Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on the persecution of Baháʼís in that country.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities.
While Zoroastrians are formally protected in the Iranian constitution, the reality is that many non-Muslims face discrimination. Meanwhile, the Baha'i community in Iran continue to be systematically discriminated against, harassed, and targeted. We have repeatedly raised these persistent human rights violations with Iran. On 9 March, at the UN Human Rights Council, the UK called on Iran to end the discrimination and persecution of religious minorities, particularly towards the Baha'i and Christian converts.
We condemn the incarceration of all religious minorities for the act of practicing their faith in Iran. We regularly raise human rights with the Iranians at all levels and take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor record on all human rights issues.
Found: Land rights for religious minorities including Baha’is in Iran
Formal Minutes Apr. 01 2021
Committee: Petitions CommitteeFound: on 18 April 2018 (27) https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/201772 UK Government should urge Iran
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support freedom of religion in Iran.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities.
The Baha'i community in Iran continue to be systematically discriminated against, harassed, and targeted. We have repeatedly raised these persistent human rights violations with Iran. On 9 March, at the latest session of the UN Human Rights Council, the UK called on Iran to end the discrimination and persecution of religious minorities, particularly towards the Baha'i and Christian converts. Lord Ahmad made a statement on 12 February, criticising the persecution against religious minorities in Iran, particularly focusing on expropriation of Baha'i-owned land. The UK fully backs renewing the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, so he can examine these issues further.
The minister responsible for human rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, made the UK's commitment to FoRB for all clear in a number of international meetings in November 2020. On 16 November 2020, he virtually attended the ministerial meeting to advance Freedom of Religion or Belief in Warsaw and reaffirmed the UK's commitment to promoting FoRB, particularly during the pandemic. He also reaffirmed the UK's commitment to promoting FoRB for all at the ministers' forum of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance in the same month. On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister appointed Fiona Bruce MP as his special envoy for FoRB. Mrs Bruce represents the UK at meetings of the alliance, who work to advocate for the rights of individuals being discriminated against or persecuted on the basis of their faith or belief.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations his Department has received on the judgments of Branch 54 of the Special Court for Article 49 of the Constitution, issued on 1 August 2020 and a further extraordinary session of the Court of Appeal on 13 October 2020, on the expropriation of properties and farms owned by a community of Bahá’is in the village of Ivel; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We remain deeply concerned by the continuing systematic discrimination, harassment and targeting of the Baha'i community in Iran. On 26 October 2020, we made a statement calling on Iran to ensure members of all religious and ethnic groups are treated equally before the law and allowed to participate fully in society. We support the assessment made by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, that discrimination against the Baha'is is sanctioned by a lack of constitutional recognition. The Government continues to raise our concerns on this and other persistent human rights violations with Iran, and maintains close engagement with the Baha'i community.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on reports of members of the Baha’i community being imprisoned or banned from public sector employment where they have academic qualifications issued by the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We remain deeply concerned by the continuing systematic discrimination, harassment and targeting of the Baha'i community in Iran and follow this situation closely. The Government continues to raise our concerns on this and other persistent human rights violations with Iran.
On 26 October, we made a statement on this matter, during the Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. We called on Iran to ensure members of all religious and ethnic groups are treated equally before the law and allowed to participate fully in society.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Iranian counterparts on reports of members of the Baha’i community being denied access to university through the Iranian state university application process; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We remain deeply concerned by the continuing systematic discrimination, harassment and targeting of the Baha'i community in Iran, including that members of the community are being denied access to university. The Government continues to raise our concerns on this and other persistent human rights violations with Iran.
On 26 October, we made a statement on this matter, during the Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. We called on Iran to ensure members of all religious and ethnic groups are treated equally before the law and allowed to participate fully in society.
Found: Government policy on Iran
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Iran’s Baha'i minority are being prevented from obtaining identity cards under new rules, thereby depriving them of basic civil rights.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of reports that Iran's Baha'i community are being prevented from obtaining identity cards under new rules, depriving them of accessing many basic services. We remain concerned about the continued harassment and mistreatment that the Baha'i and other minority religious groups face. We support the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran's assessment that discrimination against the Baha'is in Iran is sanctioned by a lack of constitutional recognition. We regularly call upon Iran to cease harassment of all religious minorities and to fulfil its international and domestic obligations to protect freedom of religion or belief to all Iranians.