Part I: Iran “Horrible” on Religious Freedom

On July 30, 2012, the U.S. Department of State released its annual International Religious Freedom Report, which highlighted serious human rights violations in Iran. The new report outlines persecution of religious minorities in the Islamic Republic.

At a briefing on the 2011 report, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Suzan Johnson Cook said Iran’s “religious freedom deteriorated from an already horrible situation.” The following are excerpts from the report.

The constitution and other laws and policies do not protect religious freedom and in practice, the government severely restricted religious freedom…
 
The constitution states that Ja’afari (Twelver) Shia Islam is the official state religion. It provides that “other Islamic denominations are to be accorded full respect” and officially recognizes only three non-Islamic religious groups--Zoroastrians, Christians, and Jews--as religious minorities. These three religions are allowed to practice freely under the constitution as long as their members do not proselytize; however, Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani remained jailed and sentenced to death for practicing his faith…
 
Non-Shia religious believers faced some societal discrimination, and elements of society created a threatening atmosphere for some religious minorities. However, reports during the year indicated that the government largely drove abuse of religious freedom. In addition, the government’s campaign against non-Shias allowed for an atmosphere of impunity for those elements of society that harassed religious minorities…
 
The population is 98 percent Muslim--89 percent Shia and 9 percent Sunni…Unofficial estimates from religious organizations claimed that Baha’is, Jews, Christians, Sabean-Mandaeans, and Zoroastrians constitute 2 percent of the population. The largest non-Muslim minority is the Baha’is, who number 300,000 to 350,000…
 
The legal system fosters religious abuse and discrimination. The constitution does not provide for the rights of Muslim citizens to choose, change, or renounce their religious beliefs. The government automatically considers a child born to a Muslim father to be a Muslim and conversion from Islam is deemed apostasy, which is punishable by death.
Non-Muslims may not engage in public religious expression, persuasion, or conversion among Muslims, and there are restrictions on published religious material…
 
The government severely restricted overall religious freedom and reports of government imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination based on religious beliefs continued during the year.
 
Government rhetoric and actions, particularly since the June 2009 elections, created an increasingly threatening atmosphere for nearly all non-Shia religious groups, most notably for Baha’is, as well as for Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, Jews, and Shia groups that did not share the government’s sanctioned religious views.
 
Government-controlled broadcast and print media intensified negative campaigns against religious minorities, particularly the Baha’is, during the year.
 
In early 2010 the government started convicting and executing reformers and peaceful protesters on the charge of moharebeh (enmity against God). This practice continued during the year, with at least 30 persons reportedly charged, convicted, and sentenced to death for moharebeh since January 2010.
 
Women were harassed or punished for failure to adhere to “Islamic dress.” Human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh was fined 621,483 rial (50 U.S. dollars) for failing to wear a headscarf during a videotaped acceptance speech for an awards ceremony in another country that she was unable to attend. There were reports of increased enforcement of dress codes, and those arrested were subject to fines or other punishment, including whipping. In addition, government officials blamed rape victims for inciting their rapes. During the investigation of one case, Hussein Hosseinzadeh, the head of the Isfahan Police Investigative Unit stated “…the women were not properly dressed. If those women had decent outfits, they may have not been sexually assaulted”…
 
In March the UN Human Rights Council created a new position of special rapporteur for human rights in Iran. Dr. Ahmed Shaheed assumed the mandate in August and issued his first interim report in October, in which he noted his concern regarding targeted violence and discrimination against Iran’s religious minorities, as well as the constraints on freedom of religion and belief.
 
Read the full report here as PDF.