Iran Press Watch: The Baha'i Community |
| tatement of Senator Patrick Leahy on the Persecution of the Baha’is in Iran Posted: 01 Oct 2010 09:59 AM PDT  September 29, 2010Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to call the Senate’s attention to members of the Baha’i faith who have and continue to suffer severe persecution by the Iranian Government. Senators should be aware that seven prominent Iranian Baha’i leaders are currently in prison, facing sentences of up to 10 years, charged with espionage, establishing an illegal administration, and promoting propaganda against the Islamic order. These spurious charges are only the latest example of the mistreatment of the largest religious minority in Iran. Ironically, the Baha’i faith originated in Iran during the 19th Century, separating the Baha’is from their previous affiliation with Islam. The founder of the faith, known as The Báb, was then arrested, locked in a dungeon, and executed, as were some 20,000 of his followers. These atrocities devastated a religion whose tenets include global unity, peace and diversity. Persecution of the Baha’is in Iran continued into the next century, with the Iranian Government’s destruction of Baha’i literature in 1933, and in 1955 the demolition of the Baha’i national headquarters. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, the government has stepped up its active discrimination against the Baha’is. Children are prohibited or discouraged from receiving higher education, Baha’is are unable to practice their faith in public, they are prevented from opening businesses or advancing their careers, and Baha’i cemeteries are destroyed. Baha’is are slandered by the Iranian media, often called worshippers of Satan. The arrests of the seven Baha’I leaders are the latest official Iranian abuse against members of this religious faith. These men and women led the “Friends in Iran”, a Baha’i group working to meet the needs of the Baha’is in Iran. After their arrest, the group disbanded, reducing the much needed support to the Baha’is. The leaders were incarcerated in 2008, and were not brought before a judge for over 20 months. The systematic abuses of the Baha’i by the Iranian Government are clear violations of provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory, on economic and educational opportunities, religious freedom, and due process. They are also violations of Iran’s own laws. Prominent global leaders are speaking out in support of the Baha’is in Iran, including Secretary of State Clinton, her British counterpart William Hague, and the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek. They have each expressed concern and disapproval with Iran’s mistreatment of Baha’is. They are joined by a long list of human rights groups, such as the International Federation for Human rights, Human Rights Watch and the Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights. I want to add my voice in condemning Iran’s persecution of its Baha’i religious minority. Mr. President, our nation stands for fundamental rights and freedoms. We are not perfect, and I have not hesitated to speak out when I felt we fell short of our own values and principles. But I also believe we have an obligation to speak out when the fundamental rights of citizens of other nations are being denied. The Baha’is of Iran deserve our admiration and support. Press Contact David Carle: 202-224-3693 —  Source: http://leahy.senate.gov/press/ |
| Iranian Bahai activist sentenced to two-year jail term Posted: 01 Oct 2010 06:16 AM PDT [There has been many news articles about the arrest and prison sentence of Mrs. Jinous Sobhani, the former aide to Nobel laureate Mrs. Shirin Ebadi. Iran Press Watch has carried some of these articles. The one below has new and complementary information and therefore it is being reproduced for your ease of reference. The Editor Iran Press Watch] (M&C NEWS, Sep 30, 2010, 17:12 GMT) Tehran – An Iranian Bahai and human rights activist has been sentenced by a Tehran court to a two-year jail term, opposition websites reported Thursday. Jinous Sobhani was sentenced by the revolutionary court, in charge of national security violations, after she was arrested last December during demonstrations against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the reports said. Sobhani was also the secretary of the Human Rights Defenders Centre run by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. She is currently free on bail, but expected to return to jail to serve out her sentence. Bahaism, a monotheistic religion promoting the unity of all religions and mankind, is not recognised or allowed to be practiced in Iran, whose official religion is Shia Islam. Bahai missionaries are arrested and detained – unlike Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian missionaries, whose faiths are recognized and protected by the government. In another case not yet confirmed by Iran, seven leaders of the Bahai religion – two women and five men – were reportedly sentenced last month to 20-year jail terms for espionage and propaganda against the Iranian Islamic system. The government did say the seven were arrested in 2008 and confessed to their crimes, including having supplied classified information to foreigners through personal contacts with Western diplomats in Tehran. Several Western countries have expressed concern over the charges and denounced the arrests as persecution of Iran’s largest religious minority. Tehran rejected the allegations and said the issue had nothing to do with religion. Ebadi, of the Human Rights Defenders Centre, and her legal team were supposed to lead the defence of the seven Bahais, but Ebadi has been abroad since June last year. She fears arrest if she returns because of her opposition to Ahmadinejad. — Source: http://www.monstersandcritics.  |
| Iran sentences Ebadi’s former aide [Jinous Sobhani] to jail Posted: 01 Oct 2010 03:29 AM PDT  (AFP) TEHRAN — Iran has sentenced a former aide to Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi to two years in jail, an opposition website reported on Thursday.“Jinous Sobhani, a Bahai citizen and former secretary of the Human Rights Defenders Centre (Ebadi’s group) was sentenced to two years in prison,” Rahesabz.net reported. The report did not specify the charges but said that Sobhani was out on bail after being arrested in January, a week after anti-government demonstrations on the Shiite mourning day of Ashura. She is now due to go to jail to begin serving her term. She was previously arrested in January 2009 and accused by the judiciary of “propaganda against the system and acting against national security.” She was released in March of that year on bail. Hardline media including Fars news agency identified Sobhani at the time as a member of the banned Bahai faith and said she was arrested for links with a Bahai organisation. The Bahai faith was founded in Iran in 1863, but is not recognised by the government. Its followers are regarded as infidels and have suffered persecution both before and after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Bahais consider Bahaullah, born in 1817, to be the last prophet sent by God. This is in direct conflict with Islam, which considers Mohammed to be the last prophet. Iran has sentenced seven Bahai leaders jailed since May 2008, to 10 years in prison on charges including spying for foreigners, spreading corruption, undermining Islam and cooperating with Israel, French members of the faith said. — Source: http://www.google.com/  |
