Five more Baha’is detained in Iran, report rights groups
Washington 28 May (IranVNC)—Five more Baha’is in Iran have been arrested in recent days and taken to prison less than two weeks after the leaders of the country’s largest non-Muslim religious community were detained in Tehran’s Evin prison.
By: IranVNC
Published: 5/28/2008
16:00GMT—12:00PM/ESTIRAN – BAHA’I – ARREST
Washington 28 May (IranVNC)—
Five more Baha’is in Iran have been arrested and taken to prison less than two weeks after the leaders of the country’s largest non-Muslim religious community were detained in Tehran’s Evin prison.“We have just learned ourselves that the three men in the Esfahan area were arrested and jailed on May 24 in connection with the burial of a Baha'i in the local Baha'i cemetery,” a representative of the Baha’is of the U.S. told IranVNC today. “They were summoned to a local court in Villashahr, handcuffed and then transferred to prison in Esfahan. We have no further information,” she said.The arrest of the three men, Hooshmand Talebi, Mehran Zini, and Farhad Ferdowsiyan, was first reported yesterday by the Iran-based rights organization Human Rights Activities in Iran. The same organization also reported that three other Baha’is in Iran’s northern Mazandaran Province had been arrested in recent days. Asked about the report, the representative explained: “We have learned that two Baha’is (not three) from Ghaemshahr, Mazandaran province, were taken into custody on May 19, 2008 to commence serving their prison sentences, following the rejection of their appeals last year.”The Iranian government has not made any comments about the new arrests, which come after the detention of six out of the seven leaders of the country’s Baha’i community earlier this month on charges of “acting against the country’s interests.”The international Baha’i community has rejected the charge and has expressed concern over the lack of information available about the individuals. “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,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations, according to the Baha’i World News Service.“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,” she said.But yesterday, in response to a question about the six detained individuals, Judiciary Spokesperson Ali-Reza Jamshidi said they had been charged with participating in “illegal gatherings.”“The six people have been given a two-year suspended prison sentence for the crime of acting against national security by participating in illegal gatherings,” Fars News Agency quoted him as saying in a news conference.Sources: IranVNC Washington correspondent, Human Rights Activities in Iran, Fars News Agency, Baha’i World News Service© IranVNC 2008. All rights reserved.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
BAHA'I INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY REJECTS IRANIAN ALLEGATIONS ON RECENT ARRESTS
NEW YORK, 21 May 2008 (BWNS) --
Allegations by Iran that six Baha'is werearrested last week for security reasons and not for their faith" areutterly baseless and without documentation, said the Baha'i InternationalCommunity today.
All of the allegations issued in a statement on Tuesday by the Iraniangovernment are utterly baseless," said Bani Dugal, the principalrepresentative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations,referring to statements made in a press conference given yesterday in Tehranby Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham, at which heacknowledged the arrest and imprisonment of six Baha'i leaders last week.
The allegations are not new, and the Iranian government knows well that theyare untrue," Ms. Dugal said. The documented plan of the Iranian governmenthas always been to destroy the Baha'i community, and these latest arrestsrepresent an intensification of this plan.
The group of Baha'is arrested last week, like the thousands of Baha'is whosince 1979 have been killed, imprisoned, or otherwise oppressed, are beingpersecuted solely because of their religious beliefs. The best proof of thisis the fact that, time and again, Baha'is have been offered their freedom ifthey recant their Baha'i beliefs and convert to Islam, an option few havetaken.
Far from being a threat to state security, the Baha'i community of Iran hasgreat love for their country and they are deeply committed to itsdevelopment. This is evidenced, for example, by the fact that the vastmajority of Baha'is have remained in Iran despite intense persecution, thefact that students denied access to education in Iran and forced to studyabroad have returned to assist in the development of their country, and therecent effort by Baha'is in Shiraz to provide schooling for underprivilegedchildren - an effort the government responded to by arresting some 54 Baha'iparticipants in May 2006," said Ms. Dugal.
In its coverage of Mr. Elham's press conference, the Islamic Republic NewsAgency (IRNA) reported that the six Baha'is were arrested for securityreasons not for their faith." The IRNA report also quoted Mr. Elham assaying that the six Baha'is were somehow linked to foreigners, the Zionistsin particular."
Ms. Dugal addressed that issue also, saying:
The charges linking the Baha'is to Zionism are a distortion of history: TheBaha'i Faith has its world headquarters in Israel because Baha'u'llah was,in the mid-1800s, sent as a prisoner to the Holy Land by two Islamiccountries: Ottoman Turkey and Iran.
The charge that Baha'is are Zionists, which has in fact been made againstBaha'is for the last 30 years by Iran, is nothing more than an effort by thegovernment to stir animosity against Baha'is among the Iranian population atlarge. This is but the most recent iteration in a long history of attemptsto foment hatred by casting the Baha'is as agents of foreign powers, whetherof Russia, the United Kingdom, or the United States and now Israel all ofwhich are completely baseless.
The real issue, as it relates to Baha'is, who are committed tononpartisanship and nonviolence, is the ideology of the government, whichhas undertaken a well-documented effort to utterly block the development ofthe Baha'i community not only through arrests, harassment and imprisonmentbut also by depriving their youth of education and preventing adults fromobtaining a livelihood.
We would ask whether issues of state security rather than ideology wereinvolved in recent incidents such as the destruction of a Baha'i cemeteryand the use of a bulldozer to crush the bones of a Baha'i who was interredthere; the harassment of hundreds of Baha'i schoolchildren throughout Iranby teachers and school officials in an effort to make them reject their ownreligion; or the publication of dozens of defamatory anti-Baha'i articles inKayhan and other government-sponsored news media in recent months," said Ms.Dugal.
She also noted that over the years, a number of government officials,clerics, and members of the judiciary have in fact made statements inprivate noting the nonpartisan conduct of the Baha'i community and theunjustified nature of government charges against Baha'is.
She added that the present government s ideology is based in large part on abelief that there could be no Prophet following Muhammad. The Baha'i Faithposes a theological challenge to this belief.
Freedom of religion is the issue and Iran itself is a signatory tointernational covenants that acknowledge the right of individuals to freedomof religion or belief, including the right to change one s religion," Ms.Dugal said.
What the Iranian government cannot tolerate is that the Iranian people areless responsive to the government s propaganda, because they see the realitythat Iranian Baha'is love their country, are sincere in their desire tocontribute to its well-being, are peace-loving, and are law-abiding andthat these qualities stem from their beliefs. Consequently, there is growingsympathy for the Baha'is. Increasingly, people at all levels of the societyare coming to their defense both privately and publicly, and there isgrowing interest in and attraction to the Baha'i Faith amongst thepopulation," Ms. Dugal said.
To view the photos and additional features click here:http://news.bahai.org
--8-BIC-080521-1-IRANMAYUPDATE-634-S
------------------------------------------------------------Advance release: Please check our website for the final version of thisarticle.------------------------------------------------------------Copyright 2008 by the Baha'i World News Service. All stories and photographsproduced by the Baha'i World News Service may be freely reprinted,re-emailed, re-posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise reproduced by anyindividual or organization as long as they are attributed to the Baha'iWorld News Service. For more information, visit http://news.bahai.org.------------------------------------------------------------If you have questions about this list or wish to unsubscribe, contactsubscribe@bahai.org----------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK, 21 May 2008 (BWNS) --
Allegations by Iran that six Baha'is werearrested last week for security reasons and not for their faith" areutterly baseless and without documentation, said the Baha'i InternationalCommunity today.
All of the allegations issued in a statement on Tuesday by the Iraniangovernment are utterly baseless," said Bani Dugal, the principalrepresentative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations,referring to statements made in a press conference given yesterday in Tehranby Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham, at which heacknowledged the arrest and imprisonment of six Baha'i leaders last week.
The allegations are not new, and the Iranian government knows well that theyare untrue," Ms. Dugal said. The documented plan of the Iranian governmenthas always been to destroy the Baha'i community, and these latest arrestsrepresent an intensification of this plan.
The group of Baha'is arrested last week, like the thousands of Baha'is whosince 1979 have been killed, imprisoned, or otherwise oppressed, are beingpersecuted solely because of their religious beliefs. The best proof of thisis the fact that, time and again, Baha'is have been offered their freedom ifthey recant their Baha'i beliefs and convert to Islam, an option few havetaken.
