Iran: Christian convert and political activist ‘brutally beaten’ during arrest

Source: 8thirty8

While the U.S. and Israel are carrying out their bombing of Iran, its security police have not stopped persecuting Christians.

Mohammad Nikbakht, a Christian convert

On March 14, Mohammad Nikbakht (photo), a Christian convert and activist, was “violented arrested” at his home by a large group of security forces.

“Mohammad was brutally beaten in front of his terrified family and faces an immediate and serious threat to his life,” said the National Decision Council, a human rights organization.

It stated that, “Mohammad was a beacon of hope, a courageous voice for justice, and a Christian believer whose faith strengthens his commitment to truth and human dignity inspired others.”

Conditions in Iran for Christians imprisoned for their faith and other inmates have deteriorated dramatically since the U.S. and Israeli bombing of the Islamic regime in the past month, according to human rights groups.

Guards and some prison officials across the country have largely abandoned their posts, leaving hardliners from the paramilitary group known as the “Counter-Terrorism Special Force” (Nīrū-yi Vizhe-yi Pād Vahshat, or NOPO) in charge, rights groups say.

Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran. (Ehsan Iran Creative Commons)

In a statement on X, the wife of a political prisoner at Evin Prison in Tehran, Mostafa Mohammadhasan, confirmed that NOPO has taken control of that prison.

“The situation at Evin Prison is very bad,” she posted. “The prison is now in the hands of NOPO forces. They have completely closed the gates, and all prison officials have left. Obtaining food has become very difficult and there is no (prison) shop anymore.”

Prison officials have cancelled family visits and denied medical care to prisoners, and they are now “being fed just one small, low-quality meal a day,” according to Article 18, which advocates on behalf of persecuted Christians in Iran.

Even under normal circumstances, Iranian prisons are known for serious human rights violations, including torture of Christians held for their faith and other prisoners of conscience.

NOPO control of prisons is cause for serious concern among rights activists and advocates for religious freedom, as the counter-terrorism force group is responsible for some of the worst human rights violations in Iran. Those include the deaths of hundreds of Iranians protesting against high gas prices or the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman brutalized in custody after Iran’s morality police arrested her by for failing to wear a government mandated head-covering in public.

Please Pray!

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners;” – Isaiah 61:1

Photo credit: Article 18

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