Two Bahai children expelled from school in Najafabad by Sen Bahai News Service (Persian), March 26 In February, two children were expelled from school in Najafabad. This followed a pubic information meeting held by the chief of police, in which it was said that the Bahai Faith spreads moral corruption. The parents of these children objected, and were supported by a number of Muslim parents who were also present. After the meeting, the parents complained about the behaviour of the chief of police, to the school's administration and to the Office for Supervising Education. The next day the children were abruptly expelled. When they went to the Office for Supervising Education, they were told that Bahais had no right to talk about their religion, where other parents were present, so that others would not discover that they were Bahais and become Bahais themselves, which would be a humiliation for them. The parents then went to the General Office for Supervising Education in Isfahan, with no results. The expulsion of the children was confirmed, and their parents were told to enroll them in another school. Source (in Persian) Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-1fT Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here. Sen | April 9, 2012 at 1:18 pm | Tags: Bahai Faith, Human rights in Iran, Iran, Najafabad,religious persecution, نجف آباد, بهایی, بهائی, بهائیت, دانشجویان | Categories: Bahai rights | URL:http://wp.me/pNMoJ-1fT

Multiple arrests of Bahais in Shiraz

Filed under: Bahai rights — Sen @ 1:27 pm 
Tags: Bahai Faith, Human rights in Iran, Iran, religious persecution, Shiraz, بهایی, بهائی, بهائیت, شیراز

PCED, February 3

This morning, agents of the security services raided the homes of Bahais in Shiraz, and there were widespread arrests. Among those detained were Nima Dehqan, Mezhdeh Falah, Mazhgan `Amadi, Sam Jarberi, Sina Sarikhani, Bijan Falah and Zhinous Fana’iyan (نیما دهقان، مژده فلاح، مژگان عمادی، سام جابری، سینا ساریخانی، بیژن فلاح، ژینوس فنائیان). Reports indicate that more than these 7 Bahais were arrested.

Source (in Persian)

Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-18Q

Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

Multiple arrests of Bahais in Shiraz

Filed under: Bahai rights — Sen @ 1:27 pm 
Tags: Bahai Faith, Human rights in Iran, Iran, religious persecution, Shiraz, بهایی, بهائی, بهائیت, شیراز

PCED, February 3

This morning, agents of the security services raided the homes of Bahais in Shiraz, and there were widespread arrests. Among those detained were Nima Dehqan, Mezhdeh Falah, Mazhgan `Amadi, Sam Jarberi, Sina Sarikhani, Bijan Falah and Zhinous Fana’iyan (نیما دهقان، مژده فلاح، مژگان عمادی، سام جابری، سینا ساریخانی، بیژن فلاح، ژینوس فنائیان). Reports indicate that more than these 7 Bahais were arrested.

Source (in Persian)

Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-18Q

Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

Baha'i World News Service subscribe@bahai.org	12:30 PM (1 hour ago)
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New crackdown highlights campaign to block progress of Iranian Baha'is
http://news.bahai.org/story/884


NEW YORK, 26 January 2012, (BWNS) – The Iranian government's systematic strategy to drive Baha'is to economic ruin shows no sign of abating.

According to reports received by the Baha'i International Community, a renewed campaign is under way in Kerman, the major city in south central Iran.

"We have learned that the Public Places Supervision Office is denying the renewal of licenses – and revoking some existing ones – for Baha'i-owned businesses in the city," said Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

"A wide range of professions are being targeted – from computer sales and repair shops to real estate brokers. Baha'is involved in the sale of iron alloys, steel, or gold are losing their licenses, as are Baha'i-owned businesses relating to food products, and health and cosmetic services, such as opticians," she said.

Baha'is in Kerman have also been told that they are not allowed to own a large number of shops on the same street.

"The authorities have even gone so far as to revoke the licenses of business partners of Baha'is, who are not themselves members of the Baha'i Faith," said Ms. Dugal.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, many thousands of Baha'is have lost their jobs or sources of livelihood. In 1993, the UN disclosed an Iranian government memorandum – endorsed by the country's Supreme Leader – that explicitly outlines a plan to "block" the "development of the Iranian Baha'i community."

In addition to the barring of young Baha'is from higher education, said Ms. Dugal, it is clear that the authorities are continuing with a range of other actions to carry out this policy.

"We have received accounts of at least 60 incidents in the past five years, designed to curb the economic prospects of Baha'is," she reported.

