UN Human Rights Experts Concertedly Warn That Iranian Baha’i Women Face Escalating And Intersectional Persecution

GENEVA—20 January 2025—A group of 18 United Nations human rights experts issued a press release on 23 December 2024 expressing deep concern over the apparent “increase” in the systematic persecution of women from the Baha’i religious minority in Iran. The press release comes after a joint allegation letter by the 18 experts, addressed to the Iranian government, in which they strongly condemned Iran’s disproportionate targeting of Baha’i women.

The experts highlighted that Baha’i women have become the primary targets of state-sanctioned harassment, facing arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, raids on their homes, and ongoing restrictions on their basic freedoms. Baha’i women face persecution both as Baha’is and as women, the experts said, raising concerns that the attacks will continue to escalate in severity and range.

“In the larger context of the targeting of women in Iran and the challenges with gender equality, this dramatic rise in persecution against Baha’i women is an alarming escalation,” the experts said.

On 31 July 2024, these experts published their joint allegation letter to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which it raised concerns over the recent rise in attacks against Baha’i women. The letter, which pointed to the intersectional nature of the discrimination faced by these women, called for the immediate cessation of arrests, harassment, and unjust imprisonment.

The Iranian government dismissed the concerns as “baseless” in its official response—raising serious alarm among human rights experts about the growing threat to the safety and well-being of Baha’i women in Iran.

Subjected to systematic violations that affect every aspect of their lives, from education and employment to basic freedoms, Baha’i women face rising levels of structural, cultural and physical violence, by a government that pursues its 45-year systematic campaign against the Baha’i religious minority with impunity.

“This is affecting a group of people who face intersectional discrimination and persecution: as women and as members of the Baha’i religious minority,” the UN experts added.

According to the experts, the attacks on Baha’i women are severe and multifaceted, including summoning them for interrogations, confiscation of personal belongings, restrictions on movement, prolonged detentions, and incidents of torture. The experts also said that Baha’i women now comprise approximately two-thirds of all Baha’i prisoners in Iran, with many detained without due process and their whereabouts unknown.

The experts’ concerns have been heightened by cases such as those of 10 Baha’i women in the city of Isfahan, from October 2024, who were sentenced to a combined total of 90 years in prison. Their statement included allegations that these women had been arbitrarily arrested and subjected to torture at Dolat Abad prison.

“This relentless targeting of Baha’i women not only shatters individual lives but also undermines the very fabric of family and community,” said Simin Fahandej, Representative of the Baha’i International Community (BIC) to the United Nations in Geneva. “It is a stark reminder of the Iranian government’s systematic campaign to strip Baha’is of their dignity and humanity. Every unjust arrest, every separation of a mother from her child, is a painful wound inflicted on a community whose only ‘crime’ is their faith.”

In light of the Iranian government’s lack of meaningful response to repeated appeals, the Baha’i International Community urges UN Member States, international bodies, human rights organizations and others to press the Iranian government over its human rights violations against the Baha’i community, including at Iran’s forthcoming Universal Periodic Review on 24 January. The Islamic Republic must end its systemic human rights violations and ensure the immediate release of Baha’i women who remain imprisoned without due process.

“How much longer does the Iranian government wish to continue senseless, inhumane treatment of an entire community for their faith?” Ms. Fahandej said. “This new UN press release, the UN experts’ joint statement and countless other UN and international statements and condemnations point to one fact: The Islamic Republic is being called to account, it can no longer hide behind its lies, baseless accusations and its empty justifications for abusing an innocent community. There’s one reason for their treatment and that is their faith. The Iranian government must heed the calls of the UN experts and end the cycle of suffering and discrimination it began 45 years ago, and it must do it now.”

Background

The 18 UN Special Rapporteurs, each an independent expert in specific human rights areas, represent a collective force committed to upholding international human rights standards. The experts, who focus on issues ranging from freedom of religion to gender equality, have united to condemn the Iranian government's ongoing persecution of Baha’i women.

By issuing a joint call for an end to this abuse, they emphasize the intersectional discrimination Baha’i women face—not only as women but also as members of a religious minority. Their urgent plea underscores the responsibility of the Iranian government to uphold its human rights obligations and end the systematic violations impacting the lives of Baha’is across the country.

In December, the United Nations General Assembly passed its most recent resolution criticizing the Islamic Republic for its human rights violations against the Baha’is and other minorities or marginalized groups.

A recent launch of a new report, Outsiders: Multifaceted Violence Against Baha’is in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran, UN Special Rapporteurs including Professor Mai Sato, the new Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, and Professor Nazila Ghanea, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, spoke about Iran’s systematic repression of the Baha’i community, particularly targeting Baha’i women.

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