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Lei Xiuxiang was imprisoned for criticizing religious freedom conditions. 

In July 2015, authorities arrested Lei for sending a letter to a high-ranking former official, protesting…

Wang Lei was imprisoned for her religious activity.

In February 2014, authorities arrested Wang reportedly for practicing Falun Gong.

In November 2015, the Fangshan District…

Ye Zhongqiu was imprisoned for her religious activity.

In November 2016, authorities arrested Ye alongside other Falun Gong adherents for passing out Falun Gong calendars. 

In…

Maira Shahbaz was subjected to forced renunciation of faith.

In April 2020, three men abducted at gunpoint 14-year-old Maira Shahbaz, forced her to renounce her Christian faith,…

Ayshemhan Yasin was detained for her ethnoreligious identity and for going on pilgrimage. 

In late 2017, authorities in Turpan municipality, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (…

Nezire Muhemmet Salih was detained for her religious scholarship.

On or around December 25, 2017, authorities in Urumqi municipality, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) detained…

Lisdiani Rodríguez Isaac was imprisoned in relation to her religious identity and activity.

On July 15, 2021, authorities detained Isaac, a member of the Free Yoruba Association of…

Lisdani Rodríguez Isaac was imprisoned in relation to her religious identity and activity.

On July 15, 2021, authorities detained Isaac, a member of the Free Yoruba Association…

Elizabeth Cintra García was imprisoned in relation to her religious identity and activity.

On July 15, 2021, authorities detained García, a member of the Free Yoruba Association of…

Zhang Keqiong was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On October 31, 2017, authorities detained Zhang in Hubei province reportedly in relation to her religious activity.…

Li Cui was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity. 

On May 9, 2018, police arrested Li after raiding a house in Jiujiang city, Jiangxi province, where Li and others were…

Mariyum Lal was detained for blasphemy.

On April 9, 2021, authorities arrested Lal, who is a nurse, and her coworker, Newsh Arooj, after an incident at their workplace. According to…

Newsh Arooj was detained for blasphemy.

On April 9, 2021, authorities arrested Arooj, who is a nurse, and her coworker, Mariyum Lal, after an incident at their workplace. According to…

Shohida Mamadjonova was imprisoned for her religious association.

In February 2022, authorities forcibly disappeared Mamadjonova, the mother of religious freedom advocate Sherzod …

Gulfisha Fatima was detained for her religious freedom advocacy.

On April 9, 2020, authorities arrested Fatima, a Muslim student activist, under first information…

Natasha Narwal was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On May 23, 2020, authorities arrested Narwal, a Hindu student activist, after accusing…

Devangana Kalita was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On May 23, 2020, authorities arrested Kalita, a Hindu student activist, after accusing…

Ishrat Jehan was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On February 26, 2020, authorities arrested Jehan, a former councilor, after accusing her…

Safoora Zargar was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On April 10, 2020, authorities arrested Zargar, a Muslim student activist and roughly three months pregnant at…

Savita Singh was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

In October 2021, authorities arrested Singh and her husband, Nandha Nathaniel, after they were accused of…

Kumtu Vasuniya was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On December 5, 2021, authorities arrested Vasuniya and five others, including her husband, after they were…

Saju Ben is detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On December 5, 2021, authorities arrested Ben and five others after they were accused of trying to forcibly…

Sama Ben was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On December 5, 2021, authorities arrested Ben and five others after they were accused of trying to…

Ranga Ben was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On December 5, 2021, authorities arrested Ben and five others after they were accused of trying to…

Hidme Markam was detained for her advocacy work to protect religious sites.

On March 9, 2021, authorities arrested Markam, an Adivasi Indigenous activist known for criticizing state…

Mahnaz Jan Nesar was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

In April 2017, authorities arrested Nesar and several other Baha’is in Bandar Abbas reportedly for attending Baha’i…

Maral Rasti was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

In April 2017, authorities arrested Rasti and several other Baha’is in Bandar Abbas reportedly for attending Baha’i…

Rahele Ahmadi was imprisoned for her women’s rights activism against compulsory religious veiling.

On July 10, 2019, authorities arrested Ahmadi, an activist against compulsory hijab,…

Yasaman Ariani was imprisoned for her women’s rights activism against compulsory religious veiling.

In April 2019, authorities arrested Ariani for protesting compulsory hijab after she was…

Saba Kord Afshari was imprisoned for her women’s rights activism against compulsory religious veiling.

In June 2019, authorities arrested Afshari for protesting compulsory hijab after a…

Monireh Arabshahi was imprisoned for her women’s rights activism against compulsory religious veiling.

In April 2019, authorities arrested Arabshahi for protesting compulsory hijab by…

Noushin Jafari was imprisoned for blasphemy.

In August 2019, authorities arrested Jafari, a photojournalist and culture reporter, after accusing her of running a Twitter account that…

Fariba Dalir was imprisoned for practicing her religion as a convert.

In July 2021, authorities arrested Dalir and five other converts from Islam to Christianity, including her at the time…

Saeedeh Khozui was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On April 11, 2022, Khozui was reportedly arrested after appearing at a courthouse.

