Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Total Moral Victory Today in the World's Worst Prison
Dearest Family and Friends:
The following is a vivid testimony to the ultimate moral, mental, and spiritual integrity, dignity, and destiny of the Baha'is and indeed of the entire human race:
Ever since the most unjust and indignified imprisonment some three years ago, without a single crime, of the most innocent, the pure, and the saintly Baha'i Leaders in Iran called Yaran, and their subsequent transfer from the Evin Prison to the most backward and unusually harsh prison of Rajaei Shahr where some 5000 topmost killers, drug dealers, and others are kept in clusters under sub-human conditions, despite the lack of food, toilet, sanitation, and basic subsistence conditions, despite the dirt, filth, and illness, in pitiful conditions themselves, the two saint ladies Mahvash and Fariba, as with the other five in the men's quarters, have managed to support and uplift the minds and hearts of their fellow pitiful prisoners by giving them their relentless and genuine loving support to the poorer, the more needy, and the more frail fellow prisoners, seeing no evil in any soul, finding and nurturing dignity even in such a man-forsaken hell, and by such genuine constant manifestations of loving kindness have now won, as a manifestation of human moral triumph, the hearts and minds and the respect of these same so-called "criminal" fellow prisoners despite the initially existing dangers to their own very lives!
Over the months, whenever by the only good modern day miracle of cell phone in the prison yard it was made possible for me to hear several times from Fariba herself, and on the one occasion when I got the chance and was so blessed to visit the two most precious ladies via Divine Destiny for one hour myself, as well as from other family members and even directly from prison guard, I heard myself how miraculously the dangerous killers and criminals had been overwhelmingly moved and transformed by the vivifying souls of these two saintly Ladies.
One can recall the moving poem by Mahvash which shook the world, who, amidst the extreme pains of her own, backed against the withered single pomegranate tree in the prison yard, contemplates how the entire burden of these soul-and-body tortured fellow prisoners and indeed all the down-trodden suffering women of the World are now on her shoulder.
I am still amazed how for the entire three years during the rare occasions she could talk on the phone at various times, I never heard Fariba's voice even once tremble slightly except for joy, with full faith, complete optimism, and total jubilation, as if walking in the highest Paradise all these long suffering days and months and years.
I still recall the moving sharing lessons of Fariba relaying to me how she had found the single remaining spot of beauty and purity in each and all of these worldly despised and abandoned souls. I remember when she described to me the miracle account of how the most feared gang leader of the prison mafia, despite the huge body, knife-cut and broken face and other fearsome features, shun by all other killers and criminals, had been so moved by our twin spiritual heronies over time that she had on one occasions when Fariba had to pass a toilet dirt mud which had become watery sludge after rain, with their prison-customary slippers, she saw Fariba from far and told her from the distance "Please wait, please wait, may your holy feet not be touched and smeared by these dirts", then, throwing her own slippers bode and insisted Fariba to kindly step on her slippers and pass by the place lest she be mired. No such things happen in any deadly criminal prison anywhere in the world in any way similar to this Rajaei Shahar, where only for the mere sake of prolonging an already issued death sentence with formalities paperwork procedures, often the killer kills one more unfortunate and helpless person often at random in the prison, days prior to the execution.
I remember how once Fariba was so overjoyed to tell me how one of her friends, where a few had died mercilessly by swine flu and cast and treated like swines by prison authorities, had first completely given up strong drug addiction, only to replace it with super heavy cigarette addiction, then, by their loving care of our two Baha'i Ladies, day by day she had been reducing to the last one cigarette per day. Fariba told me how that day, just a month ago, Fariba hugged that lady, and rather than insisting or requesting her to give up the final cigarette, only told here gently how much she loved her and was proud of her that despite her years of bad luck in life turning her into a despised criminal, she had obtained the positive hope, the will power, and the supreme determination to accomplish what so many others in the free world had failed despite all facilities and support. Fariba told me how the lady, now a close friend, threw to the ground immediately the last final cigarette, crushed it with her heels, and, cried and said: Today I finally give up this addiction for the sake of love of you, as I feel and know that some day I shall visit you in your home and tell you and show you the effect of the loving transformation you have created in me and our other fellow prison mates!
