Updates of the persecution of Baha'is in Iran (tradition, attend)

[arthra]

07.02.2008


Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the deteriorating situation of the religious minority Baha’i in Iran

The EU expresses its serious concern at the worsening situation of ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, in particular to the plight of the Baha’i. According to reliable reports, the Iranian Judiciary confirmed that 54 Baha’is were sentenced by a court in Shiraz for ‘propaganda against the regime’. Three of the convicted Baha’is were sentenced to four years in prison, while 51 were given one year suspended prison terms.
The EU is concerned about the ongoing systematic discrimination and harassment of Baha'is in Iran, including the expulsion of university and high school students, restrictions on employment and anti-Baha'i propaganda campaigns in the Iranian media.
The EU wishes to express its firm opposition to all forms of discrimination, in particular regarding freedom of religion. In this context, the EU urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to release the Baha’i prisoners and stop prosecuting members of the Baha’i minority due to their belief and practice of the Baha'i Faith.
The Candidate Countries Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

[arthra]

Draft Iranian law threatens gross human rights violations

NEW YORK
22 February 2008 (BWNS)

The Iranian Parliament is considering legislation that would institutionalize a series of gross human rights violations, affecting not only Baha'is but many others, even outside of Iran, the Baha'i International Community said today.
Of greatest concern is a section that would mandate the death penalty for anyone who converts from Islam to another religion, a provision that would affect not only Baha'is but also Christians, Jews, and others.
"This proposed law goes against all human rights norms and standards, including international treaties that Iran itself has agreed to," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.
"It is important for the international community to speak out, now, before it is too late and the draft code becomes Iran's law of the land."
The proposed law also would extend the government's reach over alleged security violations outside the country, give legal effect to discriminatory practices already in wide use against Baha'is and others, and redefine a series of "religious" and other crimes so vaguely as to place in jeopardy virtually any group facing government disapproval.
"If adopted, the code will permit the government and the clergy to act with impunity against Iran's citizens on the sole basis of their religious affiliation," said Ms. Dugal. "This is not only an affront to the people of Iran; it is an offense to all who seek to uphold fundamental human rights."
Ms. Dugal said the new section on religious conversion -- defined as apostasy -- is especially severe, in that its language mandates the death penalty for anyone who converts from Islam to another religion and does not immediately recant.
"The text uses the word Hadd, meaning that it explicitly sets death as a fixed punishment that cannot be changed, reduced or annulled," said Ms. Dugal. "In the past, the death penalty has been handed down -- and also carried out -- in apostasy cases, but it has never before been set down in law.
"The law also extends to naming as apostate any follower of a religion other than Islam who had one parent who was a Muslim at the time of his or her conception. Thus, for instance, the child of a Muslim and a Christian who chooses to adopt the Christian faith would be considered an apostate under the terms of the law and therefore subject to execution," Ms. Dugal said.
Another troubling section of the proposed code would extend "security" laws outside the country, exposing those outside Iran to the government's reach.
"Iran is apparently not content with targeting those it considers its opponents only within its borders," said Ms. Dugal, explaining that Article 112 of the proposed code refers to actions "against the government, the independence and the internal and external security of the country."
"Since the notion of 'security' is not defined in the law, any action can be qualified as such," Ms. Dugal said. "Indeed, many Iranian Baha'is have been falsely accused of activities against the security of the state.
"If the new penal code is adopted, Iranian Baha'is -- and others -- all over the world would likewise be liable for actions taken outside Iran that are considered contrary to Iran's security."
The code's vagueness with respect to "offending the sacred" and other crimes would give the government free license to act against any group it disapproves of, said Ms. Dugal. "The code includes articles that refer to the commission of unspecified crimes or felonies, as well as articles referring to those guilty of 'corruption and mischief on the earth,'" she said.
"It would also institute capital punishment for anyone who 'insults the Prophet,'" Ms. Dugal explained. "Such provisions place many groups, including Baha'is, in an extremely vulnerable position, since an 'insult' to the Prophet can be defined in almost any context, especially where religious belief is concerned."
In related developments, the president of the European Union recently expressed "serious concern" over the "deteriorating situation" of the Baha'i community in Iran.
"The EU expresses its serious concern at the worsening situation of ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, in particular to the plight of the Baha'i," said Dr. Dimitrij Rupel of Slovenia, the president of the EU.
"The EU is concerned about the ongoing systematic discrimination and harassment of Baha'is in Iran, including the expulsion of university and high school students, restrictions on employment and anti-Baha'i propaganda campaigns in the Iranian media."