Some recent examples include:

– From 2 to 12 January 2012, more than 70 percent of Baha'i-owned businesses in Sari and Ghaemshahr (Mazandaran province), and a number in Gorgan and Gonbad (Golestan province), were searched in order to find some excuse on which to threaten or arrest Baha'is. Authorities even searched the houses of Baha'is that are working from home, in some cases more than two years since they closed up their stores;

– In July 2011, the Baha'i owner of a shop in Abadan received a notice from the Union for Retailers and Manufacturers of Jewelry, Watches and Glasses asking him to return his work license and liquidate his assets within 24 hours;

– In June 2011, an optical shop was sealed on the pretext of transferring the license to a new location. The head of the Public Places Supervision Office indicated that the order to seal the shop was issued by the higher authorities. The shop had been previously closed by the authorities in December 2008, along with four other Baha'i shops in Nazarabad. But after a legal battle, the owner managed to reopen in a new location – only to have it sealed again.

–  After a wave of arson attacks on a dozen Baha'i-owned businesses in Rafsanjan, Iran, in late 2010, some 20 homes and businesses were sent a warning letter demanding that Baha'is sign an undertaking to "refrain from forming contacts or friendships with Muslims" and from "using or hiring Muslim trainees."

– In early 2009, in the city of Semnan, the association of Trade Unions passed a by-law stating that no Baha'i should receive a business license. Soon after, a number of Baha'i-owned businesses and shops throughout the city were subsequently sealed or shut down.

– In an example of another kind of economic pressure, a Baha'i in Isfahan – shortly before being fired from his work – requested from the social security agency that he be allocated the amount that had been deducted from his wages for his pension. He received notice that his request was not being pursued as it was a "non-issue," given the fact that the reason for his losing his job was his membership in "the deviant Bahaist sect." The notice specified that he and another 14 individuals were fired based on the legal prohibition on their being hired in the first place, and thus their claims were of no account.

"International law firmly spells out the right of individuals to be free to work and earn a livelihood, without discrimination," said Ms. Dugal.

"Last month, the international community voted overwhelmingly at the UN to condemn Iran for its ongoing and recurring human rights violations. Surely it's time that Iran realizes that it can no longer get away with oppressing its citizens and thinking that no one will notice."





To read the article online and access links, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/884

For the Baha'i World News Service home page, go to:
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Slovak politicians call Iran's persecution of Baha'is "chilling" and "abhorrent"
http://news.bahai.org/story/882


BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, 20 January 2012, (BWNS) – Treatment of the Baha'is in Iran has "escalated to an institutionalised and blatant policy of persecution," according to a proclamation issued by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Slovakian parliament.

The proclamation describes the Iranian government's incitement to hatred based on religion and belief as "abhorrent." It also states that  the "regime's endeavors to persecute Baha'is is chilling indeed," and demands an end to Iran's "spiralling efforts to destroy the Iranian Baha'i community."

Baha'is "must be guaranteed their full and equal human rights" and "be allowed to contribute to the public life and development of Iran along with their fellow citizens," wrote the Foreign Affairs Committee.

"The fact that this Committee has taken on the situation of Baha'is in Iran is important for two reasons," said its chairman, Frantisek Sebej.

"One, because the democratic parliaments of the world must care about and deal with the denial of human rights of suppressed minorities in other parts of the world, at least for the reason that we are the luckier ones who live in a free world and have the obligation to care for others."

"The second reason is that with such a resolution we can help the Baha'i community."

Noting "a sharp increase in the systematic, government-supported program to destroy the Baha'i community in Iran," the statement also describes the destruction of Baha'i holy sites and cemeteries as an "atrocious blow to religious cultural heritage of significant value for humankind." It calls for the immediate release of the seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders and the Baha'i educators jailed for their association with the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education.

"At issue are denial of the right to life, liberty and security of person; violent attacks; arbitrary arrests and imprisonments; denial of access to education; confiscation and destruction of personal community property; and the denial of employment, pensions and other benefits," the proclamation says.

The Committee –  which approved the proclamation at a meeting held yesterday in the building of the National Council of the Slovak Republic – also resolved to send the statement to senior figures in Iran, including President Ahmadinejad.

"Though I do not expect that the Iranian Government will stop the persecution of Baha'is," said Dr. Sebej, "at least it will not dare to do more horrific things while thinking that no one is watching and nobody cares."






To read the article online and view photographs, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/882

For the Baha'i World News Service home page, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/

Heads of medical schools urge Iran to release jailed Baha'i educators

8 December 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States — Almost 50 leaders of medical education in the United States have joined the worldwide protest against the Iranian government’s persecution of Baha’i students and educators.

