Updates of the persecution of Baha'is in Iran

[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

 

[arthra]

Geneva, 2 June 2008

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has just issued an urgent press
release regarding the detained Baha'i leaders in Iran.
ICJ calls on Iranian authorities to cease harassment of Baha'i faith leaders

http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=4308&lang=en

International Commission of Jurists: Immediate Press Release on Baha'is of
Iran

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has just issued an urgent press
release regarding the detained Baha'i leaders in Iran.

The ICJ is an international non-governmental organisation comprising sixty of
the world's most eminent jurists and has a worldwide network of national
sections and affiliated organisations. It is "dedicated since 1952 to the
primacy, coherence and implementation of international law and principles that
advance human rights."

The entire ICJ press release is reposted below with permission (may also be
viewed or downloaded at this link):
(PDF download here)

COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE – COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
For immediate release
Geneva, 2 June 2008

ICJ calls on Iranian authorities to cease harassment of Baha’i faith leaders

"The Six leaders of the Baha'i faith in Iran, who were arbitrarily arrested in
Tehran on 14 May 2008 and are being held incommunicado, must be released
immediately or legally charged with a recognisable offence," said the
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) today.

An Iranian official told a local news agency that “the six unofficial leaders
of the Baha'i faith in Iran were working against the national interest." He
added: "They are arrested for security reasons, not for their faith". However,
according to reliable information, the ICJ consider there to be sufficient
evidence to show that they may have been arrested in relation to their peaceful
activities as members of the national coordinating group of Baha'is in Iran.

The detainees, reportedly being held in the offices of the General Intelligence
Service, do not have legal representation and are not allowed to communicate
with their families. "Unless the Iranian authorities charge them with a
recognisable criminal offence and bring them before an independent and impartial
tribunal, they must be released at once," said the ICJ. "The grounds for their
detention must be immediately made public, and they must be allowed to
communicate with their lawyers and their families."

The ICJ calls on the Iranian authorities to conform with its international human
rights obligations and to ensure that these individuals are not detained on the
basis of their faith. Baha’is freedom of conscience and religion are severely
restricted, in clear violation of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), which Iran has ratified and is obliged to uphold. The
ICCPR specifically stipulates in its article 18 that "Everyone shall have the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include
freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom,
either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to
manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching."

The ICJ urges the Iranian authorities to also respect its Criminal Procedure
Code, which gives the arrested person the right to be promptly notified of the
reasons for their arrest or detention.

The ICJ calls upon the Iranian authorities to ensure that all the detainees are
protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and given regular access to
their families, their lawyers and any medical attention they may require.

 

[Adib]

That is great news, thanks for sharing! I truly hope they are freed as soon as possible.

Here is a well-made and powerful video about the persecution of Baha'is in Iran: YouTube - Baha'is in Iran

 

[BruceDLimber]

Baha’is Continue to be Arrested
Following Calls for ‘Revolutionary Execution’ of Detainees​

by Manoochehr Ghodsian

2008.06.01

As some religious leaders in Iran have called for “the utmost punishment” for detained ‎Baha’is using state media resources, the confrontation with the followers of this belief has ‎intensified and yesterday such calls went deep into the country. Baha’i leaders in ‎Vilashahr in the province of Isfahan were reported to have been arrested. ‎

The news website “Human Rights Activists in Iran” announced that according to its latest ‎reports, the leaders of the Vilashahr Baha’i community in Isfahan were arrested. Their ‎names were listed as Hushmand Talebi and Mehran Zini, and Farhad Fardossian who is ‎said to be a member of the community. The news site reports that these individuals were ‎arrested by security-law-enforcement agents and transferred to the prison of the town, ‎while their conditions remains unknown.‎

In a related news story, it is reported that three other Baha’is named Ali Ahmadi, Changiz ‎Derakhshan, and Ms Simin too have been arrested in the northern town of Ghaemshahr. ‎Prior to that, six leading members of the Iranian Baha’i community were arrested, and ‎their names are Fariba Kamal Abadi, Jamaledin Khanjani, Afif Naimi, Saeed Rezai, ‎Behrouz Tavakoli and Vahid Tizfahm. Mahvash Sabet, another Baha’i leader was arrested ‎earlier in March in the city of Mashhad. All of these seven last members comprised the ‎leadership of the sect in Iran.‎

