Additional Name(s): Mahvash Sabet Shahriari, مهوش ثابت
Gender: Female
Current Location: Evin Prison, Tehran
Perpetrator: Iran
Religion or Belief: Bahá`í
Health Concerns: Broken hip
Reports of Torture: Yes
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
Mahvash Sabet is imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.
On July 31, 2022, security forces arrested Sabet in Tehran after raiding her home. Security forces allegedly broke her kneecaps during interrogation.
In November 2022, it was reported that Sabet was charged with "founding or leading an organization that aims to disrupt national security" (Art. 498 IPC).
In December 2022, it was reported that Sabet 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 Sabet's sentence. It was also reported that Sabet is suffering from various illnesses and has been hospitalized several times.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) advocates for Sabet as part of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission's Defending Freedoms Project.
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Sabet has previously been imprisoned for her religious leadership role.
On March 5, 2008, authorities arrested Sabet for her role as a Baha'i religious leader. Sabet was part of a group called “Yaran-i-Iran” or “Friends in Iran," whose other members were later arrested in May 2008.
In January 2010, it was reported that Sabet'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 Sabet was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In September 2010, it was reported that Sabet'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 Sabet's original 20-year sentence.
In 2012, it was reported that Sabet broke her hip while imprisoned and was not allowed to take medical leave from prison.
On an unspecified date, Sabet's sentence was reduced to 10 years in prison based on Article 134 of Iran's Penal Code.
On September 18, 2017, Sabet was released from prison after completing her sentence.
Sabet is married with children.
Related Cases: Afif Naeimi, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Enayatollah Naeimi
Photo attributed to Bahá'í International Community
"Mahvash Sabet" Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
"Mahvash Sabet" United for Iran
USCIRF Press Release: USCIRF Condemns Iran’s Religious Persecution of Baha’is November 15, 2023
USCIRF Country Update: Religious Freedom Conditions in Iran September 2023
USCIRF Commissioner Eric Ueland, Tweet, August 22, 2023
USCIRF Commissioners Susie Gelman and Eric Ueland, Tweet, August 11, 2023
"Sentences of 20 Years Upheld for Two Baha’i Women" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
USCIRF Press Release: USCIRF Condemns Recent Arrests and Jailing of Baha’is in Iran August 9, 2023
USCIRF Press Release: USCIRF Condemns Sentencing of Baha’i Women in Iran December 22, 2022
USCIRF Commissioners Frank Wolf and Sharon Kleinbaum, Tweet, December 12, 2022
"An Unbelievable Injustice: Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi sentenced to a second decade in prison in Iran" Bahá’í International Community
"تداوم بازداشت؛ صدور کیفرخواست پرونده مهوش ثابت" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"تداوم بازداشت ۶ شهروند بهائی در شهرهای مختلف" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
USCIRF Commissioner Sharon Kleinbaum, Tweet, August 2, 2022
"Baha’is accused of “colonialism” and “infiltrating kindergartens” as 52 fresh acts of persecution add to more than 100 in recent weeks" Bahá’í International Community
"Six Baha’i Citizens Arrested, Many Houses Searched" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"گزارش تکمیلی؛ بازداشت، تفتیش منازل و محل کار شهروندان بهائی در کرج" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"Former Baha'i Leaders Arrested Again Alongside Others" Iran Wire
"Decade of unjust imprisonment ends for Mahvash Sabet" Bahá’í World News Service
"Timeline of events" Bahá’í World News Service
"Reports say Iran's Baha'i leaders 'sentenced'" Bahá’í World News Service
"Trial of Iran’s seven Baha’i leaders" Bahá’í World News Service
Aug 3, 2022
USCIRF Commemorates the Eighth Anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide
Washington, D.C. – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today joined communities around the world in commemorating the eighth anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide perpetrated in Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
"Today, USCIRF remembers the thousands of Yazidi people who perished in the campaign of ethnic and religious cleansing by ISIS,” USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck said. “As we honor the many lives lost, USCIRF remains deeply concerned for the human rights and religious freedom of the survivors. Over 2,760 Yazidi women and girls are still missing following their reported abductions, sex trafficking, and enslavement. We must also not forget the many Yazidis languishing in displacement camps in Iraq and Syria while their Sinjar homeland suffers continued attacks.”
ISIS launched the Yazidi Genocide in 2014, targeting Iraq’s Yazidi minority for mass execution, mass rape, systematic sexual slavery and forced labor, and forced religious conversion. In 2019, the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, which includes the United States, and its local partners liberated all territory controlled by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. However, the lives and homes of Yazidi Genocide survivors remain in peril, with over 360,000 in displacement camps throughout Iraq and Syria. ISIS maintains a presence in Yazidi-populated areas and Turkey continually wages military attacks on Sinjar. Recently, in May 2022, an Iraqi military operation against Yazidi fighters forced 3,000 Sinjaris to flee the region.
