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| Bahá’í News | September 1984 | Bahá’í Year 141 |
Sweden: Unity in diversity
On the cover: Among the members of the Spiritual Assembly of Umea, Sweden, are Bahá’ís from Egypt, Iran, Mauritius and Sweden. This photograph, taken in front of a Bahá’í exhibit, appeared in one of Sweden’s major newspapers and was accompanied by an extensive article about the Faith.
Bahá’í News[edit]
In Papua New Guinea, the Faith is taken to the remote Daga tribal area | 1 |
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hears Bahá’í testimony | 4 |
The complete text of the Bahá’í testimony concerning torture in Iran | 6 |
A second U.S. Senate resolution condemns the persecutions in Iran | 9 |
In Perth, Australia, Bahá’ís organize agriculture/horticulture seminar | 11 |
In U.S., Amoz Gibson Project sees 250 Native American enrollments | 13 |
Around the world: News from Bahá’í communities all over the globe | 14 |
Bahá’í News is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to the Periodicals Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Changes of address should be reported to the Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates within U.S.: one year, $12; two years, $20. Outside U.S.: one year, $14; two years, $24. Foreign air mail: one year, $20; two years, $40. Payment must accompany order and must be in U.S. dollars. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1984, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
Papua New Guinea[edit]
Faith catches fire in mountain villages[edit]
The village of Sesenaro, Papua New Guinea, where everyone has become a Bahá’í. Sesenaro means ‘rainbow.’
In announcing the second phase of the Seven Year Plan to the Bahá’ís of Papua New Guinea, the Universal House of Justice said that “in spite of difficulties of communication, travel and language, the number of believers and Local Spiritual Assemblies (in Papua New Guinea) have increased dramatically, and the prospects for future growth and development are extremely bright.”
The goals of the Plan included having 140 Assemblies, with an Assembly in each of the 19 provinces, and opening five virgin districts.
| This article about teaching in the Daga tribal area of Papua New Guinea was written by Silan Nadarajah, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Papua New Guinea. |
To help achieve these goals, traveling teachers were sent to the province of Milne Bay. A Malaysian Bahá’í, Yin Thin Sih, on his first visit to the provincial capital, Alotau, established contact with a few friends.
There were five declarations, among whom was Benedict Kadua from the Daga tribal group. Benedict heard of the Faith and accepted it, but when he told his clansmen they were not interested.
A year later, in 1982, there was a youth conference in Lae during which teaching teams were formed for street teaching. As one of the teams was leaving a house, a young man chased after them to find out more about the Faith. He was Francis Iwarap of the Daga Tribe who had come to Lae to look for work.
Francis soon was enrolled in the Faith, became an active teacher, and was privileged to be chosen by the National Spiritual Assembly as part of a three-member team whose assignment was to teach the Faith in northern Australia. When Francis returned he was “full of fire” and ready to teach and serve.
He returned to Alotau, the capital of Milne Bay, where he and the first Daga Bahá’í, Benedict Kadua, taught every-
[Page 2]
one in the settlement. Soon there was a
sufficient number of believers to elect,
in 1983, the first Spiritual Assembly of
Milne Bay, fulfilling a goal of the
Seven Year Plan.
Their next task was to visit the Dagas in their home area, a mountainous region that is accessible only by weekly air service. The first missionaries had come there in 1953, and most of the people are Anglicans. They have Anglicized names, and the missionaries have discouraged them from practicing their traditional culture and beliefs.
New declarants[edit]
With encouragement from the National Spiritual Assembly, Francis Iwarap returned to his homeland and began teaching the Faith to his tribe. His parents and three of the more educated people in the area became Bahá’ís. The new declarants included William Pandawa and James Peter, both of whom had been selected by the church to be trained as pastors but had turned the offer down because they did not feel it was the right thing to do.
William is actively involved in a business group for his people, has organized the coffee growing and helped form a coffee growers’ association. The people in the area have great respect for him, and many were shocked to hear that he had joined the new Faith.
The local church leaders soon heard of Francis’ activities, and, with the help of village elders, forced him not to mention the Faith to anyone else in the area. But meanwhile, a new virgin area had been opened, as foretold in the Plan.
Francis returned to Alotau where he continued his teaching activities. He urged the National Spiritual Assembly to send a traveling teacher to the area.
The Universal House of Justice, in announcing the second phase of the Seven Year Plan for Papua New Guinea, mentioned that “the stalwart and devoted believers in Papua New Guinea, with firm reliance on the promised assistance of the Concourse on High, will find ways and means to overcome all obstacles and resolutely press forward to even greater heights of attainment.” With this in mind, another traveling teacher from Malaysia, Sanjeeva Ramu, was sent to the Daga area.
There he met the five new believers,
William Pandawa explains Bahá’í election procedures to the friends at Gawagut Village, Papua New Guinea.
Bahá’ís at Aragip, Papua New Guinea, wait to greet visiting believers who are arriving on the weekly air service, the only way to reach the remote Daga tribal area.
The newly elected members of Local Spiritual Assemblies in the Daga tribal area of Papua New Guinea gathered for a one-day conference.
[Page 3]
Bahá’ís in Gawagut, Papua New Guinea, bid farewell to traveling teachers who are on their way to another village in the Daga tribal area.
deepened them, and began to teach. His visit created considerable excitement. The village pastors reported to their bishop and sent messages to Mr. Ramu, requesting a “debate.” They set a date and time for the meeting, but failed to appear although the Bahá’í representatives were present. The whole area heard of the Faith.
Mr. Ramu’s trip resulted in 291 declarations and 10 new Spiritual Assemblies, bringing the total in Papua New Guinea to 140 and achieving another goal of the Seven Year Plan.
The National Spiritual Assembly then invited William Pandawa to come to Lae for a two-week deepening institute prior to the Riḍván elections. William was an enthusiastic student, and afterward he returned home with another pioneer, Silan Nadarajah, who is a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, to help re-elect all the Assemblies in that area. Every community was visited, deepening classes were held for old and new Assemblies, every Assembly was re-elected, and there were 300 additional declarations.
