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Cite as: [2004] UKIAT 00303

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    FS and others (Iran – Christian Converts) Iran CG [2004] UKIAT 00303

    IMMIGRATION APPEAL TRIBUNAL

    Date of hearing: 16 & 17 March 2004

    Date Determination notified: 17 November 2004

    Before

    The Honourable Mr Justice Ouseley (President)
    Mr C P Mather (Vice President)
    Mr L V Waumsley (Vice President)

    Between

     

    FS and others APPELLANT
    and  
    Secretary of State for the Home Department RESPONDENT

    For the Secretary of State: Mr S Wilken, instructed by Treasury Solicitor
    For FS: Ms A Weston, instructed by Switalski's Solicitors
    For TB: Mr S Vokes, instructed by Richard Heynes & Coopers
    For NS: Ms A Weston, instructed by Derby Law Centre

    DETERMINATION AND REASONS

  1. This is the determination in three appeals which raise similar issues concerning the risk of persecution and other breaches of human rights to Christian apostates, citizens of Iran, who might be returned there. Two appeals are by the individuals and one is by the Secretary of State for the Home Department. That is the case of FS which was remitted to the Tribunal by the Court of Appeal [2003] EWCA Civ 1562, on the grounds that the Tribunal's stance or guidance in relation to this issue was inconsistent and that it should reconsider what its guidance was.

  2. Sedley LJ said at paragraph 29, dealing with the Secretary of State's argument that each case rather depended on its facts:

    "I accept readily that it is not a ground of appeal that a different conclusion was open to the tribunal below on the same facts, or therefore that another tribunal has reached a different conclusion on very similar facts. But it has to be a matter of concern that the same political and legal situation, attested by much the same in-country data from case to case, is being evaluated differently by different tribunals. The latter seems to me to be the case in relation to religious apostasy in Iran. The differentials we have seen are related less to the differences between individual asylum-seekers than to differences in the Tribunal's reading of the situation on the ground in Iran. This is understandable, but it is not satisfactory. In a system which is as much inquisitorial as it is adversarial, inconsistency on such questions works against legal certainty. That does not mean that the situation cannot change, or that an individual's relationship to it does not have to be distinctly gauged in each case. It means that in any one period a judicial policy (with the flexibility that the word implies) needs to be adopted on the effect of the in-country data in recurrent classes of case."

  3. After citing what Laws LJ said in S and others v Home Secretary [2002] INLR 416 about the Tribunal's role in providing authoritative determinations in relation to the position for various classes of people in various countries, Sedley LJ continued in paragraph 31:

    "The undesirability of such factual disparities was recently reiterated by this court in Gurung [2003] EWCA Civ 654 : see especially the judgment of Buxton LJ at paragraph 12. Mr Kovats has argued that, while it may be proper to insist that good reasons be given for departing from an otherwise consistent line of factual decisions of the present kind, there can be no such requirement where, as here, there is no consistent line. But this does not answer Ms Webber's point that it is the very inconsistency of the decisions which is inimical to justice."

  4. We respectfully acknowledge and agree with what Sedley LJ had to say and accept that he is right that the Tribunal on this issue had been inconsistent in its approach, even though over time on a problematic issue there had been a growing consistency.

  5. We were provided with a number of previous Tribunal decisions, which exemplified not just the evolution of the Tribunal's thinking but also its inconsistency, at times, which we have already noted. We see no point, in the light of the comprehensive and up-to-date evidence which we have heard in drawing upon them, let alone trying to reconcile them. Where the parties placed particular reliance on a Tribunal decision in relation to risk on return of failed asylum seekers, or on what foreign Tribunals have said about the risk on return of converts, we do deal with them.

  6. We would add the comment that although S&K [2002] UKIAT 05613* was a starred decision, it was starred for the point of statutory interpretation which arose in it. The system of starring decisions relates only to points of law and in that way marks them as binding authority for the Tribunal and Adjudicators. The giving of guidance in relation to country conditions or issues is of the same nature for this area as the sentencing guideline cases for the criminal courts. They are expected to be followed unless distinguishable by reference to individual circumstances or unless changes in conditions have occurred; see paragraphs 21 (curiously to be found between 8 and 9), 72 and 73 of DK [2003] UKIAT 00953 (Croatia).

  7. For ease of reference, we shall refer to each of the individuals as Appellants even though one (FS) is a Respondent in this Tribunal.

    The facts in FS

  8. He is now 30, arrived in the United Kingdom in July 2001, claiming asylum shortly afterwards. His claim was summarised in the Court of Appeal and in the Tribunal in the following way. The Appellant's father had spent five years in the early 1980s as a political prisoner. His brother-in-law, who, with the Appellant's sister, had been a member of the Mojahedin, had spent six years in prison. His own home had been searched several times by the security or intelligence service, with whom his activities in a radical theatre group had earned him a file. He had been injured and arrested in a student demonstration in 1999. Released after a day, he was rearrested and menacingly interrogated for four days, and was made to sign a document professing repentance. On release he went into hiding. On learning that the authorities were again looking for him and had a warrant out for him, he fled the country.

  9. On a holiday to Turkey in 1995, the Appellant had become interested in Christianity when he visited a church and discussed Christianity with a priest. He did not explore Christianity in Iran, but soon after coming to the United Kingdom he began to attend a Church of England congregation in Pontefract. He was baptised there on 19th December 2001. The certificate of baptism was produced to the Adjudicator. Thereafter the Appellant began to experience difficulties with Moslems in Pontefract and he was relocated to Birmingham. There he attended another Church of England congregation, whose vicar is the Reverend Goss. Reverend Goss produced a witness statement and attended the hearing to give oral evidence to the Adjudicator to the effect that he believed the Appellant's conversion to be genuine.

  10. The Adjudicator, Mrs N A Baird, in a determination promulgated on 20th August 2002, accepted that a warrant had been issued for his arrest even though she said that she had no idea what was in it. She doubted that the authorities in Iran already knew of his conversion. She referred to evidence relating to the evangelical churches, although she accepted that the Appellant was not an evangelical Christian. He attended a mainstream Church of England church. Indeed it is clear that he is not interested in proselytising as evidenced by his departure from Pontefract because he was afraid that Iranians there would find out that he was a Christian. Illogically, as the Court of Appeal said, she found that he would not be persecuted for his political opinions but concluded that it would be a breach of his rights under Article 3 were he to be returned, because he would find it exceedingly difficult to practise his religion in Iran particularly because he had been baptised in the United Kingdom.

  11. The Secretary of State is the actual Appellant in this case. He appeals on the ground that the Adjudicator, on those facts, ought not to have found that FS was at risk of a breach of his Article 3 rights and ought to have found that he would not be persecuted for a Convention reason. He did not pursue his challenge to the findings as to the genuineness of the conversion.

  12. There are no findings by the Adjudicator as to how FS would behave upon return to Iran. Issues which would arise in cases of this sort are whether the Appellant would actually practise his religion eg by attending church and with other activities and if so, which denomination, and where; it would be important to know the extent to which he would make his conversion known in other ways such as by talking about it or by trying to convert others. We do not blame the Adjudicator for this; the importance of some of those issues only became clear as we examined the background material. Nonetheless, we had to make some assumptions for the purposes of this appeal. It is sensible that we should approach our assessment on the basis that he would be likely, at least initially, to seek to join the Anglican, also called the Episcopalian, Church as an ordinary regular worshipping member of the congregation, but that he would not set out to convert others or to draw attention to himself in connection with his religious conversion in other ways. The Adjudicator found that he was not an evangelical Christian.

    The facts in NS

  13. NS is a 39 year old woman who left Iran in November 2001. She said that she left because of the continual persecution which she faced as a sole female in Iran, harassed because of her failure on many occasions to satisfy strict Islamic dress requirements. She had been detained for a week in 1993, because her explanation of being at the bus station with a male friend was not accepted, and for which she received a suspended sentence of lashing. She could not rent a flat because she was a woman and she experienced discrimination in work because she did not practise her Muslim religion. She first became interested in Christianity in Iran through conversations with a friend and with many of her work colleagues who were Christians. Although fascinated by the religion she hesitated to embrace it there because of the implications which that would have. Her asylum and human rights claims were rejected by the Secretary of State in January 2002.

  14. She said that in the United Kingdom she had regularly attended her local church, also a mainstream Church of England church. It was in February 2002 that the Appellant had approached the Minister, who was also her language tutor, after an English lesson to inquire about local churches and Christianity. She had been a regular and committed member of her congregation since June 2002. She had prepared thoroughly for her baptism and confirmation which took place in November 2002. Oral evidence was given by one of the Ministers at her local church who prepared her for her baptism and confirmation. The Minister supported the genuineness of her conversion and her commitment to her faith describing how she was a regular worshipper, and a helper with church activities.

  15. The Adjudicator, Mr P A Spencer, rejected this in a determination promulgated on 3rd April 2003, pointing out that her interest in Christianity in the United Kingdom commenced after the refusal of her claims by the Secretary of State, and rejecting as a recent story the suggestion that she had had any interest in Christianity in Iran. The Adjudicator noted the similarities between this claim and the claim of her sister who had also become a convert after refusal of her own claim to asylum. She appealed on the grounds that the Adjudicator's credibility findings were flawed; these were obviously the basis upon which the assessment as to risk was made.

  16. At the appeal before us, the Secretary of State accepted that the conversion was genuine. This still left us in the position of not knowing what else that imported in terms of how she would behave in relation to her new faith upon return to Iran. As with FS, it is sensible that we should again assess matters on the basis that she would join, at least initially, the Anglican Church and participate as an ordinary member, worshipping regularly. On that basis her religious activities would be the same as those of FS.

    The facts in TB

  17. This Appellant is now 36. He claimed asylum upon arrival in the United Kingdom in July 2002 shortly after he left Iran where he had been living. His claim was based on his conversion to Christianity from Islam in August 2001. The Secretary of State concluded that the Appellant lacked credibility and refused his claim in September 2002. In November 2002, he was baptised into the Jesus Fellowship Church. His appeal was dismissed by the Adjudicator, Mrs V A Osborne, on both asylum and human rights grounds, in a determination promulgated on 14th January 2003. She accepted the genuineness of his conversion, but concluded that he would not engage in proselytising and evangelising and so would not be at risk on return. The grounds of appeal allege that a convert would be at risk, that the Appellant was an evangelical Christian and would be at serious risk.

