A report from Ecumenical News International on the status of Christians and other religious minorities in Iran….
Ecumenical News International
Daily News Service
27 February 2006
US watchdog group decries status of religious minorities in Iran
ENI-06-0200
By Chris Herlinger
New York, 27 February (ENI)–A US religious freedom watchdog
commission says it is “deeply concerned” about what it calls a
worsening situation for religious minorities in Iran.
“A consistent stream of virulent and inflammatory statements by
political and religious leaders and an increase of harassment,
imprisonment, and physical attacks against these groups is clear
evidence of a disturbing, renewed pattern of oppression,” the US
Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a
statement.
The commission, created in 1998 by the US Congress to monitor the
status of freedom of thought and of religious practice outside
the United States, provides independent policy recommendations to
the US government.
Michael Cromartie, the chairman of the commission, said the
pattern of rhetoric in Iran appeared to be similar to that during
the early years of the Iranian revolution which, he said,
preceded years of severe human rights violations against members
of non-Islamic religious minorities, particularly the Baha’i
community.
Cromartie said that in recent months members of Iran’s Baha’i
community have again been harassed, physically attacked, arrested
and detained.
“Christians in Iran increasingly have been subject to harassment,
arrests, close surveillance, and imprisonment,” says the
statement carried on the US commission’s Web site on 27 February.
“Over the past year, there have been several incidents of Iranian
authorities raiding church services, detaining worshippers and
church leaders, and harassing and threatening church members.” It
cited an evangelical pastor who remained in prison even after
being acquitted by an Islamic court on charges of apostasy, or
rejection of faith.
Conditions for religious minorities were already severe before
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad assumed office in August
but have since worsened, Cromartie said.
Ahmadinejad and other leading Iranian government officials have
triggered international condemnation during their first six
months in office for public remarks either casting doubt or
denying the Holocaust against European Jews during the period of
the Second World War.
The commission urged the US government to accelerate efforts to
address the human rights situation in Iran, though it
acknowledged there are few available policy options because the
United States does not have direct diplomatic relations with
Iran. [366 words]
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