Meanwhile, church authorities began sending messages to the villagers saying the bishop for the area soon would be visiting them. Once again, Mr. Ramu was sent to the Daga area where he continued his deepening classes. Teaching plans were made, and teams of new believers moved on to new areas. The bishop never appeared.
Mr. Daga’s second visit resulted in 400 declarations. When the villagers in Goira, a remote settlement in the mountains, heard of the Faith, they sent two representatives to investigate. Mr. Ramu accompanied them back to the village, and everyone there joined the Faith.
In three short years we have now reached the point at which there are 14 Assemblies and a Regional Teaching Committee in that area. Present plans are to hold an Institute there as a part of the National Assembly’s development program.
Bahá’ís of Gawadede Village, Papua New Guinea.
United States[edit]
Senate panel hears Bahá’í testimony[edit]
On June 26, Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, vice-chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, offered testimony about the torture of Bahá’ís in Iran before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington.
The U.S. National Spiritual Assembly was one of only three non-government organizations invited to appear before the committee for a hearing on the practice of torture by foreign governments and U.S. efforts to oppose its use.
“The authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Dr. Kazemzadeh told the legislators, “have used, and are presently using torture against the Bahá’ís, systematically and relentlessly, for two purposes: (1) to force recantation of faith and conversion to Islam, and (2) to extract false confessions of spying and other illegal activities ...”
The Iranian authorities, he said, “have not been able to find any evidence of such crimes, even though they have confiscated all Bahá’í property and community records, so they are resorting to torture to produce false evidence with which to discredit the Bahá’ís, Iran’s largest religious minority.”
Quoting from eyewitness accounts, letters and other direct communications received recently from Iran, Dr. Kazemzadeh identified at least 19 Iranian Bahá’ís whose deaths as a result of torture have been documented including five men executed within the past three months in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison.
Presiding at the three-hour hearing in the Dirksen Building was the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Charles Percy of Illinois, whose parents live only two blocks from the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette.
‘The ultimate stage of barbarity is reached when torture is used for purely ideological or religious purposes, when blood is shed, bodies are broken ... ribs crushed, to make a prisoner give up a belief and adopt the views and values of his tormentors.’
Also present were three other committee members, Sens. Paula Hawkins of Florida, Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas, and Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island.
Testifying for the Reagan administration were the Hon. Elliott Abrams, Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and the Hon. James Michel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.
Other public witnesses were John Healy, executive director of Amnesty International; Larry Cox, deputy director of Amnesty International; and Michael Posner, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights.
The purpose of the hearing, Sen. Percy said in his opening statement, “is to examine the practice of torture by foreign governments to find out why it occurs with such alarming frequency.
“Equally important purposes are to examine what the U.S. government is doing right now to influence governments not to practice torture, and to identify other additional measures that we might take to curb this terrible human rights abuse.
“As a first step,” he said, “... I will introduce a joint resolution that requests the Secretary of State to instruct representatives of the U.S. government abroad to engage in efforts to combat torture in countries where it is practiced. ...
“We hope through this effort to continue to expose the practice of torture and convince the practitioners that it is not in their interests to pursue this illegal conduct.
“This will require an enormous effort to succeed. But if there is ever to be an end, then there must be a beginning.”
Mr. Abrams, who testified on behalf of the Bahá’ís in Iran at a hearing May 2 before the House Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations, said, “The fact that torture is practiced by so many governments in so many parts of the world suggests that there is no one explanation to account for its persistence.
“Some regimes lack popular legitimacy, and resort to torture in order to punish and intimidate dissidents. Other regimes feel themselves under siege by terrorists, and regard torture as a means of self-defense.
“Still other governments believe that certain minorities—the Bahá’ís in Iran are an obvious example—deserve to be treated cruelly and inhumanely. ...”
After briefly reviewing in his written testimony the background of relations between the Bahá’ís and the Shi’ite Muslims in Iran, and the measures taken by the Islamic Revolutionary Government to suppress the Faith in that country, Dr. Kazemzadeh documented instances of torture “as a means of compelling recantation of one’s faith and conversion to Islam, or compelling confession of crimes that (were) never committed.
“The ultimate stage of barbarity is reached,” he said, “when torture is used for purely ideological or religious purposes, when blood is shed, bodies
[Page 5]
Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, vice-chairman
of the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahá’ís of the United States, testifies June 26 before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee. The National
Assembly was one of only three non-government organizations invited to
appear during the panel’s hearing on
the practice of torture around the
world.
are broken, nails and teeth pulled, ribs crushed, to make a prisoner give up a belief and adopt the views and values of his tormentors.
“When whips, hot irons, rods, knives, sticks and chains are made the tools of persuasion in matters of thought and spirit, we witness the most revolting perversion, a betrayal of all humanity.
“When such instruments are used in the service of religion, the essence of that religion is dishonored by its own fanatical votaries.”
Dr. Kazemzadeh, whose testimony was buttressed by graphic displays depicting the horrors of torture in Iran, then presented to the committee verified examples of the use of torture against members of the Faith in the land of its birth.
“The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States,” he said, “does not wish to make specific recommendations to the committee at present.
“However, we strongly condemn torture as one of the most heinous crimes against humanity. It can never be justified, no matter what the circumstances.
“That torture is used at all and that its practice is spreading testifies to the fragility of civilization and to the ease with which humanity reverts to barbarism. ...
“Acquiescence to torture is a compromise with evil unworthy of this nation.
“We hope that the government of the United States together with the governments of all nations that profess love of humanity will seek, through the United Nations and through all other legitimate means, the total eradication of torture from the earth.”
Following the hearing Dr. Kazemzadeh participated with the other witnesses and members of the Foreign Relations Committee in a press conference, also at the Dirksen Building.
Among the media represented were ABC radio, the Mutual radio network, the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, the Cable News Network, the Washington Post, Scripps-Howard newspapers, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Associated Press, United Press International, and the North Carolina News Service.
The hearing before the Foreign Relations Committee was the third in which members of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly and other Bahá’ís have presented testimony to Congress concerning the worsening conditions faced by their co-religionists in Iran.
The first two appearances, in May 1982 and again on May 2 of this year, were before the House Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations.
Each one led to the passage by Congress of a resolution condemning the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran and urging government action to help stop it.
