Bahá’í World/Volume 30/Bahá’ís in Iran, Current Situation
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Baha’i’s in Iran
CURRENT SITUATION
This oral statement was presented by the Bakd’z’ International Community to t/ae United Nations Commission on Human
Rights in Geneva in April 2002.
13/
lthough there have been some recent improvements, the Baha 1
International Community must report to the Commission
that the Baha’i community in Iran is still the object of
clear and systematic human rights violations. These Violations are
both collective and individual, and they concern not only civil
and political rights, but also a Wide range of social, economic, and cultural rights.
Recent improvements have come in the situations of individual Baha’is who have been imprisoned. All death sentences have been commuted, and some prisoners have been released. At this time, however, five Baha’is are still in prison for their religious beliefs, two of them sentenced to life imprisonment for apostasy.
The extensive, persistent, systematic persecution of the Baha’i community has been documented over the years in the various reports issued by the Special Representatives on Iran. Iran’s policy towards the Baha’is is a matter of public record. Back in 1993, Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, Who was then Special Representative on Iran, uncovered a secret document that laid out specific procedures
291
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292 THE BAHA’T WORLD 2001—2002
for Iranian officials to follow in dealing with the Baha’is. The goal of this policy, endorsed in writing by Mr. Khamenei himself, was the annihilation of a community of 300,000 people. Who could have imagined then that these guidelines would still be in force 10 years later?
When this policy document came to light, more than 200 Baha’is had already been executed and many more tortured, Baha’i holy places had been destroyed, and a large number of properties had been confiscated. This policy memo signaled, not a change in attitude toward the Baha’is, but a shift in strategy. The Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council’s approach was to deal with “the Baha’i question” in more subtle ways, so that Baha’i “progress and development shall be blocked.” It was, in fact, a carefully conceived blueprint for the slow strangulation of the community, a blueprint that guides the actions of government officials to this day.
The Baha’is pose no threat to the Iranian authorities. Baha’is— as a principle of their faith—must obey the government of their country. The Baha’is in Iran seek no special privileges. They simply wish to live as ordinary citizens: to enjoy their civil rights, as well as their economic and social rights, and to be able to profess and practice their religion peacefully.
The Baha’is in Iran yearn to be free of the daily threat of arrest and arbitrary detention. Since 1998, the Iranian authorities have relied less on long—term imprisonment than on a widespread pattern of short—term detentions. Baha’is go through each day not knowing whether they or a loved one will be arrested and, if so, whether they will be imprisoned for a few days, weeks, or months. This practice wears them down with a constant feeling of insecurity and uncertainty.
The Baha’is in Iran would like to be able to work, to receive their pensions when they retire, to have access to higher education, to own property, and to meet freely as a community. They want their religious institutions to be reestablished, because it is around these institutions that their spiritual, communal, and social activities revolve.
The wishes of this peaceful community are endorsed by the
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Abdelfattah
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BAHA’I’S IN IRAN: CURRENT SITUATION 293
Amor, and can be found in the conclusions and recommendations of the report published on his Visit to Iran in 1996. Year after year, Mr. Amor’s recommendations have been endorsed by the Special Representative on Iran, Maurice Copithorne. Unfortunately, however, neither Mr. Amor nor Mr. Copithorne can report to us today that any of their recommendations have been fully implemented.
During the past few years, representatives of the Iranian government have referred to legislation, reportedly adopted in 1999, Which grants all Iranian citizens equal rights. They indicated that this “right to citizenship” legislation could potentially be very significant to Baha’is. Although the Baha’i community is the largest religious minority in Iran, its members are not included With the ‘Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians as religious minorities protected under the Iranian constitution. We have yet to see any evidence that the C‘right to citizenship” legislation is being implemented. Baha’is remain “unprotected infidels” under Iranian law.
Today the only protection the Baha’is in Iran have is the attention of the international community. Until clear and documented steps to eliminate the persecution of the Baha’l’s have been taken by the Iranian Government and implemented by its officials, the human rights Violations perpetrated against this beleaguered community must continue to be monitored by the international community.
