A/HRC/22/48 27. As of late November 2012, a notable increase in imprisonment of Baha’is had been observed, with over 100 Baha’is detained apparently because of their religious beliefs. In most cases, security forces, who conduct these arrests, also searched Baha’i homes and/or workplaces in order to seize materials related to their faith. In a joint communication of 14 May 2012, a group of special procedure mandate holders20 expressed serious concerns at the ongoing arrest and detention of members of the Baha’i faith. These included the arrest, on 26 February 2012, of Mahsa Mehregani, a 12-year-old student in Yazd, at a time when she was taking an online exam with the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education. Furthermore, on 6 January 2012, security forces arrested Bakhtiyar Rasekhi, Farahnaz Naimi (Rasekhi) and Farin Rasekhi during a Baha’i event in their home, and charged them with propaganda of the Baha’i faith. Mr. Rasekhi allegedly remained detained in solitary confinement for over 70 days. 28. Other minority groups are also reported to have been subjected to a range of human rights violations, including violations of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Since June 2010, approximately 300 Christians have allegedly been arbitrarily arrested and detained throughout the country, including in Arak, Bandar Abbas, Bandar Mahshahr, Ardabil, Tabriz, Khoramabad, Mashhad, Hamadan, Rasht, Shiraz, Isfahan and Elam. On 20 September 2012, the Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and on freedom of religion or belief publicly expressed serious concerns over the arrest and detention of hundreds of Christians and the atmosphere of fear in which many churches operate. In a welcome development, in September, the pastor Yousuf Nadarkhani, who converted to Christianity at the age of 19 and became a member of a Protestant church in Rasht, was released. Mr. Nadarkhani had been arrested in October 2009 and found guilty and sentenced to death on charges of apostasy and evangelism following a trial which reportedly did not provide due process guarantees. The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court, with the caveat that unless the accused renounced Christianity he would be executed by hanging. In early September, the judicial authorities commuted Mr. Nadarkhani’s charge to “evangelizing Muslims”, and reduced his sentence to three years which he was credited with having already served. 29. Other minorities, such as the Sunni community, also faced severe restrictions of their freedom of religion and belief. On 26 October 2012, the most important Muslim holiday, security forces reportedly banned Tehran’s Sunnis from holding their own Eid alAdha gathering and prayers. Although this was the first time that they were prevented from marking Eid al-Adha, they had previously been stopped from holding Eid al-Fitr prayers for three consecutive years, and from building mosques and houses of worship in the city. 21 Discrimination against Sunni students in accessing higher education institutions has also been reported. The management of universities asserted that security officials had forbidden Sunni students from receiving higher education. In late September 2012, following pressure from security officials and the Ministry of Education, the Education Department of Iranian Kurdistan banned more than 17 senior Sunni teachers from teaching throughout the province.22 20 21 22 Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; Special Rapporteurs on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; freedom of religion or belief; the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Independent Expert on minority issues, A/HRC/21/49. See www.sunnionline.us/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3640:tehran-banon-sunnis-own-eid-al-adha-prayers&catid=58:Ahl-al-Sunna-In-Iran&Itemid=198. See www.sunnionline.us/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3624:iran-sunnistudents-banned-from-education&catid=58:Ahl-al-Sunna-In-Iran&Itemid=198 and 9