacefully protested mandatory hijab laws and other restrictions on freedom of religion or belief.

“Iranian authorities’ mistreatment Ms. Gharehassanlou and others imprisoned for peacefully asserting their freedom of religion or belief is abhorrent,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Eric Ueland. “The U.S. government should lead international efforts to legally document and analyze evidence of this systematic abuse, which has included withholding medicine, drugging prisoners, and institutionalizing women who protested against mandatory hijab laws in psychiatric hospitals.”

In November 2022, local authorities in Karaj arrested Ms. Gharehassanlou and her husband, Dr. Hamid Gharehassanlou—both Gonabadi Sufis—after they had participated in an event commemorating the murder of a young woman killed by security forces while protesting the state killing of Mahsa Zhina Amini. Authorities later falsely accused Ms. and Dr. Gharehassanlou of involvement in the killing of a member of a state-backed paramilitary force. During interrogations, both were reportedly tortured into confessing to religiously grounded charges including “Corruption on Earth.” Gharehassanlou, a healthcare worker herself, is reportedly experiencing complete sensory loss on the left side of her body as a result of medical mistreatment by Iranian prison authorities.

“Iran’s systematic medical mistreatment of religious prisoners of conscience is a moral outrage and its perpetrators must be held to account,” said USCIRF Commissioner Susie Gelman. “The Biden administration must fully implement the newly passed Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act or the MAHSA Act, imposing targeted sanctions on top regime officials and key entities responsible for gross human rights violations against incarcerated religious minorities in Iran.”

USCIRF has previously called for accountability for the Iranian government’s religious freedom violations, and reported in September 2023 on the regime’s use of medical mistreatment against prisoners detained on the basis of their religious beliefs. In April 2023 USCIRF also reported on the Iranian government’s systematic use of sexual and gender based violence against religious prisoners of conscience that in many cases resulted in hospitalization. In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the State Department again designate Iran a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, for systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. The State Department has repeatedly designated Iran as a CPC, most recently in December 2023.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].