On May 24,…

Shoma Sen was detained for her human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On June 6, 2018, police in Maharashtra arrested several…

Hiwa Yazdan Mehdi Abadi was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On May 30, 2020, security forces arrested Abadi in Yazd.

In September 2020, Abadi was released on bail…

Lina Alsharif was detained in relation to religious freedom advocacy.

In May 2021, officials from the Saudi Presidency of State Security raided Alsharif’s home in Riyadh, arrested her, and…

Buheliqiemu Abula was detained for her ethnoreligious identity.

In March 2022, Saudi Arabian authorities detained Abula, a Uyghur Muslim, and threatened her with deportation to China.

…

Samin Ehsani was imprisoned in relation to her religious belief and activity.

In August 2011, authorities arrested Ehsani, a children's rights activist, after she went to court to resolve…

Asmaa al-Subaie is detained for her women’s rights activism critical of state-imposed religious systems.

In June 2021, authorities affiliated with the Presidency of State Security arrested…

Shaghayegh Khaneh-Zarin was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity. 

On June 26, 2022, security forces in Shiraz arrested Khaneh-Zarin and two others and took…

Negar Ighani was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity. 

On June 26, 2022, security forces in Shiraz arrested Ighani and two others and took them to an…

Zhila Sharafi Nasrabadi was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

In June 2022, security forces in Shiraz arrested Nasrabadi and two others and took them to an…

Cao Thi Cuc was imprisoned for her religious activity and expression.

On May 12, 2022, authorities arrested Cao Thi Cuc, a member of the THIÊN AM BÊN BỜ VŨ TRỤ (TABBVT) Buddhist Monastery (…

Soori Babaei Chegini was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On July 13, 2022, authorities arrested Chegini from her brother's home in Qazvin after she posted a…

Sholeh Shahidi was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On July 13, 2022, authorities arrested Shahidi and her two sons in Bojnurd, North Khorasan province,…

Melika Qaragozlu was detained in relation to protesting religious freedom conditions.

On July 13, 2022, authorities arrested Qaragozlu, a student activist, reportedly after she…

Sepideh Rashnu was detained for resisting state-imposed religious dress.

On July 16, 2022, authorities arrested Rashnu following an altercation on a bus between a woman, who was…

Haleh Gholami was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On January 27, 2017, authorities arrested Gholami, a child rights activist, reportedly in relation to her…

Hanan Hashemi was detained for their religious belief and activity.

On July 18, 2022, security forces arrested Hashemi and four others in Shiraz reportedly in relation to their being…

Niloufar Hosseini was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On July 18, 2022, security forces arrested Hashemi and four others in Shiraz reportedly in relation to their…

Zahra Sedighi-Hamadani was imprisoned for her human rights work in support of the LGBTQI+ community.

On October 27, 2021, authorities detained Sedighi-Hamadani in Urumieh,…

Saha Sabeti was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On July 31, 2022, security forces arrested Sabeti in Sari after raiding her home.

On August 14, 2022,…

Afsaneh Emami was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On February 2, 2019, authorities arrested Emami and searched her home, confiscating books, electronics, and other…

Fariba Kamalabadi was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On July 31, 2022, security forces arrested Kamalabadi in Tehran after raiding her home.

In…

Elham Salmanzadeh was under house arrest for her religious belief and activity.

On October 16, 2018, authorities arrested Salmanzadeh in relation to her being Baha'i.

On December…

Jamileh Pakrou was under house arrest for her religious belief and activity.

In September 2018, authorities arrested Pakrou and several other Baha'is in relation to their being Baha'i…

Neda Shabani was under house arrest for her religious belief and activity.

In November 2018, authorities arrested Shabani in relation to her being Baha'i. 

In…

Mahboubeh Misaghian was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity. 

On June 1, 2020, authorities reportedly arrested Misaghian and searched her home. 

On June…

Teesta Setalvad was detained for her human rights work supporting minority religious communities. 

On June 25, 2022, an antiterrorism squad in Mumbai arrested Setalvad, a human rights…

Sara Ahmadi was imprisoned for practicing her religion as a convert.

In June 2019, authorities arrested Ahmadi and her husband, ​​​​​​Homayoun Zhaveh, as they were on vacation with…

Salma al-Shehab was imprisoned for her women's rights activism opposing state-imposed religious systems as well as her religious identity.

On January 15, 2021, authorities arrested al-…

Negar Darabi was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On August 31, 2022, authorities arrested 14 Baha'is, including Darabi, in Mazandaran province under unclear…

Golbon Fallah was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On August 31, 2022, authorities arrested 14 Baha'is, including Fallah, in Mazandaran province under unclear…

Mahsa Fathi was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On August 31, 2022, authorities arrested 14 Baha'is, including Fathi, in Mazandaran province under unclear…

Nazanin Goli was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On August 31, 2022, authorities arrested 14 Baha'is, including Goli, in Mazandaran province under unclear…

Samiyeh Gholinejad was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On August 31, 2022, authorities arrested 14 Baha'is, including Gholinejad, in Mazandaran province under unclear…

Bita Haghighi was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On August 31, 2022, authorities arrested 14 Baha'is, including Haghighi, in Mazandaran province under unclear…

Sanaz Hekmat-Shoar was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On August 31, 2022, authorities arrested 14 Baha'is, including Hekmat-Shoar, in Mazandaran province under…

Afnaneh Nematian was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On August 31, 2022, authorities arrested 14 Baha'is, including Nematian, in Mazandaran province under unclear…

Fariba Ashtari was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On December 2, 2019, authorities arrested Ashtari from her home reportedly in relation to her being Baha'i.