[BruceDLimber]

(From the Bahai' scriptures

“Should they attempt to conceal His light on the continent, He will assuredly rear His head in the midmost heart of the ocean and, raising His voice, proclaim: ‘I am the lifegiver of the world!’… And if they cast Him into a darksome pit, they will find Him seated on earth’s loftiest heights calling aloud to all mankind: ‘Lo, the Desire of the world is come in His majesty, His sovereignty, His transcendent dominion!’ And if He be buried beneath the depths of the earth, His Spirit soaring to the apex of heaven shall peal the summons: ‘Behold ye the coming of the Glory; witness ye the Kingdom of God, the most Holy, the Gracious, the All-Powerful!’”

-- The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah, p. 108


Peace,

Bruce

[arthra]

This video is a good summary of the persecution of Baha'is in Iran:

http://youtube. com/watch? v=EA1t1caL9L8

[oneness]

Unfortunately, the persecution of the Baha'i community continues in Iran. Aside from the denial of employment and business licences, destruction of holy sites, desecration of cemeteries, and denial of higher education, lately even high school and primary school students have been pressured and in some cases dismissed. Young children are often ridiculed and humiliated in front of the class until they cry, and when they reply to the accusations and fabrications levelled against Baha'is in order to create public hatred, they are charged with spreading their faith, anti-regime propaganda and dismissed.

Furthermore, elements of the regime attack Baha'i homes and individuals dressed and acting as vigilantes. Recently they attacked a home in the city of "Abadeh" in Fars province and tried to enter in the absence of the parents. After the walls were brought down, the children ran away and fortunately were sheltered by the neighbours who did not heed the threats. The father however, was beaten after his arrival and threatened to "leave town or the else his home and family will be violated". In this case or others, when the police are called, they take a long time to show making sure the attackers have left.

Last week, a Baha'i man was approached on the streets of city of Shiraz, also in Fars province, and asked to give some gas to the person who claimed to have run out. After taking fuel from his tank, the Baha'i man was chained, (yes chained!) to a tree, while the vigilantes tried to set him on fire with his own gas! The attackers left a note saying that if your prophet Baha'u'llah and the Bab are not false and liars, they would walk through fire like Abraham and save you. The Baha'i man put the match out with his foot and called the police who took over 30 minutes to show. Others too have been threatened.

These atrocities take place with the approval of the government and are all attempts at eliminating the Baha'i community in its birth place. The attackers and persecution in general only ease when there is substantial pressure from the International community and human rights organizations on the Islamic republic, which is why it is so important to share the news and keep the pressure on until the day that in Iran, as in any other land, people are free in the expression of their servitude to their Lord.

[arthra]

SIX BAHA'I LEADERS ARRESTED IN IRAN; PATTERN MATCHES DEADLY SWEEPS OF
1980S

NEW YORK, 15 May 2008 (BWNS) -- Six Baha'i leaders in Iran were
arrested and taken to the notorious Evin prison yesterday in a sweep that is
ominously similar to episodes in the 1980s when scores of Iranian Baha'i
leaders were summarily rounded up and killed.

The six men and women, all members of the national-level group that
helped see to the minimum needs of Baha'is in Iran, were in their homes
Wednesday morning when government intelligence agents entered and spent
up to five hours searching each home, before taking them away.

The seventh member of the national coordinating group was arrested in
early March in Mashhad after being summoned by the Ministry of
Intelligence office there on an ostensibly trivial matter.

"We protest in the strongest terms the arrests of our fellow Baha'is in
Iran," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i
International Community to the United Nations. "Their only crime is their
practice of the Baha'i Faith."

"Especially disturbing is how this latest sweep recalls the wholesale
arrest or abduction of the members of two national Iranian Baha'i
governing councils in the early 1980s -- which led to the disappearance or
execution of 17 individuals," she said.

"The early morning raids on the homes of these prominent Baha'is were
well coordinated, and it is clear they represent a high-level effort to
strike again at the Baha'is and to intimidate the Iranian Baha'i
community at large," said Ms. Dugal.

Arrested yesterday were: Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin
Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr.Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr.
Vahid Tizfahm. All live in Tehran. Mrs. Kamalabadi, Mr. Khanjani, and Mr.
Tavakkoi have been previously arrested and then released after periods
ranging from five days to four months.

Arrested in Mashhad on 5 March 2008 was Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, who also
resides in Tehran. Mrs. Sabet was summoned to Mashhad by the Ministry of
Intelligence, ostensibly on the grounds that she was required to answer
questions related to the burial of an individual in the Baha'i
cemetery in that city.

On 21 August 1980, all nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Baha'is of Iran were abducted and disappeared without a trace.
It is certain that they were killed.

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran was
reconstituted soon after that but was again ravaged by the execution of eight of
its members on 27 December 1981.

