Aug 4, 2022

USCIRF Condemns Crackdown on Religious Minorities in Iran

Washington, D.C. – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today condemned the Iranian government’s increased crackdown on religious minorities in the country.

In recent weeks, Iran has arrested scores of Baha’is and raided their homes and destroyed Baha’i houses in Mazandaran province. In addition, Iranian authorities have escalated their targeting of women who do not conform to the government’s endorsed version of Islam, arresting those who refuse to wear full religious head coverings and banning them from public facilities. The government has also arrested women who have peacefully protested these religious edicts.

“Iran’s government cannot create stability and security by targeting vulnerable religious minorities and peaceful dissenters, yet it continues these appalling violations of religious freedom,” said USCIRF Commissioner Sharon Kleinbaum. "We urge the U.S. government to forcefully and publicly call out Iranian authorities for persecuting Iran’s Baha’i community and for using religion as the basis to restrict women’s freedom of religion or belief by forcing a religious practice that is a matter of individual choice under international law.”

The Iranian government considers the Baha’i faith a “deviant sect of Islam” and has targeted the community for decades. Earlier this year, Iran’s courts sentenced Baha’is on spurious national security charges, forcing eight Baha’is to attend “counseling sessions” in prison to pressure them to convert. The Ministry of Intelligence has accused Baha’is of “infiltrating educational environments,” and Iran’s government engages in systematic misinformation campaigns against the Baha’i community.

In early July, Iran’s government announced a campaign against women not wearing what authorities deem proper religious head coverings. Iran has arrested several women who peacefully protested forced religious dress, and accused others of dancing in public. At the Behesht Zahra cemetery in Tehran, authorities removed 98 headstones depicting women without the religious head covering.

“The world cannot watch passively as Iran uses religion as a pretext to harm minorities and women,” said USCIRF Commissioner Eric Ueland. “We call on the Biden administration to work with the International Religious Freedom and Belief Alliance to coordinate multilateral pressure on Iran to end its decades-long persecution of Baha'is. Furthermore, Congress should pass H.Res.744 and S.Res.183, bipartisan bills condemning Iran’s persecution of the Baha’i community.”

In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. State Department designate Iran as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. USCIRF recently published a country update on religious freedom conditions in Iran so far in 2022, held a hearing on “State-Sanctioned Religious Freedom Violations and Coercion by Saudi Arabia and Iran,” highlighted the situation for religious prisoners of conscience in Iran on an episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, and published a report on Religious Propaganda in Iran.

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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].

Additional Name(s): Lorang Tsering, བློ་བཟང་ཚེ་རིང་, 洛桑次仁(音), 罗让才让

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: China

Ethnic Group: Tibetan

Religion or Belief: Buddhist – Tibetan

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Sentence: 10 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: August//2012

Date of Sentencing: January/31/2013

Current Status: Unknown

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Reporting on Religious Freedom Conditions or Documenting Religious Freedom Violations

Nature of Charges: Murder & Attempted Murder

Lobsang Tsering

Extra Bio Info:

Lobsang Tsering was imprisoned for sending information about self-immolations.

In August 2012, Chinese authorities arrested Tsering and his uncle Kirti Monastery monk Lobsang Konchog after they were suspected of “passing on information to exiles in India” about Tibetans who had self-immolated. Police accused the two of “instigating” eight Tibetans to set themselves on fire that later reportedly resulted in three deaths.

On January 31, 2013, the Aba Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Tsering to 10 years in prison for “intentional homicide” in relation to the self-immolations.

Lobsang's sentence should have ended in August 2022.

Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA) advocates for Tsering as part of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission's Defending Freedoms Project.

Related Cases: Lobsang Konchog

Sources:

Additional Name(s): Fariba Kamal Abadi, فریبا کمال‌آبادی

Gender: Female

Current Location: Evin Prison, Tehran

Perpetrator: Iran

Ethnic Group: Fars

Religion or Belief: Bahá`í

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Appeal: Rejected

Sentence: 10 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: July/31/2022

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: Yes

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Religious Activity Religious Belief Religious Figure & Religious Leadership Role

Nature of Charges: Banned Organization Espionage Illegal Assembly Miscellaneous Religious Crimes Spreading Propaganda & False or Misleading Ideas, Information, or Materials Treason & Sedition

Fariba Kamalabadi

Extra Bio Info:

Fariba Kamalabadi is imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On July 31, 2022, security forces arrested Kamalabadi in Tehran after raiding her home.

In December 2022, it was reported that Kamalabadi was sentenced to ten years in prison following a one hour trial on November 21, 2022.

In August 2023, it was reported that the Tehran Court of Appeal upheld Kamalabadi's sentence. It was also reported that she had been charged “forming and leading groups to act against national security.”

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) advocates for Kamalabadi as part of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission's Defending Freedoms Project.

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Kamalabadi has previously been imprisoned for her religious leadership role.

On May 14, 2008, authorities arrested Kamalabadi and several other Baha'i religious leaders specifically for their roles as religious leaders. They were all part of a group called “Yaran-i-Iran” or “Friends in Iran."

In January 2010, it was reported that Kamalabadi's trial had begun and that she had been charged with "espionage for foreign countries, propagating against the state, founding and maintaining illegal groups, collaboration with the Zionist occupying regime, conspiracy to collect classified information and sharing it with foreign nations in an attempt to disrupt national security, gathering and colluding against national security internally and externally, defacing the Islamic Republic of Iran in the international community and corruption on Earth." United for Iran lists the charges as "propaganda against the state" (Art. 500 IPC), "assembling and colluding to act against national security"(Art. 610 IPC), “cooperating…with foreign States against the Islamic Republic of Iran” (Art. 508 IPC), "committing corruption on Earth" (Art. 286 IPC), and "founding or leading an organization that aims to disrupt national security" (Art. 498 IPC).

In August 2010, it was reported that Kamalabadi was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In September 2010, it was reported that Kamalabadi's sentence was reduced to 10 years in prison after an appeals court reportedly dropped the "espionage" charges.

In March 2011, it was reported that another appeals court had upheld Kamalabadi's original 20-year sentence.

On an unspecified date, Kamalabadi's sentence was reduced to 10 years in prison based on Article 134 of Iran's Penal Code.

On October 31, 2017, Kamalabadi was released from prison after completing her sentence.

Kamalabadi is married with children.

Related Cases: Afif Naeimi, Mahvash Sabet, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Enayatollah Naeimi

Sources:
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