Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

On September 24, the Arlington Human Rights Commission in Massachusetts published a statement of support for seven Iranian Baha’i leaders, calling their upcoming trial, which is expected to take place on October 18, a “violation of due process.”

The Baha’i International Community has called for the human rights of all the people of Iran to be respected and upheld. We in Arlington should as well.

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Award-winning Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo advocated for Baha’i rights and religious freedom in Iran in this video address, which debuted at a public event held on Sept. 12, 2009, in Washington, D.C.

• Also available at Iranian.com

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The upcoming trial of seven Iranian Baha’i leaders was mentioned in an editorial published by Voice of America on Sept. 21, 2009, and excerpted below.

Another group facing unjust charges are the 7 leaders of Iran’s Baha’i community, the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran. The 5 men and 2 women were arrested in the spring of 2008 and have been held in Evin prison with no direct access to legal counsel. They have been charged with a variety of offenses, including 2 capital crimes: “corrupting the Earth” and “espionage for Israel.”

Their trial date has been set for October 18th. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom all charge that the 7 Baha’is are being targeted solely because of their religious beliefs and have called on the Iranian government to release them.

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On September 16, CNN International published the following commentary by Dr. Hamid Dabashi, a professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York, calling on American Muslims to “raise their voice against the abuse of non-Muslim minorities in Iran and the rest of the Muslim world.”

In a world now defined by the presence of multiple faiths inside many nations and as American Muslims learn to come together to protect their own constitutional rights in an old democracy, it would only be fitting if they were to raise their voice in defense of other religious minorities seeking to secure their basic rights to religious liberties in countries aspiring to become democracies.

The fate of Iranian Baha’is is not only a matter of their fundamental civil rights in the context of any republic, Islamic or otherwise. It is the very cornerstone of democratic citizenship without which the Muslim majority of Iranians is denied their constitutional protection. Watch the fate of the Iranian Baha’is carefully.

The day they are free to practice their religion without fear, Iranians at large will have finally secured their civil liberties.

Dr. Dabashi is the author of “Iran: A People Interrupted.” His website is http://www.hamiddabashi.com/

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In an article published Sept. 10, 2009, Julia Duin of The Washington Times mentioned seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders in an article about two Christian women who are also being detained for their religious beliefs in Tehran’s Evin prison.

From the article:

These women aren’t the only religious minority to suffer the wrath of Iran’s mullahs. Seven long-suffering Baha’is have been in Evin prison since spring 2008 on charges of “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic republic.” Their trial has been set for Oct. 18. No official charges have been filed nor have the Baha’is been given access to their lawyer, much less freed on bail.

What alarms Baha’is worldwide is that 25 years ago, members of Iran’s national-level Baha’i leadership were rounded up in a similar manner, and executed. Since 1978, 219 Baha’is have died or are missing.

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On September 1, America Abroad Media published a new program about international religious freedom called “The First Freedom: Promoting International Religious Liberty.” The 51-minute radio program includes the experience of an Iranian Baha’i near the beginning of the first segment.

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