  18. The Adjudicator found that although he was a genuine convert, his interest was strongly influenced by a more liberal social order as opposed to the strict Islamic way of life which it was necessary to follow in Iran in order to obtain certain employment. The Appellant had given no evidence of any evangelising in Iran or of having joined a Protestant Church. Although he said that he had not been attracted by Orthodox ceremonial, his conversion in Iran occurred when he had met with an Armenian priest. He had also given evidence, about which the Adjudicator made no explicit findings but which we accept in the light of her generally favourable findings on credibility that he had spoken about Christianity to a cousin who, like him, was not a devout Muslim. The police had raided his home when he was not there, denounced him to his mother as a Christian and removed Christian material.

  19. The Adjudicator continued in paragraph 27 and 28:

    "I have given careful consideration to the background information particularly that contained in the CIPU Country assessment about the position of Christians in Iran and note that there is likely to be distinct discrimination against those who have converted from Islam to (particularly) evangelical forms of Christianity. Converts may be arrested (paragraph 5.02) there is a possibility of execution (5.51) and there have been reported incidents of government harassment (5.52). There is a significant danger to someone who has converted from Islam to Christianity and who preaches Christianity with a view to converting other Muslims – the penalty for this being execution (5.54). Since being in the United Kingdom the Appellant has joined and become an active member of an evangelical Church although he has not said at any point in his evidence that if he were to return to Iran he would feel it incumbent upon himself to take part in evangelical activities with a view to converting other Muslims. I have noted that since his "conversion" on the 15th August 2001 until his departure almost a year later the Appellant was apparently content to practice his religion in safety by restricting his activities to his personal reading and writing in the safety of his own home and he had never attempted to join an evangelical Church in his own Country. I therefore find that the Appellant had adopted a cautious and sensible approach to his wish to follow Christian teaching and philosophy and I can see no reason why if he were to be returned to Iran he would not behave in a similar manner. I accept that he would be proscribed from evangelising and attempting to convert other Muslims to his way of thinking but he has not described a need or a wish to do so.

    I am therefore left to consider whether what transpired prior to the Appellant's departure from Iran was likely to lead to persecution if he were to be returned. The Appellant has produced no evidence that he is of any ongoing concern to the authorities and I have noted that the penalties likely to be imposed for a failed asylum seeker upon return are unlikely to be unduly harsh (paragraph 5.94 and 5.95 of the CIPU Country Assessment)."

  20. It was on that basis that the Adjudicator concluded that he would be unlikely to face persecution upon return. TB produced a subsequent statement; he had tried to spread the gospel in Iran, which the failings of his previous representative had caused to be omitted from his case before the Adjudicator. That had led to his cousin denouncing him. He had pledged himself to the Jesus Fellowship Church in June 2003 and he had attended evangelical events.

  21. Mr Vokes, who appeared for this Appellant, sought to argue that the nature of the evangelical church to which the Appellant belonged in the United Kingdom would mean that he would behave in a different way from FS and NS upon return, though he would also seek to join the Anglican Church. He produced some notes on the Jesus Fellowship Church and evangelism. It purported to answer the question of whether or not the evangelical Church considered it part of an ordinary lay-member's duty to proselytise in a foreign country, where to do so was against the law and could result in death. The answer, in so far as it was provided at all, was not explicit from the text. Mr Vokes, as we understood his answer, said ultimately that such proselytising was a part of the ordinary lay-member's duty notwithstanding the risks. Nonetheless, it did not appear that there was a duty on him to seek out those who, in response, would persecute the evangelist, nor a duty to remain in a place despite persecution. But there were many scriptural passages referred to and support could be found for a variety of views from amongst them. The notes also drew a distinction between evangelising and missionary work and work as a pastor on the one hand, to which only some would be called by God, and the obligation on every church member, as it was seen, whether of an evangelical church or not, to bear witness. This involved talking to one's family or work colleagues about the Christian faith and the way in which one lived one's life. It would also be impossible, submitted Mr Vokes, for someone who was a true member of an evangelical church and had embraced Christianity through such a church not to want to pass on the Gospel news to those around him so that they could share in the joy which that brought.

    The background evidence: conversion

  22. We shall deal first with the material which concerns Christianity and apostasy.

  23. Although the Constitution declares that Iran is an Islamic Shi'ite state, it recognises Christians as one of three religious minorities to whom the right to religious practice and education is guaranteed, though there is evidence that that is often subject to administrative disruption. They could run their own charities, and their own schools including religious education. They have a number of seats reserved for them in the Majlis but otherwise, according to the US State Department Report on Religious Freedom in Iran 2003, are discriminated against in a number of ways. They cannot be elected to a representative body except for the reserved seats; they are barred from certain state employment; the requirements for knowledge of Islam restricts their entry into university and there are other forms of officially sanctioned discrimination in other areas of public service. There are various forms of discrimination in the legal system, although the inheritance laws have been changed so that the law of inheritance is that of the deceased and so the former position whereby any Muslim successor was preferred over any non-Muslim successor appears to have changed. Changes have been proposed (and subsequently passed) to equalise the blood money payable as between a Muslim and a member of a recognised religious minority. There is also a greater degree of acceptance that, for Armenians, decisions relating to personal status and family law can be dealt with by Armenian Courts.

  24. There are varying numbers given for the Christian population in Iran, a problem compounded by the inter-reaction between an ethnic minority and its religious denomination. The Iranian Government estimated in 1997 that there were between 117,000 and 200,000 Christians in Iran. The US State Department refers to 300,000 Christians, the majority of whom are ethnic Armenians (the majority) and Assyrian-Chaldeans but Christians had been emigrating at 15,000-20,000 a year. These Christian groups are ethnically based and represent communities which have lived in Iran since before the Islamic era. Those groups conduct their services in Armenian or Assyrian, although there is an increase in the number of Farsi services. The absence of church services in Farsi has been seen by the Government as making it less likely that they would be proselytising. Tolerance of their activities requires them to refrain from anti-Islamic or anti-Republican activities and proselytising of Muslims is forbidden. Members of religious minorities have frequently been charged with crimes such as "confronting the state" and such trials have been conducted as national security trials, but this does not appear to have happened for some years on the evidence overall. The US State Department Country Report of 2002 referred to the close monitoring of religious minorities by the Ministry of Intelligence and Security. Their organisations, activities, schools and events were monitored.

  25. There is an important distinction between the ethnically-based Christian Churches which do not proselytise and rarely, if ever, admit converts, and which represent the continuance of ethnic minority communities centuries old in Iran, and the more recent Protestant or evangelical Churches which do evangelise, proselytise and admit converts from Islam, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The position of the latter group is what we are concerned to assess here.

  26. The context for this examination is that Iran is an Islamic theocratic state. The interests of the state and its religion are inseparable. Conversion from Islam is against the law, punishable as apostasy, in theory by death.

  27. The CIPU Report for October 2003, para 6.48 said that the Government was "highly suspicious of any proselytising of Muslims by non-Muslims and can be harsh in its response, in particular against Baha'is and evangelical Christians". At 6.54, it said that "the authorities have become particularly vigilant in recent years in curbing what is perceived as increasing proselytising activities by evangelical Christians, whose services are conducted in Persian". It described the reaction of the authorities to this perceived activity. Churches had been closed and converts arrested. "Government officials have reacted to this perceived activity by closing evangelical churches and arresting converts. Members of evangelical congregations are required to carry membership cards, photocopies of which must be provided to the authorities. Worshippers are subject to identity checks by authorities posted outside congregation centres. Meetings for evangelical services have been restricted by the authorities to Sundays, and church officials have been ordered to inform the Ministry of Information and Islamic Guidance before admitting new members to their congregations." This information is not specific as to number or time or the upshot of any arrests. It draws on the US State Department Report.

  28. Paragraph 6.57 continued:

    "Mistreatment of evangelical Christians continued during the period covered by this report. Christian groups have reported instances of government harassment of churchgoers in Teheran, in particular against worshipers at the Assembly of God congregation in the capital. Instances of harassment cited included conspicuous monitoring outside Christian premises by Revolutionary Guards to discourage Muslims or converts from entering church premises and demands for presentation of identity papers."

  29. Apostasy is a crime punishable by death. Paragraphs 6.59 to 6.62 state:

    "6.59 Apostasy, or conversion from Islam to another religion, is not acceptable in Islamic law. It states that an innate-apostate, one whose parents were Muslims and who embraced Islam but later left Islam, if a man, is to be executed. If a women, she is to be imprisoned for life, but will be released if she repents. A national apostate, a person converting from another faith to Islam, and then reconverting back to the other faith is to be encouraged to repent and, upon refusal to repent, is to be executed. The most prominent cases of apostasy appear to occur from Islam to Christianity although Baha'is have also been accused of it and the death sentence has been carried out even though the accused have said that they had always been Baha'i and were not therefore apostates.

    6.60 Proselytising apostate converts who have begun preaching Christianity are likely to face execution. 17 clerics are known to have been in detention in 1995. In that connection, a Western embassy said that there had been no reports of person being executed on the grounds of conversion from Islam since 1994. In the source's opinion, although a convert may still be sentenced to a term of imprisonment if the authorities hear about his conversion, it is very rare nowadays for a criminal case to be brought against a convert. The source stressed that converts often remain Muslim for official purposes.

    6.61 The source thought that converts who are known to the Iranian authorities are summoned to an interview at the Ministry of Information in order to be reprimanded. They are then allowed to go after being warned not to talk about what has taken place at the Ministry. If a criminal case is brought against them, they will be accused of something other than conversion. Many individuals try to convert with a view to emigrating, considering that the opportunities for obtaining asylum in the West are thereby greater. The Christian churches send letters of recommendation to converts and to other persons belonging to the church on request. It would appear however, that at present the Government is not pursuing an active and systematic policy of investigation and prosecution of cases of apostasy.

