Religious re-education did not work on Esmaeil Narimanpour.
First of all stopped by the Iranian government in 2021, he and seven other converts to Christianity were erased by the public prosecutor, who declared that their change of religion did not constitute a crime under Iranian law. The following year he was order with several others to attend ten sessions with Muslim clerics to “guide” him towards Islam.
Last December, Narimanpour was stopped again, this time on Christmas Eve.
This case is one of several highlighted by Faceless Victims: Violations of Christian Rights in Iran, the 2024 report. Annual Report jointly published by advocacy organizations Article18, Open Doors, Middle East Concern and CSW and presented to the UK Parliament.
“This is an excellent example of collaboration between agencies” declared Mervyn Thomas, founding president of CSW (formerly Christian Solidarity Worldwide), at the event. “Iran claims to guarantee freedom of religion or belief for all; but that makes no sense, as this report shows.
Not yet convicted, Narimanpour is one of 166 Christians arrested and 103 detained by Iran during the 2023 reporting period. Another 22 have been convicted and 21 imprisoned.
While convictions decreased by 8 compared to 2022, this year saw 32 additional arrests and 41 detentions. Article 18 has tracked incidents in Iran since 2015, when arrests reached a peak of 193. Detentions have fluctuated each year between 26 in 2018 and this year’s peak, while convictions ranged between 12 in 2015 and a maximum of 57 in 2020.
The British Parliament meeting included testimony from former prisoner Farhad Sabokrooh. Arrested with his wife in 2011, the couple served a year in prison and saw their previously registered church closed after 25 years. Accused of spying for Israel and the United States, he told the assembly that he had been forced to make false confessions, convicted without the presence of his lawyer and that once released, he had been threatened with death if he did not leave Iran within a month.
“My call is to hold the regime accountable,” Sabokrooh declared. He then noted: “Somehow they feel that Christians are orphans and have no one to protect them. We must reverse this trend.
The sixth 36-page report was released on February 19 to coincide with the 45th anniversary of the murder of Arastoo Sayyah, the first Christian killed for his faith in the Islamic Republic of Iran, eight days after the start of the revolution. It notes that while the Constitution formally guarantees the right of Christians to “perform their religious rites and ceremonies”, in practice this only concerns the Armenian and Assyrian ethnic communities, who are prevented from celebrating services in Farsi (Persian) or to promote their worship in another way. faith.
Their population, of between 50,000 and 80,000, is dwarfed by the report’s estimate that there are a total of 800,000 Iranian Christians. And although Iran does not have a law against apostasy, the report lists six penal code provisions frequently used to accuse Christians of religious blasphemy or propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
This only “hurts more”, as Nazila Ghanea, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, said in her presentation to the British parliament last year.
“Your (real) crime is being a Christian” declared Ghana. “Your crime is gathering with other Christians in house churches, and your crime is being converted. »
This year the event was hosted by Fiona Bruce, the UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB).
“All of us here are committed to protecting the FoRB around the world,” she said, “and especially for Christians.”
Once arrested, they are still mistreated by the Iranian government.
Iran signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1975. The report cites violations of 11 of its articles and a total of 19 subpoints. Shahnaz Jizan, Sabokrooh’s wife, was arrested without charge. Anooshavan Avedian was denied an in-person hearing. Touraj Shirani was held in a small cell with dirty blankets. Ali Kazemian was tortured.
“During all these years, my greatest fear has always been for my husband and my children,” Jizan declared. “If they left the house, I didn’t know if they would come back.”
Image: Courtesy of Article 18
Shahnaz Jizan (left) and Touraj Shirani (right)
Each of these people is represented in the report. But in the “vast majority” of cases, Christians choose not to make their stories public in hopes of getting a better legal outcome. These faceless victims, like the title of the report, are represented in the collective.
But the Christian organizations sponsoring the report say advocacy can be effective. In 2010, a death sentence was not carried out due to international pressure. Additionally, a judge reportedly said that the only reason the civil code does not contain a provision on apostasy is concern for Iran’s standing in the world.
“Iran cares about its image and wants to play on the public stage. » declared Mansour Borji, research and advocacy director for Article18, advocates sanctions against erring judges. “They don’t want negative publicity.”
Several Christians were pardoned in 2023, although the report notes that most were already close to their maximum prison terms. And on the same day that an Iranian-Armenian pastor was released, another was arrested to warn recognized Christian communities not to preach to Muslims.
Other trends indicate that, as in the case of the equally raped Bahai community, arrests of Christians tend to come in waves, with increased surveillance of suspected converts and those released from detention. Bible distribution is also a particularly sensitive activity, as a third of those arrested had several copies of the Bible in their possession.
The report also includes a timeline of rights violations in 2023. In addition to personal accounts of arrest, detention, pardon and release, it describes the March sale designation of a historic Assembly Church building of God, founded by Haik Hovsepian, who was martyred in 1994.
The pattern is familiar, the report says. Churches are forced to close, then quietly confiscated, then appropriated by the Iranian state. May marked the 10th anniversary of the forced closure of the Central Assemblies of God Church in Tehran, which was then the largest Farsi-speaking congregation in Iran.
Only four such scholarships remain open – to those who can prove that their Christian faith predates the 1979 Islamic revolution. No further membership is permitted. Other churches owned by ethnic minority Christians remain closed since COVID-19.
Image: Courtesy of Article 18
Nima Rezaei (left) and Parham Mohammadpour (right)
MP Jim Shannon, a member of the all-party parliamentary group for FoRB, responded in tears to the “difficult reading” of the details of the report.
“As a Christian, I will say the most important thing is prayer,” he said. declared at the gathering. “And I pray fervently for our brothers and sisters in Iran, including those I will never meet. »
But the report also makes several recommendations to Iran. They included:
- Amend Article 13 of the Iranian Constitution to extend civil rights to conversion communities, in accordance with Article 18 of the ICCPR.
- Drop charges and release those imprisoned for their faith, according to Iranian Supreme Court decision who considered the activity of the Church to be legal.
- Reopen closed churches, return confiscated properties, and clarify where Farsi-speaking Christians can worship in their native language.
The report urges the international community to hold Iran accountable for its violations and recognize the “well-founded fear of persecution” when considering refugee testimonies and asylum applications. Turkey is presented as a host country where Iranian Christian converts risk being forcibly returned to Iran.
In the meantime, attempts at religious re-education continue.
Hamed Ashouri had to take the course with a family member after refusing an offer to act as a government informant. Nima Rezaei had her session filmed while the cleric grilled her for incriminating information. Two unnamed individuals were threatened with seven years in prison during the lessons. And Parham Mohammadpour, like others, was forced to sign a pledge that he would not evangelize.
But not before giving his testimony: “Even if you cut me into pieces, I will not abandon my faith in Jesus Christ. »
