IRANIAN PASTOR TORTURED, THREATENED FOR ‘CONVERTING MUSLIMS’
Charisma News Online
6473-iranian-pastor-tortured-threatened-for-conver ting-muslims
March 9 2010
An Assyrian pastor the Iranian government accused of "converting
Muslims" is being tortured in prison and threatened with execution,
sources close to the case said.
State Security agents on Feb. 2 arrested the Rev. Wilson Issavi,
65, shortly after he finished a house meeting at a friend’s home in
Isfahan. A city of more than 1.5 million people, Isfahan is located
208 miles south of Tehran.
According to Farsi Christian News Network, Issavi’s wife, Medline
Nazanin, recently visited her husband in prison, where she saw that
he had obvious signs of torture and was in poor condition. Iranian
intelligence officials told Nazanin that her husband might be executed
for his alleged activities.
Issavi is the pastor of The Evangelical Church of Kermanshah in
Isfahan, a 50-year-old church body affiliated with the Assemblies of
God that caters to the local Assyrian population.
During the raid, State Security police detained everyone in the house,
later releasing all but Issavi and the owner of the home. Security
officials also seized personal property from the home. Typically in
Christian arrests in Iran, security officials confiscate all documents,
media materials, computers, and personal documentation.
Issavi is being held in an unmarked prison, according to FCNN.
Last month’s arrest seems to be part of an anti-Christian sweep
that is taking place across Isfahan. In addition to the politically
motivated detentions and executions that have taken place after June’s
contested election and subsequent nation-wide political protests,
it appears authorities are rounding up Christian leaders.
More Arrests
On Feb. 28, Isfahan residents Hamid Shafiee and his wife Reyhaneh
Aghajary, both converts from Islam and house church leaders, were
arrested at their home.
Aghajary was at home with a group of other Christians when police came
for her and her husband, who was not at home, according to Middle East
Concern, a group that assists persecuted Christians. Police handcuffed
Aghajary and, upon finding boxes of Bibles, began beating her.
The assault continued until eventually Aghajary was pepper-sprayed
and removed from the scene. Her husband Shafiee was arrested an hour
later when he returned to the house.
Their fate and whereabouts are still unknown.
Authorities assaulted another Christian visiting the house at the time
of the raid when he protested the police action. Other Christians at
the house were threatened, but no one else was arrested. Approximately
20 police officers raided the home, seizing Bibles, CDs, photographs,
computers, telephones, personal items and other literature.
One regional analyst, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said
the Iranian government is set on crushing religious freedom within
the country.
"The recent spate of church leader arrests provides clear evidence
of the Iranian authorities’ desperate determination to strangle the
growing church movement, along with all other forms of perceived
political dissent," he said.
February’s arrest was not the first time Shafiee has had run-ins
with Iranian authorities. He has routinely been ordered to appear
before police for questioning and then released. This arrest, however,
was different. When family members contacted police on March 1, they
were told that the couple’s case was under the jurisdiction of the
Revolutionary Court and were turned away with no other information.
While the couple is imprisoned, family members are caring for their
two teenage boys.
Frequent Harassment
Like Shafiee, Issavi has been harassed frequently by the Isfahan branch
of the State Security police. He has been ordered to appear before
the police many times, then arrested and interrogated. In addition,
police have threatened members of his family and have broken into
his house and taken items such as his computer.
On Jan. 2, 2010, police sealed the Kermanshah church and ordered Issavi
not to reopen it. The church continued to have house meetings, and
authorities charged Issavi with not cooperating with the government.
The Assyrians were one of the first ethnic groups in the Middle East to
adopt Christianity. The existence of the Assyrian Christian community
in Iran predates the existence of their Islamic counterparts by
several hundred years. There are 10,000 to 20,000 Assyrian Christians
living in Iran, according to unofficial estimates cited in the 2009
International Religious Freedom Report issued by the U.S.
Department of State. The total Christian population is 300,000
nationwide, according to the United Nations. Most of those Christians
are ethnic Armenians.
Isfahan has been the site of some of the worst religious persecution
in Iran. On July 30, 2008, Abbas Amiri, a Christian man in his 60s,
died in a hospital after being beaten by Isfahan security police.
Authorities had arrested Amiri along with seven other men, six women
and two minors during a July 17 raid on a house meeting. Four days
after her husband died, Sakineh Rahnama succumbed to her injuries
and a stress-related heart attack. Later, officials wouldn’t allow
local Christians to hold a memorial service.
Iran, where Shia Islam is the official state religion, is known to be
one of the worst countries for repression against Christians. The U.S.
Secretary of State has designated Iran as a Country of Particular
Concern every year since 1999 for its persecution of non-Shia Muslims,
among others.
Last year, according to the International Religious Freedom Report,
persecution of Christians and other religious minorities continued to
get "significantly worse." The state department placed the blame for
this squarely at the feet of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran’s
conservative media, who "intensified a campaign against non-Muslim
religious minorities, and political and religious leaders" by issuing
a continual stream of inflammatory statements.
"Christians, particularly evangelicals, continued to be subject
to harassment and close surveillance," the report states. "The
government vigilantly enforced its prohibition on proselytizing
by closely monitoring the activities of evangelical Christians,
discouraging Muslims from entering church premises, closing churches,
and arresting Christian converts."
Evangelical Christians were required to carry church membership cards
and provide photocopies to authorities, according to the report.
"Worshippers were subject to identity checks by authorities posted
outside congregation centers," it states. "The Government restricted
meetings for evangelical services to Sundays, and church officials
were ordered to inform the Ministry of Information and Islamic Guidance
before admitting new members."