On May 22, about a month before the most recent hearing, the House passed Concurrent Resolution 226, and the Senate added its approval on June 15.
United States[edit]
Text of Bahá’í statement on torture[edit]
Prepared statement of Firuz Kazemzadeh, vice-chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States.
My name is Firuz Kazemzadeh. I am professor of history, chairman of the Committee on Middle Eastern Studies at Yale University, and vice-chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States.
Twice in the last two years American Bahá’ís have presented to the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs amply documented testimony on the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran. The material is available to the government and the public. However, today I shall confine myself to a narrower and sadder subject—torture.
Over the last four years, the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have used torture as an instrument of policy. Among the victims of torture, members of the Bahá’í community have occupied a special place. They have committed no crimes, participated in no anti-government activities, presented no danger to the regime, yet they have been made an object of unrestrained hatred on the part of the clerical rulers and their supporters.
I shall present to the Committee evidence of torture, names of its victims, and even of one or two of its official practitioners. I shall also point out the changes in the pattern of application of torture.
However, because so many find the persecution of the peaceful Bahá’í community in Iran utterly incomprehensible, I shall take the liberty of sketching briefly the background of relations between the Shiite establishment and the Bahá’í Faith.
The Bahá’í Faith, a monotheistic world religion, originated in the middle of the nineteenth century in Iran. From its inception it became the target of hostility on the part of the Muslim Shiite clergy which believed that the eternal dialogue between God and man had ended with the Prophet Muhammad, that Islam was the final revelation, and that any post-Islamic religion must necessarily be a heresy whose followers deserved death.
The Shiite clergy, which wielded enormous power in nineteenth century Iran, incited the secular authorities to a campaign that took the lives of some 20,000 men, women and children, but failed to eradicate the new faith.
The introduction into Iran of modern nationalism and secularism alleviated the situation of the Bahá’í community in the twentieth century but did not mitigate the hatred of the Shiite clerical establishment. However, the vocabulary of invictive changed. If earlier the Bahá’ís had been denounced as heretics, now they were accused of being agents of foreign movements and powers—Russia, Britain, Israel, the United States—depending on current political fashion. Periodically, the mullahs gained the government’s cooperation in attacking the Bahá’ís, killing a few, confiscating literature, closing down Bahá’í centers, dismissing Bahá’ís from government jobs, and otherwise harassing them.
The Iranian revolution of 1978-79 was made by a broad coalition in which the Muslim Shiite clergy played a predominant role. Within a few months of the collapse of the old regime the mullahs emerged as rulers more despotic and less restrained than the monarchy they had overthrown had ever been. In the process of consolidating their power, the mullahs unleashed a reign of terror against all whom they saw as their political opponents, ideological rivals, or spiritual competitors.
The Bahá’ís had not taken part in the revolutionary upheaval. As a matter of religious principle they strictly abstained from all political activity and would not engage in violence which is strictly forbidden in the writings of their faith. Partly because of that they are now accused of having supported the old regime. However, the Islamic authorities did not need added justification for attacking the Bahá’ís. The President of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz, Hujjatu’l-Islam Qazai, clearly revealed the underlying religious motivation of such attacks when he publicly stated early in 1983 that “the Muslim nation of Iran ... will, God willing, fulfill the prayer of Noah (mentioned in the Koran):
- ‘And Noah said, Lord, leave not a single family of infidels on the Earth:
- ‘For if thou leave them, they will beguile thy servants and will beget only sinners, infidels.’
“The Iranian nation (the judge continued) has determined to establish the Government of God on earth. Therefore, it cannot tolerate the perverted Bahá’ís who are instruments of Satan and followers of the devil and of the super powers and their agents ... It is absolutely certain that in the Islamic Republic of Iran there is no place for Bahá’ís and Bahá’ísm ... I take this opportunity to advise all fair-minded and intelligent Bahá’ís to return to the bosom of highly esteemed Islam ... Before it is too late the Bahá’ís should recant Bahá’ísm, which is condemned by reason and logic. Otherwise, the day will soon come when the Islamic nation will deal with them in accordance with its religious obligations, as it has dealt with other hypocrites ...”
While such threats were being uttered by cabinet ministers, high-ranking judges and other officials, a well-organized campaign of persecution was being conducted
[Page 7]
throughout the country. Its principal elements were:
- The extermination of Bahá’í leadership through the imprisonment and in many cases the execution of prominent Bahá’ís, particularly of members of Spiritual Assemblies—the elected governing bodies of the Bahá’í community.
- The confiscation of all community property such as national and local centers, meeting halls, cemeteries, hospitals, historical buildings, monuments and shrines, libraries, archives, membership records, and administrative files.
- Economic strangulation through dismissal of Bahá’ís from all government jobs, which in Iran include the National Oil Company, the airlines, the railways, much of industry, and all of education; boycott of Bahá’í-owned businesses, refusal to pay pensions to retired employees, and even the destruction of agricultural crops and trees owned by Bahá’ís.
- The dismissal of Bahá’í children and youth from universities, high schools, and even from primary schools.
- The outlawing of Bahá’í organizations—a particularly serious blow for a faith that has no clergy and in which elected Spiritual Assemblies perform all the functions normally entrusted to ministers or priests.
- The psychological pressure inflicted on individuals through threats, insults, various forms of intimidation, and constant reiteration that they are members of a despised, subversive and accursed group.
- The application of torture as a means of compelling recantation of one’s faith and conversion to Islam, or compelling confession of crimes that were never committed. It is on the last item in the above catalogue of horrors that I intend to dwell in the time remaining to me this morning.
Individual cruelty, unauthorized maltreatment of prisoners, and random beatings inflicted by angry guards on inmates, even when they are common criminals convicted in fair trial, are intolerable occurrences for which the authorities must bear responsibility whether or not they knew of or encouraged such behavior. The systematic application of torture by the state is a far more grievous evil.
The ultimate stage of barbarity is reached when torture is used for purely ideological or religious purposes, when blood is shed, bodies are broken, nails and teeth pulled, ribs crushed, to make a prisoner give up a belief and adopt the views and values of his tormentors. When whips, hot irons, rods, knives, sticks, and chains are made the tools of persuasion in matters of thought and spirit, we witness the most revolting perversion, a betrayal of all humanity. When such instruments are used in the service of religion, the essence of that religion is dishonored by its own fanatical votaries.
The authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have used, and are currently using, torture against the Bahá’ís, systematically and relentlessly, for two purposes: (1) To force recantation of faith and conversion to Islam, and (2) to extract false confessions of spying and other illegal activities allegedly performed by the Bahá’ís in the service of Zionism, imperialism, and the super powers.
Though hundreds of Bahá’ís have been subjected to physical and mental abuse by Revolutionary Guards, jailers, and even judges, I will speak of only a few cases which have been carefully verified.
Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Sen. Paula Hawkins
One of the earliest instances of torture was reported from the city of Hamadan where, on June 4, 1981, the bodies of seven executed members of the local Spiritual Assembly were released to their families for burial. Each body bore unmistakable signs of heavy torture. The victims were:
Dr. Firuz Naimi, Dr. Naser Vafai, Mr. Tarazollah Khozeyn, Mr. Hoseyn Motlaq, Mr. Soheyl Habibi, Mr. Sohrab Habibi, Mr. Hoseyn Khandel.
Each had been given the opportunity to recant the Bahá’í Faith and to embrace Islam; each had refused, had been tortured and put to death. The funeral of these heroes was attended by thousands of Bahá’ís and Muslims wishing openly to express their grief for the innocent and highly respected men who had been so cruelly destroyed.
A year later, in June 1982, Mr. A.A.A., a bank employee, was arrested with five other Bahá’ís. An eyewitness has written that upon arrival in the infamous Evin prison the five Bahá’ís were brought before an interrogator, the notorious torturer Mesbah Tolui, who accused them of Zionism. An eyewitness writes:
“A.A.A. objected. ‘I am not a Zionist,’ he said. ‘I am a Bahá’í,’ upon which the interrogator slapped him in the face and struck him with hand and fist ... Then with two pointed rods, perhaps two pencils, the interrogator poked through the blindfold at A.A.A.’s eyes.”
A few days later Mr. A.A.A. was again questioned:
“... the interrogator demanded that A.A.A. recant the Bahá’í Faith and name the members of certain administrative bodies in the Bahá’í community ... When the interrogator met with resistance on the part of A.A.A., he took him to another room, accompanied by several guards, who proceeded to hurl him down against the hard surface of a bench, causing his forehead and jaws to be severely injured and to bleed ... Then with something like a wire his feet were tied ... his arms were pulled forward and tied ... He was now lying on his abdomen with hands and feet tied and the soles of his feet turned upward. Tolui ordered the guards to start lashing and to continue until A.A.A. recanted and gave the names of committee members or died ... The blows were aimed at the five toes of each foot so that each toe received its share of the total number of 300 blows.”
The next fully verified episode of torture occurred in
[Page 8]
March 1983 in Shiraz. Its victims were Mr. Yadollah Mahmudnezhad and Mrs. Tuba Zaerpur who were arrested because of their prominence in the Shiraz Bahá’í community.
Mrs. Zaerpur, after 55 days in solitary confinement, was returned to the general prison in early March. Before her execution on March 12, 1983, Mrs. Zaerpur told a fellow prisoner, who survived to tell the story, of her interrogation and trial:
“As a result of repeated lashing Mrs. Zaerpur was painfully injured and had sore spots all over her body ... On the first day she was given 50 strokes of the whip, on the second day 100 strokes, and on the third day 74 strokes with a cable whip, some on her shoulders and some on her back ... The sore spots on her body were so painful that she could not sleep for many nights. Her toes were bleeding and the toenails fell off as a result of injuries. In spite of all the suffering, Mrs. Zaerpur never complained. She prayed all the time. She was the embodiment of spiritual strength and resignation to the will of God and a source of comfort to all of us.”
In June 1983 five Bahá’ís were put to death in Shiraz after extensive torture. They were:
Dr. Bahram Afnan, Mr. Jamshid Siavushi, Mrs. Tahereh Siavushi, Mrs. Nosrat Yaldai, Mr. Soheyl Hushmand.
In each case the torturers tried to force recantation and conversion to Islam. Having failed in their purpose, they executed their victims.
In January 1984 Mr. Rahmatollah Hakiman died in jail in Kerman under suspicious circumstances. In March 1984 in Baft, province of Kerman, Mr. Nosratollah Ziai and, in Tehran, Mr. Mohsen Razavi died under equally suspicious circumstances. Evidence suggests strongly that all three had been tortured. The refusal of the authorities to release bodies for decent burial and their interment in undisclosed graves almost always indicate that the victims had been tortured.
Dr. Kazemzadeh speaks at a press conference which followed the Senate hearing on torture around the world.
More recently the actions of Iranian authorities took an even more sinister turn. Whereas earlier the main purpose of torture was to compel conversion to Islam, during the past few weeks torture has been used primarily to extract false confessions of serious crimes, primarily spying. Presumably, these confessions to trumped-up charges would implicate other Bahá’ís and provide a plausible pretext for further executions of the members of Bahá’í leadership in Iran. The victims executed after torture on April 9, 1984, in Tehran were:
Mr. Rahim Rahimian, Professor Kamran Lotfi, Mr. Yadollah Saberian, Mr. Ali-Mohammad Zamani.
Reliable information indicates that of the 703 Bahá’ís known to be languishing in prisons in Iran, at least 11, three of them women, have suffered torture inflicted upon them in an attempt to force them to confess to crimes they had not committed. A few have broken down and confessed to false charges. Some of the confessions were video taped, for possible use on Iranian television. Presumably, the spectacle of Bahá’ís “confessing their crimes” on camera would lend verisimilitude to the accusations for which the government has no evidence whatsoever. It should be noted that the Islamic authorities have confiscated and now hold all the records of the Bahá’í community, comprising literally tens of thousands of documents. Not having found a single incriminating item, Iran’s Islamic prosecutors and judges resorted to torture as a means of convicting Bahá’ís out of their own mouths. It would not be the first time the rulers of the Islamic Republic offered confessions extracted by torture as the only proof of guilt.
