Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

On March 12, 2010, the U.S. State Department released the following statement expressing increasing concern about “Iran’s ongoing persecution of Baha’is and other religious minority communities.”

In recent weeks, authorities detained at least 25 Baha’is. Reports indicate there have been more than 45 new detentions of Baha’is in the last four months alone, and currently as many as 60 Baha’is are imprisoned in Iran solely on the basis of their religious beliefs. Authorities also detained more than a dozen Christians, some of whom are being held in custody without substantiated charges. Further, we remain concerned that seven Baha’i leaders on trial for espionage have been denied access to their attorneys and neither does their trial meet its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

During the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council in February 2010, Iran pledged to abide by international law. Therefore, we are deeply disappointed that the Iranian government rejected a UPR recommendation to end discrimination against its Baha’i religious minority. We join the international community in urging Iran to uphold its obligations to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its people.

• Read coverage from CNN, Reuters, and Radio Free Europe.

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On March 9, 2010, Voice of America published an editorial drawing further attention to the plight of Iran’s Baha’i community. In it, Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner is quoted condemning Iran’s post-election crackdown and calling on the country to observe religious freedom, among its other human rights treaty obligations.

“The United States strongly condemns the recent violent and unjust suppression of innocent Iranian citizens,” said Assistant Secretary of State Posner. He called on the government of Iran, among other measures, to uphold its constitutional provisions guaranteeing freedom of worship, end its severe restrictions on the rights to free expression, association and assembly, and respect all of its international human rights treaty obligations.

• Read the full article

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On March 8, the RFE/RL blog “Watchdog” published a Q&A with D.C.-area Baha’i Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing about the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i religious minority. The interview specifically addresses the ongoing trial of seven Baha’i leaders, which is expected to continue in Tehran on April 10, 2010.

Here’s an excerpt of the interview…

RFE/RL: For the seven who are now on trial, do they have lawyers representing them in court, and what is the basis of their charges?

Ma’ani Ewing: The seven right now are being represented by Shirin Ebadi, the famous Nobel laureate, but right now she’s out of the country fleeing for her own life. She has a human rights center in Iran that has lawyers, some of who were appointed to represent the Baha’is. With these seven, the next lawyer they were assigned, Abdolfattah Soltani, was promptly put in prison. They were finally given the dossier of charges, but there’s been absolutely no evidence to support these charges. Initially, they weren’t even going to allow the lawyers into court on February 8, so they had to argue their way in. There is no due process in the way that we understand it here in the West.

• Read the full interview

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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. Watch it below or 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 Alá’í of the Bahá’í 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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In an Associated Press article published January 28 in the Washington Post, Iranian prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi reportedly announced that a group of postelection detainees, including an unknown number of Baha’is, would go on trial Saturday, January 30.

From the article:

He said the trial will demonstrate the role of “leftists, Bahais and those who were directed by foreign hands” in the postelection turmoil. He did not say how many new defendants would go on trial.

Iranian authorities regularly accuse the U.S., Britain and other foreign enemies of fueling the unrest in a bid to oust the country’s clerical leaders. They have also accused followers of the Bahai faith, which is illegal in Iran because it is seen as heretical.

At least 47 Baha’is are currently in prison throughout Iran, including 10 who were arrested on January 3 in the wake of the Ashura Day protests last December.

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On January 24-45, News X of India broadcast an in-depth documentary series on the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community. The series includes an interview with human rights attorney and Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, who is the lead defender of seven Baha’is currently on trial in Tehran.

View the series on YouTube:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=newsxlive#p/u/2/5qJYCASlMtk
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=newsxlive#p/u/3/mxntEAdRW5w
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=newsxlive#p/u/4/QkPQIN7t4eg
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=newsxlive#p/u/1/P3PTpRnMsUE

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On January 22, The New York Times published the following article, written by religion columnist Samuel G. Freedman, about the persecution of the Baha’i Faith in Iran from the perspective of a D.C.-area Baha’i whose brother, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, is among seven Baha’i leaders who are currently on trial in Tehran.

