At a press briefing to announce the release of the 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor – Michael H. Posner – mentioned the seven imprisoned former Baha’i leaders. “I want to in particular single out the case of the seven Baha’i leaders who were sentenced to 20 years in prison,” said Mr. Posner. “The sentence was reinstated last year…In May, they marked four years of a 20-year sentence for basically practicing their religion. It is a human rights situation that is very disturbing, and we’ll continue to call it out.” A section of the report describes how the constitution in Iran allows the government to seize property acquired “in a manner not in conformity with Islamic law” and how this law has been used to harass religious minorities, particularly Baha’is.