UK government tells Iran to “end discrimination” against Bahá’ís

Posted: 16 Feb 2009 01:06 PM CST

The UK government says it’s “very concerned” at the imminent trial of seven Bahá’í leaders in Iran and has called for the country to “end discrimination against the Bahá’í community”.

In a statement, Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell MP, pictured, expressed concern at news that seven leading members of the Iranian Bahá’í community, detained since March and May 2008, have been charged with spying for Israel, “insulting religious sanctities” and ”propaganda against the Islamic Republic” - charges which could attract the death penalty.

“The Iranian government appears to be increasingly using vaguely worded charges of this nature to target human rights defenders and religious minorities,” said Mr Rammell. “It is hard not to conclude that these people are being held solely on account of their religious beliefs or their peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and association.”

“The seven Bahá’ís had to wait over eight months to be notified of the charges against them. They have not been given any access to their lawyer: and their lawyer has not been given access to their case files. This makes it very hard to believe that they will receive a fair trial,” he said.

The Bahá’í’s legal counsel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mrs. Shirin Ebadi has been threatened, intimidated, and vilified in the news media since taking on their case. In December, the government moved to shut down the offices of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, which was founded by Mrs. Ebadi.

In the United States, the Department of State has also condemned “the Iranian government’s decision to level baseless charges of espionage against seven leaders of the Iranian Baha’i community.”

“Authorities have detained these Baha’i for more than nine months without access to legal counsel or making public any evidence against them. The accusations reported in Iranian and international media are part of the ongoing persecution of Baha’i in Iran,” Department of State spokesman Robert Wood said Friday.

In London, Amnesty International has issued an “urgent action” appeal on behalf of the seven, calling for their “immediate and unconditional release.” The European Union has called several times for the Iranian government to immediately release the seven detainees.

In an unprecedented development, almost 250 prominent Iranians living in 19 countries have signed an open letter asking the Baha’is to forgive them “for the wrongs committed against the Baha’i community of Iran” over the last century and a half.

“We will no longer be silent when injustice is visited upon you,” the letter said after enumerating some of the ways Baha’is have been persecuted, from “barbaric murders” to depriving youth of higher education.

The Foreign Office has also reported that it has received “disturbing reports of systematic discrimination against and harassment of Bahá’ís on the grounds of their religion.”

“This takes place in the context of a serious deterioration in the human rights environment in Iran over the last few years, including a worsening crackdown on human rights defenders and minority activists, and a sharp increase in the use of the death penalty (there were over 300 executions in 2008, including 8 juvenile executions),” said Mr Rammell.

“Now that they have been charged, the Iranian government must at the very least ensure that the trial is fair, transparent and open to independent observers,” said the statement. “Iran should also uphold fully the right to adopt and practise a religion of choice, and end discrimination against the Bahá’í community.”