From the article…

In 2001, after his own arrest and interrogation, after the ransacking of his office, after the confiscation of his car and his books, Mr. [Rezvan] Tavakkoli used connections to gain a passport to Abu Dhabi. From there, he went on to the United States to reunite with his wife and children and to learn the particular anguish of survivor guilt.

Behrouz had remained behind in Iran and was ultimately named a member of the Yaran, an unofficial leadership body for Iran’s 300,000 Bahais. Security agents arrested and jailed him for four months in 2005. Then, in the spring of 2008, he was arrested and charged along with all seven members of the Yaran.

After several postponements, their trial began on Jan. 12 with the reading of the charges, according to reports that reached the Western news media. The proceedings are expected to resume Feb. 7. A chorus of condemnation from around the world — the European Union, the United States State Department, Amnesty International — has done nothing to derail the trial.

Mr. Tavakkoli heard a week or two ago from his sister about a visit she made to Behrouz in prison. She said that he looked old and weak, like he was 80, this boy who showed movies on the wall.

“I’m hoping for the light of justice to shine on the men in power,” Mr. [Rezvan] Tavakkoli said, “because they say they are people of religion.”

And, if not, then Bahai theology has provided an answer. “It’s the mystery of self-sacrifice,” he said, “for the world to have a better future.”

Read the full story from The New York Times

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Iranian authorities have notified the lawyers of seven imprisoned Bahá’í leaders that the next session of their trial will be held on February 7, 2010, the Bahá’í International Community announced today.

After 20 months in prison, with limited access to their attorneys, the defendants— Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm—had their first court appearance on January 12, at which time their charges were read to them.

According to accounts in Iran’s state-sponsored news media, the charges against the seven prisoners were: 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.”

“While we know little about what actually took place inside the court, we can now say for certain that these seven innocent Bahá’ís stood up and firmly rejected all of the charges against them,” said Diane Alá’í of the Bahá’í International Community.

Six of the seven defendants were arrested on May 14, 2008, at their homes in Tehran. Mrs. Mahvash Sabet was arrested on March 5, 2008, while in Mashhad. They have been held in Tehran’s Evin prison ever since, spending their first year there without formal charges or any access to lawyers.

Read more from the Baha’i World News Service

Read news coverage: Washington TV

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On Monday, January 18, 2010, The Washington Post published the following article indicating that Iran was “moving toward sentencing” seven Baha’i leaders who have been accused of espionage and collaboration with Israel, among other unfounded charges.

Iran’s judiciary is deciding on prison sentences for seven leaders of the Bahai community, who are being put on trial behind closed doors in Tehran, the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency reported. Bahai is an outlawed faith in the Shiite Muslim republic.

Arrested in 2008, the five men and two women, who acted as an unofficial leadership council for the faith’s Iranian community, are accused of espionage and collaboration with Israel, Iran’s archenemy. Bahai representatives have denied the charges.

“Iran’s own law says that you can’t be in jail without charges for over two months,” said Shastri Purushotma, human rights officer for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of the United States. “Iran has violated their own law by keeping them in jail for so long.”

Purushotma, in Washington, dismissed the idea that the Bahais on trial had acted against the Iranian government and said they were scapegoats. “This is purely a case of religious persecution.”

Read the full story from The Washington Post

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The commencement of the trial of seven Baha’is in Iran was highlighted this week by the PBS program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly:

In Iran, a trial there has drawn international condemnation. Seven leaders of the Baha’i community are accused of spying for Israel, charges that have them facing the death penalty. The accused have been imprisoned since 2008. The US State Department has protested the trial and the treatment of the Baha’is. The Baha’i community abroad is calling for prayer. The Baha’i faith was founded in the nineteenth century in what is now Iran, but the religion is banned there, and adherents have long been persecuted.