A number of members of local Baha'i governing councils, known as local
Spiritual Assemblies, were also arrested and executed in the early
1980s, before an international outcry forced the government to slow its
execution of Baha'is. Since 1979, more than 200 Baha'is have been killed
or executed in Iran, although none have been executed since 1998.

In 1983, the government outlawed all formal Baha'i administrative
institutions and the Iranian Baha'i community responded by disbanding its
National Spiritual Assembly, which is an elected governing council, along
with some 400 local level elected governing councils. Baha'is
throughout Iran also suspended nearly all of their regular organizational
activity.

The informal national-level coordinating group, known as the Friends,
was established with the knowledge of the government to help cope with
the diverse needs of Iran's 300,000-member Baha'i community, which is
the country's largest religious minority.






To view the photos and additional features click here:
http://news.bahai.org

--
8-bp-080515-1-ARRESTOFFRIENDS-632-S

[Adib]

I was absolutely shocked when I read the latest article. I know about this "provisional" NSA in Iran - Yaran - and I prayed that I would not see the name of my grandmother's second cousin on that list:

Arrested in Mashhad on 5 March 2008 was Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, who also
resides in Tehran. Mrs. Sabet was summoned to Mashhad by the Ministry of
Intelligence, ostensibly on the grounds that she was required to answer
questions related to the burial of an individual in the Baha'i
cemetery in that city.

Please pray that she and the other members of the Friends get out of this safely and will maintain the utmost strength in their Faith.

[arthra]

Last night I was reading from Prayers and Meditations and came across this quote revelaed by Baha'u'llah:

"Hostility waxed so intense that my kindred and my loved ones were made captives in Thy land and they that are dear to Thee were hindered from gazing on Thy beauty and from turning in the direction of Thy mercy. This hostility failed to cause the fire that burned within them to subside.."

from XCI Prayers and Meditations

[arthra]

IRANIAN BAHA'I LEADERS BEING HELD INCOMMUNICADO; GROWING CONCERN FOR
THEIR FATE

NEW YORK, 27 May 2008 (BWNS) -- Six Baha'i leaders who were arrested
nearly two weeks ago are being held incommunicado, without access to
lawyers or relatives, and the Baha'i International Community is
increasingly concerned about their fate.

"Although initial reports indicated they were taken to Evin prison, in
fact we don't know where they are, and we are extremely concerned,"
said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International
Community to the United Nations.

"What is clear is that none of their fundamental rights are being
upheld. They have had no access to family members or counsel. We don't even
know if they have been before a judge or whether they have been
formally charged.

"All we know is what a government spokesperson said last week, which is
that they were arrested for 'security reasons,' a charge that is
utterly baseless.

"We appeal to the international community, human rights groups, and
people of conscience, as well as the news media, to continue their efforts
to press the Iranian government so that the rights of these people as
detainees be upheld and that they be allowed access to counsel and
general communication with the outside -- as a minimum step," said Ms.
Dugal.

The six, all members of the national-level group that helped see to the
minimum needs of Baha'is in Iran, were arrested on 14 May 2008 in an
early morning sweep that is ominously similar to episodes in the 1980s
when scores of Iranian Baha'i leaders were rounded up and killed.

A seventh member of the national coordinating group was arrested in
early March in Mashhad after being summoned by the Ministry of
Intelligence office there.

The whereabouts of none of the seven are known, said Ms. Dugal.

"We understood that the six were taken to Evin prison -- the seventh
remaining in Mashhad -- principally because some of the government agents
who arrested the six on the 14th had documents indicating they would
be taken to that notorious place," she said.

"However, in light of the fact that relatives have made repeated
attempts to learn more about the fate of the seven, and in all cases have
been met with evasion and conflicting stories from government officials,
we must now say that we don't know where they are -- and that our level
of concern for their fate is at the highest," Ms. Dugal said.

Arrested on 14 May were: Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin
Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr.
Vahid Tizfahm. All live in Tehran.

Arrested in Mashhad on 5 March was Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, who also resides
in Tehran. Mrs. Sabet was summoned to Mashhad by the Ministry of
Intelligence, ostensibly on the grounds that she was required to answer
questions related to the burial of an individual in the Baha'i cemetery in
that city.

Last week, Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham gave a
press conference at which he acknowledged the arrest and imprisonment of
the six. News reports quoted Mr. Elham as saying on 20 May that the six
were arrested for "security issues" and not because of their religious
beliefs.

Those assertions -- the only public statement by the government about
the seven -- were immediately rebutted by Ms. Dugal.

"The group of Baha'is arrested last week, like the thousands of Baha'is
who since 1979 have been killed, imprisoned, or otherwise oppressed,
are being persecuted solely because of their religious beliefs," Ms.
Dugal said on 21 May.





To view the photos and additional features click here:
http://news.bahai.org