2013 Briefing Book - Print Version - Aipac

IRAN
awarded Iran the infamous honor of being the country with
the greatest number of journalists in jail.
TREATS WOMEN AS SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS
The Iranian constitution grants women equal protection under
the law. However, due to the regime’s strict adherence to Islamic
legal codes, women have little legal standing and are restricted
from pursuing careers in numerous advanced fields. While
many are well educated—60 percent of Iranian university
students are female—they represent a disproportionate number
of the unemployed and under-employed. According to the U.S.
State Department’s annual report on human rights, women also
often receive a disproportionately harsh punishment for crimes
such as adultery, which is punishable by death by stoning.
Iran treats women as second-class
citizens.
RESTRICTS THE FREE EXPRESSION OF RELIGION
While Shia Iran recognizes non-Shia forms of Islam, as well as Judaism and Christianity, the regime
severely restricts freedom of religion. Conversion from Islam is punishable by life in prison, or
death. In particular, the Iranian regime targets members of the Baha’i faith and frequently sentences
its leaders to decade-long imprisonment. The U.S. State Department’s report on religious freedom
for 2010 states: “The Baha’i religious groups reported arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention,
expulsions from universities and confiscation of property. During the reporting period governmentcontrolled
broadcast and print media intensified negative campaigns against religious minorities,
particularly the Baha’is.”
LEADS THE WORLD IN PER-CAPITA EXECUTIONS
Iran conceals the exact number of executions it carries out, but estimates from human rights groups
indicate over 600 executions in 2011 and over 400 known executions in 2012. Executions by
hanging are often carried out in a public fashion, and widespread secret executions are suspected
to have been carried out in a prison in the city of Mashad. Iran’s retrograde criminal code calls
for punishments including lashings, floggings, amputations, hangings, and stoning for crimes that
include protesting the regime, drug-related offenses, theft, sodomy, apostasy, and adultery. Iran is
presently the only country in the world known to execute minors.
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