manifest and practice their religion or belief. Further, regulations may actively discriminate
against members belonging to unrecognized religious minorities. For instance, a new rule
proclaimed in January 2020 will only allow citizens to register as one of the country’s
recognized religions to the state-issued National Identity Card—which is required for almost all
government and other transactions. 7 A bill currently under review of the Iranian Parliament, as
of November 2020, would criminalize “any deviant educational or proselytizing activity that
contradicts or interferes with the sacred law of Islam” when it is, among others, part of a “sect,”
or through the use of “mind control methods and psychological indoctrination.” As stipulated by
the Human Rights Committee, the mere ‘contradiction’ or ‘interference’ with the state’s official
religion is not a permissible ground for the restriction of the right to religion or belief.8
Additionally, such bill may well disproportionately impact individuals belonging to
unrecognized religious minorities, such as Baha’is, numbering 350,000 in Iran, 9 who are often
arrested and detained on the basis of their religious beliefs, notably on the charge of proselytizing
the Baha’i faith.10
Many elements of Iran’s domestic legal framework discriminate between Shia Muslims, Muslim
and non-Muslim minorities, also including recognized minorities. According to the Constitution
of the Islamic Republic of Iran, candidates for the presidency, members of the Assembly of
Experts, the Guardian Council or the Expediency Council all must follow the official religion of
the State, excluding Muslim and non-Muslim minorities from holding high governmental
positions. 11 Further, Article 881 of the Civil Code bars non-Muslims from inheriting
property from Muslims. The Islamic Penal Code (IPC) also prescribes different penalties
depending on the religion of the perpetrator and/or the victim of some crimes.
The lack of legal safeguards enables the Iranian authorities to restrict the rights of members
belonging to religious minorities and criminalize a wide range of their peaceful activities.
Reports have shown that religious minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran face human rights
violations such as: arbitrary deprivation of life, extrajudicial executions, a disproportionate
number of executions on national security-related charges, arbitrary arrests and detention in
connection with range of peaceful activities, incitement to hatred, forced closure of businesses
7
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2020/01/bahais-unrecognized-minorities-in-iran-must-nowhide-religion-to-obtain-government-id/
8
UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), CCPR General Comment No. 22: Article 18 (Freedom of Thought, Conscience or
Religion), 30 July 1993, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/453883fb22.html
9
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 18 July 2019,
https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2F74%2F188&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop
10
ARTICLE19, https://www.article19.org/resources/iran-lawmakers-must-urgently-drop-the-bill-that-criminalises-fundamentalrights-and-freedoms/
11
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, English translation, https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wpcontent/uploads/constitution-english-1368.pdf
2