 

 

UPDATE: 

Situation of the Baha'is in Iran 
August 2006 

 

 

 



This update presents the most recent developments in the situation of the Baha'is in the Islamic Republic of Iran (since March 2006), along with a review of the human rights violations to which they have been subjected for over two decades. The abuses concern not only civil and political rights, but also a wide range of social, economic and cultural rights. 

 

Contents 

Recent developments………………………………………………….…….. 

2

Review of human rights violations – historical and legal context……….. 

5

Denial of the right to life, liberty and security of person……………...…... 

5

– Arrests and imprisonments……………………..………………………… 

10

Denial of the right to organize as a peaceful religious community……… 

15

Denial of access to education………………………………………….…… 

16

Confiscation and destruction of community properties…………………… 

17

Confiscation of properties belonging to individual Baha’is…………..…… 

18

Denial of employment, pensions and other benefits……………….……… 

19

Denial of civil rights and liberties……………………………………………. 

21

Iranian government claims…………………………………….…….………. 

21

Summary conclusion…………………………………………………………. 

23



 

ANNEX: List of Baha'is released on bail and awaiting trial 

 



 

 

Baha'i International Community, 
United Nations Office 

 


Situation of the Baha'is in the Islamic Republic of Iran 

Recent developments 


A Baha'i in Karaj was taken into custody on 28 June 2006 and is reportedly being held in a Ministry of Information detention centre. First arrested on 5 August 2005 and released on bail ten days later, he had been sentenced in September last year (along with three other Baha’is) to ten months in prison on the spurious charge of opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran. It may be that he was rearrested in June to serve out this sentence, but no further details are known at this time. 

 

A Baha’i resident of Sanandaj was arrested in that city on 13 June and released on 29 June 2006. In Hamedan on the morning of 18 June, officials arrived simultaneously at the residences of three members of the Baha'i community, searched these homes and confiscated computers, books and documents. They left in the afternoon, taking with them all three Baha’is, who were placed under arrest, imprisoned for three days and then released on bail. 

 

On 19 May, Iranian officials arrested and imprisoned 54 members of the community, most of them youths, in Shiraz. None were formally charged and nearly all were released on bail within a week, but three of these Baha'is remained in jail until 14 June. The arrests occurred while they were engaged in community service – together with several other volunteers who were not Baha’is – and had in their possession a letter of permission from the Islamic Council of Shiraz. At the same time, the authorities raided six Baha'i homes in Shiraz and confiscated notebooks, computers, books and documents. It should be noted that all of the non-Baha’is were released the same day (19 May) without having to post bail. 

 

These revolving-door arrests are the latest in a long series, demonstrating that official repression of the community continues. Since late 2004, when the persecution began to intensify again, Baha’is throughout the country have been subjected to acts of harassment and intimidation solely because of their religious beliefs. 

 

The total number of those released on bail and awaiting trial has now risen to 129. The bail demands have been high, requiring the Baha'is to hand over considerable sums of money, deeds to property, business or work licences. Government officials are persistently retaining the assets of these people, who have not been charged with any crime and for whom no trial dates have been set. 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

 

In March 2006, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief released a statement announcing that she was "highly concerned” 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… which… 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. 

 
The Special Rapporteur further stated: “this latest development indicates that the situation with regard to religious minorities in Iran is, in fact, deteriorating” and called on “the Government of Iran to refrain from categorizing individuals according to their religion and to ensure that members of all religious minorities are free to hold and practise their religious beliefs, without discrimination or fear". 

 

The Baha'i International Community’s UN Office in New York released a statement to the press the same day, expressing our gratitude to the Special Rapporteur for having brought the document to light, and sharing her concern. Towards the end of July, Amnesty International issued a public statement about this confidential letter and offered the opportunity to obtain a copy. Details concerning the list of intended recipients and the content of the letter are provided in the relevant section below (see page 6). 

 

There have been several indications that officials in various sectors in Iran are implementing the government initiative to monitor the activities of Baha’is. It was reported to us that the Iranian Association of Chambers of Commerce (Ettehadiyeye Asnaf) was compiling a list of Baha’is in every type of trade and employment. Moreover, in a letter from the Trades, Production, and Technical Services Society of Kermanshah addressed to the Union of Battery Manufacturers (dated 2 May 2006), the Society requested from the Union "a list of the names of those who belong to the Baha’i sect and are under the jurisdiction of your union". 

