Bahá’í World/Volume 24/Update, the Situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran

The Bahá’í World
Volume 24

Update: The Situ/atign 01

THE AHA’IS INIRAN

he 300,000-member Iranian Bahá’í community has suffered

severe persecutions since the ascendancy of the Islamic Revolutionary Government in 1979. In the past seventeen years, 201 Bahá’ís have been killed or executed, fifteen are missing and presumed dead, and hundreds have been imprisoned. Property confiscations (totaling 150 in the city of Yazd last year alone), dismissal from public sector employment, expulsion from institutions of higher learning, discriminatory treatment in the judicial system, arbitrary arrests, and prohibition of all forms of religious community life, including worship meetings, are some of the difficulties experienced by this beleaguered community. In recent years, more than one hundred Bahá’ís throughout the country have been arrested, detained for periods ranging from 48 hours to six months, and then released, in an effort to create an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear in the community. Numerous cases of torture and summary trials have been documented. As of March 1996, eight Bahá’ís were in prison, three under sentence of death. The situation of the Iranian Bahá’í community continued to receive the close attention of the United Nations

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during 1995—96, particularly in reports issued by the Special Representative on Iran and the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, and the sentencing of another Bahá’í to death on the charge of “religious apostasy” prompted a number of governments around the world to further action.1

The Case of P_habihu’llzih Mahrami

In the winter of 1995—96, the Bahá’í community learned that a Bahá’í in the city of Yazd in Iran, Mr. Qhabihu’llah Mahrami, had been charged with religious apostasy, or abandoning the Faith of Islam. The Bahá’í community was permitted to hire a lawyer to defend Mr. Mahrami, a right that has only been recently granted to Bahá’ís. While the defense did not succeed in freeing Mr. Mahrami and the death sentence was passed on him on 2 January 1996, Iran’s Supreme Court rejected the Revolutionary Court’s decision on the grounds that it was incompetent to hear the ease. The case was then referred to the civil court in Yazd, from which a verdict has still not been heard.

When the facts of the case involving Mr. Mahrami became known around the world, Bahá’í communities took a variety of actions. One result was the adoption by the European Parliament of a resolution on human rights abuses in Iran, which made reference to the suffering of the Bahá’ís in Iran and to Mr. Mahrami’s case in particular. Bahá’í communities in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States all received support from their governments. Significant media coverage included short pieces in Le Monde and Liberation in France, and Renter and AFP (Agence France Presse) publicized the story. The BBC World Service Persian Service, the BBC World Service Arabic Service, and other arms of the British Broadcasting Corporation also reported the story.

1. For a detailed account of these human rights Violations, see “The Case of the Bahá’í Minority in Iran” by Douglas Martin, in The Bahá’í World 1992—93, pp. 247—71. See also “Update: The Situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran” in The Bahá’í World 1993—94, pp. 13945, and in The Bahá’í World 1994—95, pp. 133—38.

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Other actions regarding the situation of Iran’s Bahá’ís

Bahá’í communities around the world also Wished to make the general situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran better known to their elected representatives. 1n Uruguay, this resulted in three senators urging a favorable vote supporting the human rights of Iran’s Bahá’ís, in Which they stated, “A vote in this sense Will not only be in accordance With the country’s tradition, but shall encourage the members of this community to continue their benevolent work Within Uruguay and the rest of the world.” The Great and General Council of the Republic of San Marino unanimously approved a proclamation condemning persecutions against the Bahá’í community of Iran.

A special exhibit documenting responses by the United States and other countries to the repression of the Bahá’í community in Iran was displayed in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, DC, in early May 1995. At a reception held to mark the exhibit’s opening, the American Bahá’í community honored Representatives Ben Gilman and Lee Hamilton. Together With Representatives J ohn Edward Porter and Tom Lantos, Who sponsored the current exhibit, Messrs. Gilman and Hamilton have been leading backers of a series of congressional resolutions calling on the US. government to work to extend internationally

recognized human rights to the Bahá’ís in Iran.

The exhibit “Defending Religious Liberty” in

the Cannon Rotunda offhe US. House of Representatives, May 1995.

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United Nations

Again this year, the Bahá’í International Community was successful in appealing for the assistance of the United Nations. The 50th Session of the UN General Assembly’s latest resolution condemning the human rights situation in Iran once more makes specific mention of the Bahá’ís. The Bahá’í International Community also presented statements to both the 52nd Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights and to the 47th Session of the UN Sub—Commission 0n the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. Perhaps most notable, however, was the release of two significant reports Which mentioned the Iranian Bahá’í community in some detail.

