Peyvand Naimi, a young Baha’i in prison in Kerman, Iran, faces imminent danger after enduring two mock hangings, prolonged torture and interrogation, as Iranian authorities attempt to force him to confess to crimes he did not commit.

Mock executions are severe forms of mental torture and are banned under international law.

Peyvand was arrested on 8 January on false charges of instigating unrest during the January protests and was taken to an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) detention centre—known for its torture and mistreatment of detainees.

A forced confession that he participated in the protests was extracted from Peyvand under duress and was broadcast on state television on 1 February. He was transferred to Kerman Prison after the broadcast. 

To date, there has been no trial held for Peyvand, nor sentencing, and no evidence presented to justify the false charges against him.

While many prisoners have been released in recent weeks, due to the ongoing crisis in the country, he remains in custody alongside other Baha’is targeted for their beliefs.

Since the beginning of the Islamic Republic, in 1979, Iran’s government has consistently and systematically scapegoated the Baha’is during national crises through false allegations and coordinated disinformation and hate campaigns through the media.

Peyvand faces a similar situation. On 28 February, authorities accused him of the preposterous allegation of being involved in the deaths of three Basij security agents during the January protests, despite the fact that he was already in detention at the time of the alleged attack. He was also falsely accused of celebrating the death of Iran’s former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, an event he had no knowledge of as a prisoner without access to communications.

His family fears the fabricated charges against him could be used to justify action against him.

From mid-March, for a period of ten days, Peyvand faced constant and severe torture, interrogation, and denial of food and water. His hands and feet were bound for 48 hours, he was tied to a wall, and beaten on repeated occasions. For a further three days, he was continuously beaten and abused, his beliefs as a Baha’i were denigrated, he was psychologically tortured and interrogated by two agents, as well enduring the mock executions, all in an effort to extract the false confession.

A relative of Peyvand, who is outside Iran, says that his physical and psychological health are collapsing due to his mistreatment.

“Peyvand has been subjected to mock executions on two separate occasions,” the relative said, adding that during short conversations with family members during visits, he “broke down in tears” from the extreme psychological pressure.

After the first mock execution, Peyvand told his family that he had refused to confess, the relative said. He was “visibly traumatized and distraught” when describing the second episode which escalated to the point where the stool was almost kicked from beneath his feet,” the relative added, but he continues to insist on his innocence.

Human rights groups have repeatedly documented Iran’s use of torture, interrogations, and mock executions in order to extract false confessions.

“Peyvand Naimi is being tortured and even facing mock executions to confess to crimes he did not commit,” said Simin Fahandej, Baha’i International Community Representative to the UN in Geneva. “The Islamic Republic does not have a single shred of evidence for these accusations. If it did, it would not have to resort to torture to extract a false confession. There is only one reason for this cruel treatment, and it is that Peyvand is a Baha’i. It is the same reason Iran’s government has persecuted and discriminated against an entire innocent community for almost five decades.”

Peyvand is currently being kept in solitary confinement at Kerman Prison and is experiencing ongoing and involuntary eye twitching and gastrointestinal distress. Prison officials are denying him medical care.

“The brutal treatment of Peyvand, an innocent young man, shows that the Iranian government’s scapegoating of the Baha’i community knows no bounds,” Ms. Fahandej said. “For five decades, it has shown an unimaginable cruelty to the Baha’is, to coerce them to abandon their beliefs. The international community must act fast and insist Iran stop its senseless targeting of Baha’is. And it must act now.”

Background information: timeline of events

• On 28 February, while exercising in the yard of Kerman Prison, to which he had been transferred, Peyvand Naimi was taken to the IRGC detention center for a second time and placed in solitary confinement. He was later returned again to Kerman Prison.

• Agents claimed he had been celebrating the death of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, which had occurred earlier that day, but as a prisoner without access to communications Mr. Naimi did not even know this had happened. His family was later also told he was being punished on the basis of this accusation.

• Peyvand was then accused by the IRGC agents of being involved in a violent attack on Basij (paramilitary) forces on the evening of 8 January, one of the nights of the Iranian government’s violent crackdown during the January protests.

• Peyvand was detained on the morning of 8 January, before the deaths of the Basij officers, meaning he could not have been involved in the alleged attack nor committed the crime of which he is accused.

• Peyvand was permitted a brief telephone call to his family on 7 March, during which he said he was facing new false charges and was being pressured to confess, and that he would not be coerced to falsely confess against himself on this occasion.

For more information, please contact

• Simin Fahandej, Representative to the United Nations, Geneva, [email protected], +41227985400 (English & Persian)

• Rachel Bayani, Principal Representative to the United Nations, New York, [email protected], +19297870437 (English, French, German)