A group of Christian activists have called upon the international community to do more to protect political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Iran, maintaining that many are the victims of severe human rights violations.
Christian Activists for a Free Iran (CAFI) describes itself as a collection of activists, lawyers and pastors of various political backgrounds.
The group said that there were increasing reports of the mistreatment of prisoners, including torture, psychological abuse, rape, removal of wombs, forced drug taking and limited access to medical care.
CAFI said that some of the prisoners were protesters who had joined in calls to overthrow the government earlier this year. Some prisoners are as young as 15. As well as anti-regime activists, some longer-term prisoners are being held due to their religious or political beliefs.
Iran is currently ranked by Open Doors as the 10th worst persecutor of Christians in the world. Converting from Islam to Christianity is a crime in the country and potentially carries the death sentence.
According to Open Doors even Iran’s historic Christian communities, while not threatened with apostasy laws, are still “treated as second-class citizens, facing discrimination with jobs, marriage laws and inheritance laws”.
CAFI is asking the international community to monitor the treatment of political and religious prisoners in Iran and work for their immediate release.
Attieh Fard, director of CAFI, said, “We believe that the silence of the international community could lead to further human rights violations, whereas timely attention and action can help save human lives.
“We hope to be the voice of those innocent prisoners who remain behind prison walls and must not be forgotten.”
Iranian Christians abroad are generally unified in their dislike for a staunchly anti-Christian regime, however there are mixed views towards the current conflict between Iran and the Israel/US alliance.
While the Iranian-born Bishop of Chelmsford has denounced the war as “unjust and illegal”, others in the diaspora have said that a “terrorist regime” was finally facing justice.