Report of the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance

The report of the new United Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, Abdelfattah Amer of Tunisia, t0 the 52nd Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights regarding religious intolerance in the Islamic Republic of Iran devotes a section to the Bahá’í situation, outlining aspects of discrimination in the religious, sociocultural, educational, and professional fields, in the field of justice, and in the security of persons. Noting the banning of Bahá’í administrative institutions in Iran since 1983, the report concludes that “Since, by virtue of its fundamental principles, the Bahá’í faith [has] no clergy, the very existence of the Bahá’ís as a Viable religious community [is] apparently being threatened in the absence of those institutions.” The Special Rapporteur makes a number of significant recommendations concerning the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran. First, he states: “Considering the religious principles of the Bahá’í community, the Special Rapporteur believes that there should not be any controls that might, through prohibition, restrictions or discrimination, jeopardize the right to freedom of belief or the right to manifest one’s belief.” The report continues:

For this reason, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the ban on the Bahá’í organization should be lifted to enable it to organize itself freely through its administrative institutions, which are Vital in the absence of a clergy, and so that it can engage fully in its religious activities. Likewise, all the

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community and personal property that has been confiscated should be returned and the places of worship that have been destroyed should be reconstructed, if possible, or, at least, should form the subject of compensatory measures in favor of the Bahá’í community. The Bahá’ís should also be free to bury and honor their dead. Concerning freedom of movement, including departure from Iranian territory, the Special Rapporteur believes that the question on religion should be deleted from passport application forms and that this freedom should not be obstructed in any way.

Further recommendations are that no discrimination should bar Bahá’ís from study in universities or from employment in the governmental or private sectors, that “the physical integrity of any person should not be affected by the person’s religion or belief,” and that death sentences passed on Bahá’ís should be reviewed or set aside through amnesties or other appropriate measures. To address problems faced by Bahá’ís and members of other religious minorities in the judicial system, the report recommends that judicial and administrative personnel should be trained in human rights, “particularly with regard to tolerance and non—discrirnination based on religion or belief.”

Report of the Special Representative on Iran

Maurice Danby Copithorne of Canada, appointed as the new United Nations Special Representative on Iran to replace Professor Reynaldo Galindo-Pohl, also submitted a report to the 52nd Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, an eightparagraph section of which focuses specifically on the Bahá’ís. This section opens with an endorsement of Professor Amor’s recommendations concerning their situation.

Some specific instances of discrimination against Bahá’ís in the judicial system are detailed, including a case in September 1995 where the family of a deceased person was not permitted rights of succession because they are Bahá’ís and another case in May 1995 when people found guilty of manslaughter were exempted from paying “blood money” to the Victims’ families because the deceased and other family members are Bahá’ís. Instead, the defendants were ordered to pay money to a government fund. Another case, where an individual was denied reinstatement to a

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job from Which he had been dismissed unless he renounced his Faith in a “Widely distributed newspaper,” is cited by the Special Representative as an example of discrimination in employment against the Bahá’í community. A crucial concern, as noted by the Representative, is “the right of the Bahá’í community to maintain its administrative institutions.” The Special Representative concludes that “Overall, While there appears to be some improvement in the lot of the Bahá’ís in the Islamic Republic of Iran, there continue to be grave breaches of human rights, Which in the Special Representative’s View are only likely to disappear With a significant change of attitude on the part of the Iranian authorities.”

Report of the UNSecretary General

The United Nations Secretary General’s report on “The Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities,” also submitted to the 52nd Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, comments in two paragraphs about the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran, reiterating the request “that careful consideration be given to the legal situation of Bahá’ís Who [are] in prison, particularly those who [have] been sentenced to death or accused of apostasy,” and

demanding an end to the harassment and discrimination faced by Bahá’ís.

Conclusion

During 1995—96, the plight of Iran’s Bahá’í community, and specifically that of Mr. D_habihu’llah Mahrami, was well documented through the reports of the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance and the Special Representative on Iran. Governments, encouraged by many Bahá’í communities, once again voiced their opposition to the injustice suffered by this religious community. While the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran remains that of an oppressed minority, the spotlight shone upon them by the world’s governments and media has not only reminded people in all parts of the globe of their suffering, but also appears to have constrained the level of their persecution.

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