    6.62 In practice, Muslim converts to Christianity may face obstacles such, as not being admitted to university or not being issued a passport. Even Muslim converts, however, in reality appear able to practise their new faith up to a point. This means, for instance, that weekly church attendance is a possibility. On the other hand, those who actively display their new faith in public, in particular by proselytising, can expect to face severe repression, even if their conversion goes back decades."

  30. The CIPU also notes, as do a number of reports, the deaths of eight evangelical Christians at the hands of the authorities, though says that there have been none since 1994.

  31. The US State Department Report on Religious Freedom 2003 is to the like effect; it describes the threatening atmosphere for evangelical Christians and some other religious minorities. It refers to the refusal by those churches to comply with the Government's demands that they provide membership lists of their congregations. There have been demands that the leaders sign pledges that they would not proselytise nor admit Muslims to their services. On the other hand the Government appeared to wish to encourage at least among world religious leaders an interfaith dialogue.

  32. Not surprisingly, the US State Department Country Report for 2002 (and indeed the preceding one) is in much the same vein and at times the same language, language which has also featured, properly attributed in the CIPU. The US State Department draws on non-governmental sources because it has no diplomatic representation in Iran.

  33. The US State Department Report for 2000 referred to reports from one organisation that 8 evangelical Christians had been killed in the previous ten years by the authorities, and that in 1997–1998 between fifteen and twenty-three Iranian Muslim converts to Christianity had been reported by a Christian organisation as having disappeared, presumed killed by the authorities. The general background information which it contains is similar to that in the later Reports. It added that two leading lay converts had been compelled to leave Iran as a result of harassment from the authorities; others were identified who had lost their jobs and had been beaten up by the authorised thugs of the Basiji and Hezbollah, or aggressively interrogated. The 1999 Report said that evangelical leaders were under pressure to sign pledges that they would not seek converts from Islam. Other reports pointed out that the Orthodox churches in Iran, by contrast, did not allow Muslims to attend their services, and that if any individual member sought to make a convert, he did so in great fear.

  34. A Canadian Refugee Board Report in 1998 said that it was up to the alleged convert, facing charges of apostasy in court, to disprove his apostasy by proving his religious commitment to Islam. Another of its reports in 1996 said that Muslim converts who did not announce their conversion would not face problems but that they would if they did make it public.

  35. In 1997, the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board produced a report on Iran in which it drew attention to the pressures on the Protestant churches to stop conducting services in Farsi and to stop Muslims participating in them; their churches had been closed and converts arrested. Ethnically based churches which did not proselytise were not targeted. It referred to some restrictions imposed on Pentecostal clergy and to the extra-judicial killings of the three Pentecostal clergy in 1994, for which three women said to be members of the PMOI had been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment in 1995.

  36. The Belgium Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CEDOCA) Report of a seven week mission to Iran in mid 2002 contains much relevant information intended to assist in the proper assessment of asylum applications from Iran. It does not claim to be an exhaustive picture of Iran, but endeavours to give, according to its authors, information to meet the needs of those making decisions in this area, using local contacts. The persons consulted in Iran included a number of Churches: the Assyrian, Assyrian-Chaldean, Armenian Gregorian, Russian Orthodox, and importantly for the Secretary of State's submissions, two Pentecostal Evangelical Assembly of God Churches (Armenian and Assyrian) as well as the German-language Evangelical Church. The Appellants are right that the Anglican Church was not one of those consulted.

  37. The Report deals with the perceived greater degree of flexibility from the authorities since 1997. It described the situation generally as one which had improved for Christians over the last few years and said that "Generally speaking there is no longer any repression or persecution". Christians were able to practise their faith within their community but the economic crisis led many to leave the country, although the church leaders were trying to stem the outflow of those who saw no future in Iran. This trend towards flexibility is attributed by the CEDOCA Report to the freer atmosphere introduced by President Khatami in 1997 and Iran's growing concern about its international image.

  38. It said that few churches in Iran proselytised; the most active in that respect were the two Assembly of God Churches and the Episcopal Church of Iran, the Anglican Church. Some other churches only admitted new members upon marriage and the Armenian Catholic and Gregorian Churches, the Roman Catholic and Assyrian Churches never admitted converts.

  39. It described the baptism process as a long process because the applicant had to be vetted by the Church to ensure that he was not a Government infiltrator; they had to take a course in Christian doctrine and participate in church activities so that they did not become members just to enable them to leave the country and claim asylum. The ceremony was carried out in most cases "with the greatest discretion".

  40. It continued:

    "The authorities are often aware of conversions but do not do anything to oppose them. As long as the religion is practised privately and the person concerned is not too obtrusive, in principle there is no problem. It is only if the person practises his religion publicly and actively attempts to convert others that he could be in trouble. However, this applied more to small towns, where it appears that members are sometimes questioned, than to Teheran, where things are somewhat easier given the anonymity of this big city. One of the sources related that one of its members was currently in detention for distributing Bibles and because of open proselytising. None of the other sources we consulted had any knowledge of such cases.

    Muslims regularly attend services in the different churches. In most cases this is known to the authorities, but they do not make any problems."

  41. The interviews and analyses of the individual churches are of some note. The Armenian Gregorian Church, which never admits converts, complained of the proselytising activities of certain evangelical churches, both of Muslims and of Armenian Christians. This Church, which did not encourage conversions of Armenians, was very reluctant even to have contact with non-Christians who wanted to discuss their faith. They could practise as they wished.

  42. The Armenian Assembly of God Church has three churches in Teheran one of which holds its services in Farsi, the others in Armenian. They have seven other churches in Iran. They also hold meetings in private houses. They were a recognised religion but not registered as such and could build no more churches. The headquarters church had some 800 members of which 80 percent were converted Muslims and the rest were converted Armenian or Assyrian Christians. The assistant superintendent, who was the source of the information reported, said that there had been considerable improvements over the last few years, the pressure from the authorities had let up and members were rarely picked up for questioning. Those who had been picked up on the last large scale questioning in 1997 had not been frightened into returning to Islam, which was the object of the exercise. Only one member was currently detained because of his activities and he was a "zealous evangelist". There were sometimes problems with the authorities in the smaller towns with minor forms of intimidation, with members held for a short while and then released and left in peace.

  43. However, it said:

    "If the authorities become aware that someone has been converted, this can lead to the person losing his job. This applies more to civil servants than to people who work for private businesses. Among the believers there is a general atmosphere of fear, so much so that they tend to restrict themselves in their proselytising activities. Also members regularly stay away from the church to divert somewhat the negative attention of the authorities.
    On the whole, the ordinary population have a positive attitude towards Christians. There are only rarely negative reactions. However, six or seven years ago the headquarters received a visit from a few members of the secret services who demanded that their Friday church services be stopped and that everyone who wanted to attend the church service on Sunday gave his identity. However, this demand was refused by the church authorities, and they simply continued as before, without any further problems. Of course, they are well aware that the authorities are very well informed of their activities and that there are probably also spies among their members.
    According to Rev Avanesian, all the members of the church can at some time have problems with the authorities, even though the situation of most of the members is tolerably good. He understands that some choose to leave the country, but he rather puts this down to economic factors and the desire to lead an untroubled life. Those who have 'the true faith' choose instead to stay and to witness to their faith."

  44. There had been no death sentence for apostasy in the last seven years. The civil law impact of conversion rather varied from judge to judge. The process of conversion was described and reflects what we have already set out above. The Church took some active steps to seek converts, eg through selling Bibles on the streets.

  45. The Assyrian Assembly of God Church had one church in Teheran and also met in private houses. One pastor was a Muslim convert. Its pastors had experienced problems with the authorities. The interviewee described the situation as very bad economically, especially for Christians who were barred from certain jobs because of their religion. The church is not registered and the government disrupts the elections which it must hold every three years for its priests. The church is under constant surveillance. Young people in the army got no office jobs and recruits were often insulted. In the state schools where everyone is forced to study Islam, Christianity is portrayed in a negative light.

  46. Its proselytising activities seem quite limited, depending on those who make contact or become interested through talking to a member. They do not issue any documents in support of an asylum claim.

    "For the moment, because they have not been active in this field for very long, the church has so far had no problems because of its proselytising activities. As long as converts keep a low profile and are not very obtrusive about their new beliefs, in principle they have no problems [an exception was identified]. However, converts who want to get married have problems when it comes to registering their marriage. Also, they cannot go through the conventional Christian marriage ceremony."

  47. The situation was much worse up to seven years ago when people were regularly summoned for questioning and sometimes detained for several days. The Sharia law on apostasy was now only used to frighten people. An incident was recounted in which 5,000 clandestinely printed Bibles were confiscated, but the pastor was told that no legal proceedings would be taken against him if he kept his head down.

  48. The Assyrian Chaldean church was declining in numbers and cannot engage in active proselytising. The Assyrian Church, although acknowledging civil and personal law discrimination, said that its church and religion was recognised by the Iranian Government. But it did not allow conversions, and had made none since the 12th Century. Although a few Muslims attended, they could understand little, for the services were conducted in Assyrian. The Russian Orthodox Church said that the period 1990-1995 had been a very difficult one for Christians; it was a small church; converts were rare and baptised in secret. A few Muslims attended services without problems for themselves or for the Church.

  49. Under the aegis of the Council of the EU, a Danish fact-finding mission had been to Iran in September 2000, and reported in January 2002. It had been undertaken because of the relatively high number of Iranian asylum seekers in Denmark. Meetings were held with the relevant Iranian authorities and Western diplomats. They were focused on Teheran.

  50. Western embassy information confirmed the decline in the numbers of Christians in Iran due to large-scale emigration, diminishing from 350,000 before the revolution to 150,000 in 2001. It emphasised the change between persecution at the start of the revolution and the discrimination now faced. A sign of the change was that now Christians were permitted to run schools with Christian principals. Conversion in Iran was a lengthy process, and churches were cautions about accepting converts; baptisms would be in secret. It was only the Protestant and Assembly of God Churches which accepted converts anyway and actively proselytised. Other material from this mission features in the CIPU Report, paragraphs 6.60-6.61.