American Bahá’ís are deeply concerned about the fate of more than 700 of their co-religionists in Iran’s prisons. We are especially anxious about those who have been or will be tortured. Though we have the names of at least 11 Bahá’ís in Tehran and elsewhere who have been tortured, we cannot make them public for fear of retaliation against these prisoners and other innocent Bahá’ís though we are prepared to submit the information to the Committee in confidence.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States does not wish to make specific recommendations to the Committee at present. However, we strongly condemn torture as one of the most heinous crimes against humanity. It can never be justified, no matter what the circumstances. That torture is used at all and that its practice is spreading testifies to the fragility of civilization and to the ease with which humanity reverts to barbarism. Alas, the twentieth century provides only too many examples of such atavistic behavior.
We, American Bahá’ís, feel that the United States cannot ignore torture no matter where or by whom it is practiced, for torture is a threat to our dearest convictions and an affront to our most deep-seated feelings. Acquiescence to torture is a compromise with evil unworthy of this nation.
We hope that the government of the United States, together with the governments of all nations that profess love of humanity, will seek, through the United Nations and through all other legitimate means, the total eradication of torture from the earth.
United States[edit]
Senate again condemns persecutions[edit]
On June 15, the U.S. Senate approved unanimously House Concurrent Resolution 226 which expresses the sense of the Congress in condemning the persecution of members of the Bahá’í Faith in Iran.
Senate passage of the resolution followed by 24 days its approval by the House of Representatives.
Speaking in behalf of the resolution were Sens. Charles Percy of Illinois, Charles Mathias Jr. of Maryland, Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas, John Heinz of Pennsylvania, Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, John Glenn of Ohio, Frank Murkowski of Alaska, Larry Pressler of South Dakota and Rudy Boschwitz of Minnesota.
All except Sen. Heinz are members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Some excerpts from the senators’ remarks:
Sen. Percy—“Since the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, the Bahá’í community in Iran has been subjected to cruel and escalating persecution. ...
“By passing this resolution, the Senate will make public its absolute condemnation of Iran’s persecution of the Bahá’ís.”
Sen. Mathias—“The persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran is a tragic case that calls for our support for House Concurrent Resolution 226, which condemns the Iranian government’s treatment of the Bahá’ís. ...
“Women and teen-age girls have been hanged for their religious faith. Indeed, the proof that the persecution is based solely on religious differences is seen in the fact that almost all of those executed were offered their freedom, and restoration of jobs and possessions, if only they would renounce their faith and embrace Islam.
‘Nowhere is the repugnance of the radical regime in Iran more apparent than in its vicious and indefensible persecution, if not genocide, against the Bahá’í people in that country. This is religious persecution in its most virulent form.’
“... it is my sincere hope that in passing this resolution today we will send a strong signal to the civilized world that we cannot tolerate mindless persecution of a community of innocent men and women.”
Sen. Kassebaum—“Nowhere is the repugnance of the radical regime in Iran more apparent than in its vicious and indefensible persecution, if not genocide, against the Bahá’í people in that country. This is religious persecution in its most virulent form.
“Neither racial nor cultural differences distinguish Bahá’í Iranians from their Shi’ite Moslem countrymen. It is purely on the basis of religious intolerance that Bahá’ís in Iran are persecuted, tortured and killed.
“... This issue is of concern to all people of all religious faiths. Persecution against any one group affects us all, for it is all too easy for any of us to become the next victim if we only stand by while the rights of others are abused.”
Sen. Heinz—“... I urge all of my colleagues to join in condemning the Iranian government for the continued persecution of the people of the Bahá’í faith. This resolution is identical to Senate Concurrent Resolution 86 introduced by Sen. Percy and myself last November. ...
“Members of the Bahá’í community have been denied their basic human rights ... For refusing to embrace the religion of the ruling government, thousands have been arrested and tortured, losing their property and jobs. Holy sites have been confiscated and desecrated. ...
“The resolution condemns the Khomeini regime’s actions against the Bahá’ís and reaffirms our solidarity with the Bahá’í people. The resolution also calls on the President to take an active role in persuading the Iranian government to halt the destruction of this peaceful community.
“I am pleased that 67 members of the Senate are co-sponsors of Senate Concurrent Resolution 86 and that it is supported by the State Department on behalf of the Reagan administration. ...
“Let me urge each of my Senate colleagues to add his or her support to this important resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 226. Together, this body can send a clear signal directly to the Iranian regime that we have noted and that we condemn these outrageous violations of internationally accepted standards of basic human behavior.”
Sen. Pell—“Without a doubt, the treatment of the Bahá’ís is the most serious of many appalling human rights abuses in Iran today, and one of the most egregious human rights violations anywhere. ...
“The Khomeini regime has, in effect, made adherence to the Bahá’í faith a crime ... In Iran, it is now a crime for Bahá’ís to participate in a social welfare organization, operate a business corporation, or to teach the faith, even by parents to children at home. Bahá’í shrines and cemeteries have been desecrated and Bahá’í women, whose marriages are not recognized by the regime, have been branded prostitutes. ...
[Page 10]
“The treatment of the Bahá’ís in
Iran is all too reminiscent of the treatment of the German Jews in the early
stages of Hitler’s Reich. If a full-scale
genocide is to be avoided, the world
community must keep international attention focused on Iran’s treatment of
the Bahá’ís.
“Resolutions, such as the one we are about to pass, are a useful tool in insuring that the vilest crime of all—genocide—does not occur in the dark.”
Sen. Sarbanes—“We have learned from the bitter experience of this century that the persecution of a vulnerable people must not be ignored.
“The approximately 300,000 Bahá’ís now living in Iran are indeed vulnerable, and (the resolution) speaks out in their defense by condemning the Iranian policies of persecution and calling for international cooperation on behalf of the Bahá’ís.
“As Elie Wiesel has so eloquently reminded us, the opposite of love is not hatred but indifference, Our respect for human dignity, indeed our own self-respect as a free nation will not permit us to remain indifferent.”
Sen. Dodd—“The August 1983 edict against the Bahá’ís reminds me of nothing so much as the Nuremburg laws of a half-century ago. We cannot allow this to go on without protest. ...
“We must shine the light on the persecution of the Bahá’ís.