 

The monitoring is being followed by acts that target members of the community. For example, we have been informed that Iranian officials in six different localities have told Baha’is who are in business either to close down or to place limits on their businesses. Problems are reportedly being created for members of the community in various trades throughout the country, and managers of private companies have recently been pressured to fire their Baha’i employees. 

 

These measures are being implemented concurrently with a campaign of media attacks on the Baha'i Faith, which in the past have preceded government-instigated assaults on the Baha'is. Kayhan, the official Tehran daily newspaper, has published over three dozen calumnious articles since October last year. During the same period, Iranian radio and television broadcasts have regularly condemned the Baha'is and their beliefs, as well, for example in a series of weekly programmes on Ma'arif, a national radio network. 

 

One of the most recent articles in Kayhan shows the depths to which the Iranian media are going in their efforts to inflame the public against the Baha’is. This article, published on 23 February 2006, says that Baha’is would gather on a Muslim Holy Day to “consume alcohol, dance, and sacrifice a Muslim child”. The same article recalls an incident when a number of people were to be executed after murdering a group of Baha’is and, to save these Muslims, Ayatollah Khomeini visited the shah and told him to free the murderers – an order which he [the shah] obeyed. We are gravely concerned about the implications of a state-run newspaper publishing an account of this incident in the current context. 

 

Recent history offers too many examples of the horrific consequences that can ensue when hateful propaganda targets a specific minority. Before the onset of previous waves of persecution against Baha'is (such as in 1955 and 1979), similar defamatory articles and radio programmes stirred up animosity and prejudice, preparing the Iranian public for what was to come. We appeal to the international community to ensure that a peaceful, law-abiding people will not have to face, once again, the ghastly deeds that were ushered in by similar circumstances in the past. 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 


 

In addition, it should be noted that 11 Baha’i homes were raided in Villashahr, Shahinshahr, Najafabad and Kashan, from 9 to 11 May 2006. Books and computers were confiscated from these homes, but no one was arrested or detained. 

 

Finally, we must report that Baha’is across Iran are experiencing an escalation in acts of personal harassment against them. A movement appears to have targeted Baha’i households, which have received notes, CDs and tracts, all aimed at refuting the claims of the Baha'i Faith. Some communications are in the form of documents allegedly written by Baha’is who have recanted their Faith. Many members of the community have also received provocative text (SMS) messages on their cell phones. Intimidation and harassment has significantly increased during the course of this year, and acts of this nature are continuing throughout the country. 

 

 

Further information on all of these events can be found in the relevant sections below. 

 

Detailed background can also be accessed at: http://bahai.org/iranthreat 

 


 

Review of human rights violations – historical and legal context --- 

Since 1979, Baha’is in Iran have been subjected to attack, intimidation and discrimination solely on account of their religious beliefs; they have repeatedly been offered relief from persecution if they were prepared to recant their Faith. Over 200 Baha’is have been killed; 15 others have disappeared and are presumed dead. The extent and systematic nature of the persecution – and the fact that it constitutes deliberate government policy – have been documented in reports issued by UN Special Representatives. The civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights of Iranian Baha'is are systematically violated. 

 

An Iranian government document, obtained and published by the Commission on Human Rights in 1993, has served as a blueprint for the gradual elimination of the Baha'i community. Produced by Iran's Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council and approved by the Supreme Leader, this document sets down guidelines for dealing with "the Baha’i question" so that Baha’i "progress and development shall be blocked." The policy is clearly still in effect today. 

 

As we have often stated, the Baha'i community poses no threat to the authorities in Iran. It is not aligned with any other government, ideology or opposition movement. The principles of the Faith require Baha’is to be obedient to their government and to avoid partisan political involvement, subversive activity and all forms of violence. Iranian Baha'is seek no special privileges but ask only for their rights under the International Bill of Human Rights (to which Iran is party), in particular the right to life, liberty and security of person, the right to profess and practice their religion, and the right to education and work. 

 

The Iranian Constitution stipulates (in Article 13) that Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians are the only recognized religious minorities. When government officials use the term “religious minorities”, it is generally understood to mean only these three. The country’s largest religious minority remains “unrecognized”, and therefore some 300,000 Baha'is cannot benefit from government initiatives in favour of minorities. The Islamic regime refers to the Baha’i Faith as a heresy and a conspiracy, and – classified as "unprotected infidels" – Iranian Baha’is have no legal recourse. 

 

Denial of the right to life, liberty and security of person 


As mentioned above, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ms. Asma Jahangir, released a statement on 20 March 2006 to express her grave concern about a document that had been brought to her attention: 

A confidential letter sent on 29 October 2005 by the Chairman of the Command Headquarters of the Armed Forces in Iran…. The letter, 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…. 