  51. A Netherlands Report to CIREA on the position in 2000, drawn from a number of sources, diplomatic, UN and NGO and others, painted the same picture of discrimination but not persecution facing Christians generally. Many had opted to go to the West in recent years. Likewise, it was the Protestant churches which sought converts and those who proselytised were intimidated; its comment was repeated in paragraph 6.62 of the CIPU Report of October 2003.

  52. The CIREA papers for 1998 and 1999 on freedom of religion in Iran said that intimidation of those who proselytised as Christians continued, though there were no details of any actual prosecutions for that activity. The Armenian and Assyrian Churches were well-integrated, ethnically based, permitted to trade and follow their own rules in personal and family law, and were not seen as a threat to Islam by the authorities. They did not proselytise. Protestant churches did accept converts but with great restraint, save for the Pentecostal Assembly of God Churches. There had been no recent cases in which the death penalty had been imposed on converts:

    "Those who, in the view of the authorities, offer Muslims alternative to Islam run the risk of falling victim to human rights violations. There have recently been fresh reports of threats and intimidation, including house searches, directed at churches which include converts among their congregations. Repression of Christians is directed particularly at leading members of the Anglican church and the Assemblies of God."

  53. Converts faced travel restrictions and other obstruction, instructions to cease church attendance, threats but not the fact of prosecution. Those who openly demonstrated their religious conviction faced serious repression; there had been several murders attributed to fundamentalist elements who may have been within the government. But that had not occurred since 1997. It was estimated that there were a few hundred converts resident in Iran.

  54. Mr Wilken made particular reference to a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) in Australia dated 2nd September 2003. The Claimant was an Iranian convert from Islam to an evangelical Christian church. He had started his interest in Christianity when he was still in Iran, had been arrested for expressing that interest, and had been inspired to learn more. However his full conversion did not take place until he arrived in Australia. He regarded sharing his views with others as an important obligation on Christians. He gave evidence to the effect that if he were to keep his religion to himself on return to Iran, it was possible that nothing would happen to him but that he had taken an oath to proselytise. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) provided information from the Assembly of God Church in Teheran; this was information upon which Mr Wilken placed considerable reliance as well as upon its appraisal in this Review Tribunal decision.

  55. We set out initially DFAT's earlier material of 1996 because of the contrast with the June 2002-February 2003 material, which was so significant to the RRT. The DFAT Report of 1996 referred to the discrimination faced by Christians and the difference between the traditional or orthodox churches and the evangelical churches in their attitude towards proselytising among Muslims. Attempting to convert a Muslim was a serious offence, the existence of which in the penal code was intended to harass. Converts were generally tolerated so long as they kept a very low profile. Workplace harassment and dismissal would be possible if they worked for the government or revolutionary organisation, but the most common source of pressure was from "concerned" family members. Churches felt that they were infiltrated with "suspect" members there to intimidate and monitor the others, and especially converts. There were no accounts however of ordinary converts being tortured or killed because of their beliefs.

  56. The picture painted of the Orthodox and ethnic Churches reflects what we have already described, although there were limitations and discrimination.

    "2.3.17.8 Despite constitutional guarantees of religious freedom for Christians, those denominations which fall outside the historically well established Armenian and Assyrian traditions have been subjected to a greater degree of officially sponsored intimidation. Those churches which did not have what the Government regarded as indigenous roots at the time of the Revolution have been accused of espionage, collaboration with foreign powers and cultural imperialism. The majority of non-Iranian clergy have had their visas revoked or have been pressured to leave.
    2.3.17.9 While the violent excesses of the past have abated, a process of attrition remains. For example, in 1993, the Anglican church was divested of its substantial property holdings. The Anglicans appear to have fared badly under the current regime. At present the most virulent threat to the maintenance of an Anglican presence here remains insolvency. In the early days of the Revolution, all Anglican property under the name of the then Bishop was frozen, comprising land, schools, hospitals and homes Previously frozen assets have been confiscated and title deeds amended to preclude any future assertion of interests. No compensation has been proposed. The confiscation was conducted without prior consultation. No paper trail is available to the aggrieved thus rendering the pursuit of judicial redress impossible. The legal justification for the latest act relates to the apostasy of the former Bishop, in whose name the property was formerly invested. Property rights enjoyed by the individual are extinguished and revert to the Islamic State. The Anglicans have changed their name to 'Episcopal' and now have an entirely indigenous clergy. The Catholic Church has also had most of its property seized since the Revolution."

  57. It then went on to refer to the murder of the three clergy in 1994. It concluded that among those who were candidates then for an imputed political profile were Christians involved in proselytising activities and converts from Islam who publicly witnessed their new faith.

  58. This is part of the material which the Review Tribunal thought out of date in the case cited above. An earlier Refugee Review Tribunal in Australia (NOO/ 36328) had held in June 2002 that an evangelical convert who had expressed an interest in Christianity in Iran was entitled to refugee status. This was in line with earlier decisions.

  59. We now turn to the DFAT material from June, August and November 2002 and February 2003. DFAT was the source through its diplomatic channels in Teheran for the information which the Country Information Service provided to refugee decision-makers. The questions provided some background information about the applicant. He had attended an Assembly of God Church in Teheran for about two years, attending Friday service and did not have to go through any formal process in order to be able to attend services. The actual answers were drafted by the DFAT based on information supplied by a single unidentified source described in the Tribunal's decision as a senior member of the clergy of the Assembly of God Church in Teheran.

  60. Visitors to the church were welcomed but it took normally between two and three years to progress to baptism. It commented on the reference in the 2001 USSD Report to increasing vigilance and identity checks by the authorities outside church. Checking outside church was said to be unusual or unlikely unless outside contacts had given rise to such questioning. There was a suspicion that churches were infiltrated by the authorities. When members were called in for questioning they were asked to sign a declaration that they would not continue to be involved in proselytising; this was rarely followed up and prison sentences were no longer passed and members continued with their unashamedly proselytising activities. Some 80 percent of its members were Muslim converts, (at least of this particular church in Teheran). Pressure had eased considerably since the election in 1997, but there was still discrimination in employment and the need to declare religion when applying for a passport, about which members were not allowed to lie, led to restrictions on travel; government jobs were lost and the negative attention which conversion led to had caused many converts to go abroad.

  61. The more positive tone of this report contrasted with earlier reports of the not so distant past and this softening was queried by CIS: was this a genuine softening by Iranian authorities or a local and informal response? The answer was that further enquiries had led to the conclusion that conversions from Islam were being increasingly tolerated by the authorities. There were Assemblies of God and other evangelical churches which were very active in proselytising among the traditional churches as well as among Muslims; the figure of 200 plus baptisms for 2001 in three such active churches is not broken down as between the different sources of potential converts. A leader of one church which had not baptised converts for 10 years had now dared to resume that practice.

  62. It continued:

    "Overall, Muslim converts currently seem to be able to function reasonably well in Iranian Society, without much fear of persecution. Muslim converts to Christianity share some of the same problems of those or other recognised religions, such as Jews, and those who are `born' into Christianity. Muslims routinely attend church services (particularly at Christmas and Easter), often out of curiosity, and often they are attracted by the ritual associated with the services, including music and singing. Many subsequently register for and attend Bible classes.
    The current tolerance toward Christians and proselytising could mark a genuine improvement in human rights in Iran, attributed to President Khatami's influence and that of former Minister for Culture and Islam Guidance, Attaollah Mohajerani. We do not know of any recent arrests or sentences on the basis purely of proselytising or apostasy (MORTAD). However, the prospect for charges of this nature being imposed in political trials remains (see for instance the case of Eshkevari who, in late 2000 was accused of apostasy as part of broader political trial). Those who change their faith do remain vulnerable to a change in the domestic political climate, and their conversion could be used subsequently to prosecute them if they attract negative attention from authorities for other reasons."

  63. The November 2002 material dealt with the question of whether other reports including a US report showed a different picture and a more reliable one. They referred to the pressure to sign pledges that the churches would not convert Muslims or allow them to attend church services, and the active harassment of worshippers outside church with conspicuous monitoring by Revolutionary Guards. DFAT replied that it did not consider that assessment to be accurate. The interlocutor said that the legal position in relation to existence of the death penalty for apostasy was unchanged but the reality was very different. There was a "relatively benign environment … evidenced by growing number of Muslim conversions … and rising attendance at church services". He thought that there might well be a political element to the assessments which he criticised, an element composed of NGOs who worked actively with refugee organisations which had an interest in painting a bleak picture of the position in the source country. DFAT thought that its source was credible and that what he had to say was borne out by others with whom they had regular contact, and pointed to the advantage which those in Iran had over others in assessing the human rights situation.

  64. In February 2003, in response to a claim that there had been a summons to face charges issued to a senior member of an Assembly of God church over the distribution of CDs of Christian songs, DFAT's interlocutor said that he had no knowledge of any questioning or charges over the distribution of proselytising material, although there had been a distribution of 2000 Bibles, religious films and CDs in buses and taxis in Teheran at Christmas 2002. There had been no deterioration for Christians in Iran, although he acknowledged that the position of converts who make their position known publicly is more complex than of those who do not. This later arose from the evidence that a convert who had made his conversion known had suffered from some harassment from his neighbours in a Kurdish dominated city but who had moved to Teheran and there made his conversion known without consequence and was able to attend church freely in Teheran.

