Additional Name(s): پروا بهداد
Gender: Female
Perpetrator: Iran
Religion or Belief: Bahá`í
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Date of Detainment: November/14/2022
Current Status: Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Possession of Religious Materials Religious Activity Religious Belief
Nature of Charges: Unknown
Parwa Behdad was detained for her religious belief and activity.
On November 14, 2022, authorities in Isfahan arrested Behdad from her home reportedly in relation to her being Baha'i. Authorities reportedly seized personal belongings as well as religious books.
On December 18, 2022, Behdad was reportedly released on bail.
Photo attributed to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
USCIRF Country Update: Religious Freedom Conditions in Iran September 2023
Zhinoos Forootan | ژینوس فروتن, Tweet, December 19, 2022
"Baha’i Citizen Parwa Behdad Arrested" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"پروا بهداد، شهروند بهائی بازداشت شد" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
Additional Name(s): Elahe Mohammadi, الهه محمدی
Gender: Female
Perpetrator: Iran
Religion or Belief: Unspecified
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Date of Detainment: September/29/2022
Date of Release: January/14/2024
Current Status: Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Reporting on Religious Freedom Conditions or Documenting Religious Freedom Violations Women’s Rights
Nature of Charges: Illegal Assembly Spreading Propaganda & False or Misleading Ideas, Information, or Materials Treason & Sedition
Elaheh Mohammadi was imprisoned for reporting on religious freedom conditions.
On September 29, 2022, authorities arrested Mohammadi in relation to her reporting on the funeral of Mahsa Amini, who died at the hands of morality police for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly. Amini’s funeral sparked the beginning of nationwide protests against the state's policy of mandatory religious veiling. Security forces reportedly attacked the funeral after mourners began shouting slogans against the government and women removed their headscarves.
On October 28, 2022, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and the intelligence agency of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard accused Mohammadi and another journalist of planning to orchestrate nationwide protests with their reporting as agents of foreign intelligence agencies.
In November 2022, a government official revealed that Mohammadi had been charged with "colluding with the intention of acting against national security and propaganda against the state."
On May 29, 2023, the judiciary began Mohammadi's trial.
In October 2023, it was reported that the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Mohammadi to six years in prison for "collaborating with the hostile U.S.," five years in prison for "acting against national security," and one year in prison for "propaganda against the regime." Following appeal, Mohammadi would serve six years in prison as the sentences run concurrently.
On January 14, 2024, Mohammadi was granted temporary release from Evin Prison on bail pending an appeal for her sentence. Iranian state media reports that she is barred from leaving the country.
Related Cases: Niloofar Hamedi, Mahsa Amini
Photo attributed to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
USCIRF Commissioners Susie Gelman and Eric Ueland, Tweet, January 22, 2024
"Iranian Journalists Jailed Over Amini Coverage Granted 'Temporary' Release On Bail" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
"International Sports Press Body Halfheartedly Condemns Jailing Iranian Journalists" IranWire
"Journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi Sentenced to a Combined 25 Years in Prison" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"Journalists Who Reported on Mahsa Jina Amini’s Killing Sentenced to Long Prison Terms" Center for Human Rights in Iran
"Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi sentenced" Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
"Iran Hands Down Prison Terms To Two Journalists Over Amini Coverage" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
"رأی بدوی؛ الهه محمدی و نیلوفر حامدی به احکام سنگین حبس محکوم شدند" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
"The Sham Trials of Two Iranian Women Journalists" Iran Wire
"Iran Charges Two Female Journalists Who Broke Story About Amini's Death" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
"Iran charges female journalists who helped break Amini’s story with being CIA spies" Washington Post
“Journalist Elaheh Mohammadi Arrested” Human Rights News Activists Agency (HRANA)
“اعتراضات سراسری؛ سه شهروند از جمله یک خبرنگار بازداشت شدند” Human Rights News Activists Agency (HRANA)
Nov 10, 2022
Tajikistan’s population is majority Sunni Muslim, with a small Shi’a Muslim community which primarily consists of ethnic Pamiris located in the mountainous eastern part of the country known as the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO). The latest crackdown on civil society in the GBAO followed protests initially sparked in mid-May of this year. Since then, over 200 residents in the GBAO have been arrested and detained, including at least 90 activists. Journalists have been rounded up and Pamiris have been forcibly repatriated from Russia and given lengthy prison sentences.
Religious freedom has declined in Tajikistan since 2009 after the adoption of several highly restrictive laws. In 2011 and 2012, administrative and penal code amendments set new penalties, including large fines and prison terms, for religion-related charges such as organizing or participating in “unapproved” religious meetings. A 2011 law on parental responsibility banned minors from any organized religious activity except for funerals. Since 2012, USCIRF has recommended that the State Department designate Tajikistan as a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, which the State Department has done every year since 2016.
Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and retired Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, Suzanne Levi-Sanchez, joins us today to discuss the persecution of Muslims in Tajikistan and specifically highlights the increasing crackdown on Shi’a Muslims.