E/CN.4/1995/91/Add.1
page 41
According to recent information received by the Special Rapporteur,
Baha’i cemeteries, holy places, historic sites and administrative centres
continue to be confiscated or in some cases destroyed. Owing to their
limited access to the cemeteries designated by the authorities, Baha’is
are allegedly finding it very difficult to bury their dead in certain
places.
2.
Members of Christian Churches
According to information received, the Reverend Edmond, pastor of
Injili Presbyterian Church in Tabriz (referred to in the Special
Rapporteur’s report (E/CN.4/1992/52)), is suffering various ailments as a
result of his imprisonment between December 1990 and August 1991 and has
been refused an exit visa from Iran.
Mr. Mohammad Sepehr, a Muslim convert to Christianity, is said to
have been briefly imprisoned early in 1993. Since then, he has
repeatedly been called back to prison for interrogation and is currently
under threat of a death sentence. He has even been obliged to go to the
Mash-had mosque and reconvert to Islam, under threat of execution.
The pastor Mehdi Dibaj, mentioned by the Special Rapporteur in the
report referred to above, a former Muslim and a convert to Christianity,
is reported to be still imprisoned without trial, although he has been
transferred to Sari prison (Mazandaran province), where his conditions of
detention have allegedly improved. It is nevertheless reported that his
wife has been threatened with being stoned to death should she refuse to
recant her Christian faith. She has reportedly been forced to divorce
her husband in order to marry a Muslim fundamentalist. Their four
children are said to have remained with their Church, which has taken
charge of them."
16.
In an urgent appeal dated 14 January 1994, the Special Rapporteur
addressed the following information to the Government of the Islamic Republic
of Iran:
"I have the honour to address this letter to you in accordance with
the mandate entrusted to me by the Commission on Human Rights in its
resolution 1993/25.
In my capacity as Special Rapporteur, I should like to draw your
attention to recent information that I have received concerning
Mr. Mehdi Dibaj, aged 45, a Muslim convert to Christianity, who
subsequently became a pastor. It is reported that, after already
spending more than seven years in prison, he was sentenced to death on
3 December 1993 for apostasy by an Islamic revolutionary court in the
city of Sari. Fears are said to have been expressed about his execution
which is alleged to be imminent.
I wish to recall the provisions of article 18 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which stipulates in paragraph 1
that ’everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a