A United Nations General Assembly committee has adopted a resolution expressing “serious concern” over the “ongoing severe limitations and increasing restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief” in Iran.
The resolution, passed November 20 by 77 votes to 28, with 66 abstentions, by the General Assembly’s Third Committee, specifically highlights the plight of Christians, particularly converts from Islam as well as the persecuted Baha’i community, among other recognized and unrecognized religious minorities.
Besides citing widespread human rights abuses, including “increased harassment, intimidation, persecution, arbitrary arrests, detentions, and incitement to hatred that fuels violence,” the resolution calls on Iran to “cease monitoring individuals on account of their religious identity, to release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their membership in or activities on behalf of a minority religious group … and to ensure that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, including the freedom to have, to change or to adopt a religion or belief of their choice, in accordance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
The resolution urges the Iranian government to revise Articles 499 bis and 500 bis of its 2013 penal code, which criminalizes non-Muslim religious expression in violation of international law and standards. These provisions have been used to target both recognized religious minorities and unrecognized groups that have endured persistent and systemic discrimination and persecution, such as the Baha’i community—Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority—subjecting them to baseless criminal charges.
In recent months, members of the Baha’i community have faced arrests, evidence-free trials and imprisonment under these laws.
Members of the Baha’i community are denied religious and other liberties because Iranian authorities consider them heretics. Christian converts from Islam are also routinely persecuted, even though Christianity, along with Judaism and Zoroastrianism, are constitutionally recognized faiths in Iran.
“We are grateful that the international community remains firm in its duty to uphold human rights,” said Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations. “The Iranian government has never acknowledged the truth of these concerns, nor has it upheld its own human rights obligations under international law.”
The resolution highlights that Baha’is have been subjected to hate speech, propaganda, restrictions on education and employment, and the arbitrary confiscation and destruction of their property. It also urges Iran to halt the desecration of Baha’i cemeteries and to end the surveillance of individuals based on their religious identity.
During the General Assembly’s Third Committee vote, global leaders condemned Iran’s treatment of religious minorities and women. Brazil’s mission expressed concern over human rights violations in Iran, particularly against women, human rights defenders, and religious and ethnic minorities.
“We reiterate our support for the rights of the Baha’is and other minorities to practice their faith freely and peacefully without discrimination,” the Brazilian delegation stated.
The United Kingdom highlighted the “increased targeting of Baha’i women” as an “alarming escalation,” linking it to broader calls within Iranian society for gender equality. Similarly, Ghana emphasized the importance of protecting the rights of “all segments of Iranian society, including adherents of the Baha’i Faith,” who continue to face systemic discrimination.
Countries including Australia, Canada, Israel and the United States also called on the Iranian government to respect the rights of all religious minorities, urging immediate action to uphold freedom of belief and equality.
Source: WorldReligionNews.com