Global Religious Freedom Summit in the U.S.: "The Islamic Republic Represses Religious and Ethnic Minorities"

The annual Global Religious Freedom Summit took place on January 30-31 in Washington, D.C., aiming to "create a powerful coalition of organizations working together for religious freedom worldwide."

The summit, which included former U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback among its leaders, also invited civil activists to speak about the persecution they faced due to their peaceful civil and religious activities.

Among the various panels, three Iranian women—Mitra Ali Abouzar, who was imprisoned for civil activism during her student years, and Ruhie Jahanpour and Minou Anvari, two Baha’i believers repressed and imprisoned in Iran for their faith—spoke about their experiences.

Ms. Jahanpour and Ms. Anvari discussed the torture and pressure they endured in prison to renounce their faith. Despite the constitutional prohibition of inquisitions in the Islamic Republic, security agents and interrogators pressure and torture civil and political activists, as well as many members of religious minorities, especially Baha’is and Christian converts, to abandon their beliefs.

Christian converts and their lawyers have repeatedly testified that even in court, they are subjected to religious persecution and pressured to renounce their faith.

Part of the summit focused on countries where individuals' rights are violated due to their peaceful religious beliefs and activities.

In an interview with Voice of America, Sam Brownback commented on the repression of religious and ethnic minorities by the Islamic Republic, stating, "The situation is very bad and dire for the people of Iran."

Brownback, a seasoned politician who has also served as a senator and governor, added, "Baha’i, Christian communities, and almost anyone who is not in the mainstream of the ruling clerics are persecuted… Sunni Muslims also face similar conditions."

Photos and biographies of persecuted religious and ethnic minorities, including a brief account of Mehdi Dibaj’s life, were displayed at the summit. Mr. Dibaj, a Christian pastor, was abducted and killed by Ministry of Intelligence agents in 1994. He had been arrested in 1986 and sentenced to death for "apostasy." Following international pressure, he was released from prison on January 16, 1993, after nine years, but was murdered six months later. Bishop Haik Hovsepian, a Christian leader who had made significant efforts to overturn Dibaj's sentence and secure his release, was abducted and killed on his way to Mehrabad Airport. At least eight Christian figures and leaders have been murdered in Iran since the revolution.

Among the speakers at the summit, alongside Sam Brownback, were Katrina Lantos, another summit leader; Nazila Ghanei, UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom; Mike Johnson, U.S. Congressman; Peyman Akhavan, law professor in Canada; Michael Abrahamovich, Director of Freedom House; Debbie Wasserman Schultz, U.S. Congresswoman; and Moriko Hori, President of the Women’s Federation for World Peace in Japan.