Feb28
Hearing on Human Rights and Religious Freedom in Iran
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom held a public hearing on February 21, 2008, entitled “Advancing Religious Freedom and Related Human Rights in Iran: Strategies for an Effective U.S. Policy”.
The situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran was raised in many of the testimonies at the hearing, and a description of the hearing along with the list of witnesses giving testimony can be found below.
USCIRF Description of the Hearing
The U.S. State Department has designated Iran a Country of Particular Concern for its egregious and systematic violations of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief. The Commission’s hearing will examine human rights abuses in Iran, including deteriorating conditions for dissident Muslims and members of non-Muslim religious minorities, current U.S. policy, and potential avenues for more effectively addressing rights violations in the Islamic Republic.
Witnesses giving testimony
- Jeffrey D. Feltman, Principal Deputy Secretary for Near East Affairs
- Barbara Slavin, Senior Fellow, U.S. Institute of Peace & Senior Diplomatic Reporter, USA Today
- Suzanne Maloney, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
- Payam Akhavan, Co-Founder, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
- Roya Boroumand, Executive Director, Boroumand Foundation for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran
- Paul Marshall, Senior Fellow, Center for Religious Freedom, Hudson Institute
The hearing held on Capitol Hill was broadcast live on C-SPAN. The video footage from the hearing can currently be accessed in the “recent programs” section on their website. You will need to search through the pages of links until you reach “Hearing on Human Rights and Religious Freedom in Iran” with a date stamp of February 21, 2008. The link will then launch a RealPlayer window.
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