Document #1050636
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Under Section 13 of the Iranian
Constitution, Zoroastrians, Christians and Jews are the only
recognized minorities, and are guaranteed religious freedom; they
are allowed to practice their religious faith and to educate their
children in their beliefs "within the limits of the law" (Article
13). [ Constitutions of the Countries of the World: Iran,
Albert Blaustein & G. Flanz, Eds., Dobbs Ferry: Oceana
Publications, Inc., p. 22.]
2.
Please refer to the attached section
entitled "The Rights of Minorities" (pages 430 to 432) of A
Clarification of Questions, by Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah
Mousavi Khomeini, (translated by J. Borujerdi), Boulder: Westview
Press, 1984. Zoroastrians. Conversion from Islam and accepting
infidelity is not acceptable, and is termed "apostasy". Please
refer to pages 428-9 of A Clarification of Questions which
discuss two forms of apostates: innate-apostates and national
apostates. An innate-apostate (one whose parents were Muslims and
who embraced Islam but later left Islam) "is apparently
unacceptable and, if a man, his ruling is execution and, if a
woman, she is condemned to prison for life and [with] beating when
praying and straitening of livelihood, but her repenting is
acceptable and she will be freed if she repents." "A national
apostate [a person converting from another faith to Islam, and then
reconverting back to the other faith] will be caused to repent and
in case of refusing to repent will be executed."
3.
Please consult the following attachments
for treatment of Zoroastrians in Iran:
-
Christian Delannoy, J.P. Pichard,
Khomeiny: La Révolution Trahie, Carrere, 1988;
-
M.S. Kazemi, Iranians in Ontario,
Toronto: Mihan Publishing Inc., 1986 (Background on
Zoroastrianism);
-
U.S. Department of State, Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988, Washington: U.S.
Government Printing Office, February 1989;
-
Gita Steiner, Iran, Lausanne: Office
Central Suisse d'Aide aux Réfugiés, Novembre
1987;
-
Iranian Refugees: The Many Faces of
Persecution, U.S. Committee for Refugees, December 1984.
In its 1988 Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices for 1988, the U.S. Department of State
reported that the "tests of Islamic knowledge and orthodoxy,
required in the early post-revolutionary years for public or
semipublic employment, have been dropped on the grounds that they
conflict with the constitutional provision that the interrogation
of people regarding their beliefs is forbidden." [ U.S. Department
of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for
1988,
p. 1348. Suspected members of the Baha'i faith, however, are not
afforded the same protection, as it is considered a "misguided
sect", and not officially recognized.] During the war, the ability
to gain employment also rested upon whether or not military service
had been completed. It was difficult to get a job if the applicant
had not served the legally required time in the army. [ External
Affairs, 4 July 1989.]
In a 1985 communication regarding the
treatment of religious minorities in Iran, External Affairs Canada
mentioned that, although it was unable to confirm reports it had
received of disturbances of Anglican Church services, "those in a
position to observe the situation indicate that members of the
Christian minorities face an inevitable amount of harassment in
Iran, since under the present theocratic government posts of any
importance in the civil service are closed to them, and Christian
students and their parents may feel obliged to reject textbooks
used for compulsory Islamic study in the state schools." [ External
Affairs Canada, filed 2 December 1985.] The Parliamentary Human
Rights Group, in a 1986 report entitled The Abuse of Human
Rights in Iran, notes that ethnic and religious minorities are
severely harassed. [ Parliamentary Human Rights Group, The Abuse
of Human Rights in Iran, (London), March 1986, p. 54; cited in
Human Rights Internet Reporter, vol. 11, No. 4, November
1986, p. 110.]
In its Country Reports (1988), the
U.S. State Department maintains that even though the permitted
(pre-Islamic) religious minorities (Jews, Christians and
Zoroastrians) are allowed to practice their religion, there
"continue to be reports of officially sanctioned discrimination
against these minorities, particularly in the areas of employment
and public accommodations, and of severe discrimination by the
Government against Muslims who have converted to Christianity." [
U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1988, (Washington: U.S. Government Printing
Office, February 1989), p. 1349.] The report discusses growing
religious tolerance in the past year, but also alleges that
"Christians are sometimes suspected of harbouring sympathies with
Western powers." [ U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices for 1988, p. 1349.]
The U.S. Department of State Country
Reports (1982) asserted that although "these groups [churches]
have been able, at least in the Tehran area, to maintain their
places of worship and their schools, their futures are not secure."
[ U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1982, (Washington: U.S. Government Printing
Office, February 1983), p. 1142.] A 1983 United Nations Human
Rights Commission document contains allegations of harassment of
members of the Sunni sect, Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian
faiths. [ United Nations Economic and Social Council, "Information
Relating to Violations of Human Rights in Iran Under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights",
E/CN.4/1983/19, Commission on Human Rights, 39th session, 22
February 1983, cited in Human Rights Internet Reporter, vol.
8:4/5, April to June 1983, p. 607.] It refers to the closure of
schools run by religious minorities, and the dismissal of teachers.
"According to the Constitution, [members of religious minorities]
are not allowed to hold high-ranking government jobs ... [and]
According to current interpretation of the Constitution, they are
rejected from lower level jobs as well, even factory work."
[E/CN.4/1983/19, in HRI Reporter April to June
1983, p. 607. ]
4.
Marriage of a Muslim woman with a member of
the Baha'i is "void". [ Borujerdi, p. 410.] "A Muslim woman cannot
be contracted by an infidel nor can a Muslim man marry an infidel
woman in a permanent fashion. However, there is no concern in
concubinage with those women who are among People of the Book such
as the Jews and Christians." [ Borujerdi, p. 316, # 2397.] Although
it appears, from this passage, that a Muslim woman cannot marry a
non-Muslim man, the penalty is not proscribed. Information on how
this apparent violation of a precept (marriage by a non-Muslim
(Zoroastrian) man to a Muslim woman) would influence the treatment
of the Zoroastrian man is not available to the IRBDC at this
time.