Far from being a threat to state security, the Baha'i community of Iran hasgreat love for their country and they are deeply committed to itsdevelopment. This is evidenced, for example, by the fact that the vastmajority of Baha'is have remained in Iran despite intense persecution, thefact that students denied access to education in Iran and forced to studyabroad have returned to assist in the development of their country, and therecent effort by Baha'is in Shiraz to provide schooling for underprivilegedchildren - an effort the government responded to by arresting some 54 Baha'iparticipants in May 2006," said Ms. Dugal.
In its coverage of Mr. Elham's press conference, the Islamic Republic NewsAgency (IRNA) reported that the six Baha'is were arrested for securityreasons not for their faith." The IRNA report also quoted Mr. Elham assaying that the six Baha'is were somehow linked to foreigners, the Zionistsin particular."
Ms. Dugal addressed that issue also, saying:
The charges linking the Baha'is to Zionism are a distortion of history: TheBaha'i Faith has its world headquarters in Israel because Baha'u'llah was,in the mid-1800s, sent as a prisoner to the Holy Land by two Islamiccountries: Ottoman Turkey and Iran.
The charge that Baha'is are Zionists, which has in fact been made againstBaha'is for the last 30 years by Iran, is nothing more than an effort by thegovernment to stir animosity against Baha'is among the Iranian population atlarge. This is but the most recent iteration in a long history of attemptsto foment hatred by casting the Baha'is as agents of foreign powers, whetherof Russia, the United Kingdom, or the United States and now Israel all ofwhich are completely baseless.
The real issue, as it relates to Baha'is, who are committed tononpartisanship and nonviolence, is the ideology of the government, whichhas undertaken a well-documented effort to utterly block the development ofthe Baha'i community not only through arrests, harassment and imprisonmentbut also by depriving their youth of education and preventing adults fromobtaining a livelihood.
We would ask whether issues of state security rather than ideology wereinvolved in recent incidents such as the destruction of a Baha'i cemeteryand the use of a bulldozer to crush the bones of a Baha'i who was interredthere; the harassment of hundreds of Baha'i schoolchildren throughout Iranby teachers and school officials in an effort to make them reject their ownreligion; or the publication of dozens of defamatory anti-Baha'i articles inKayhan and other government-sponsored news media in recent months," said Ms.Dugal.
She also noted that over the years, a number of government officials,clerics, and members of the judiciary have in fact made statements inprivate noting the nonpartisan conduct of the Baha'i community and theunjustified nature of government charges against Baha'is.
She added that the present government s ideology is based in large part on abelief that there could be no Prophet following Muhammad. The Baha'i Faithposes a theological challenge to this belief.
Freedom of religion is the issue and Iran itself is a signatory tointernational covenants that acknowledge the right of individuals to freedomof religion or belief, including the right to change one s religion," Ms.Dugal said.
What the Iranian government cannot tolerate is that the Iranian people areless responsive to the government s propaganda, because they see the realitythat Iranian Baha'is love their country, are sincere in their desire tocontribute to its well-being, are peace-loving, and are law-abiding andthat these qualities stem from their beliefs. Consequently, there is growingsympathy for the Baha'is. Increasingly, people at all levels of the societyare coming to their defense both privately and publicly, and there isgrowing interest in and attraction to the Baha'i Faith amongst thepopulation," Ms. Dugal said.
To view the photos and additional features click here:http://news.bahai.org
--8-BIC-080521-1-IRANMAYUPDATE-634-S
------------------------------------------------------------Advance release: Please check our website for the final version of thisarticle.------------------------------------------------------------Copyright 2008 by the Baha'i World News Service. All stories and photographsproduced by the Baha'i World News Service may be freely reprinted,re-emailed, re-posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise reproduced by anyindividual or organization as long as they are attributed to the Baha'iWorld News Service. For more information, visit http://news.bahai.org.------------------------------------------------------------If you have questions about this list or wish to unsubscribe, contactsubscribe@bahai.org----------------------------------------------------------
SOURCE: http://www.bahai-egypt.org/
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Ayatollah Montazeri Decrees Baha'is Rightful Citizens of Iran
A decree was just issued by Grand Ayatollah Montazeri declaring Iranian Baha'is as rightful citizens.