“This resolution does three things: first, it states that Iran will be held responsible for the crimes against the Bahá’ís; second, it condemns the efforts of the Iranian government to destroy the Bahá’ís by making their religious practices illegal; and third, it urges the President to work with the appropriate governments, and with the United Nations, to provide aid and comfort to the Bahá’ís, both those within Iran and those who have managed to escape.
“These are sound goals, and I urge my colleagues to support them by prompt passage of House Concurrent Resolution 226.”
Sen. Glenn—“While the peaceful Bahá’í community has been persecuted in Iran for well over a century, the current Iranian government has fiercely rekindled its oppression of the Bahá’ís. ...
“An ominous development is the Iranian government’s banning of Bahá’í administrative institutions which paves the way for future arrests of thousands of individuals who serve on Bahá’í spiritual assemblies. The Iranian government has created conditions which threaten the very survival of the Bahá’í faith in Iran. ...
“While this resolution may do little to ease the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran, it would be unconscionable for the Congress to be silent in the face of this great injustice. We call upon the administration to work with our allies and all other members of the international community on behalf of the persecuted Bahá’ís of Iran.”
Sen. Charles Percy of Illinois, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who introduced S. Con. Res. 86.
Sen. Murkowski—“The persecution of the Iranian Bahá’ís by the Khomeini regime is perhaps one of the worst human rights violations in the world today. ...
“Not a week passes without an act of sheer barbarism and religious oppression occurring in Iran, and the Bahá’ís are a key target. ...
“The UN Human Rights Commission has passed four major resolutions concerning the persecution, and the U.S. has supported each one ... The Secretary of State and the President have issued statements calling attention to the persecution and requesting international support. ...
“Congress has begun to act. On May 22 the House passed a resolution condemning this persecution and calling on the President to work with appropriate foreign governments in forming an appeal to the Khomeini regime. ...
“These efforts must continue. The Bahá’ís cannot be forgotten.”
Sen. Pressler—“... the Bahá’ís of Iran have been systematically denied virtually all freedom and opportunity. By anyone’s measure, their human rights continue to be trampled upon. In particular, their freedom of religion is effectively non-existent.
“The Iranian government must be convinced that these atrocities are unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. ...
“This action of the U.S. Congress should inspire other nations, many of whom have closer ties with Iranian authorities than does the United States, to increase pressure on Iranians with whom they do business to stop official and private atrocities against the Bahá’ís.”
Sen. Boschwitz—“It’s easy to become jaded these days to the many examples we read and hear about of torture, persecution and killings, but the situation faced by the Bahá’í community is of a scope that makes some response a moral necessity. ...
“Men love the darkness ... because it hides their deeds. This resolution sheds light on the dark deeds of a despotic regime.
“I don’t suggest that our responsibility ends there, but it certainly begins there. I ask, then, for the adoption of this beginning, a first step toward the return of some degree of light to the Bahá’ís in Iran.”
In addition to the remarks by the senators, the complete text of the Newsweek magazine article titled “Death Inside Khomeini’s Jails” was entered in the Congressional Record.
Australia[edit]
Bahá’ís sponsor seminar for farmers[edit]
In response to the Universal House of Justice’s call to foster social and economic development, the Bahá’ís of Perth, West Australia, decided to sponsor a day-long seminar on agriculture/horticulture alternatives for farmers in a small community called Denmark (population 2,000).
One of the Bahá’ís has a family in that area and knew that there were many farming problems that could be overcome by education.
The Perth community, through its Assembly, developed a four-stage plan over an eight-week period that included:
- An initial survey to verify that a seminar would be useful.
- Facility investigation and organization.
- Seminar preparation and presentation.
- End-of-seminar questionnaires for information feedback to farmers, shire councilors, and so on.
- A simultaneous prayer session.
- Follow-up.
Two West Australian Bahá’ís—Andrew Blake, a horticulture lecturer,
and Ian McPharlin, an agriculture lecturer—presented sessions on some
promising farming alternatives that
could help ease the local cost/price
squeeze.
They also presented the idea that Denmark’s farming future basically depends upon the farmers’ unity (e.g., cooperative marketing approaches, etc.).
A non-Bahá’í farm expert, Vikki Pedalina, also was employed (although she would accept only travel expenses) to conduct a group discussion, helping the farmers themselves to define and find solutions to their problems.
The Denmark community actively supported the effort. The local agricultural high school offered its facilities, local papers and radio stations gave interviews and free advertising, residents distributed programs and posters, and accommodations were offered. As a result, the Bahá’ís incurred few expenses, mainly for poster printing and traveling.
More than 100 people took an active
Speakers at a recent day-long agriculture/horticulture seminar sponsored by the Bahá’ís of Perth, West Australia, in the small community of Denmark were (left to right) Andrew Blake, Vikki Pedalina and Ian McPharlin. Ms. Pedalina is not a Bahá’í.
[Page 12]
part in the seminar. The information
collected was collated and computer
analyzed. Already, requests for information have been received from agriculture and education advisory committees, a local Member of Parliament
and council, farmer associations and
seminar participants.
In thanking the Bahá’ís for presenting the seminar, the agricultural high school principal said it had already influenced his planning for adult education in the district. Both he and the regional agricultural advisory committees are awaiting the statistical analysis of the seminar.
Proceedings have been printed that contain:
- copies of seminar talks;
- a transcript of questions and answers;
- collated results of consultation from workshop sessions.
The proceedings were printed free of
charge by Muresk Agricultural College.
In the seminar, two important Bahá’í principles were advanced and put to use. The first of these was the need for unity, which was singled out in particular by the participants who concluded that as theirs is such a small community, any new agricultural or horticultural venture that was started could succeed only if everyone pulled together.
A view of workshop groups conferring during a day-long agriculture/horticulture seminar organized by the Bahá’ís of Perth, West Australia, in the small community of Denmark. More than 100 local residents took part in the seminar.
The other principle put to good use was that of consultation. Half of the seminar time was devoted to workshop sessions in which the farmers defined their own advantages, problems and possible solutions. Each group of six to eight participants then shared the “fruits” of their consultation with the others. This seemed a new and exciting experience for them, and resulted in maximum participation.