This is how a candle can shine like the torch, nay as the mid-day Sun, in the darkness of desolation, pessimism and hopelessness, and selfishness that has overshadowed the human society.
Now, I just spoke to Fariba few hours ago on the phone who called from the Rajaei Shahr Prison.
For your information, as the latest news, by tomorrow the two most precious ladies, and the crowning pride of future human civilization will be transferred to the worst section of the Prison entitled "The Under-Ground Dungeon for the Worst of the Villains and Criminals".
This latest panic move by a remorsely helpless oppressor signifies an entirely unparalled scenario in the World History ever even to the present date; that is, for the holy and saintly riligious prisoners of conscience to be one more tier exiled from the already terrible exiled Prison allocated for the worst of criminals, killers, and drug addicts to the lower degree underground dungeon for the most dangerous criminals amongst them, just becasue these two already grossly-wronged innocent Saint Lady Prisoners, while in the prison under sub-human conditions, have by their most pure love and consistent un-conditional
Fariba said today on the phone that despite the repeated public prison loudspeaker announcements and stern warnings for all prisoners to stay and shun away and do not associate with the Baha'i prisoners, groups and groups of prison ladies thronged and gathered around their cell these past three days, with tearful eyes and warm hugging arms and in a unified supreme show of moral support and expressions of reciprocal love and as spontaneous sign of total unified allegience of all prisoners to the Two Saint Ladies whom they have grown to know as Angels from Heaven stationed in this human hell of a notoriously fanatic and repressive unhumane Regime.
Just hours ago, Fariba in most happy tone of voice told me that one of the miracles of the Supreme Manifestation of God, Baha'u'llah, is that to the degree He gives His loved ones sufferings for the sake of the mental and moral and spiritual education and upliftment of humanity in this dark age of the transition to the collective maturity of the entire human race, to a multiple degree of that He also bestows upon them true felicity, joy, and jubilation; and that how truly happy she is that she is going down to the underground dungeon, with no fear nor a bit concern for imminent interrogations and torture.
This, reminded me vividly of her hand-written letter to me some thirty years back, in 1982 or 1983, posted from Babolsar to Boston, when our dearly beloved martyrs had just ascended to the Abha Kingdom, how she wished to be like the example of the root of the Cause of God, that Divine Tree which is neither of the East nor of the West, whose roots are firm in the earth (dark, cold, wet, lowly soil of the earth as she described), so that its branches and fruits, us, the Baha'is and all the people of good will in the outside world, can overshadow and benefit the entire human kind.
What a sublime drama in the human history.
Speechless in awe and admiration, I remain.
Ya Baha'u'l - Abha!
(Oh Thou The Most Glorious Glory!)
Farzam
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Arsonists threaten reprisals if Baha'is befriend Muslims
GENEVA, 16 January 2011 (BWNS) – A recent wave of arson attacks on Baha'i-owned businesses in Rafsanjan, Iran, appears to be part of a campaign to fracture relationships between Baha'is and Muslims in the city.
After around a dozen attacks on shops – carried out since 25 October 2010 – some 20 Baha'i homes and businesses have been sent a warning letter addressed to "members of the misguided Bahaist sect."
The anonymous document demands that Baha'is sign an undertaking to "refrain from forming contacts or friendships with Muslims" and from "using or hiring Muslim trainees." The Baha’is are also told not to teach their Faith, including on the Internet.
Should the conditions be accepted by the recipients, the letter states, "we will guarantee not to wage any attack on your life and properties."
"For more than two months now, innocent Baha'is have been having their businesses fire-bombed," said Diane Ala'i, the Baha'i International Community representative to the United Nations in Geneva. "Some of them have suffered more than one arson attack on their properties."
"Now, in addition to their livelihoods, their very lives are being threatened unless they promise to isolate themselves from their friends and neighbours," she said.
"What are the perpetrators of such attacks and threats hoping to achieve?" asked Ms. Ala'i. "All it demonstrates for the whole world to see is the religiously motivated hatred being fomented by certain elements in Iranian society."
Ms. Ala'i noted that Baha'is have approached local authorities asking for an investigation. "But nothing has been done," she said.
"Unbelievably, they've even been accused by some of starting the fires themselves, under instruction from foreign governments."
The attackers have particularly targeted household furniture repair businesses, home appliance and optical stores owned by Baha'is.
On 15 November, for example, fires were started in two appliance sales and repair shops, causing damage that exceeded tens of thousands of US dollars. One of the shopkeepers subsequently rented a neighboring property to continue his trade and installed a security door. One month later, despite the precautions, attackers managed to force an explosive substance into the shop through a hole they made in the roof, resulting in a blast that blew the door five meters into the air and shattered windows.
Most recently, on 2 January, another repair shop was set ablaze when a hose pumped a flammable liquid past metal sheets the owner had installed for protection.
A newsletter published by a Muslim cultural foundation in Rafsanjan stated that the attacks have been provoked by the fact that some trades have been "monopolized" by Baha'is in the city. A Muslim-owned coffee shop was also set ablaze after the newsletter mistakenly identified it as Baha'i-owned.
"Economic pressure on Iran's Baha'i community is already acute, with both jobs and business licenses being denied to Baha'is," said Diane Ala'i.
"These attacks and threats are yet another, particularly vicious form of persecution against ordinary citizens who are simply trying to earn their living and practice their faith."
On 21 December, the United Nations confirmed a resolution that expressed "deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations" in Iran. The resolution specifically condemned Iran's discrimination against minorities, including members of the Baha'i Faith.
To read the article online and view photographs, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/
For the Baha'i World News Service home page, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/
GENEVA, 16 January 2011 (BWNS) – A recent wave of arson attacks on Baha'i-owned businesses in Rafsanjan, Iran, appears to be part of a campaign to fracture relationships between Baha'is and Muslims in the city.
After around a dozen attacks on shops – carried out since 25 October 2010 – some 20 Baha'i homes and businesses have been sent a warning letter addressed to "members of the misguided Bahaist sect."
The anonymous document demands that Baha'is sign an undertaking to "refrain from forming contacts or friendships with Muslims" and from "using or hiring Muslim trainees." The Baha’is are also told not to teach their Faith, including on the Internet.
Should the conditions be accepted by the recipients, the letter states, "we will guarantee not to wage any attack on your life and properties."
"For more than two months now, innocent Baha'is have been having their businesses fire-bombed," said Diane Ala'i, the Baha'i International Community representative to the United Nations in Geneva. "Some of them have suffered more than one arson attack on their properties."
"Now, in addition to their livelihoods, their very lives are being threatened unless they promise to isolate themselves from their friends and neighbours," she said.
"What are the perpetrators of such attacks and threats hoping to achieve?" asked Ms. Ala'i. "All it demonstrates for the whole world to see is the religiously motivated hatred being fomented by certain elements in Iranian society."
Ms. Ala'i noted that Baha'is have approached local authorities asking for an investigation. "But nothing has been done," she said.
"Unbelievably, they've even been accused by some of starting the fires themselves, under instruction from foreign governments."
The attackers have particularly targeted household furniture repair businesses, home appliance and optical stores owned by Baha'is.
On 15 November, for example, fires were started in two appliance sales and repair shops, causing damage that exceeded tens of thousands of US dollars. One of the shopkeepers subsequently rented a neighboring property to continue his trade and installed a security door. One month later, despite the precautions, attackers managed to force an explosive substance into the shop through a hole they made in the roof, resulting in a blast that blew the door five meters into the air and shattered windows.
Most recently, on 2 January, another repair shop was set ablaze when a hose pumped a flammable liquid past metal sheets the owner had installed for protection.
A newsletter published by a Muslim cultural foundation in Rafsanjan stated that the attacks have been provoked by the fact that some trades have been "monopolized" by Baha'is in the city. A Muslim-owned coffee shop was also set ablaze after the newsletter mistakenly identified it as Baha'i-owned.
"Economic pressure on Iran's Baha'i community is already acute, with both jobs and business licenses being denied to Baha'is," said Diane Ala'i.