As background information:
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri (Persian: Øسین علی منتظری), styled His Honourable Eminence, (born in 1922), was one of the leaders of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. He is best known as the one-time designated successor to the revolution's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini who fell out with Khomeini in 1989 over government policies that Montazeri claimed infringed on freedom and denied people's rights. He currently lives in the holy city of Qom, and remains politically influential in Iran, especially upon reformist politics. Montazeri is a senior Islamic scholar and a grand marja (religious authority) of Islam.
Translation of the decree:
In the Name of God
With greetings,
The congregation of Baha'ism not having the heavenly book like those of Jews, Christians, and Zoaretrians in the constitution [of Islamic republic of Iran], are not considered one of the religious minorities. However, since they are the citizens of this country, they have the right of citizenship and to live in this country. Furthermore, they must benefit from the Islamic compassion which is stressed in Quran and by the religious authorities.
God-willing you will be successful,
(Wal Salam–u Alaykum Warahmatullah)
[Peace and Mercy of God be upon you]
25 Urdibehesht 1387 [14 May 2008]
Signature: Montazeri [Seal]
In view of the current crisis facing the Baha'is of Iran, with the recent arrests of the leaders of that community, this development can be seen to be of great significance.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
SIX BAHA'I LEADERS ARRESTED IN IRAN; PATTERN MATCHES DEADLY SWEEPS OF 1980S
All seven Bahá'ís who form a group that sees to the needs of the Bahá'í community of Iran have been arrested, six of them in early-morning raids on 14 May 2008 at their homes in Tehran. They are, seated from left, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Saeid Rezaie, and, standing, Fariba Kamalabadi, Vahid Tizfahm, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, and Mahvash Sabet.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
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reprinted, re-emailed, re-posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise
reproduced by any individual or organization as long as they are
attributed to the Baha'i World News Service. For more information, visit
http://news.bahai.org.
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Friday, May 02, 2008
Reuters Critical of "Official Foot-Dragging" in Egypt
Posted: 01 May 2008 12:52 PM CDT
An article authored by Cynthia Johnston, just published in Reuters, underscores the continuing struggle of the Baha'is of Egypt in their attempts to obtain their government-issued official documents.
It reports that, according to the human rights organization--Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), "official foot-dragging means Egypt's Baha'i religious minority is still struggling to get identity papers, despite a landmark court ruling...."
The 29 January 2008 ruling allowed the Baha'is to obtain ID cards and birth certificates without having to lie about their true religious affiliation. The ruling fell short, though, of permitting the Baha'is to indicate their own religion on the required sections of these documents...instead, it allowed them to enter dashes "--" in the indicated fields. The Ministry of Interior accepted that solution without any challenge to the decision rendered by the court.
The Baha'is of Egypt, however, have not been able to obtain their official documents since the ruling. They remain without ID cards and birth certificates. No clear reason or explanation, regarding the delay, had ever been given to them.
Another ruling in favor of Christian converts in Egypt remains to be implemented. It allowed those who have returned to Christianity to indicate their true faith correctly on their ID documents.
EIPR, represented by Mr. Hossam Bahgat, expressed its great concern with such delays and has been actively pursuing all means to help propel the authorities to expedite the implementation of these new policies.
Posted: 01 May 2008 12:52 PM CDT
An article authored by Cynthia Johnston, just published in Reuters, underscores the continuing struggle of the Baha'is of Egypt in their attempts to obtain their government-issued official documents.
It reports that, according to the human rights organization--Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), "official foot-dragging means Egypt's Baha'i religious minority is still struggling to get identity papers, despite a landmark court ruling...."
The 29 January 2008 ruling allowed the Baha'is to obtain ID cards and birth certificates without having to lie about their true religious affiliation. The ruling fell short, though, of permitting the Baha'is to indicate their own religion on the required sections of these documents...instead, it allowed them to enter dashes "--" in the indicated fields. The Ministry of Interior accepted that solution without any challenge to the decision rendered by the court.
The Baha'is of Egypt, however, have not been able to obtain their official documents since the ruling. They remain without ID cards and birth certificates. No clear reason or explanation, regarding the delay, had ever been given to them.
Another ruling in favor of Christian converts in Egypt remains to be implemented. It allowed those who have returned to Christianity to indicate their true faith correctly on their ID documents.
EIPR, represented by Mr. Hossam Bahgat, expressed its great concern with such delays and has been actively pursuing all means to help propel the authorities to expedite the implementation of these new policies.
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