“USCIRF urges the U.S. government to support a multilateral end to continued attacks on Sinjar and help stabilize the region for the return of its traumatized Yazidi communities,” USCIRF Commissioner Frank Wolf added. “We further call on the United States to encourage the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to fully implement the Sinjar Agreement, in consultation with Yazidis and other religious minorities.”
USCIRF’s 2022 Annual Report and March 2022 Country Update on Iraq highlighted continued threats against Iraq’s Yazidis and made recommendations for U.S. government action to support the human rights and religious freedom of the Yazidi people.
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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): Afif Naimi, Afif Naemi, عفیف نعیمی
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Iran
Ethnic Group: Fars
Religion or Belief: Bahá`í
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: Yes
Appeal: Rejected
Sentence: 7 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: April/29/2023
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: Yes
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Education Rights Religious Activity Religious Belief Religious Figure & Religious Leadership Role Religious Instruction & Teaching
Nature of Charges: Banned Organization Espionage Illegal Assembly Miscellaneous Religious Crimes Spreading Propaganda & False or Misleading Ideas, Information, or Materials Treason & Sedition
Afif Naeimi is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On July 31, 2022, security forces arrested Naeimi in Karaj after raiding his home.
On December 13, 2022, Naeimi was released from prison.
In February 2023, it was reported that the Karaj Revolutionary Court had sentenced Naeimi to seven years in prison for “insulting and propaganda against Islamic Sharia, forming and participating in groups to act against national security through teaching and preaching the Baha’i faith to children in Kindergartens, promoting against Islamic Sharia through holding coaching courses." The conviction appears to stem from his religious educational activities to children.
On April 29, 2023, security forces arrested Naeimi in Karaj and took him to a prison in Rajaei.
In June 2023, it was reported that Branch 12 of Alborz Provincial Court of Appeal had upheld Naeimi's sentence.
Naeimi reportedly fell unconscious at some point during his detention due to cardiac issues.
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Naeimi has previously been imprisoned for his religious leadership role.
On May 14, 2008, authorities arrested Naeimi 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 Naeimi's trial had begun and that he 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 a hostile government" (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 Naeimi was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In September 2010, it was reported that Naeimi'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 Naeimi's original 20-year sentence.
On an unspecified date, Naeimi's sentence was reduced to 10 years in prison based on Article 134 of Iran's Penal Code.
On December 20, 2018, Naeimi was released from prison after completing his sentence.
Naeimi was denied proper medical care while imprisoned. He was subsequently hospitalized several times. He was also subjected to inhumane prison conditions and other arbitrary mistreatment such as the repeated denial of medical furlough. He did go on medical furlough on a few occasions towards the end of his sentence.
Naeimi is married with children.
Related Cases: Mahvash Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Enayatollah Naeimi
Photo attributed to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"Afif Naeimi" Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
"Afif Naimi" United for Iran
USCIRF Press Release: USCIRF Condemns Iran’s Religious Persecution of Baha’is November 15, 2023
USCIRF Country Update: Religious Freedom Conditions in Iran September 2023
USCIRF Press Release: USCIRF Condemns Recent Arrests and Jailing of Baha’is in Iran August 9, 2023
"13 Baha’i Citizens Sentenced to Over 40 Years in Prison Combined" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
ARAM Iran, Tweet, April 29, 2023
"عفیف نعیمی، شهروند بهائی توسط نیروهای امنیتی در کرج بازداشت شد" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"Eleven Baha’i Citizens Sentenced to a Total of 36 Years in Prison" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
HRANA English, Tweet, December 13, 2022
"کامیار حبیبی، عفیف نعیمی و سامان استوار، شهروندان بهائی آزاد شدند" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"The Baha’i Seven" Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
"تداوم بازداشت ۶ شهروند بهائی در شهرهای مختلف" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"Baha’is accused of “colonialism” and “infiltrating kindergartens” as 52 fresh acts of persecution add to more than 100 in recent weeks" Bahá’í International Community
"Six Baha’i Citizens Arrested, Many Houses Searched" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"گزارش تکمیلی؛ بازداشت، تفتیش منازل و محل کار شهروندان بهائی در کرج" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"Former Baha'i Leaders Arrested Again Alongside Others" Iran Wire
"Last member of former Yaran ends prison term, persecution continues" Bahá’í World News Service
"Timeline of events" Bahá’í World News Service
"Reports say Iran's Baha'i leaders 'sentenced'" Bahá’í World News Service
"Trial of Iran’s seven Baha’i leaders" Bahá’í World News Service