Forty-eight Deans and Senior Vice-Presidents – who between them head more than a third of American medical schools – have signed an open letter addressed to Iran’s representative to the United Nations. The letter was published on the Persian-language “Association Against Education Discrimination” website on 7 December – the day that Iranian student movements annually commemorate Student Day.

“We are writing as individuals who are leaders of globally recognized educational institutions to voice our concern about the treatment of Baha’i students and educators in Iran,” the letter says.

“As leaders of medical education, we believe that education is an inherent human right. At our respective institutions, we have hosted and continue to host students, residents, fellows, and faculty irrespective of their religious beliefs from all over the world. We have welcomed this diverse population into our educational communities to contribute to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of humanity.”

The letter’s chief signatory – Dr. Philip Pizzo, Dean of Stanford University’s School of Medicine – helped collect the signatures last month at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Council of Medical School Deans.

The statement details the systematic attack launched by Iranian authorities against an informal community initiative – known as the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) – which was set up to provide education for young Baha’is barred from university. Seven Baha’is associated with BIHE are now serving four- and five-year jail terms.

“The arresting of BIHE faculty and administrators as well as the banning of generations of Baha’is from education solely on the basis of their religious background are violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights to which Iran is a State Party,” the letter continues.

“We therefore urge your government to release the instructors and administrators of BIHE from prison. We also request that your government extend Baha’i students and faculty in Iran the same rights to education that we offer every student and professor at our institutions regardless of their heritage, religion or country of origin.”

The open letter was published on the same day that the situation of Baha’i educators and students was raised in a joint statement by an international group of lawmakers – US Senators Mark Kirk and Joseph Lieberman, Canadian MP Irwin Cotler, British MP Denis MacShane, Australian MP Michael Danby, Italian MP Fiamma Nirenstein, and Lithuanian MP Emanuelis Zingeris.

Continuing outcry

These latest actions come just days after Senator Mobina Jaffer, Canada’s first Muslim senator, told a Canadian Senate enquiry that it was "unprecedented" that Iran has now criminalized the education of young people.

The condemnation of the imprisonment of the seven Baha’i educators has spanned the world. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has led the criticism of their sentences, along with such prominent figures as Nobel Peace Prize laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Jose Ramos-Horta, andLieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, the former UN peacekeeping force commander who tried to stop the 1990s genocide in Rwanda.

In October, some 43 distinguished philosophers and theologians in 16 countries signed an open letter protesting against the attack on BIHE.

In Germany, some 45 prominent professors have demanded the immediate release of the seven, while in Australia, letters of protest have been sent by 73 university academics, and Universities Australia, representing the vice-chancellors of all Australian universities.

Last month, more than 50 academics in Ireland called upon the Iranian authorities to allow access to higher education for all, while 26 professionals from the cinema industry urged the government of Brazil to defend the rights of filmmakers, journalists and Baha'i educators and called upon Iran to immediately release those imprisoned.

Click here to see the full list of signatories to the open letter

Further information

• "Closed Doors: Iran's Campaign to Deny Higher Education to Baha'is" - Special Section
• "Inciting Hatred: Iran's Media Campaign to Demonize Baha'is" - Special Report
• "The Trial of the Seven Baha'i Leaders" - Special Report
• BWNS Iran Update
• List of BWNS articles

Recent Iran-related articles

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Former UN peacekeeper Romeo Dallaire says Iran's actions against Baha'is remind him of what he witnessed in Rwanda.

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Baha'i educators sentenced
http://news.bahai.org/story/860


NEW YORK, 18 October 2011, BWNS – Seven Baha'i educators in Iran have each received four or five-year prison sentences, according to reports received by the Baha'i International Community.

Verdicts against the seven were reportedly handed down by a judge at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

The educators have been detained for almost five months in connection with their involvement in an informal community initiative – known as the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) – in which Baha'i professors, debarred by the Iranian government from practicing their professions, offer their services to teach young community members who are banned from university.

Two of the individuals, Vahid Mahmoudi and Kamran Mortezaie, were each sentenced to five years imprisonment.

Four year jail terms were given to BIHE lecturers Ramin Zibaie, Mahmoud Badavam and Farhad Sedghi, consultant Riaz Sobhani, and helper Nooshin Khadem.

"It is not even clear at this stage what the exact charges were against these innocent souls, whose only desire was to serve young people who have been unjustly barred from higher education on purely religious grounds," said Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

"What kind of society makes educating the young a punishable crime?" she said.

Two other Baha'is associated with BIHE – husband and wife Kamran Rahimian and Faran Hesami, both psychology instructors – are also still being held without charge.