"These attacks and threats are yet another, particularly vicious form of persecution against ordinary citizens who are simply trying to earn their living and practice their faith."
On 21 December, the United Nations confirmed a resolution that expressed "deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations" in Iran. The resolution specifically condemned Iran's discrimination against minorities, including members of the Baha'i Faith.
To read the article online and view photographs, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/
For the Baha'i World News Service home page, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Weird
Read More: Baha'i , Bahai Faith , Discrimination In Iran , Human Rights , Iran , Iran Politics , Iran Religion ,Iranian , Islam , Religious Minorities In Iran , Wikileaks , Women's Rights , Religion News
Wikileaks has revealed government and diplomatic violations of the truth while paradoxically keeping their own sources secret. In the process, editor in chief and whistleblower Julian Assange has become a hero for human rights defenders. Sadly, the intense publicity surrounding Wikileaks diverts attention from serious injustice and continuing human rights violations, some already on the back burner and badly neglected. A good example is the state-sponsored persecution of Baha'is in Iran.
The 300,000-strong Baha'i community, the largest religious minority in Iran, represents less than 1% of the population. Over the past 30 years, they have suffered torture and execution. They have been denied tertiary education and government jobs, their shops and properties are often seized, cemeteries desecrated and children harassed at school. In addition, Bahai's are facing stepped-up persecution and have been falsely blamed for organizing and inciting anti-government protests although they abstain from partisan political activity on religious principles. Charges against them include espionage, "propaganda activities against the Islamic order" and "corruption on earth," the latter a capital offence. Baha'i communities around the world insist these charges are spurious and part of a campaign to scapegoat members of the faith.
During the Shah's era, Baha'is strove for education and became successful and prominent, creating envy and suspicion, and although police sometimes protected them against Islamic extremists, they were victims of periodic outbreaks of violence.
A major source of ideological friction with Islam is the doctrine of a hierarchy of traditions that subsumes previous ones. According to Baha'is, the Prophet Mohammad was not the last prophet but one in a progressive line, and the next one is not due for a thousand years!
A major source of ideological friction with Islam is the doctrine of a hierarchy of traditions that subsumes previous ones. According to Baha'is, the Prophet Mohammad was not the last prophet but one in a progressive line, and the next one is not due for a thousand years!
Women's rights are central to Baha'i teaching and in stark contrast to the discriminatory sharia laws implemented by the Islamic Republic of Iran. These rights include full support for the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
There are numerous documented stories of violent arrests and incarcerations in the hundreds of prisons situated in basements of houses in Tehran.
Rozita Vasseghi is a Baha'i prisoner. In Kafkaesque fashion, a man claiming to be a 'postman' arrested her three years ago after a knock on the door, and during repeated interrogations while blindfolded, her captors threatened her with death. Throughout her ordeal, she was denied a lawyer. Following release from prison, she found a job but government authorities exerted pressure on her employers to have her fired. A few years later, she was arrested at her home, and for the next six months, found herself in solitary confinement. Her elderly mother, who was allowed visits of only five minutes, was horrified by her wasted appearance. Accused of insulting Islam, acting against national security and teaching the Baha'i religion, she is serving a five-year sentence.
Rozita's sister Rosa, suffered multiple incarcerations before escaping Iran. She was on her way home in a shared public taxi when the driver asked about her religion. Discovering she was a Baha'i, he stopped and made a phone call. A car with several people soon showed up, the women fully covered in chadors. Rosa was blindfolded and forced into the vehicle and when they reached their destination, she was thrown onto the pavement, her hands were tied and she was dragged down stairs to a room and beaten. Her captors repeatedly called her an infidel and declared her blood would be impure until she renounced her faith and converted to Islam. Over several years, she was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned.
As proponents of a religion originating from Islam, stamped by modernity, universal human rights and compatibility with many Western values, Baha'is are vulnerable targets for persecution by the Iranian theocracy. Baha'i women are doubly at risk, being female and Baha'i, and as victims of severe injustice, they deserve more outrage and support than Assange and Wikileaks.
