The wife of the American Christian Pastor, Saeed
Abedini, jailed and tortured in Iran for his faith, pled her case before
the UN Human Rights Council Monday.
Naghmeh Abedini joined Jordan Sekulow of the
American Center for Law and Justice to urge the panel to defend the
persecuted church, specifically asking the member states to take more
action on her husband's behalf.
Pastor Saeed Abedini was sentenced to eight years in
Tehran's notorious Evin Prison on account of his Christian faith. He
has been abused physically and suffers from internal bleeding. The
prison leaders have refused to allow him to be treated for his injuries.
According to the Christian Post, in a letter written from prison in March, Pastor Saeed said:
"My hair was shaven, under my eyes were swollen three times what they should have been, my face was swollen, and my beard had grown. The nurse would also come to take care of us and provide us with treatment, but she said in front of others 'in our religion we are not supposed to touch you, you are unclean. Baha'i (religion) and Christians are unclean!' She did not treat me and that night I could not sleep from the intense pain I had."
"My hair was shaven, under my eyes were swollen three times what they should have been, my face was swollen, and my beard had grown. The nurse would also come to take care of us and provide us with treatment, but she said in front of others 'in our religion we are not supposed to touch you, you are unclean. Baha'i (religion) and Christians are unclean!' She did not treat me and that night I could not sleep from the intense pain I had."
On Friday, Sekulow told the Council that Naghmeh
"represents the face of how Iran's persecution of Christians truly has a
worldwide impact."
On the ACLJ's website he wrote, "I implored the nations represented on the Human Rights Council to stand up for the most basic of human rights - the right to peaceably assemble in exercise of one's religious beliefs - and urge Iran to release Pastor Saeed Abedini."
On the ACLJ's website he wrote, "I implored the nations represented on the Human Rights Council to stand up for the most basic of human rights - the right to peaceably assemble in exercise of one's religious beliefs - and urge Iran to release Pastor Saeed Abedini."
Iran's failure to apply the strict test of necessity
and proportionality when reviewing whether to impose a restriction on
an assembly, has resulted in a "severe violation of his (Saeed's) basic
right to peaceful assembly and religious freedom," Sekulow said. "This
violation must be addressed in order that the intersection between
rights of religious expression and peaceful assembly may be reinforced
as a cornerstone upon which peace may be established."
Despite a call by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
in March for Saeed's "immediate" release, Naghmeh has said she's been
"disappointed that this great country is not doing more to free my
husband - a U.S. Citizen." She said she expected more from her
government.
More than 600,000 people around the world have signed a petition for Saeed's release.
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