the restriction of the right to religion or belief. 12 Additionally, such bill may well
disproportionately impact individuals belonging to unrecognized religious minorities, such as
Baha’is, numbering 350,000 in Iran, 13 who are often arrested and detained on the basis of their
religious beliefs, notably on the charge of proselytizing the Baha’i faith.14
Many elements of Iran’s domestic legal framework discriminate between Shia Muslims, Muslim
and non-Muslim minorities, 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, all must follow the official religion of the
State, excluding Muslim and non-Muslim minorities from holding high governmental
positions.15 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 criminalizes 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 and extrajudicial executions, a disproportionate
number of executions on national security-related charges, arbitrary arrests and detention in
connection with a range of peaceful activities, incitement to hatred, forced closure of businesses
and discriminatory practices, denial of employment, restrictions on access to education and other
basic services.16
Those converting from Islam are at further risk of persecution in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In
a previous draft of the Islamic Penal Code (2013), Article 225 strived to make the death penalty
mandatory for convicted male apostates, or the crime of ertedad (converting from Islam and/or
propaganda against the principles of Islam), also known as apostasy. The draft article was
withdrawn before the adoption of the revised Islamic Penal Code in 2013, thus Iranian law does
not expressly criminalize conversion from Islam to another religion. 17 However, under Article
12
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
13
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 18 July https://documentsdds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N19/222/62/PDF/N1922262.pdf?OpenElement
14 ARTICLE19, https://www.article19.org/resources/iran-lawmakers-must-urgently-drop-the-bill-that-criminalises-fundamentalrights-and-freedoms/
15 The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, English translation, https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wpcontent/uploads/constitution-english-1368.pdf
16 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 18 July 2019,
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N19/222/62/PDF/N1922262.pdf?OpenElement
17
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from All Human Rights for All in Iran, Association for Human Rights in
Kurdistan-Geneva, Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center,
Outright
International,
Siamak
Pourzand
Foundation,
Small
Media,
Impact
Iran,
2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_NGO_IRN_42317_E.pdf
3