In…

Malihe Nazari was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On June 30, 2020, authorities arrested Nazari following raids targeting house-churches across several cities…

Rhoda Jatau was detained for blasphemy.

On May 20, 2022, authorities in Bauchi state arrested Jatau after riots broke out in response to a perceived blasphemous message she sent on…

Atash Shahkarami was detained for speaking out about the disappearance and murder of an anti-hijab protester.

On October 2, 2022, security forces arrested Shahkarami after she spoke with…

Aida Rasti was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On September 28, 2022, authorities reportedly arrested Rasti from her home in relation to her being Baha'i. She was…

Tatyana Ponomaryov was disappeared for her religious beliefs and activity.

On September 21, 2022, armed men in military uniform abducted Ponomaryov and her husband, a Baptist pastor, from…

Lyudmila Shchekoldina was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On May 23, 2022, the Pavlovsky District Court of Krasnodar sentenced Shchekoldina to four years and one month…

Mariya Karpova was under house arrest for her religious belief and activity. 

On June 1, 2019, authorities detained several Jehovah's Witnesses, including Karpova, following…

Leysan Bochkareva was under house arrest for her religious belief and activity.

On January 19, 2020, authorities in Kazan detained Bochkareva after searching the homes of several…

Tatyana Obizhestvit was under house arrest for her religious belief and activity.

On January 19, 2020, authorities in Kazan detained Obizhestvit after searching the homes of several…

Armaghan Zabihi was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On September 24, 2022, authorities in Tehran arrested Zabihi and her partner Arash Zamani from their home…

Shaghayegh Bahrami was detained for her religious belief and activity. 

On October 24, 2022, authorities in Kerman detained Bahrami and Shayan Gholami reportedly in…

Leili Karami was detained for her religious belief and activity.

October 26, 2022, authorities in Shiraz detained Karami from her home reportedly in relation to her being Baha'i.…

Parwa Behdad was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On November 14, 2022, authorities in Isfahan arrested Behdad from her home reportedly in relation to her being Baha'i.…

Faezeh Abdipour was detained in relation to her religious association and activity.

On November 22, 2022, authorities arrested Abdipour in Gorgan under unclear circumstances. Her…

Nasim Kashani Nejad was imprisoned for her religious belief and activity.

On November 21, 2022, authorities in Shiraz took into custody Nejad and sent her to Adel-Abad Prison to…

Rooha Imani was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On December 4, 2022, authorities in Kerman reportedly arrested Imani reportedly in relation to her being Baha'i.…

Firoozeh Soltan Mohammadi was detained for her religious belief and activity.

On December 4, 2022, authorities in Kerman reportedly arrested Mohammadi reportedly in relation to her…

Mona Ghodrat was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On December 19, 2022, authorities in Yazd reportedly arrested Ghodrat in relation to her being Baha'i.…

Anahita Khademi was detained for practicing her religion as a convert.

On January 3, 2023, authorities in Bandar Anzali reportedly arrested Khademi after summoning her. She was…

Reyhaneh Pakzad was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

In January 2023, authorities in Zahedan reportedly arrested Pakzad for being Baha'i and supporting…

Ghazal Pakzad was detained in relation to her religious belief.

In January 2023, authorities in Zahedan reportedly arrested Pakzad for being Baha'i and supporting nationwide protests…

Sara Mottaghi is detained for blasphemy.

On January 15, 2023, Iranian authorities raided the home of Mattaghi, a poet, for writing about an ancient Iranian day celebrating women. After…

Hua Xiuxia was detained for her religious activity. 

In August 2022, authorities in Fugong county, Nujiang, Yunnan province, reportedly detained five individuals, including Hua after…

Dong Mengru was detained for her religious activity. 

In August 2022, authorities in Fugong county, Nujiang, Yunnan province, reportedly detained five individuals, including Dong…

Kishta Tutinova was under house arrest for her religious belief and activity.

On February 28, 2023, authorities in Elista detained Tutinova after searching her home and confiscating a…

Shahdokht Khanjani was detained in relation to her religious belief or activity.

On May 29, 2023, authorities arrested Khanjani at her residence in Samnan in relation to her being a Baha'i.…

Nathasha Edirisooriya was detained for blasphemy.

On May 27, 2023, police arrested and detained Edirisooriya after receiving a complaint that she made jokes insulting to Buddhism and…

Yekta Fallah was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On July 12, 2023, authorities in Kerman arrested five Baha'is, including Fallah, at the residence of Shahram…

Paridokht Shojaei was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On July 12, 2023, authorities in Kerman arrested five Baha'is, including Shojaei, at the residence of…