These new arrests follow the claims by Iranian authorities that the Baha’is had been ‎arrested because of their anti state activities that threatened national security. Elham the ‎spokesperson for the Iranian government had said in his weekly meetings with the media ‎that “these individuals had been arrested because they had engaged in activities against ‎the security of the state and had been in contact with foreigners, particularly Zionists.”‎

Seyed Ahmadi El Alhodi, the Friday prayer leader of the city of Mashhad had recently ‎publicly called for the “revolutionary execution of the Baha’i-Israeli spies”. According to ‎Shabestan news agency, this cleric said that Baha’ism was not a religion and claimed that ‎‎“Baha’ism was neither a religion nor even an idea” adding how could he accept these ‎‎“Israeli soldiers whose hands were stained with the blood of millions of people be ‎allowed to freely move around the Iran and, by taking advantage of a group of political ‎deviants and loose women and sex-driven boys, engage in collecting signatures to destroy ‎Islamic laws by engaging in any criminal activity.”‎

Elm Al Hodi further said that the harshest revolutionary punishment should be imposed ‎on the members of this Satanic group, calling on the judiciary of Iran to forcefully ‎confront this espionage movement without any heed to the wishes of the US and … , as ‎the group engaged in espionage behind the backs of the intelligence community of the ‎country.

​

[For background on persecutions, please go to:

http://info.Baha’i.org/article-1-8-3-14.html]​

 

[BruceDLimber]

Yet another outrage. :-(

(Originally posted to the Ning Baha’i Forum by Kelly Herndon; the original Persian is available as an attachment at that site. I quote Kelly below.)

A children's book called Babak is being distributed free of charge in schools in Iran. This book mocks the life of the Bab.

I translated a German translation of the Persian text into English, so my text below may be inaccurate.

Babak

​

p. 2 Many years ago there was a very lazy boy. He was rambunctious and was named Babak.

p. 3 He didn't want to go to school because of his laziness.

p.4 Babak wasn't especially intelligent. He was always skipping school.

p.5 With the help of his Uncle Babak played a prank.

p.6 Babak ran away and stole a Mullah's cloak.

p. 7 He called himself Shiekh Babak. With the help of Russians and foreign enemies he claimed to be a messenger of the 12th Imam.

p. 8 He was tried in court, but because he was cowardly, he started to cry.

p.9 Babak fled Shiraz. But he was driven from Isfahan because everyone recognized that he was a liar.

p. 10 The Russians insisted that Babak start disagreements between Iranians and Russians.

p. 11 Babak was killed by a firing squad on the orders of Shah Amir Kabir.

p. 12 Babak was crazy and claimed to be God.

p. 13 He wrote things like: never sit on a cow. Don't drink donkey milk. Animal manure is clean. Anyone who owns more than one book will be punished...

Thus the world was saved from a liar.

 

[arthra]

SEVEN JAILED IRANIAN BAHA'IS MAKE BRIEF CONTACT WITH FAMILIES

NEW YORK, 19 June 2008 (BWNS) -- Seven prominent Baha'is imprisoned in Iran have each been allowed a brief phone call to their families, the Baha'i International Community has learned.

The calls were the first contact with the jailed Baha'is since six of them were arrested on 14 May in pre-dawn raids at their homes in Tehran. The seventh was arrested in March in the city of Mashhad.

The Baha'i International Community has learned that on 3 June, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet and Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi were permitted to make short phone calls to their families. Mrs. Sabet had been detained in Mashhad on 5 March but on 26 May was transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran, where it is believed the others are also being held.

Later it was confirmed that Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm also have made brief phone calls to their families.

No charges have been filed against any of the seven, who comprise the entire membership of a coordinating committee that saw to the minimal needs of the 300,000-member Baha'i community of Iran.

