| ←276 | Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1986-2001 Details Regarding Rúḥu’lláh Rawḥání Bahá’í Martyr in Iran |
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| 22 JULY 1998 |
To selected National Spiritual Assemblies
277.1 Further to the circular letter of 22 July 1998 from the Universal House of Justice, informing National Spiritual Assemblies of the execution in Mashhad, Iran, of Mr. Rúḥu’lláh Rawḥání, we provide below information about him which has just been received from his close relatives in Australia. . . .
272.2 Mr. Rawḥání was a person of a deeply gentle and innocent character. Indeed his family nicknamed him "Rúḥu’lláh the innocent." He was the father of four children, sons aged 24 and 17, and daughters aged 22 and 9. His family, unable to obtain any information about his circumstances or state of health, have undergone intense suffering during his imprisonment.
277.3 Mr. Rawḥání was not a wealthy man. He made his living as a salesman of medical supplies and health products, an occupation he engaged in for about twenty years. Approximately twelve years ago he was sentenced to a period of two years' imprisonment, because of his membership in the Bahá’í Faith, and to an additional one year's internal exile in the village of Najafábád, which he was not permitted to leave and where he had to report daily to the police.
277.4 After this period he returned to Mashhad to continue his profession. About four years ago, his brother-in-law from Australia, who was visiting his ill father in Iran, saw Mr. Rawḥání. He said that the psychological suffering that Mr. Rawḥání had undergone in his earlier imprisonment was clearly evident in his face. His children were also affected by the suffering imposed on their father. Just prior to his arrest in September 1997, the family had decided to move to Iṣfahán, as Mr. Rawḥání had found it increasingly difficult to make a satisfactory living in Mashhad. On the day of the family's intended departure, revolutionary guards came to their home and arrested him. From that time, the family had seen Mr. Rawḥání only once—about a month after he was arrested—after which the authorities refused to give them any information about his situation, or even to tell them whether he was alive or dead.
277.5 This changed on Monday last, when the family were informed that they could see him for one hour. It is understood that this meeting was the first time that Mr. Rawḥání had breathed fresh air in three months. The next day the family were called to the prison to collect his body. They were given only one hour to bury their loved one, despite their appeal for more time to enable other relatives to attend the funeral. From the marks of a rope on his neck, it appeared that Mr. Rawḥání had been executed by hanging.
- DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARIAT
