Since Iran’s disputed June 12, 2009 presidential elections, human rights and religious freedom conditions have deteriorated to a point not seen since the early days of the Islamic revolution. Religious minorities–including Baha’is, various Christian groups, Sufi and Sunni Muslims, Zoroastrians, and Jews–are suffering increasing persecution and imprisonment while killings, arrests, and physical abuse have intensified for reformers, ethnic minorities, journalists, human rights defenders, women’s groups, and other activists. Religious as well as political dissidents are often tried on trumped-up national security crimes and other criminal charges of blasphemy, propaganda against the regime, and criticizing the Islamic Republic.
On June 10, two days before the one-year anniversary of the 2009 elections, the international community will have the opportunity to scrutinize Iran’s human rights record at the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) in Geneva. The review provides an opportunity for the United States and other member states to press for a resolution at the UN HRC condemning Iran’s severe human rights violations and to raise awareness and demand the release of prisoners of conscience.
To discuss these and related issues, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is holding a press conference including Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist arrested in Iran in January 2009 on bogus espionage charges and sentenced to eight years in prison. During her 100 days in prison, Ms. Saberi shared a cell with other prisoners of conscience, including two female Baha’i religious leaders who have been incarcerated for two years on several baseless capital charges. Ms. Saberi’s new book “Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran” documents her experiences in Iran and provides the reader with a glimpse of Iran’s notorious Evin prison.
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