  65. The RRT concluded that the applicant would be able to return to Iran and practise his religion, even though he could be subjected to some harassment and discrimination were he to be open about his conversion and proselytise. The RRT analysed the evidence as follows:

    "In the past, the independent evidence has suggested that Muslims who convert to Christianity and who proselytise Muslims could be at risk of persecution in Iran. However, there is now strong evidence before the Tribunal suggesting that members of the Assembly of God Church, which has a congregation consisting largely of Muslim converts, are able to attend church and engage in evangelical activities without encountering serious harm, either from the government or the community. This is a different picture to that portrayed in a report published by Iranian Christians International earlier this year. It also differs from views expressed in reports such as those written by the US State Department. However, I am of the view that the information provided by the Australian Embassy as a consequence of recent and direct discussions with senior Christian clergy in Teheran is much more reliable than the information (much of it quite dated) of the kind contained in the ICI report. I am also of the view that the US State Department is not a reliable source on the current situation for Iranian Christians in Iran, given that the US does not have diplomatic relations with Iran and is therefore in no position to directly obtain information from Iranian Christian clergy in Iran. The advice given to DFAT by the Church is not in the form of a public statement, but as a result of a number of private discussions with an Australian diplomat. I am of the view that this information is credible, reliable and reflects the actual situation for Muslims who have converted to Christianity.
    However, no information is provided which suggests that members of the Church have in fact been seriously harmed because they had been involved in proselytising. On the other hand, the information provided to DFAT indicates that church members have been involved in specific proselytising activities (handing out Bibles in public transport in the lead-up to Christmas last year) without encountering serious harm. The independent evidence indicates that Christians have engaged in proselytising activities without encountering serious harm notwithstanding the disparaging view of such activities expressed in the newspaper article provided by the applicant's adviser.
    It appears that the contents of the DFAT reports are now well-known in the Iranian Christian community. The applicant in this case was aware of the reports prior to the hearing. I have been told in other cases that the Assembly of God Church in Australia is in contact with the Assembly of God Church in Teheran. In my view, if the DFAT reports were incorrect or misleading it would have been open to the Assembly of God Church in Teheran – having been made aware of the situation by the Church in Australia – to take this up with the Australian Embassy. This could be done without the church putting anything in writing. I am satisfied that if this had been done the Australian Embassy would have passed on the information. The fact that no such information has been provided strongly suggests that the leadership of the Assembly of God Church in Teheran accepts that the DFAT reports are correct. In the circumstance, I prefer the DFAT reports to the information provide by the applicant in his latest statutory declaration.
    I accept that the applicant would not be able to obtain government employment if he were open about his conversion to Christianity and engaged in proselytising activities. The independent evidence does not suggest that the applicant would have any particular difficulty obtaining employment in the private sector nor being self-employed because of his conversion to Christianity. I am not satisfied that the applicant would be denied the capacity to earn a livelihood because of this conversion to Christianity.
    I accept that the applicant would not be able to study at university if he declared his conversion to Christianity or engaged in proselytising activities.
    The applicant indicated that his conversion to Christianity would prevent him from registering his marriage if he married in the future. There is independent evidence before me which indicates that in February 2000 following a change in the law the head of the judiciary issued a circular letter to all registry offices throughout Iran that provided for any couple to be registered as husband and wife without being required to state their religious affiliation."

  66. We turn from various Government sources to UNHCR. The 1995 UNHCR background paper confirmed the killing of three evangelical clergy in 1994; proselytising converts from Islam were especially at risk; those converts who practised their faith openly suffered harassment and intimidation, and official restrictions. In 1994, it reported that there had been a fierce campaign against Christians, public expression of hatred from the authorities, torture and imprisonment, with converts especially at risk. The Assemblies of God Churches had been especially targeted.

  67. A UNHCR Paper on Iran in 1998 said that those Christians who belonged to distinct ethnic groups, which accounted for the vast majority of Iranian Christians, were allowed to maintain their own schools and cultural activities but were subject to discrimination if they took their activities outside their own community. This occurred especially in the education, employment, housing and the court system spheres. It contrasted their position with that of the 10,000 to 15,000 members of Protestant groups in Iran especially Evangelicals whose origins dated back to Western missionary activity in the 19th century and whose traditions were based on proselytising, services conducted in Farsi, and the dissemination of religious texts. Their links with European and especially US churches fuelled the suspicions of the Iranian Government. There were reports from Iranian Christians International that converts from Islam and leaders of the churches were arrested, threatened, detained and tortured, activity which in 1998 was said to have increased.

  68. The UN Commission on Human Rights considered a report of January 2002 on Iran. It noted in the summary that there had been little change in the official and societal discrimination experienced by religious and ethnic minorities, treatment which sometimes escalated in to open persecution. Officially recognised religious minorities had the status of second class citizens. It continued in paragraphs 80 and 81:

    "80. However, their lot is considerably better than that of the unrecognised, that is, the non-ethnic Christians. These are those groups of Christians who are for the most part ethnic Persians. Evangelical Christians such as members of the Assemblies of God have been harshly persecuted over the years, apparently on the grounds that they had been or might be proselytising. Some of them are said to have been convicted for apostasy. Some have been sentenced to death and a few have been executed. The Special Representative has been informed that only three small Persian-speaking churches may remain in operation and that they have had to agree not to evangelize Muslims. The printing of Christian literature is prohibited and Christian bookstores are banned. A number of Christian activists have reportedly fled the country.
    81. In the Special Representative's opinion, the situation of the Christians, particularly the non-ethnic Christians, does not seem to have improved since the 1996 report of the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance on his visit to Iran (E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2). The Special Representative again calls on the Government to implement the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance."

  69. Reference was also made to the 7th UNHCR/ACCORD Country of Origin Seminar of June 2001, which provided reports on Iran for the purposes of assisting in the decision-making on asylum claims. Whilst the organisers said that the views in it were comprehensive, they were not necessarily those of the two organisations.

  70. Although the 1997 election of President Khatami had been seen as a major development, there had been a conservative backlash and in any event the country continued to be far from a democracy and to experience widespread abuses of human rights. Even Islamic clergy who question the prevailing orthodoxy or the role of the clergy in the state were liable to face vague charges of "insulting" religion which could lead to the death penalty; journalists could also face such charges. There was no evidence of the death penalty having been carried out for those offences.

  71. For apostates from Islam who were born to Muslim parents, the penalty was death. Although there had been executions for that offence, particularly in the early years of the revolution, it appeared that in 2001 the Government was not pursuing an active and systematic policy of investigation and prosecution of cases of apostasy. It drew a distinction between those who converted before their departure from Iran, who had taken a very great risk, and those who converted outside Iran. It continues:

    "It is important to add that conversion abroad could also be perfectly genuine. Iran is a place where people are fine as long as they do what they do behind closed doors and within their own four walls. People may drink, practice homosexuality and their religious faith after conversion. Yet, if a person who converted abroad walked down central Teheran wearing a cross, s/he would certainly have to face difficulties. S/he may not be at risk if s/he keeps a low profile. In general, however, it is very difficult to assess what is going to happen to a person who converted to another faith upon return. In such cases, a case by case assessment would need to be made taking into account the ultimate reasons for conversion and the degree of publicity surrounding the case. In addition, although Iranian embassies may well monitor activities of Iranian exile communities it would be highly unusual if they kept track of Iranian baptisms abroad."

  72. Proselytising was said to be an activity which all churches were extremely cautious about with the possible exception of the Assemblies of God Churches. In 1994, three prominent evangelical Christian clergy had been killed, after having been accused of seeking Muslim converts. It was not thought that intra-Christian proselytising would lead to adverse reactions from the state; proselytising was said to be a fundamental aspect of practising a universal and evangelical faith, although it was difficult to prove that anyone carried out such activities if they were said to have been carried out in the privacy of the home.

  73. A US Immigration and Naturalization Service Note of November 2002 on conversion from Islam to Christianity reported the views of NGOs such as HRW. It said that HRW had reported numerous cases in which the death penalty had been handed out for apostasy, as well as other severe penalties and lesser sanctions later in the 1990s. It noted an improvement in the lifestyle for those Christians who were not converts or engaged in converting Muslims. Evangelical Christians could face harassment and sometimes persecution.

  74. An International Christian Concern Report last updated in May 2003, identified individuals who had suffered at the hands of the various authorities in Iran because of their conversion from Islam to Christianity. One had been tortured in 2001, another in 1999; two lost their jobs in 1999. In 1998, another family were harassed, one lost his job, his car was burnt and he was beaten and threatened. In 1997, members of an Assembly of God church were made to promise that they would meet only in churches and would not allow Muslims to enter and that guards would check on their identity. In Autumn 1997, several converts were tortured and many disappeared; twenty to thirty had been arrested on another occasion and treated badly. A pastor had been sentenced to death in 1995 for apostasy but he had since been released. In 1996, pastors and church leaders had faced severe harassment and one had been killed by police. Charges of espionage and adultery were brought against a convert because of his conversion but he had been released after international pressure and had left the country.

  75. Mr Wilken placed some weight on the optimistic note struck by some Iranian newspaper reports. The December 2003 Teheran Times reported that the President urged a dialogue between Islam and Christianity. The "Iranian" noted the Christians of Teheran were celebrating Christmas in their own way and acknowledged the deep roots which Christianity had in Iran.

  76. We turn now to the evidence of the Appellants. FS and NS each produced a report from an academic who was suitably qualified to provide the report relied on. We were provided with the necessary details, and accepted an application from these two Appellants that the expert, for reasons which we were given, should remain anonymous, to be known as AB. The report for NS was an earlier one.

  77. The Report includes an analysis of the background papers produced by various bodies. Much of what it says is consistent with the material relied on by the Secretary of State. It refers to the difference in approach to proselytising of the ethnic Christian churches which generally discourage conversion, the Catholic Church which is small and wary of proselytising and the Protestant churches into which most conversions take place. The terms "evangelical", "Protestant", and "converts", tend to converge in the Iranian context for that reason. Only three Protestant Churches remained in Iran – the Assembly of God, the Episcopalian or Anglican Church which was on the evangelical wing, and the Armenian Evangelical Church. The report concludes that those who are most at risk as Christian converts from Islam in Iran belong to the evangelical communities. Christian apostates who were executed in the early 1990s judicially or extra judicially were all Pastors at these churches. But other forms of harassment and persecution suffered by ordinary converts were more probably linked to the fact of conversion and membership of an evangelical congregation. There had been a sharp reduction in numbers among the Christian communities since the 1979 Revolution but there were indications that the number of converts to Christianity since 1979 had increased substantially. Nonetheless, such conversions were said to be relatively rare. It was difficult to estimate the number of evangelical Christians or Muslim converts in Iran because many were forced to worship in private. A 1990 estimate was that perhaps half of the various Protestant congregations of 30,000 people might be Muslim converts; but there had been substantial emigration during the early 1990s when persecution of evangelicals was at its worst. The Report made three specific points of relevance when assessing the available information.

