Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

On February 23, 2010, Human Rights Watch issued the following statement calling on Iran to end its persecution of the country’s Baha’i minority.

The Iranian government should immediately stop harassing and arbitrarily detaining members of the Baha’i community, Human Rights Watch said today.

The detention of 13 Baha’is on February 10 and 11 follows the arrest of 13 others in early January. The government alleges that those arrested in January helped to organize recent anti-government demonstrations but has not made public any charges against those detained in February. These arrests come during a broad government crackdown on opposition activists.

“The Iranian government seems to be using the post-election unrest as a cover for targeting the Baha’i community,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “These arrests are only the latest chapter in the government’s systematic persecution of the Baha’i.”

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The third court session for seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned in Iran is scheduled for April 10, a day earlier than originally announced.

Diane Ala’i, representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva, said attorneys in Iran have now received written notice of the court date, confirming it as Saturday, April 10. The earlier notification was oral.

The seven defendants have been imprisoned since 2008 and only last month were presented with formal charges – including espionage and “corruption on earth” – which they categorically deny.

Read more from the Baha’i World News Service

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The trial proceedings for seven Iranian Baha’i leaders who have been in prison for nearly two years will continue on Sunday, April 11, according to information conveyed orally to their attorneys.

Government-sponsored news media reported that at their first hearing on January 12, 2010, the seven were charged with espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, the establishment of an illegal administration, cooperation with Israel, sending secret documents outside the country, acting against the security of the country, and corruption on earth.

The defendants categorically deny all accusations.

A second hearing, held on February 7, dealt mainly with procedural matters.

The seven are Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm. They were responsible for tending to the spiritual and social needs of Iran’s 300,000 Baha’is, after formal Baha’i institutions were dissolved in 1983.

The court proceedings coincide with the recent arrest of more Baha’is in Iran. Thirteen individuals were arrested on January 3; 10 of them are still in custody. Another 13 were detained last week; 11 of them are still in jail.

Currently, there are at least 60 Baha’is imprisoned throughout Iran.

• Read more from the Baha’i World News Service

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On February 17, Amnesty International issued a statement criticizing Iran for rejecting “important recommendations by the United Nations to improve human rights in the country,” including a recommendation that would end discrimination against the nation’s Baha’i minority.

From the statement…

While accepting a recommendation to cooperate with UN’s human rights experts, Iran rejected several others to allow the Council’s Special Rapporteur on torture to visit the country.

The delegation accepted the recommendation to respect freedom of religion but rejected a recommendation to end discrimination against the Bahai’s.

“By rejecting specific recommendations made by dozens of countries the Iranian authorities showed contempt for international obligations just as they have done in their treatment of their own people,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

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On February 16, “Faith Complex,” a program of the Washington Post and Georgetown University, published an interview with  Baha’i author Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing of Washington, D.C. The 11-minute program provides an overview of the past and present persecution of the Baha’i Faith in Iran. You can watch it via the Washington Post.

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On February 15, 2010, the United States and other member-nations of the U.N. Human Rights Council expressed concern over Iran’s human rights record, particularly since the crackdown that followed the country’s disputed presidential election last June. The session was part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a relatively new procedure that seeks to review the human rights records of all 192 United Nations member states once every four years. This year is the first time Iran has come up for review.

In the U.S. statement, Assistant Secretary of State Michael H. Posner made the following remarks about the status of religious freedom and the Baha’i minority in Iran:

More than 200 Baha’i leaders have been executed since 1979. We are concerned about the welfare and legal rights of seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned for more than a year and now on trial on unsubstantiated charges. Members of these religious communities, as well as Iran’s Sufi Muslims, are increasingly subject to surveillance, harassment, prolonged arbitrary detention, and unsubstantiated legal proceedings.

According to a statement from the Baha’i International Community, many other countries and human rights groups also spoke out in defense of the Baha’is of Iran.