Read the rest of this week’s headlines from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly

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The trial of seven Iranian Baha’i leaders, which began January 12,  has drawn widespread attention from the international community. According to a Baha’i World News Service article published today, public statements of concern on behalf of the seven have been issued by the governments of Brazil, Canada, India, the United States, and by the European Union. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Laureate and the lead attorney defending the seven Baha’is, also commented about yesterday’s trial proceedings in an interview with Washington TV, a web-based news service based in the United States.

Below are excerpts of her statements as reported by the Baha’i World News Service:

“If justice is to be carried out and an impartial judge should investigate the charges leveled against my clients, no other verdict can be reached save that of acquittal,” said Mrs. Ebadi, in comments posted on WashingtonTV.

Mrs. Ebadi, who is one of the lawyers for the seven, said she had carefully read the dossier of charges against them and “found in it no cause or evidence to sustain the criminal charges upheld by the prosecutor.”

…

In the WashingtonTV interview, Mrs. Ebadi, who is currently outside Iran, also offered a glimpse of what happened yesterday inside Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, where the “first session” of the trial was held.

She said only two lawyers of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, which she established, were able to be present in the court. And that in spite of a request for an open hearing, the court was closed.

The charges against the seven were reiterated yesterday in news accounts in government-sponsored news media. They were given as: espionage, “propaganda activities against the Islamic order,” the establishment of an illegal administration, cooperation with Israel, the sending of secret documents outside the country, acting against the security of the country, and “corruption on earth.”

Diane Ala’i of the Baha’i International Community said the seven have consistently and categorically denied such accusations. “We can be certain that they also did so in front of the judge yesterday,” she said.

Read the story from Washington TV

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On January 12, 2010,  the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released a statement denouncing the trial of seven Baha’i leaders as a “sham” and stating that the trial should be “condemned in the strongest possible terms by the international community.”

We are extremely concerned about the fate of the seven Baha’is, who could face the death penalty for several of the charges leveled against them today in court,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair.   “It appears that the Iranian government has already predetermined the outcome, and is once again using its courts as an instrument of religious persecution in blatant violation of international human rights law.

Read the full statement from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

Related media coverage: Washington TV

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The following is an update from the Baha’i World News Service regarding the trial of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran, which commenced on January 12, 2010.

The trial of seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders began today in Iran. Initial reports indicate that the trial is marked by numerous violations of legal due process.

“We understand that no observers were allowed in the court,” said Diane Ala’i, the Baha’i International Community’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva. “We find this completely outrageous, given that these seven have been held purely because of their religious beliefs, in total contradiction to any human rights standards.

“We understand that even the lawyers had to argue their way inside the court – lawyers who in any case had virtually no access to the accused for nearly two years.

“At the same time, the prisoners’ interrogators from the Ministry of Intelligence and a film crew were seen going in, raising questions about the nature of the trial,” she said.

Ms. Ala’i also noted that an Iranian Web site linked to state-run television posted a story Monday evening announcing that the trial had already begun and listing the same baseless accusations made in the past against the seven.

“In any event, all of these accounts point to a trial that is highly irregular, very similar to the show trials that have been held in Iran in recent months,” she said.

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.

All but one of the group were arrested on 14 May 2008 at their homes in Tehran. Mrs. Sabet was arrested on 5 March 2008 while in Mashhad. They have been held in Tehran’s Evin prison ever since, spending their first year there without formal charges or any access to lawyers.

“Whatever happens, it is clear that the trial of these seven innocent people represents the trial of an entire religious community, and is an attempt to further intimidate and ostracize all Iranian Baha’is simply because they hold a different religious viewpoint from those in power.”

Read more from the Baha’i World News Service

Related media coverage: Associated Press (via The New York Times),  CNN International, United Press International, The Washington Post, Washington TV, BBC News, The Guardian (UK), The Globe and Mail (Canada), Reuters India

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On January 11, 2010, Voice of America highlighted the latest persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community in an editorial expressing concern about human rights abuses in that country.

