A/HRC/19/66 or broadcasted in the past two years. One such article, posted by the Rasa news agency on 8 March 2011,41 accused the Baha‟i community of attempting to subvert Islam.42 60. Baha‟is continue to be arbitrarily arrested and detained for their beliefs, in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In a report submitted to the Special Rapporteur, it was alleged that 474 Baha‟is had been arrested since August 2004. Of that number, 97 were currently imprisoned (see annex, table IV); 199 had been released on bail and were awaiting trial; 26 had been released without bail; 96 had been tried and sentenced, and free pending appeal or summons to begin serving their sentences; 34 had been tried and sentenced and had completed their prison terms and/or paid a fine; 14 sentences had been overturned on appeal; and 5 Baha‟is had served their prison sentences and begun their terms of internal exile. An additional 35 arrests were reportedly made between August and November 2011. 61. Baha‟is are subjected to severe socio-economic pressure, in violation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; in some cases, they have been deprived of property, employment and education. In recent months, for example, 10 shops and a well owned by Baha‟is in two cities in Semnan Province were sealed by the authorities. Moreover, copies of several unsettling Government documents dating back to 1991 prescribe deprivation of education, the establishment of an office to counteract Baha‟i publications, the denial of “positions of influence” to them and the trades prohibited for them. One Baha‟i student reported in an interview that 800 Baha‟is were denied university admission the year that his application was denied. In addition, several Baha‟is recently arrested were affiliated with the Baha‟i Institute for Higher Education, which is a university designed to educate Iranian Baha‟is that are excluded from education. 43 G. Ethnic minorities 62. The Special Rapporteur continues to receive reports about human rights violations affecting ethnic minorities, in law and in practice. As at 31 October 2011, 15 Kurdish activists were reportedly on death row on charges including “acting against national security”, “corruption on earth” and espionage. Minorities also continue to be subjected to intense socio-economic discrimination and pressures, including land and property confiscation, denial of employment and restrictions on social, cultural and linguistic rights, in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 63. Farzad Kamangar, a Kurdish teacher, was executed together with three other Kurds on 9 May 2010, at Evin Prison. Close family members reported that Mr Kamangar was denied a fair trial and that his execution was carried out in secret. Mr Kamangar was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence in 2006 and sentenced to death on charges of Moharebeh (see paragraph 22) and for alleged membership of and activities with the Kurdistan Workers‟ Party. In an interview, it was reported that Mr Kamangar was initially held incommunicado and subjected to various forms of torture, including threats of rape and against the safety of family members. Mr Kamangar was reportedly sentenced to death 41 42 43 18 Baha‟i International Community, Inciting Hatred: Iran’s media campaign to demonise Baha’is, October 2011. Available from http://bic.org/resources/documents/inciting-hatred-book. www.rasanews.ir/Nsite/FullStory/?Id=99956. In a statement reported by the State news agency ISNA on 4 June 2011 (www.isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1780417), the Ministry of Science and Technology declared the activities of the Baha‟i Institute for Higher Education illegal and that all diplomas and degrees issued by it had no legal validity.