In 1980, all nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran were taken away and presumed killed as they were never heard from again. A year later, after the Assembly had been reconstituted, eight of the nine members were arrested and killed.

Besides the seven committee members imprisoned in Tehran, about 15 other Baha'is are currently detained in Iran, some incommunicado and most with no formal charges.






To view the photos and additional features click here:
Bahá'í World News Service - Bahá'í International Community

--
22-wee-080619-1-IRANPHONECALLS-640-S


-

 

[arthra]

NOBEL LAUREATES CALL FOR RELEASE OF IRANIAN BAHA'I PRISONERS

NEW YORK, 30 June 2008 (BWNS) -- Six Nobel Peace Prize laureates have issued a statement calling on the Iranian government to free immediately seven prominent Iranian Baha'is imprisoned in Tehran.

The six Nobel winners, under the banner of the Nobel Women's Initiative, called on the Iranian government to guarantee the safety of the Baha'is -- being held in Evin Prison with no formal charges and no access to lawyers -- and to grant them an unconditional release.

"We are thankful to these internationally prominent activists for calling publicly for the release of our fellow Baha'is, who are detained for no reason other than their religion," said Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

The Nobel laureates supporting the statement are:
-- Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire, founders of the Peace People in Northern Ireland and winners of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976;
-- Rigoberta Menchu Tum, a leading advocate of ethno-cultural reconciliation in her native Guatemala and Nobel winner in 1992;
-- Professor Jody Williams, international campaigner for the banning of land mines, winner in 1997;
-- Iranian human rights lawyer Dr. Shirin Ebadi, winner in 2003;
-- Kenyan environmental activist Professor Wangari Muta Maathai, Nobel winner in 2004.

Their statement, issued on the letterhead of the Nobel Women's Initiative, reads:

"We note with concern the news of the arrest of six prominent Baha'is in Iran on 14 May 2008. We note that Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm are members of the informal group known as the Friends in Iran that coordinates the activities of the Baha'i community in Iran; we further note that another member of the Friends in Iran, Mrs Mahvash Sabet, has been held in custody since 5 March 2008; we register our deepest concern at the mounting threats and persecution of the Iranian Baha'i community.

"We call on the Iranian Government to guarantee the safety of these individuals (and) grant their immediate unconditional release."

The Nobel Women's Initiative was established in 2006 by the six women laureates - representing North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa - to contribute to building peace by working together with women around the world. Only 12 women have ever won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Women's Initiative maintains an office in Ottawa, Canada.





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

 

[arthra]

ARSONISTS IN IRAN TARGET BAHA'I HOMES, VEHICLES

NEW YORK, 28 July 2008 (BWNS) -- Acts of arson targeting homes and vehicles are the latest violent tactics directed against the Baha'is of Iran.

"In the early hours of the morning of 18 July, the house of the Shaaker family in Kerman went up in flames, only weeks after their car had been torched and in the wake of a series of threatening phone calls," said Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

"As would be expected in the light of the mistreatment Baha'is in Iran are routinely receiving, the officials who investigated the fire either ignored or dismissed obvious signs of suspicious activity, including a muffled explosion, simply saying that it was the result of an electrical problem," she said.

At least a dozen cases of arson that target Baha'is have been reported in Iran in the last 15 months, Ms. Dugal said. She gave the following examples:

-- On 15 July at 1:15 a.m., Molotov cocktails were thrown into the front courtyard of the home of Khusraw Dehghani and his wife, Dr. Huma Agahi, in Vilashahr, only months after anonymous threats directly related to her being a Baha'i forced Dr. Agahi to close her clinic in nearby Najafabad where she had practiced medicine for 28 years.

-- On 25 July, the car of a prominent Baha'i in Rafsanjan, in Kerman province, was torched and destroyed by arsonists on motorbikes. Soheil Naeimi, the owner of the car, and 10 other Baha'i families in the town had received threatening letters from a group calling itself the Anti-Baha'ism Movement of the Youth of Rafsanjan that, among other things, threatened jihad (holy war) against the Baha'is.

