- Thread starter
- Staff
- #1
Dadparvar
Staff member
- Nov 11, 2016
- 11,233
- 0
- 6
UN human rights experts on Wednesday have raised alarm over alleged torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention of members of Iran’s Bahá’í religious minority amid the ongoing US-Iran war.
The UN experts say that approximately 57 Bahá’ís are currently detained or imprisoned in Iran. They report allegations of arbitrary detention, incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance, physical and psychological abuse, alongside coerced confessions. Some detainees have reportedly been held without meaningful access to lawyers or family members.
The experts also raised concerns about allegations that some detainees were subjected to mock executions and other forms of severe physical and psychological abuse to pressure them into making confessions, which were subsequently broadcast throughout Iranian state media.
The allegations may engage Iran’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a party. The ICCPR protects freedom of religion and belief, due process and fair trial rights, and freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
The prosecutions have also reportedly relied on national-security charges, including “propaganda against the state”, “acting against national security” and espionage. Human rights groups and Bahá’í representatives argue that peaceful religious and community activities were susceptible to being treated as security offences, which consequentially allows criminal law to become a tool of religious repression.
The EU Agency for Asylum warned that risk varies among Bahá’ís depending on their circumstances. Those who participate in protests, publicly identify as Bahá’í, hold community leadership roles or have previously been targeted may face heightened risk.
The current allegations form part of a much longer pattern; under the Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979), Bahá’ís reportedly faced state-backed discrimination, including bans on religious literature, closure of Bahá’í schools and exclusion from public-sector employment. Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, more than 200 Bahá’ís were reportedly killed or executed during the 1980s, and thousands faced imprisonment, torture and exclusion from education and employment.
By the 1990s, persecution reportedly shifted toward systematic exclusion. A 1991 government memorandum has been cited by Bahá’í organizations as evidence of a state policy intended to prevent the community from developing as a “viable entity” in Iran. Restrictions have since reportedly extended to university education, employment, businesses, religious gatherings and burial sites.
The latest UN warning follows reports by the Bahá’í International Community and Human Rights Watch of more than 750 incidents involving arrests, home raids and imprisonment between June and November 2025.
The post UN experts raise concerns over Iran’s intensified persecution of Bahá’ís amid the US-Iran conflict appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.
The UN experts say that approximately 57 Bahá’ís are currently detained or imprisoned in Iran. They report allegations of arbitrary detention, incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance, physical and psychological abuse, alongside coerced confessions. Some detainees have reportedly been held without meaningful access to lawyers or family members.
The experts also raised concerns about allegations that some detainees were subjected to mock executions and other forms of severe physical and psychological abuse to pressure them into making confessions, which were subsequently broadcast throughout Iranian state media.
The allegations may engage Iran’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a party. The ICCPR protects freedom of religion and belief, due process and fair trial rights, and freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
The prosecutions have also reportedly relied on national-security charges, including “propaganda against the state”, “acting against national security” and espionage. Human rights groups and Bahá’í representatives argue that peaceful religious and community activities were susceptible to being treated as security offences, which consequentially allows criminal law to become a tool of religious repression.
The EU Agency for Asylum warned that risk varies among Bahá’ís depending on their circumstances. Those who participate in protests, publicly identify as Bahá’í, hold community leadership roles or have previously been targeted may face heightened risk.
The current allegations form part of a much longer pattern; under the Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979), Bahá’ís reportedly faced state-backed discrimination, including bans on religious literature, closure of Bahá’í schools and exclusion from public-sector employment. Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, more than 200 Bahá’ís were reportedly killed or executed during the 1980s, and thousands faced imprisonment, torture and exclusion from education and employment.
By the 1990s, persecution reportedly shifted toward systematic exclusion. A 1991 government memorandum has been cited by Bahá’í organizations as evidence of a state policy intended to prevent the community from developing as a “viable entity” in Iran. Restrictions have since reportedly extended to university education, employment, businesses, religious gatherings and burial sites.
The latest UN warning follows reports by the Bahá’í International Community and Human Rights Watch of more than 750 incidents involving arrests, home raids and imprisonment between June and November 2025.
The post UN experts raise concerns over Iran’s intensified persecution of Bahá’ís amid the US-Iran conflict appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.