Baha'i Prisoner Denied Medical Care Due to 'Obstruction' by Officials

Following intensified crackdowns by the Islamic Republic on political prisoners in Iranian prisons, a Baha'i citizen imprisoned in Evin Prison has also been denied medical care. According to HRANA, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, Valiollah Ghadamian, who suffers from a lung disease, only received antibiotics after showing symptoms of cold and fever, and his condition worsened due to lung damage, leading to his transfer to a hospital. A source close to Ghadamian's family told HRANA that his transfer to the hospital was delayed due to 'obstruction by officials,' and due to the absence of a specialist doctor, he was prevented from being hospitalized and was returned to prison despite needing urgent specialized care. Valiollah Ghadamian was arrested in May 2023 for 'assisting in the burial of deceased Baha'is in the cemetery of followers of this faith' at the Baha'i cemetery known as 'Golestan-e-Javid.' In July 2023, he was sentenced to five years in prison by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Iman Afshari, on charges of 'membership in illegal groups.' This sentence was reduced to two years in prison by Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals last fall. Since his arrest, Mr. Ghadamian has also been deprived of the right to leave on parole. The Baha'i International Community, coinciding with the presence of Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of the Fourteenth Government of the Islamic Republic, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, issued a statement emphasizing that 'the promises have no effect on the bitter reality,' declaring that 'harassment and repression of Baha'is in Iran has intensified.' The statement from the Baha'i International Community noted that the Baha'i cemetery in Tehran has been blocked to Baha'is for years by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence. These agents have buried deceased Baha'is without observing burial customs and without informing their families, in mass graves that are the burial sites of thousands of political prisoners from the 1980s. Unofficial statistics indicate that over 300,000 Baha'is live in Iran, but the Islamic Republic's constitution does not recognize the Baha'i faith, and since the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the rights of Baha'i citizens have been systematically violated. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has also expressed concern over the increasing pressure on religious minorities in Iran and the Islamic Republic's campaign to arrest Baha'is. This commission reported that over the past several decades, Islamic Republic officials have systematically targeted Baha'is, Christians, Gonabadi Dervishes, Zoroastrians, Yarsanis, Shia and Sunni Muslims, and non-religious individuals with harassment, arrests, long-term imprisonment, exile, or prohibition from participating in political and social activities.