Diane Ala’i, the Baha’i International Community representative to the United Nations in Geneva, has voiced grave concern over the plight of 7 Iranian Baha’is who have been in Evin prison for over 20 months on false charges and who are reported to face trial on January 12. Iranian authorities have accused them of espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic republic.

In addition, Ms. Ala’i says the Iranian government is responsible for an anti-Baha’i media campaign which has culminated in accusations that Baha’is are provoking civil unrest in Iran. Thirteen Baha’is were rounded up in Tehran and taken to a detention center on January 3, she said, where authorities tried to get them to sign a document saying they would not engage in future demonstrations.

Read the full editorial from Voice of America

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On Saturday, January 9, 2010, CNN International published the following story concerning the latest wave of persecution of the Baha’is in Iran and its potential impact on the expected trial of seven Baha’i leaders tomorrow, January 12.

A trial for seven Iranian Baha’is that has come to symbolize the persecution of followers of the faith is set to unfold next week with added controversy and global attention.

Recent turmoil and governmental crackdowns on protesters in Iran have raised concern about the fate of the seven Baha’i community leaders who have been held at Tehran’s Evin prison since their arrests in March and May 2008.

And now other Baha’is, arrested during demonstrations last month on the Shiite holy day of Ashura, will also face trial in the coming days, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported Saturday.

“These people were not arrested because they were Baha’is,” said Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi, prosecutor for Iran’s Public and Revolution Courts. “In searching their homes, a number of weapons and ammunition were discovered.”

He said the Baha’is had “played a role in organizing the riots and sending pictures of the riots abroad. That is why they were arrested.”

But a spokeswoman for the Baha’is said the government’s latest allegations were designed to sow prejudice and hatred against the minority faith in Iran.

“This is nothing less than a blatant lie,” said Diane Ala’i, the Baha’i International Community’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. “Baha’is are by the most basic principles of their faith committed to absolute nonviolence, and any charge that there might have been weapons or ‘live rounds’ in their homes is simply and completely unbelievable.”

Read more from CNN International

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A recent state-sponsored media campaign falsely accusing Bahá’ís in Iran of inciting the latest wave of protests in that country has raised grave concern about the fate of seven Bahá’í leaders who are expected to go on trial next Tuesday, January 12.

“Over the past several days, Iranian state-sponsored media have accused the Bahá’ís of being responsible for the unrest surrounding the holy day of Ashura,” said Diane Alá’í, the Bahá’í International Community representative to the United Nations in Geneva. “This is clearly aimed at rousing public sentiment against the seven Bahá’ís being held in Evin prison. We are particularly concerned that the government, or ultraconservative elements within it, may use the turmoil in Iran as cover for extreme measures against these wrongly imprisoned individuals.”

This concern deepened on Sunday, January 3, when authorities rounded up 13 Bahá’ís from their homes in Tehran, including relatives of two of the imprisoned leaders, took them to a detention center, and tried to get them to sign a document saying that they would not engage in any future demonstrations. Ten of the 13 Bahá’ís remain in prison, making a total of 48 Bahá’ís in prison across Iran.

“Putting two and two together, the situation facing these Bahá’í leaders is extremely ominous. We are deeply concerned for their safety,” Ms. Alá’í said.

The seven — Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm — were arrested in the spring of 2008 and have since been held in Evin prison without formal charges. Trial dates were previously announced for July, August, and October of 2009, but were postponed each time. In December, lawyers were notified that January 12, 2010, had been set as the new trial date.

Official Iranian news accounts have said the seven are to be accused of “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the Islamic republic.” The Bahá’í International Community categorically denies all the charges and is concerned that the latest media campaign may result in more baseless charges being brought against the seven Bahá’í leaders.

“We ask that the international community indicate clearly to Iran that it will be watching and that it expects any trial to be public and held in accordance with internationally recognized principles of due process,” Ms. Alá’í said.

Read more from the Baha’i World News Service

Media coverage: CNN International, Radio Free Europe and Washington TV

Blog coverage: National Review Online

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