There were inquiries about the Faith, but as this was not our original aim we did not dwell on teaching. Any such activity, we felt, would have been viewed with distrust in this small community, and would have had a negative effect.
Instead, using the mailing list generated from the seminar, the Bahá’ís of Perth plan to follow up with a short survey to confirm that another seminar is needed, and what its content should be. Already, it has been suggested that besides agriculture and horticulture, there should be presentations on effective consultation, applications of unity, and capitalizing on local skills and talents for the good of the community.
While the Perth Bahá’ís cannot afford, and do not intend, to support the Denmark community, the feeling is that they can perhaps act as a catalyst to aid in the community’s return to economic and social stability.
Portugal[edit]
Shown are some of the 220 people (including 180 non-Bahá’ís) who attended a public meeting last March 24 in Setubal, Portugal, about 30 miles south of Lisbon. The Naw-Rúz event, called the ‘Spring Feast,’ was planned by the local Teaching Committee of Setubal. (More photos on Page 17)
United States[edit]
250 are enrolled on Sioux Reservations[edit]
OVERJOYED UPSURGE TEACHING. SPIRIT MOVING BELIEVERS RESULTING 250 ENROLLMENTS SIOUX RESERVATIONS SOUTH DAKOTA. TESTIMONY GROWTH MATURITY AMOZ GIBSON TEACHING PROJECT. SEVEN YEAR PLAN GOAL 50 ASSEMBLIES INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN SIGHT. PROGRESS ACHIEVED UNIFIED CAMPAIGN ACTIVE INDIAN TEACHERS, YOUTH, ADULTS. HAND CAUSE KHADEM, NSA MEMBER, NTC MEMBER LEAVING TODAY ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT FURTHER PROGRESS. SPIRIT HIGH CONTINUING PROCESS. SUPPLICATE PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES.
This joyful telex was sent July 28 to the Universal House of Justice by the National Teaching Committee of the United States, sharing the exciting news of victories in the Amoz Gibson Teaching Project on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Sioux Reservations in South Dakota.
The message of victory has a relatively short but most exultant history behind it.
Last summer, the campaign had its beginning under the capable sponsorship of the District Teaching Committee of South Dakota, which, working hand in hand with the National Teaching Committee and American Indian Teaching Committee, invited projecteers to teach the Faith and attract new believers to the Cause of God.
Among those who volunteered were Jaleh Vafai, the widow of a martyr from Hamadan, Iran, and Edwin Roberts, who has served as campaign coordinator both summers.
Youth from various parts of the country played an active part in the campaign last summer. Among them were Navid Haghighi from Louisiana and Saied Mirafzali from Michigan, both of whom dedicated their summer to the campaign.
In an effort to recruit more projecteers, these youth traveled to Texas to attend a regional youth conference and returned to South Dakota with several young volunteers.
One young woman from Texas, Lisa Molin, decided to remain as a homefront pioneer.
By the end of summer 1983, more than 60 adults and youth had embraced the Faith and two new Spiritual Assemblies were formed.
But that was only the beginning. During the winter, the National Youth Committee held a Youth Leadership Program in Wanblee, South Dakota, the hub around which the project has revolved, and several projecteers returned to help consolidate the victories won in the summer.
And last June, the spirit that had ushered in the successes of the summer of ’83 was rekindled with an influx of traveling teachers and other volunteers.
As of the end of July, more than 250 new Bahá’ís had been welcomed into the Faith and eight new Assemblies were formed on the Sioux Reservations.
A large part of the joy experienced has come from the diversity of the projecteers, many of whom have traveled cross-country to contribute to the success of the campaign.
Youth have been in the forefront of the teaching work, with carloads arriving from as far away as South Carolina and Navajoland in the Southwest.
The statistics and facts of an effort of this kind are always of interest, but the underlying stories of sacrifice and dedication on the part of so many Bahá’ís provide the spirit that moves us all to serve in whatever capacity we are able.
The Hand of the Cause of God Dhikru’lláh Khádem (left) greets one of the Native American believers, Calvin Pumpkinseed.
The stories of the Amoz Gibson Project will continue to be shared long after the campaign itself has ended, and will serve as examples of courageous and heroic deeds in the annals of the American Bahá’í community.
The world[edit]
St. Lucia breaks ground for Center[edit]
A ground-breaking ceremony for the first Bahá’í National Center in St. Lucia, West Indies, was held during the visit March 29-April 1 of the Hand of the Cause of God H. Collis Featherstone.
The historic event included addresses by Mr. Featherstone, Counsellor Ruth Pringle, and Esther Evans, a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh who first settled in St. Lucia in 1953. Also included were prayers and musical selections.
During his visit, Mr. Featherstone joined Counsellor Pringle and a group of local Bahá’ís in paying a courtesy call on the governor-general of St. Lucia.
Mr. Featherstone was also able to meet with members of the National Spiritual Assembly of St. Lucia, and to speak at several gatherings of the friends.
The first National Youth Conference in St. Lucia was held last April 9-10. About 12 St. Lucian Bahá’í youth attended the conference and studied subjects that included marriage and the family, living a Bahá’í life, and work as worship.
Counsellor Ruth Pringle from Panama was present and inspired the young people to more dedicated service. A firm commitment was made to hold more such conferences for youth.
More than 100 children and their teachers from all parts of St. Lucia participated in mid-December in a Bahá’í children’s class rally.
Presentations by various children’s classes of a song, dance or skit were followed by an afternoon of games and sports.
Eight villages were represented at the rally, and some enthusiastic children arrived two hours before the scheduled start of the event to help with preparations.
The occasion helped give the children a better awareness of their Bahá’í peer group in all of St. Lucia.
A member of the local Bahá’í community tries her hand at wielding the shovel during groundbreaking ceremonies last March 31 for the first Bahá’í National Center in St. Lucia, West Indies. Among those looking on are the Hand of the Cause of God H. Collis Featherstone (center in white shirt), his wife, Madge (to Mr. Featherstone’s left), and Counsellor Ruth Pringle (standing next to Mrs. Featherstone).
