От: subscribe@bahaiworldnews.org
Отправлено: 21 марта 2006 г. 5:03
Кому: wchupin@land.ru
Тема: New Baha'i World News Service Story



 


UN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OFFICIAL EXPRESSES FEARS FOR BAHA'IS IN IRAN
 
UNITED NATIONS, 20 March 2006 (BWNS) -- Representatives of  the Baha'i International Community reacted with alarm today to a United Nations  official's statement about actions of the Iranian government against the Baha'is in Iran.

The United  Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir, stated  that she was highly concerned and expressed her apprehensions in a press release posted today about "a confidential letter  sent on 29 October 2005 by the Chairman of the Command Headquarters of the  Armed Forces in Iran  to a number of governmental agencies."

"The letter," she said, "which is addressed to the Ministry of Information, the Revolutionary Guard and the Police Force, states that the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, had instructed the Command Headquarters to identify persons  who adhere to the Baha'i faith and monitor their activities. The letter goes on  to request the recipients to, in a highly confidential manner, collect any and all information about members of the Baha'i faith."

"We are grateful that Ms. Jahangir has brought this activity  to light," said Bani Dugal, the Baha'i International Community's principal representative to the UN. "We share  her concern for the welfare of the Baha'is and shudder to think what this might  mean. Because of the unprecedented character of the government's action, we are addressing a request to the Ambassador of Iran for an explanation."

Ms. Jahangir also "considers that such monitoring constitutes an impermissible and unacceptable interference with the rights of members of religious minorities."

"The  Special Rapporteur's concern that such information could be 'used as a basis for the increased persecution of, and discrimination against, members of the  Baha'i faith' is clearly well-founded," said Ms. Dugal.

Such actions come in the wake of mounting media attacks on the Baha'is, the nature  of which in the past have preceded government-led assaults on the Baha'is in Iran. "Kayhan," the official Tehran daily newspaper has carried more than  30 articles about the Baha'is and their religion in recent weeks, all defamatory in ways that are meant to create provocation. Radio and television programs have joined in  as well with broadcasts condemning the Baha'is and their beliefs. In addition, the rise in influence in Iranian  governmental circles of the Anti-Baha'i Society, Hojjatieh, an organization committed to the destruction of the Baha'i Faith, can only heighten the fears for that beleaguered community.


"We well know what hateful propaganda can lead to; recent  history offers too many examples of its horrific consequences. We make an urgent appeal to all nations and  peoples on behalf of our Iranian coreligionists that they not allow a  peace-loving, law-abiding people to face the extremes to which blind hate can lead," said Ms. Dugal. "The ghastly deeds that grew out of similar circumstances in the past should not now be allowed to happen. Not again."

Background

Recent media attacks on the Baha'is in Iran

In recent months, Iranian newspapers and radio stations have  been conducting an intensive anti-Baha'i campaign. From September through November 2005 alone, the influential, state-run Kayhan newspaper ran nearly three dozen  articles defaming the Baha'i Faith with the clear intention of arousing in readers feelings of suspicion, distrust and hatred for the Iranian Baha'i community. The articles engage in a deliberate distortion of history, make use of fake historical documents, and  falsely describe Baha'i moral principles in a manner that would be offensive to Muslims.

Before the onset of previous government campaigns of  persecution against Baha'is, such as in 1955 and 1979, similarly defamatory articles and radio programs were run against the Baha'is, stirring up animosity  and prejudice, apparently to prepare the public for what was to come.

For more information, including copies of the Kayhan articles in Persian and summaries in English, please go to this address: http://www.bahai.org/iranthreat


<strong>The Anti-Baha'i Hojjatieh Society</strong>

Founded in 1953 as a specifically anti-Baha'i organization  by a charismatic Shiite Muslim cleric, the Hojjatieh Society has today  re-emerged in Iran as an influential if secretive faction that has been linked in news articles and web blogs with the current Iranian administration.

During the 1979 Iranian revolution, the Society played an  important role in stirring animosity against Baha'is.  However, in part because of differences in theology - among other things the Hojjatieh believe a truly Islamic state cannot  be established until the return of the 12th Imam - the Society fell into disfavor and was banned by the regime in 1984.

Outside observers have connected the Society's re-emergence  with the return of hardliners to positions of power in the government, including the president who has frequently stated his expectation that the 12th Imam will return soon.

For more information on the Hojjatieh, please go to this address: http://www.bahai.org/iranthreat

--
18-BK-060320-1-PERSECUTION-432-S


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advance release: Please check our website for the final version of this article.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2006 by the Baha'i World News Service. All 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, visit http://www.bahaiworldnews.org.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have questions about this list or wish to unsubscribe, contact editor@bahaiworldnews.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