Ida Lichter is the author of Muslim Women Reformers: Inspiring Voices Against Oppression, published by Prometheus Books, New York.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Iran's human rights record condemned by United Nations
UNITED NATIONS, 21 December 2010 (BWNS) – In a vote today, the United Nations once again strongly condemned Iran for failing to live up to international human rights standards.
By a vote of 78 to 45, with 59 abstentions, the UN General Assembly confirmed a resolution that expressed “deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations.” In more than two decades of such resolutions about Iran, the vote passed with one of the highest percentages ever.
The resolution specifically expressed concern over Iran’s “intensified crackdown on human rights defenders and reports of excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions, unfair trials and allegations of torture,” as well as its “pervasive gender inequality and violence against women,” and its discrimination against minorities, including members of the Baha’i Faith.
“The world community has clearly spoken. It is outraged at Iran’s continued and intensifying violations of human rights,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.
Welcoming the result Ms. Dugal noted that the resolution documents a wide range of violations, from torture to the oppression of women to the persecution of minorities. “All of this has been going on for too long, and it is high time that Iran pays heed to the call of the international community and complies with the standards of international law,” she said.
The resolution devoted an entire paragraph to Iran’s treatment of members of the Baha’i Faith, cataloging an extensive list of recent anti-Baha’i activities. These included: “increasing evidence of efforts by the State to identify, monitor and arbitrarily detain Baha’is, preventing members of the Baha’i faith from attending university and from sustaining themselves economically, the confiscation and destruction of their property, and the vandalizing of their cemeteries…”
It also expressed concern over the recent trial and sentencing of seven Baha’i leaders, saying they were “repeatedly denied the due process of law.”
Worldwide condemnation
The UN vote has coincided with a renewed protest – from numerous governments, organizations and prominent individuals – at the persecution of Iran’s Baha’is.
In a statement dated 17 December, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honorable Lawrence Cannon, reiterated his country’s deep concern at the “ongoing failure of the Iranian authorities to meet their domestic and international legal obligations.”
“The Government of Canada stands firmly with the people of Iran against human rights abuses and discrimination, as well as ill treatment of women and minorities,” said Mr. Cannon.
A number of India’s prominent citizens have also recently called upon Iran to respect its minorities. Among them, former Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, appealed for justice for the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders. “The attitude of a country and a nation towards minority religion is the touchstone of how civilized a country it is,” he said on 17 December.
In a debate on freedom of religion in Germany's Parliament, held on 17 December, members of Parliament spoke out on the situation of Baha’is in Iran. Christoph Strässer MP – human rights policy spokesman for the Social Democrats - noted that the Baha’i community, "ever since it was founded, has been dedicated to peace and tolerance..."
Street campaigns about the human rights situation in Iran have been held in the German cities of Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Mainz and Taunusstein.
“We have gathered here to protest the alarming situation of Baha’is, of human rights in general and the climate of fear that exists for Baha'is, for women, for youth, for bloggers, for journalists,” said Omid Nouripour, MP for Frankfurt, speaking at the event in the city, “and we raise our voices to show the world that the people of Iran need our help.”
Christian Solidarity Worldwide has also called for the release of the Baha’i prisoners. “Clearly the seven Baha’i leaders are being held solely on account of their faith,” said CSW’s Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston on 10 December, “and this contravenes Iran’s international legal obligations.”
In Australia’s parliament last month, members specifically referred to Iran’s discrimination against, and failure to protect the rights of, minorities - including the Baha’i, Sufi, Baluch, and Kurdish communities - as well as the trial and sentencing of the seven Baha’i leaders.
Reports of the 10-year jail terms previously provoked a chorus of condemnation from governments around the world - including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Union and the President of the European Parliament also joined the protest, along with numerous human rights organizations, other groups and countless individuals.
In its annual International Religious Freedom Report, published in November, the United States Department of State reported that the Iranian government’s respect for religious freedom has continued to deteriorate, creating a “threatening atmosphere for nearly all non-Shi’a religious groups, most notably for Baha'is.”
“The U.S. government has publicly condemned the treatment of the Baha’is in UN resolutions,” said the report.