-- On 10 June, an outbuilding on the property of the Mr. and Mrs. Mousavi, elderly Baha'is living in the village of Tangriz in Fars province, was destroyed by fire when it was doused with gasoline. The Mousavis, along with their two sons who were sleeping close to the building, narrowly escaped injury when the gasoline tank used to start the fire exploded. The Mousavis believe that the perpetrator thought they were all sleeping in the hut when he set the fire. Mr. Mousavi issued a formal complaint against the person they suspected, but the legal office has declined to pursue the case because the suspect swore on the Qur'an that he was not guilty. Out of respect for the Qur'an, the Mousavis have dropped the charges.

-- On 4 April, the home of a Baha'i was set on fire in Babolsar, in the north of Iran.

-- In February in Shiraz, a 53-year-old businessman was attacked on the street, chained to a tree, doused with gasoline, and assaulted by unknown persons who then attempted to throw lighted matches at him.

-- Also in Shiraz in February, several arson attempts were made against vehicles and a home belonging to Baha'is.

-- On 1 May 2007, arson destroyed the home of 'Abdu'l-Baqi Rouhani in the village of Ivil, in Mazandaran.

-- In Karaj, the burial section of a Baha'i cemetery was set on fire.

"These latest attacks follow the authorities' attempts to deprive the Iranian Baha'i community of its leadership," Ms. Dugal said, referring to the arrests in March and May this year of the seven members of Iran's national Baha'i coordinating group, all of whom are still locked up in Evin Prison in Tehran without any charges and without access to an attorney or to their families.

"As Baha'is worldwide watch with alarm this escalation in violence," she added, "their fears that a sinister plan of persecution is unfolding become increasingly confirmed. Their only hope is that enough voices of protests are raised around the world to compel the government in Iran to put an end to this violence."

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

 

[arthra]

Congressman Kirk submits Resolution to the US Congress condemning persecution of Baha'is:

YouTube - Persecution of Baha'is in Iran "Crime of the Century"

 

[arthra]

"Sattar Khoshkhoo came to the United States from Iran four years ago, escaping a government that would not allow him to attend college because of his Baha'i faith.
His family had been living a comfortable life in Iran, his dad working as a dentist, his mom as a homemaker. But they realized that if their older child was going to get a college education, they had to leave.
"The Muslim majority does not recognize my religion as an official religion," Khoshkhoo said. "They can take away your rights, make it difficult to get jobs. I could not go to a university."
After spending nine months in Turkey waiting to be granted refugee status, Khoshkhoo and his family settled in Moorpark, where an uncle already lived. Two days after moving here, Khoshkhoo started classes at Moorpark High School, speaking only conversational English.
From the start, Khoshkhoo flourished in math and science classes, which rely more on numbers than language. Then, over the following summer, he took two English classes so he could keep up in English and history...."




Read more of the story at:

Barred from college in Iran, Moorpark resident excels at studies in the U.S. : Local News : Ventura County Star

 

[.lava]

i am sorry about what's going on. do you have any idea what reason they think they have to act like this? what's there they don't like about Baha'is?



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[arthra]

i am sorry about what's going on. do you have any idea what reason they think they have to act like this? what's there they don't like about Baha'is?



.

The Baha'i Faith has been persecuted from it's inception. It is believed that there were about twenty thousand people who were martyred between 1844 and 1863 which was the Babi period of our history.

Essentially the teachings of the Bab and Baha'u'llah would have disestablished the Mullahs from the power they have over the people...

The Bab claimed to be the Mahdi and the Return of the Twelfth Imam ... and later revealed that He fulfilled the prophecies of the Qur'an on the Day of Judgement.

The martyrdom of the Bab Himself in 1850 and thousands of His followers was also a parallel to the early martyrdom of the Imam Husayn and so psychologically for many Shiahs who converted. Also there are many parallels between the Bab and the life of Jesus..

Here's a synopsis of our history:

History of the Baha'i Faith | Bahai Faith | Baha'i Faith