  78. First, documentation of harassment and discrimination against Christian converts was likely to underestimate rather than overestimate the position because minorities often maintained silence for fear of attracting greater persecution for their community as a whole. This had specifically happened in 1994 following the killing of three Pastors.

  79. Second, the Report commented that the reports of official western fact finding delegations were likely to be limited by the fear which individuals approached for information in Iran might have in speaking frankly to them. The report gave two examples of what had happened in 2003 following visits to Iran by UN human rights monitors examining alleged abuses of political prisoners.

  80. Third, the political and human rights situation in Iran had fluctuated considerably over the last few years with periods of relative relaxation being followed by periods of pressure for one or other of the groups at risk. It referred to the tenuous nature of President Khatami's position and the conservative opposition to him. It quoted a US State Department Report of 2002 suggesting that it was only for the non-evangelical or non-convert Christian groups for whom life under Khatami had improved.

  81. The Report then turned to apostasy. It commented on the CIPU Report of October 2003 noting that it omitted the reference in the 1999 US State Department Report on Iran to between fifteen and twenty-three disappearances of Muslim converts in the year November 1997 to November 1998 and the comment in the 2002 US State Department Report that most or all of those were believed to have been killed. This was seen as contradicting the CIPU comment that there had been no deaths of evangelical Christians at the hands of the authorities since 1994. It was necessary also to examine the role of extra judicial killings in this respect. The law of Islamic punishment would allow a Muslim to murder a convert to Christianity or other evil people with impunity if the sin could later be proved in court. Examples of this were given: one was that of a convert Christian pastor found hanging in 1996. Formal charges of apostasy were not routinely brought against converts but the law was an ever present threat and there were other forms of harassment to which converts were subject. The fact that the Iranian codified criminal law did not specifically include apostasy as a crime did not mean that it could not be charged as a crime. An insult to or denial of the Prophet gave rise to charges of blasphemy and an accusation of apostasy would lead to the court turning to such sources outside codified law as the judge might regard as authoritative.

  82. The Report then turned to other forms of persecution and discrimination. It pointed out that Muslim converts were excluded from the protection of Article 13 of the Iranian Constitution which guaranteed religious freedom to Christian Iranians. Indeed, an accusation of apostasy could be levelled at those who did not observe the obligatory practices of Islam as seen by the ruling clerics and even those campaigning for the introduction of modern norms into Islamic society could be regarded as apostates; apostasy involved a renunciation of Islam rather than conversion necessarily to another religion. It referred to the January 2002 Report of the UN Special Representative for Iran, and said that in 2001 the UNSR had reported that the evangelical Christians did not enjoy the limited rights of ethnic Christians and that their services were subject to harassment and that "from time to time they had suffered persecution and even death for their beliefs".

  83. AB's Report then referred to what the CIPU and US State Department said about registration and monitoring of services, the closure of churches, the banning of Farsi in sermons, and the prohibition on the sale of the Bible in Farsi. It referred to evidence that Iranian authorities monitored Christian communities outside the country. It reported that in 2003 two German Christian pastors believed that Iranian converts in their congregation had been informed on by Iranian intelligence and beaten severely in the street. It pointed out as the other reports had done that converts to Christianity could be deprived of the right to work in the Civil Service or in Government owned companies which formed a large proportion of the job market and that many important private sector institutions also in practice observed that selection process. The vetting system would exclude a known convert to Christianity from State employment and large private companies.

  84. Christians and converts were vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment at the hands of paramilitary vigilantes such as the Basiji, Islamic fundamentalists allowed by the Iranian authorities to enforce religious law. Examples were given of two people in 2001, one of whom was detained and tortured by the Basiji and another who was abducted on a number of occasions by secret police; he and his family were forcibly evicted from their home in the provinces, but having fled to Teheran found that fellow believers from his home area were being arrested and questioned about his own whereabouts, so he had fled Iran with his family.

  85. The Report said that this kind of conduct was a principal source of arbitrary persecution and was sanctioned by the Islamic requirement to commend the good and forbid the evil. The Basiji, the Revolutionary Guard and Ansar e Hezbollah saw giving effect to that requirement as part of their religious duty. Murder in the course of such actions was effected with impunity and an example of the Iranian courts giving effect to those principles was cited. Examples of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment were given. In 1996 and 1997 three groups of members of the Assembly of God Church in Sari, Shiraz and Teheran were arrested, detained and although released, had been dealt with violently with torture. Other examples were given of arrests and beatings in 1996 to 2000 of those who were converts or related or working with the Protestant churches.

  86. The Report then turned to proselytising. It agreed with the comment in the April 2003 CIPU to the effect that the government was vigilant in curbing those activities by evangelical Christians whose services were conducted in Persian and that a Christian who was caught trying to convert another would be treated harshly. This Report commented that while an active proselytiser would be particularly vulnerable to persecution, "persecution is not necessarily linked to individual proselytising activities". Most of the examples of ill treatment given involved members of evangelical congregations and there had been no evidence that they had been engaged in active proselytising. "What, however, they have in common in most cases is that they belong to congregations suspected as a group, of proselytising by the Iranian authorities".

  87. It pointed out that those who were suspected of proselytising or propagating the Christian faith might be charged under laws other than those relating to the law of apostasy but yet might be subject to harsh and disproportionate punishment. An example would be the provisions in the penal and press Codes which precluded the insulting of religion and which could lead to death or imprisonment. Writings against Islamic standards are also subject to a criminal penalty. Other examples of laws which might be used to harass Christians included "corrupting public morality", "the dissemination of false information" or "spreading corruption on earth". The penalty for such offences included imprisonment, fines and flogging. The punishment for corruption on earth included death, crucifixion, amputation or imprisonment, a charge related to "warring against God" in the Iranian penal code.

  88. The Swedish Aliens Appeal Board had reported on conditions in Iran in 1995 stating that those in Iran who converted from Islam did not normally risk the kind of prosecution prescribed in the Shari'a and that there was no significant chance that they would be the target of any action from the authorities or serious harassment. That report was criticised by this expert. The Christian church sources who said that there was no real chance of persecution upon return to Iran were speaking at precisely the time when pastors were being harassed and killed, spreading fear amongst evangelicals and traumatising the community. HRW likewise reported a disruption in the flow of information at this time. There would have been pressure to produce positive information from the authorities; it could take no account of the persecutions from mid 1996 which post dated the report; it did not deal clearly with the position of a person whose conversion came to the knowledge of the Iranian authorities. AB's Report points out that converts must register with the Iranian authorities, that they are monitored and that most converts must make their conversions known; the CIPU and US State Department Reports said so. It continued: "the issue is not simply how often the law of apostasy has been invoked and a convert executed. Christian converts can, as the evidence shows, become the victims of severe persecution of various kinds, all sanctioned, in one way or another by legal framework prevailing in the Islamic Republic." It was very difficult to determine what circumstances specifically determined risk. Although most cases concerned those who became evangelical Christians or Pastors of those denominations, it was wholly unknown whether in the case of ordinary members of evangelical Christian congregations "individuals were targeted because they were, as individuals, proselytisers, or simply because they were converts who were (as most converts are likely to be), affiliates of a Protestant evangelical congregation".

  89. The report summarised the factors putting a Muslim convert at risk in Iran as follows:

    1. A legal framework which included apostasy and blasphemy as offences punishable by death, and which allowed Muslim converts to be harassed and killed by Muslim extremists with impunity. It afforded no protection to them. We add that the summary could usefully have included the range of vague offences with which a convert or suspected convert could be charged.
    2. If a known convert were to have other problems with the authorities, of whatever level or type, that fact would lead to worse ill-treatment.
    3. Even if the situation had improved over the last few years, despite the views of the UNSR, the conservative Guardian Council exercised strong political opposition to Khatami and he had a very tenuous hold on power; a deterioration in the climate could very easily occur.
    4. Neighbours, colleagues and others could very easily denounce a convert, maliciously or for ideological reasons, to any of the various forms of authority in Iran, state or religious, formal or informal; they could lay complaints directly with the courts which would trigger a hearing. This made generalisations very difficult about what factors would cause a person to face such problems. The 7th UNHCR/ACCORD Report on Iran, which we have already referred to, supported this point.
    5. The judiciary was active and influential and in alliance with other conservative elements had become a source of challenge to the Khatami Government.

  90. A further Report from AB was put in, although it related to a different case. It was dated shortly after the one to which we have just referred. It dealt specifically with the Belgium CEDOCA Report relating to July 2002 and the Danish fact-finding mission of 2000. AB pointed out that the UNSR, in a Report of January 2004 which had only just become available, and an Amnesty International Report of November 2003, both made the same point that the fear induced by systematic repression of free speech would lead to self-censorship rather than frank speaking when the representatives of Western countries visited Iran and sought information; once the visitor had gone there were known reprisals of some severity for those seen as speaking out of line. Those who did included the Bishop, who was Head of the Council of Protestant Churches; he had been murdered as a consequence in 1994.

  91. It emphasised that there was a vital distinction to be drawn between those who were converts to Christianity and those who were "ethnic" Christians. Although it was generally agreed that the position of recognised minorities had improved since Khatami came to power, it was also generally agreed that the position of the Protestant communities had not improved since 1996 when pressure on them was at its height.

  92. However, the Report recognised that two Pastors of one of the Protestant Churches, which had a congregation of which 80 percent were Muslim converts, had said to a number of interlocutors that the situation of his church members was good and much better than six or seven years ago, from 2003. Members were rarely picked up for questioning. Although it was agreed that there had been no formal charges of apostasy since the first half of the 1990s, there may have been extra-judicial killings and disappearances later than that. There was evidence of persecution and harassment although it appeared that even Muslim converts were able to practise their faith to some degree but could not actively proselytise without severe repression. Nonetheless, there was an atmosphere of fear and insecurity because of surveillance, spies in the congregation, negative attention, the occasional detention and the risk of losing one's job if it were a Government job.

  93. 2003 had, however, seen a deterioration in the political situation in Iran, as Khatami became more exposed with the success of religious conservatives in the recent elections. The reformist MPs had had limited success in liberalising legislation which had often been blocked by the Guardian Council. The only legislation of note had been the very recent eventual equalisation of blood money as between Muslims and non-Muslims. There had in fact been a general deterioration in the human rights position of many.