The most recent United Nations resolution was put forward by 42 co-sponsors and approved in a preliminary form in November by a committee of the General Assembly, also by an overwhelming vote against Iran.
To read the article online, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/
For the Baha'i World News Service home page, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/
UNITED NATIONS, 21 December 2010 (BWNS) – In a vote today, the United Nations once again strongly condemned Iran for failing to live up to international human rights standards.
By a vote of 78 to 45, with 59 abstentions, the UN General Assembly confirmed a resolution that expressed “deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations.” In more than two decades of such resolutions about Iran, the vote passed with one of the highest percentages ever.
The resolution specifically expressed concern over Iran’s “intensified crackdown on human rights defenders and reports of excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions, unfair trials and allegations of torture,” as well as its “pervasive gender inequality and violence against women,” and its discrimination against minorities, including members of the Baha’i Faith.
“The world community has clearly spoken. It is outraged at Iran’s continued and intensifying violations of human rights,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.
Welcoming the result Ms. Dugal noted that the resolution documents a wide range of violations, from torture to the oppression of women to the persecution of minorities. “All of this has been going on for too long, and it is high time that Iran pays heed to the call of the international community and complies with the standards of international law,” she said.
The resolution devoted an entire paragraph to Iran’s treatment of members of the Baha’i Faith, cataloging an extensive list of recent anti-Baha’i activities. These included: “increasing evidence of efforts by the State to identify, monitor and arbitrarily detain Baha’is, preventing members of the Baha’i faith from attending university and from sustaining themselves economically, the confiscation and destruction of their property, and the vandalizing of their cemeteries…”
It also expressed concern over the recent trial and sentencing of seven Baha’i leaders, saying they were “repeatedly denied the due process of law.”
Worldwide condemnation
The UN vote has coincided with a renewed protest – from numerous governments, organizations and prominent individuals – at the persecution of Iran’s Baha’is.
In a statement dated 17 December, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honorable Lawrence Cannon, reiterated his country’s deep concern at the “ongoing failure of the Iranian authorities to meet their domestic and international legal obligations.”
“The Government of Canada stands firmly with the people of Iran against human rights abuses and discrimination, as well as ill treatment of women and minorities,” said Mr. Cannon.
A number of India’s prominent citizens have also recently called upon Iran to respect its minorities. Among them, former Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, appealed for justice for the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders. “The attitude of a country and a nation towards minority religion is the touchstone of how civilized a country it is,” he said on 17 December.
In a debate on freedom of religion in Germany's Parliament, held on 17 December, members of Parliament spoke out on the situation of Baha’is in Iran. Christoph Strässer MP – human rights policy spokesman for the Social Democrats - noted that the Baha’i community, "ever since it was founded, has been dedicated to peace and tolerance..."
Street campaigns about the human rights situation in Iran have been held in the German cities of Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Mainz and Taunusstein.
“We have gathered here to protest the alarming situation of Baha’is, of human rights in general and the climate of fear that exists for Baha'is, for women, for youth, for bloggers, for journalists,” said Omid Nouripour, MP for Frankfurt, speaking at the event in the city, “and we raise our voices to show the world that the people of Iran need our help.”
Christian Solidarity Worldwide has also called for the release of the Baha’i prisoners. “Clearly the seven Baha’i leaders are being held solely on account of their faith,” said CSW’s Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston on 10 December, “and this contravenes Iran’s international legal obligations.”
In Australia’s parliament last month, members specifically referred to Iran’s discrimination against, and failure to protect the rights of, minorities - including the Baha’i, Sufi, Baluch, and Kurdish communities - as well as the trial and sentencing of the seven Baha’i leaders.
Reports of the 10-year jail terms previously provoked a chorus of condemnation from governments around the world - including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Union and the President of the European Parliament also joined the protest, along with numerous human rights organizations, other groups and countless individuals.
In its annual International Religious Freedom Report, published in November, the United States Department of State reported that the Iranian government’s respect for religious freedom has continued to deteriorate, creating a “threatening atmosphere for nearly all non-Shi’a religious groups, most notably for Baha'is.”