Brazil called for Iran to extend rights to all religious groups in the country, saying Baha’is should enjoy the same rights as everyone. Mexico said all minorities – particularly the Baha’i community – must be able to practice their religion.

“Romania and Slovenia devoted almost the entire allotment of their time to discussing the increasing repression of Iran’s Baha’i community,” reported Diane Ala’i, representative for the Baha’i International Community.

Human rights groups, in documents filed with the Council, made similar points.

“Despite constitutional guarantees of equality, individuals belonging to minorities in Iran are subject to an array of discriminatory laws and practices,” wrote Amnesty International in its statement. “Minorities suffering persecution include ethnic and linguistic minorities such as Kurds, Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Turkmen and Baluchis, and religious minorities such as Baha’is and the Ahl-e Haq.”

“The government systematically denies rights associated with freedom of religion to members of the Baha’i faith, Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority. In most cases, including the persecution of the Baha’i community, the government uses ’security’ as a pretext for detaining individuals and denying them basic due process rights,” said a statement from Human Rights Watch.

News media coverage: Radio Free Europe

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On February 14, 2010, English-language news outlets, including the Associated Press, Reuters and Voice of America, reported that at least five more Baha’is have been arrested in Iran. This follows the arrest of 13 Iranian Baha’is on January 3; ten of whom remain in prison. There are currently around 60 Baha’is in prison throughout Iran, according to the Baha’i World News Service.

In one of the articles, Diane Ala’i of the Baha’i International Community, told Voice of America:

Thirteen Baha’is were arrested after the Ashoura demonstration; three of them were released after 24 hours; 10 of them are still in prison.  We know that they were first moved to Evin (prison) and then they were taken to the Guajardash prison.  Then, prior to 22 Bahman, which is the 11th of February, 12 Baha’is were arrested, but the information keeps coming out of Iran in bits and pieces … and we have absolutely no news of them.

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Seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders appeared in court yesterday in Iran for the second closed session of their trial.

Family members were not permitted into the courtroom and the hearing, which lasted just over one hour, does not seem to have gone beyond procedural issues. No date was given for any future sessions.

The seven defendants—Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm—were arrested nearly two years ago and have been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since that time, spending the first year there without formal charges or access to lawyers.

After several postponements, their trial officially began on January 12, when the seven were arraigned in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

That session was also closed to the public, but accounts in government-sponsored news media said the defendants were formally charged with espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, the establishment of an illegal administration, cooperation with Israel, sending secret documents outside the country, acting against the security of the country, and corruption on earth. All the charges have been categorically denied.

• Read more from Baha’i World News Service
• News media coverage: Washington TV

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The Baha’i International Community has issued a statement condemning the trial of 16 individuals in Iran on January 30 as a “violation of all internationally accepted standards of legal due process.”

The statement highlights the lack of proper legal representation for the defendants and the use of unreliable “confessions” in the trial. One of the 16 on trial is a Baha’i.

From the statement published by Baha’i World News Service:

The trial yesterday of 16 individuals in Iran, apparently accused of participating in the Ashura demonstrations on 27 December, stands in violation of all internationally accepted standards of legal due process.

While facts are unavailable to the Baha’i International Community concerning 15 of the defendants in the court proceedings, it can confirm that one individual – identified only as “P.F.” in government reports – is a Baha’i.

The show trials in the aftermath of the June 2009 presidential election, at which defendants have been forced to read statements incriminating themselves, have completely discredited “confessions,” such as the one purportedly made by “P.F.,” both inside and outside of Iran. It is well known that such confessions are obtained while prisoners are under extreme duress, often after being exposed to such appalling tactics as food and sleep deprivation, fake executions, threats against their families, and worse. Rather than accepting responsibility for the turmoil in the country, the Iranian government organizes such show trials in order to lay the blame on innocent citizens and others.

While it is claimed that the court proceedings are open, not even the families of the defendants are notified of the trial of their loved ones.

News media coverage: Associated Press (via MSNBC), Washington TV

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