Global protest

The most recent attacks carried out against BIHE continue to provoke condemnation from governments, organizations, academics and young people throughout the world.

More than 70 academics in Australia, including University of Ballarat vice-chancellor, David Battersby, have signed an open letter protesting Iran's educational discrimination against Baha'is and calling for the immediate release of the imprisoned educators.

On 10 October, 43 prominent philosophers and theologians in 16 countries signed another letter of protest. "To acquire knowledge and learning is the sacred and legal right of all; indeed, the state is obliged to provide it. In Iran, the government has done the opposite..." wrote the academics.

Two Nobel Peace Prize laureates – Desmond Tutu, the Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, and Jose Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor – in another open letter, sharply criticized the Iranian government, comparing its actions to "the Dark Ages of Europe" or the "Spanish Inquisition."

On 5 October, resuming a Canadian Senate debate about the Baha'is in Iran, Senator Hugh Segal described the suffering heaped on Baha'is as "systematic and brutal, especially when the Baha'i are known as a peaceful faith that embraces the sanctity of all religions."

"The official Iranian oppression of Baha'i ... is a clarion call to humanity and to free peoples and democracies everywhere to look directly at the harsh colors of the Iranian reality and not look away until the challenge is faced head on," said Senator Segal.

Around 112 Baha'is are currently behind bars in Iran because of their religion. This includes the seven Baha'i leaders, serving 20-year jail terms on trumped-up charges. The cases of some 300 other Baha'is are still active with the Iranian authorities.






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Copyright 2011 by the Baha'i World News Service. Stories and photographs produced by the Baha'i World News Service may be freely 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, go tohttp://news.bahai.org/terms-of-use/

Baha'i World News Service
http://news.bahai.org/story/858


UN Secretary General "deeply troubled" by developments in Iran
UNITED NATIONS, 13 October 2011, BWNS – For the fourth consecutive year, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has strongly criticized Iran's record on human rights, saying violations have "continued and intensified" over the last 12 months.

Iran has stepped up its crackdown on human rights defenders, women's rights activists and journalists, Mr. Ban said in a report released yesterday.

Read the report here: http://news.bahai.org/sites/news.bahai.org/files/documentlibrary/858_Secretary_General_Report.pdf

The Secretary General said he was "deeply troubled" by recent developments, which included a "notable increase" in the country's use of the death penalty, along with a rise in unfair trials, amputations, and the use of torture, arbitrary arrest and detention.

Mr. Ban called on the Iranian government to respect the rights of all its citizens – but noted especially the "important and constructive role the human rights lawyers and activists play in protecting human rights," encouraging  Iran to "fully guarantee freedom of expression and assembly and to open up greater space for their independent work."

Restrictions on "unrecognized religious minorities," were also highlighted in the report with "serious concern" being expressed, particularly at the ongoing persecution of Iran's Baha'i community.

Iranian Baha'is face limits on access to higher education, Mr. Ban said, noting that this form of discrimination culminated this year in a government effort to shut down the informal initiative to educate young members of the Baha'i community barred from university.

"According to numerous reports, on 21 May 2011, security forces conducted raids on the homes of individuals involved in the activities of the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education and arrested 15 of its members in various cities, including Gohardasht, Isfahan, Karaj, Sari, Shiraz, Tehran and Zahedan..." he said.

Mr. Ban also discussed the fate of seven national Baha'i leaders, arrested in 2008 and sentenced to some 20 years imprisonment in 2010 – noting that their excessive sentence was upheld earlier this year.

"The High Commissioner for Human Rights has raised this case several times in letters to and meetings with the Iranian authorities, expressing deep concern that these trials did not meet the requirements of due process and fair trial," he said.

Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, welcomed the report and its conclusions.

"Taken as a whole, Mr. Ban's report has once again indicted the current Iranian regime, documenting the government's wide-ranging effort to silence the growing demands of its citizenry for justice, democracy, and transparency.

"Baha'is have long suffered from the Islamic Republic's ongoing and ever-increasing inability to tolerate any viewpoint or opinion that falls outside the official script. Mr. Ban's report clearly documents the degree to which so many others – from women to journalists to lawyers – are also bearing the brunt of this oppression.

"The report also outlines Iran's refusal to cooperate with UN special rapporteurs, who have since 2005 been denied permission to visit Iran so that they can investigate the situation there.

"We hope the international community will duly take note and continue its effort to see that Iran ends the unjust persecution of its own citizens," said Ms. Dugal.









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http://news.bahai.org/story/858

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