“The U.S. government has publicly condemned the treatment of the Baha’is in UN resolutions,” said the report.
The most recent United Nations resolution was put forward by 42 co-sponsors and approved in a preliminary form in November by a committee of the General Assembly, also by an overwhelming vote against Iran.
To read the article online, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/
For the Baha'i World News Service home page, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Open letter speaks out for the rights of all Iranians
7 December 2010NEW YORK — In an open letter to the head of Iran's Judiciary, the Baha'i International Community today contrasted the country's persecution of Baha'is with Iran's own call for Muslim minorities to be treated fairly in other countries.
"We...request that the Baha'is in that country be granted their full rights of citizenship, in order that they may be able to fulfill their heartfelt aspiration to contribute, alongside their fellow citizens, to the advancement of their nation," says the letter.
"This, indeed, is no more than what you rightfully ask for Muslim minorities who reside in other lands. Baha'is merely seek the same treatment from you," the Baha'i International Community states.
Respecting the rights of Iranian Baha'is now would "signal a willingness to respect the rights of all the citizens of your country," the letter says.
The document, dated 7 December and addressed to Ayatollah Mohammad Sadeq Larijani, states that the injustices meted out on Iran's Baha'i citizens are a "reflection of the terrible oppression that has engulfed the nation." Redressing the wrongs suffered by the Baha'is would "bring hope to the hearts of all Iranians that you are ready to ensure justice for everyone."
"Our call, then, is in reality a call for respect of the rights of all the Iranian people," the Baha'i International Community says.
"How can a just society, or a just world, be built on a foundation of irrational oppression and the systematic denial of basic human rights to any minority? Everything your country overtly professes to seek on the world stage is contradicted by your treatment of your own people at home."
"Reprehensible measures"
The letter catalogs in detail the "many reprehensible measures" resorted to by officials during the detention, trial, sentencing and appeal, of the seven Baha'i leaders, who formerly served as the members of a national-level group that – with the Iranian government's knowledge – helped see to the minimum spiritual needs of the Baha'is of Iran.
The seven were accused of propaganda activities against the Islamic order and the establishment of an illegal administration, among other allegations. All the charges were categorically denied.
The letter charts how the prosecutors at the trial of the seven were “ultimately unable to present any credible evidence in support of their claims.” The trial, it observes, "was so devoid of the impartiality that must characterize judicial proceedings as to render the process a complete mockery." "How was it," the letter asks in this respect, "that the verdict issued by the judges could refer to the religion of the defendants as a ‘misguided sect’?”
"...[W]hat is now starkly visible to all is the willingness of the authorities to trample the very standards of justice they are mandated to uphold on behalf of the peoples of Iran," the open letter states.
Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations says that there was never any foundation to the charges that the seven had acted against the interest of Iran.
"To add to this manifest injustice, the judiciary has not yet formalized the appeal verdict," says Ms. Dugal, "thus depriving the prisoners of the right to seek bail or to be granted leave from prison."
"In defiance of all reason, the prisoners are now in the third year of what is still termed a ‘temporary’ detention," she says.
Appalling conditions
After receiving their sentence, the seven Baha'i leaders – Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm – were moved from Evin Prison to Gohardasht prison in Karaj.
"They are now effectively placed in exile in contravention of Iran's statutes governing the transfer of prison inmates," says Bani Dugal. "Amongst other indignities, they are forced to endure appalling filth, pestilence, exposure to disease, and quarters so crammed that it is difficult for them to lie down or even to perform their daily prayers."
"It is clear from recent reports that their health has deteriorated and they have no access to adequate medical treatments," she said.
Reports of the trial and sentencing of the seven provoked a chorus of condemnation from governments around the world. The European Union and the President of the European Parliament also joined the protest, along with prominent religious leaders, numerous human rights organizations, and countless other groups and individuals.
"We join with governments and well-meaning people throughout the world, as we call upon Iran's Head of the Judiciary to immediately set these seven innocent Baha'is – and, along with them, all of the Baha'is incarcerated across the country – free," said Ms. Dugal.
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