  94. Human Rights Watch had reported in 1997 that the religious minorities were among those likely to be the target of abuse and that the courts were not a reliable protection for them regardless of what rights the constitution might afford them in theory. It contrasted the position of the 10,000-15,000 Protestants with the ethnically-based Christian Churches as other reports do. These do not merely hold their services in Farsi and seek to disseminate biblical material in Farsi; they are churches built on a nineteenth century Western missionary tradition of proselytising in Iran. This is allied to continuing links with Western churches in the USA and Europe which fuels suspicions about their true intentions and hostility. The Report asserts that not merely are they subject to institutionalised discrimination, as are all non-Muslims, but they are also subject to persecution because of their religious activities. Shortly after the Revolution, there was extensive persecution of Protestant clergy; the persecution of the evangelical Churches intensified in the 1990s, (although the instances cited relate to the early 1990s, up to 1994). It refers to the Government forcing Christian leaders to sign statements saying that their treatment was satisfactory and the evangelical Churches which refused to do so were dealt with severely. It elaborated on the trial of a member of an armed resistance group who was accused of the murder of Protestant leaders in 1994; the suggestion was that this was a show trial of those who were innocent of that crime, in order to put the regime in a better international light. These killings had resulted in the drying up of information about religious persecution but there had been sporadic reports of subsequent attacks including the killing in 1996 of a Protestant convert Pastor. Pastors had been intimidated, arrested on false charges, and pressured to renounce proselytising. This was contrasted with the position of the Orthodox churches, which experienced a lower level of discrimination or persecution.

  95. The Report of the Special Rapporteur to the UN Commission on Human Rights, January 2004, followed a visit to Iran in November 2003. This has already been referred to in the Report of the expert relied on by the Appellants. It confirmed concerns about the climate of fear induced by the systematic repression of people expressing views critical of the authorised political and religious doctrine and the severe and disproportionate sentences which that created; this had led to self-censorship, thus impeding freedom of expression. It is clear that that is not a reference to the unwillingness of people to talk to the Special Rapporteur but rather is making a wider point about the effect of a repressive regime. The disruption to the free expression of opinion was not confined to positive acts of censorship, but covered the less readily assessed effect of self-censorship. The Special Rapporteur acknowledged that he had received the assurances of the Government that those who spoke to him would not be subject to any reprisals but he recorded that one such person, shortly after speaking to him had disappeared; he had been returned to the notorious Evin Prison according to the authorities from which he had been briefly on leave. The Report has little to say about religious freedom as such and nothing about proselytising Christians.

  96. There were other documents to which we were referred, but they repeat or rely on the material which we have set out above.

  97. The Appellant NS also produced an expert report from Rev Dr Dehqani, the Commissary to the Anglican Bishop in Iran, the Rt Rev Iraj Mottahedeh. She also gave oral evidence. Her report and evidence were based, for the most part, on discussions which she had had with the Bishop during his recent visit to the United Kingdom and on earlier occasions. But she was always cautious about fax and telephone calls from Iran during which people might be careful about what they said. Her father had been the previous Bishop, but her family had been in this country since 1980; her father's position had become unbearable shortly after the revolution. Her brother had been murdered in 1980 and she did not consider that it would be safe for her to return. She had not been there since 1980. She considered that an important factor in the current Bishop's ability to lead the Church was that he was not a convert from Islam but from Judaism.

  98. She noted the legal difficulties under which the Church laboured and the difficulties of a Christian convert, even such as the Bishop, owning property. Its position was precarious and becoming increasingly so. The Anglican Church accepted converts but did so with care because of the consequences which that could have for the convert and for the Church as a whole.

  99. The situation for Muslim converts had become more risky in recent times, particularly since the summer of 2003 when five key members of the church in Isfahan had been arrested and similar measures had been taken in Shiraz and Teheran. The Report said nothing about what had happened to them but Rev Dehqani added orally that they had been released, perhaps after a few weeks detention if they had been detained at all (about which she was uncertain), on several conditions which included ceasing contact with the church and moving to a different town, with re-arrest as the penalty for breach. She had no further details and could not say if they were converts. A statement produced for TB's appeal said that what we take to be the same Church leaders in Isfahan and Shiraz had been arrested; one was charged with evangelism and banished; an evangelical centre in Teheran had been closed. Rev Dehqani was perhaps aware that there had been rioting, unconnected with the church in summer 2003 but no-one knew what had provoked the arrests of the clergymen.

  100. There was no monitoring by the Church of how converts were treated; many stayed away from church as a result of threats which were made to them. There had been instances of false charges of eg "espionage" or "immorality". This was because, as the Church perceived it, it was seen as an agent of the West or as a means used by the West to undermine the state. Conversion was an affront to the regime. No Muslim convert could function in a leadership capacity, ordained or lay. The Anglican Church was viewed and treated rather differently from the local ethnically based Churches.

  101. The Church identified as risky activities which could lead to harm, albeit unpredictably: attendance at Church, associating with Church members, baptism, outward signs of devotion, Bible study and the promotion or public approval of Christian values or beliefs. There were spies who reported on their activities. The Church as a whole felt targeted. There was great fear and uncertainty. Anyone returning as a convert would face a risky future, and it would be dangerous if they were unable to conceal their conversion or to refrain from associating with members of the Church. Someone who was baptised and attended church faced risks of harassment, prejudice, discrimination, arrest and even death and the fact that she did not know of a case involving the death penalty did not mean that it had not happened.

  102. She disagreed with the view expressed in the DFAT material that it was unlikely that people would be checked as they went to and from church; she said that to her knowledge that was very common. Any decrease in surveillance had not applied to Muslim converts, and any perceived easing of pressure since 1997 had gone since the summer of 2003; life was now much more difficult for Muslim converts. Government actions were often arbitrary since the revolution. She thought that the DFAT interlocutor, being a member of an Assembly of God Church, might find life easier than others because it would be seen as an ethnic minority rather than as a Western church. Baptism was the moment of apostasy rather than church attendance, and the Anglican Church had always been very cautious about baptism because of the risk that the candidate was a spy rather than a genuine believer. She accepted that at least in the 1990s the Assembly of God Church had been less cautious than the Anglican Church about baptising converts and proselytising. She had only spoken to the Bishop for fifteen minutes in her last call and she had not raised the DFAT material with him. She had not appreciated that the DFAT conversations related to September 2003. That Church might have had the motive of encouraging members in the answers it gave and the Belgium CEDOCA Mission, whilst it had the advantage of being in Iran, might have not been given full information because of fear.

  103. NS' bundle also included some US news reports of views expressed by Christian groups in the US which painted a bleaker but more generalised picture of the position of the Protestant Churches in Iran than others.

  104. TB produced a report from a Sunderland based "Attorney at Law, Legal Adviser", Mr Kakhki, of July 2003. He said that the threat of the death penalty for apostasy was real as he had personally defended converts charged with that offence and they had been sentenced to death. He had witnessed their execution. He does not say when this was. They could not get a fair trial, but it was not uncommon for them to be released on bail while investigations were made and for them then to leave the country.

  105. TB produced a report from Maria O'Shea, a Research Fellow at SOAS, with an interest in Middle East minorities and especially those of Iran. Her report paints the picture of a repressive society in which human rights are ignored routinely; torture was common and the death penalty carried out for some offences; trials were not fair. She too noted the position in law of the crime of apostasy. Christian leaders had been forced to sign statements that they would not proselytise. Persecution of evangelical Christians had increased in the 1990s; an organisation of Iranian Christians had estimated that in 1992 there were 6,700 Muslim converts in Iran. She gave the same figures, seemingly from the same Christian paper source, as set out later for the number of Christians in the Protestant Churches in Iran. There was, she concluded, a steady trickle of converts despite the dangers. She recorded the US State Department note of disappearances in 1997 to 1998, the deaths of eight evangelical Christians in the 1990s, and the murders of Pastors, to which we have already referred. She referred to an ICC press release of 2000 saying that pastors were regularly interrogated, barred from contact with Muslims or converts or with international organisations. Individual instances of persecution were noted; these appear to be the same as those to which we have already referred.

  106. In her assessment, like others, she draws a clear distinction between those who are born Christian as a result of their ethnic identity, who are generally tolerated, and those who convert from Islam. They were limited to attendance in missionary Churches which were associated with imperialist endeavours of the past and foreign influences of the present. This opened up the risk of charges of espionage or unpatriotic activities. Converts were viewed with suspicion at all levels of society, even among those who were not observant Muslims who saw such an act as a rejection of social and religious values. She found it hard to see how a known convert could function in Iran as they would be victimised, attacked and discriminated against. Although a Muslim could practise another faith discreetly, a known conversion would force the authorities to act against him. It would be difficult for a convert to remain in Iran as even those with a high profile and protection were often forced to leave, or had disappeared or been executed or imprisoned.

  107. Dr Spellman, whose doctoral thesis research included interviews with Iranian converts in this country between 1995 and 2000, said that many were worried about the harsh and adverse reaction of friends and family as well as the government when they learned of their conversion. There had been monitoring, threats and detentions by the authorities and vigilante groups. A campaign against Pentecostal Churches had gathered strength in the first half of the 1990s, with the gradual eradication of churches under various legal pretexts. The authorities were mainly concerned with the leaders and converts who actively proselytised, but converts generally were afraid to practise Christianity because of the likelihood of some form of persecution. Charges of apostasy had been brought since the revolution and several converts reported being temporarily detained, threatened and discriminated against at their place of work without actually being charged or treated violently.

  108. Mr Joffe produced a report of July 2003. It dealt at some length with the legal nature of apostasy, the various spheres in which Christians experienced discrimination, and individual acts of persecution, which have been covered in other reports. He concluded that the general political situation in Iran was deteriorating leaving Khatami powerless. As a result, he said, TB would face a severe and very real danger of arrest, torture, imprisonment and execution were he returned to Iran, regardless of any evangelical activities in which he might engage. Killings were also carried out by Hezbollah, who had covert official authority for their acts.