Pakistan[edit]
A three-member Bahá’í delegation met for about 30 minutes last February 12 with Dost Muhammad Faizi, minister of transport and minority affairs in Sind Province, Pakistan.
The friends conveyed the greetings of the Spiritual Assembly of Karachi and presented the minister with a Bahá’í book on marriage and family life.
The discussion was centered around an application for the appointment of a Bahá’í marriage registrar in Karachi, recognition of Bahá’í Holy Days, and the matter of Iranian Bahá’í refugees arriving in Pakistan.
Mr. Faizi said the government plans to create a Minority Advisory Council and added that he would propose that there be Bahá’í representation on the new council.
Andaman/Nicobar Islands[edit]
Bahá’ís in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands had completed by February 2 the formation of their 20 goal Assemblies, paving the way for the formation at Riḍván of their own National Spiritual Assembly.
To help strengthen communities in these islands, a three-day Bahá’í Winter School was held beginning last February 3.
Canary Islands[edit]
More than 70 delegates and guests were present April 28-29 at the first Bahá’í National Convention of the Canary Islands in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The Universal House of Justice was represented by the Hand of the Cause of God ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan.
Other guests included Counsellor Louis Henuzet, representing the Board of Counsellors in Europe, and Francisco Javier, representing the National Spiritual Assembly of Spain.
The formation of two new Local Spiritual Assemblies was reported at the opening of the historic Convention, raising the number of Assemblies in the Canary Islands to nine.
Members of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Canary Islands, elected April 28 during the first National Convention of the Canary Islands, are (front row left to right) Kamran Aminian, Eladio Martinez, Issa Taheri; (middle row left to right) Peggy True, Majeh Taheri, Juan Garote; and (back row left to right) Iago German, Kamal Khadem, Inge Brandtzaeg.
More than 70 delegates and guests were present April 28-29 at the first Bahá’í National Convention of the Canary Islands in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The Hand of the Cause of God ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan, who represented the Universal House of Justice at the Convention, is standing with arms folded in the center of the fifth row.
Swaziland[edit]
More than 400 people from 15 African countries, many of whom are indigenous African believers, attended Swaziland’s most recent International Bahá’í Summer School.
The school session was opened by a government minister who spoke for 25 minutes, quoting Bahá’u’lláh extensively and warmly endorsing the aims of the Faith. His speech was broadcast three times on radio and television.
Presentations at the school underscored the urgency of acting now to fulfill the teaching goals of the Seven Year Plan and stressed the need to improve the quality of Bahá’í family life.
The launching of a multi-national Bahá’í association for social and economic development in southern Africa was announced in a message from the Summer School to the Universal House of Justice.
World Centre[edit]
The 180 members of the Oratorio Society and Civic Symphony of Winfield, Kansas, walk through the gardens at the Bahá’í World Centre prior to their visit last March 17 to the Shrine of the Báb. The visitors, who were in Israel for a concert performance, were greeted by Hugh E. Chance, a member of the Universal House of Justice who was born in Winfield. They seemed genuinely impressed by the beauty of the Bahá’í Holy Places and pleased with the warm reception they were given.
Barbados[edit]
The Hand of the Cause of God H. Collis Featherstone (left) was among those attending a recent prayer service at the Bahá’í National Center in St. Michael, Barbados, which honored the martyrs in Iran and offered prayers for all of the Bahá’ís in that country.
Bangladesh[edit]
Fifty-four people, 31 of whom are native believers, attended the first self-supporting Bahá’í Winter School for youth which was held last January in Myensingh, Bangladesh.
Among the participants were three members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Bangladesh and five Auxiliary Board members.
Two guests at the school declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh.
Dominican Republic[edit]
A well-attended seminar on Bahá’í child education was held last February 25-26 at the Universidad Central de Este in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic.
Included were classes, panel discussions and workshops. One of the features was a lecture on nutrition by a university faculty member who is a dietitian.
Portugal[edit]
A colorful banner strung above a busy street in Setubal, Portugal, announces a Bahá’í-sponsored ‘Spring Feast’ that was held last March 24. One hundred-eighty of the 220 people who attended the event were non-Bahá’ís.
Tonga[edit]
Sione Tu’itahi, a Bahá’í youth from Tonga, was one of four Tongan youth who were invited to join 34 young people from 10 South Pacific countries on a recent two-week tour of Japan.
The tour, sponsored by the Japanese government, was followed by a visit to five countries in Oceania with a group of Japanese youth.
Mr. Tu’itahi is the Bahá’í youth representative to the Tonga National Youth Workers’ Association, the national body that is to coordinate activities in Tonga for the International Year of Youth (IYY) in 1985.
Two Bahá’í youth from Tonga were among a group of 30 young people from that country chosen to participate in May and June in a two-week course in youth leadership and small business management sponsored by the Commonwealth Youth Program, the Tongan Ministry of Education, and the Tonga Youth Workers’ Association.
A group of Tongan Bahá’í youth has been providing volunteer labor on the construction of a national teaching center located near the Tonga House of Worship property.
Four Bahá’í youth from Tonga who pioneered four years ago to the Eastern Caroline Islands and Micronesia are still at their pioneering posts.
Bahá’í youth in Tonga are in the vanguard of teaching activities on the local, regional and national levels.
Brazil[edit]
One hundred-twenty Bahá’ís and their guests gathered last March 21 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, for the dedication of a new Regional Bahá’í Center for northeastern Brazil.
Large numbers of middle class young people are showing an interest in the Faith, and many enrollments have taken place during the last six months.
United Kingdom[edit]
John Long, a long-time member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom, has been honored for his services to education in the clothing and footwear industries.
Mr. Long was presented the Holden Medal by the president of the Clothing and Footwear Institute. The prestigious medal has been awarded on only four previous occasions, and Mr. Long is only the second person from Great Britain to receive it.
He worked in the clothing and footwear industries for many years, and after retiring from his post as dean at Leicester Polytechnic devoted much of his time to the development of the Bahá’í Publishing Trust of the United Kingdom.
Zimbabwe[edit]
Zimbabwe’s roving Teaching Committee sent a teaching team last February 9 to Murewa. In only two days, the team enrolled 130 new Bahá’ís and helped bring about the election of a Spiritual Assembly in Duku.
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