About harassment of children in the Islamic Republic of Iran

 Maryam Fallahi and Sam Khosravi, a married couple, have converted to Christianity and live in the city of Busher in southern Iran. They adopted a girl from an orphanage when she was 10 weeks old and called her “Lydia”. The girl is now 2 years old and suffers from heart problems and intestinal disease. The health center refused to inform the Christian parents about the girl’s condition, as they did not recognize Christian parents.

Maryam Fallahi has been a nurse at Bushehr Heart Hospital for many years and together with her husband they gave the girl the best possible care.

Instead of helping the child, a court in Bushehr province has decided to take the child away from the family and return her to an orphanage, in retaliation for the couple’s conversion to Christianity. The court has ruled that according to Shiite Islamic law, this child should not have been given to a Christian family, as the child was born a Muslim, according to them, and therefore the child must be returned to the orphanage.

Maryam Fallahi and Sam Khosravi are among seven Christian converts who were arrested as early as July 30, 2009 by Bushehr’s security department for converting to Christianity and were brought before Bushehr’s “revolutionary court”.

According to a court decision, Sam Khosravi was sentenced to one year in prison and a two-year ban from staying in Bushehr. Maryam Fallahi was fined 80 million Rials and expelled from her job at the hospital.

This is a result of the Islamist state’s target of criminalizing conversion to Christianity.

The family court judge stated on July 20 this year, that there are strong emotional ties between Lydia and her parents. Taking Lydia back to the orphanage will risk her future and life. And No other family would want to adopt a sick child.

After looking into the appeal request, The Bushehr Court of law ruled that because Lydia was born into a Muslim family, the Christian family could not take care of the girl, and thus separated the child from her parents.

The Christian couple were arrested again by security agents in July this year, for propaganda against the regime.

Under Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of religion or belief, as well as freedom of expression. But the Islamist regime with its “revolutionary courts” treats converts in Iran in a harsh, brutal and inhuman way.

According to the law of the Islamic Republic, Article 6, Christianity is recognized as a permissible belief and that Christian families may adopt and take care of children. Despite this, it is well known how the Islamist state exposes people from other religions, to an extremely violent treatment. In their fanatical attitude, one is ready to risk the life and limb of a 2-year-old child.

We call on all child rights organizations to help and stop this punishment, which is only based on revenge and punishing the Christian family for leaving the Muslim faith.

We call for protests against the judicial system of the Islamic Republic in order to prevent the enforcement of these judgments.

Children first now

Chairperson. Karim Shamohammadi

October 5, 2020

contact: 0708526716

shamohammadi3@gmail.com