  109. A letter from Mr Roshdi, an Iranian convert who came to this country in 1994 having held offices in the Assembly of God Church in Teheran, said that Muslim converts did not systematically face the death penalty but were subject to persecutions of a social nature, with the loss of public sector jobs and difficulty finding them in the private sector, educational discrimination and problems in obtaining official forms eg passport, where religion had to be declared. An outspoken convert would face social problems and arrest and prison if he proselytised. Merely attending church and keeping quiet might lead to no problems. However, outside Teheran and in smaller towns in particular, all such matters were dealt with more harshly. Proselytising churches were seen as potential spies through their relationship with foreign countries. Christian organisations such as study centres were harassed and closed. Persecution could take place sporadically for reasons which would be unknown to the persecuted. Sometimes members had been summoned to the secret police, questioned and threatened not to attend church meetings. But no physical abuse had been reported from those interrogations.

  110. We were also provided with material by Scudamores, solicitors for A, an Iranian asylum seeker in another case, the facts of which made it perhaps unsatisfactory to join it with these three cases; A had experienced the interest of the authorities because of an intention to convert expressed before leaving Iran. We permitted them to make what representations they thought would assist us, however, because there was a clear overlap. Scudamores wrote to the US Center for Religious Freedom seeking material which would support her case. It replied in July 2003 saying that Iran continued to arrest and sentence apostates to death; tremendous pressure from the state often led family members to take matters into their own hands to punish apostates but the state did not hesitate to imprison or execute those who deviated from the prevailing religious orthodoxy including apostates. Immigration Counsel at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, a statutory body, took issue with assessments such as those cited above which claimed that Iran no longer sought to arrest and persecute apostates; by contrast it said that there continued to be severe violations of religious freedom. Converts continued to be subject to the death penalty and women who were accused would have fewer procedural protections than men. Legislation proposed to prevent the use of torture had not been acceptable to the Council of Guardians but even that rejected measure had not prohibited the use of torture on apostates.

  111. The Barnabas Fund, a Christian evangelical charity, produced a pamphlet which highlighted the religious and Shari'a law base for the treatment of converts from Islam as apostates and as persons who could be killed without the protection of the law, through the Islamic world generally. It produced a further document on Iran, dated 2002, which estimated that about 30,000 Muslims had converted to Christianity since the Islamic Revolution. It said that the policy of the regime was that converts were subject to the death penalty and that they were particularly targeted. It gave examples of the increased persecution faced by the Protestant Churches and converts; but these related to the early 1990s. A more specific paper on apostasy in Islam, but covering Islam generally, noted the many Islamic countries or areas in which converts were persecuted or discriminated against with varying degrees of severity.

  112. The World Evangelical Alliance produced a paper dated March 2002 enclosing a Report from the magazine 'Christianity Today'. It quoted Iranian Christians International (ICI) as saying that persecution of Christians had increased in Iran. A number of Christians had been detained, eight had died since 1988 and between fifteen and twenty-three had disappeared in 1997 and 1998, presumed dead, and three had disappeared in 2000. This has already been referred to.

  113. A Bethany World Prayer Center paper on Iran dated 1997 said that the Protestant Churches claimed about 5,500 communicant members, although the figures were not entirely clear from other material in the paper. More were affiliated. The largest was the Evangelical Church (3,000) and the Episcopal (1,000 plus 1,000 expatriates). These latter are not those abroad but resident non-Iranians. These are nineteenth century foundations of missionary origin. There are six other smaller denominations with a twentieth century origin with largely expatriate congregations. Two of the eight denominations were shrinking fast while the rest were static. The Evangelical Church was largely composed of ethnic minorities but fifteen per cent were Muslim converts; the Episcopal Church was fifty per cent expatriate and thirty percent Muslim convert. The churches face the problems of discrimination at all levels of life, persecution of their leaders, emigration of members and leaders, shortage of religious materials and the closing down of churches. The paper regretted the impossibility of missionary work in Iran.

  114. Christianity Today in 2002 reported that in 2001 the Basijis had detained and tortured a convert in Teheran. ICI reported that harassment was no longer confined to the arrest of key leaders but entire house churches of twenty to forty people were arrested at a time and that ordinary Christians were harassed.

    The background evidence: return

  115. It is convenient now to turn to the material which deals with risk on the return of failed asylum seekers. This element cannot be treated as an entirely different element from risk to converts in Iran.

  116. DFAT material of 1996 said that imprisonment for illegal exit was rare. The seeking of asylum would lead to no more than verbal abuse on return, if it were known, unless the individual had a high political profile. Deportations to Iran of failed asylum seekers were now routine, and there was no evidence of any adverse reaction from the authorities. The Government was welcoming back those who had left; some refugees returned temporarily on refugee travel documents and had no adverse experiences. Many minor outstanding matters were dealt with swiftly at the airport on return. Apostates would suffer if they declared an intention on return to carry on with the practise of their new religion. The DFAT Report of 1996 described the concept of "taghieh", which was relevant to the way in which the Iranian authorities would view someone who returned as a failed asylum seeker and had asserted that he had converted to Christianity in order to advance his cause. "It was justified to lie or to conceal your beliefs when circumstances are not favourable for you or to fool your enemy … even if you were not in physical danger, to mislead enemies or advance your cause." Taghieh was not a question of denying the faith but went to the degree of plausibility with which answers as to why someone had been abroad and claimed asylum or converted could be answered.

  117. The CIPU Report of October 2003, paragraphs 6.101 to 6.106, says that the penalty for illegal exit, such as on a falsified document, ranges from a fine to between a month and three years in prison. Other reports said that a prison sentence was not in practice imposed. On return from abroad, citizens are searched for certain western products and will be more stringently questioned if returning from a western country such as the USA, but are unlikely to be detained for long. People will be asked why they went abroad, subject to what documentation exists on the returnee and the practice in the returning country, and an answer along the lines that the person simply sought a job would be likely to lead to his being allowed to go. Government attitudes towards those who returned as failed asylum seekers appeared to more pragmatic. Observers reported that there was no evidence that those who exited illegally faced any significant problems on return. It is not an offence to apply for asylum abroad and the government has stated that it would welcome the return of its citizens from abroad.

  118. The passport did not show religion although there was evidence that the identity cards would. It was possible to marry in a registry office without stating religious affiliation; CIPU 6.81.

  119. The US State Department Report on 2002 said that those returning were sometimes searched and subjected to extensive questioning about anti-government activities abroad. The Danish fact-finding mission of 2000 said that on return the computer at the airport was checked for any "outstanding matters" with the authorities but was not explicit as to what constituted such matters. Some countries send rejected asylum seekers back to Iran. Thousands of Iranian citizens return voluntarily every year. In September 2002, the Iranian government announced that it would grant passports to those Iranians abroad; illegal exit would not lead to difficulties; the relevant forms should be filled in, the money paid and after a while the individual would be able to return.

  120. Mr Wilken relied in particular on the Iranian Government announcement of 2002 that expatriates would be given passports, and a research paper from the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board of 1999 which referred to a 1998 document from Canadian immigration officials in Iran saying that they had seen no evidence that failed asylum seekers, those who left illegally, or those who were deported faced any significant problems upon return; nor were measures taken against the family members in Iran of those who claimed asylum abroad. He also relied on a September 2002 letter from the British Embassy in Teheran which stated that a failed Iranian asylum seeker who returned voluntarily on his own passport, was known to have faced no difficulties. The official had consulted the Australian Embassy because it had returned some one hundred failed asylum seekers over the two years to September 2002 and it had had no confirmed reports of ill-treatment. One returnee had complained of ill-treatment but that had not been verified. Illegal departure resulted in a spot fine. The Dutch did not know of problems whether from voluntary returns or from the two per month involuntary returns which it had made. They had had one report of a detention, but another lived and traded successfully in Teheran. Many who were returned kept coming to the Embassy to plead their case which, the Dutch thought, showed that they were not facing serious problems. Some had been returned on their driving licences and only one had been refused entry by the Iranian authorities. Canadian experience was that those who were returned faced no problems and indeed there were some who had been granted asylum who had been able to return for family or vacation purposes without difficulty.

  121. AB's report for FS said that it was extremely difficult for those who left Iran without the proper papers to conceal that fact when seeking new travel documents from the Iranian Consulate in London. Those returning on temporary documentation were likely to face prosecution at least for violation of travel regulations, questioning and a court hearing. AB reported Amnesty International's evidence that some had been arrested on return for exit violations in 2002, and denied access to their families amid fears of ill treatment or torture. Although applying for asylum abroad was not an offence within the Penal Code, there were other charges which could be brought were a judge so minded. There was very little practical evidence about the way in which these violations were in fact dealt with. There was some evidence from two who had been returned from Australia that they had been interrogated and monitored by Iranian authorities. There was no monitoring by Western countries or international organisations of what happened to those returned to Iran. If there were detention, prison conditions were harsh, at times abusive of rights; torture was used to elicit confessions and not just on political prisoners; the judiciary lacked any structural independence whether in the revolutionary courts or in the public courts.

  122. TB also produced a range of background material. A Melbourne newspaper, 'The Age', 29th April 2002, reported the arrest in Iran of two failed asylum seekers returned from Australia, one of whom was a convert to Christianity. One had made contact with the paper and said that Teheran was not safe for returnees especially if they were Christians; they had been exiled by their families and harassed by the authorities. One was interrogated for six hours and ordered to appear before a revolutionary Tribunal because of criticism which he had made of the regime when in Australia. A paper of 1998 from Iranian Refugees at Risk criticised the assumption by western countries, the Netherlands in particular, that they were able either to monitor or at least verify the fate of those returned; that was not possible in Iran: there were no independent NGOs or investigatory bodies and fear would prevent allegations being made against the authorities of human rights violations. There had been one suspicious death in that period.

  123. A Farsi newspaper published in London said that refugees deported to Iran faced arrest at the airport and torture. Converts faced the greatest danger. Ms O'Shea's report also commented that as TB was the subject of official interest before he left Iran, he could expect on return that there would be increased interest, perhaps detention while enquires were made, during which time ill treatment was always a possibility. Mr Joffe said that travel documents would require investigations in Iran and that would alert the security services to him and to the ou