 

According to the Special Rapporteur: “this latest development indicates that the situation with regard to religious minorities in Iran is, in fact, deteriorating.” Later that same day, the Baha'i International Community’s United Nations Office in New York released a statement to the press expressing our gratitude to Ms. Jahangir for having brought this document to light, and sharing her concern. Towards the end of July, Amnesty International issued a public statement about this confidential letter and provided the opportunity to obtain a copy. 

 

Stamped “highly confidential”, the letter was addressed to the Iranian Ministry of Information, the Commanders of the Revolutionary Guard, Basij, Police and Army, the Deputy of the Intelligence Branch of the Police and several others, as well as copied to the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahrudi, and the Chairman of the Office of the Supreme Leader. Signed by Basij Major General Seyyed Hossein Firuzabadi, the Chairman of Command Headquarters of the Armed Forces, the letter refers to reports received concerning the activities and meetings of “the misguided sects of Bahaism and Babism” and states that “according to the instructions of [Iran’s] Supreme Leader”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: 

“…the Command Headquarters of the Armed Forces has been given the mission to acquire a comprehensive and complete report of all the activities of these sects (including political, economic, social and cultural) for the purpose of identifying all the individuals of these misguided sects. Therefore, we request that you convey to relevant authorities to, in a highly confidential manner, collect any and all information about the above-mentioned activities of these individuals and report it to this Command Headquarters.” 

 

In its public statement, Amnesty International details its concerns and indicates that it had sought information about this matter by writing in mid-May 2006 to Major General Firuzabadi and to those named as the intended recipients, but had not received any response. 

 

The monitoring measures referred to here are being implemented concurrently with a campaign of media attacks on the Baha'i Faith, which in the past have preceded government-instigated assaults on the Baha'is in Iran. Kayhan, the official Tehran daily newspaper, has published over 30 calumnious articles since October 2005. 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. During the same period, Iranian radio and television broadcasts have been regularly condemning the Baha'is and their beliefs, as well, for example in a series of weekly programmes on Ma'arif, a national radio network. 

 

One of the articles in Kayhan shows the depths to which the Iranian media are going to inflame the public against the Baha’is. This article (published on 23 February 2006) states that Baha’is would gather on a Muslim Holy Day to “consume alcohol, dance, and sacrifice a Muslim child”. Its author also recalls an incident when a number of people were to be executed after murdering a group of Baha’is and, to save these Muslims, Ayatollah Khomeini visited the shah and told him to free the murderers – an order which he [the shah] obeyed. We are gravely concerned about the implications of a state-run newspaper publishing an account of this incident in the current context. 
 

Moreover, the rise in influence among Iranian officials of Hojjatieh (an organization committed to the destruction of the Baha’i Faith) heightens our fears for all the members of community in Iran. Founded in 1953 as a specifically anti-Baha'i organization by a charismatic Shiite Muslim cleric, the Hojjatieh Society has re-emerged in Iran as an influential, secretive faction linked in news articles and weblogs with the current Iranian administration. During the Iranian revolution in 1979, the Society played an important role in stirring animosity against Baha'is. However, in part because of theological differences, the Society later fell into disfavour 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 – the Hojjatieh believe that a truly Islamic state cannot be established until the return of the 12th Imam. 

 

More details on these matters (including copies of the Kayhan articles in Persian and summaries in English) can be found at: http://bahai.org/iranthreat 

 

Baha’is across Iran are experiencing an escalation in acts of personal harassment against them. A movement appears to have targeted Baha’i households, which have been receiving notes, CDs and tracts, all aimed at refuting the claims of the Baha'i Faith. Some communications are in the form of documents allegedly written by Baha’is who have recanted their Faith. Many Baha’is have also received provocative text (SMS) messages on their cell phones. The following are among the messages most commonly received: 

• Do you know that you are being used by America to clear its way? 
• Do you know that your approach to “wisdom” in teaching your Faith means misleading others? 
• Those who respond rudely, we will ignore, as such responses are indicative of the real Baha’i morals. Those who respond politely, we will soon meet in person. 


 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

 

Early in 2006, we were outraged to learn about the death of an Iranian Baha'i, Mr. Dhabihu'llah Mahrami, on 15 December 2005 in his prison cell in Yazd. During the ten years that he was arbitrarily incarcerated for his beliefs, Mr. Mahrami had received death threats on a number of occasions and was forced to perform arduous physical labour. He was 59 years old, had no known health concerns, and the cause of his death is not known. 

 

About three years ago, Mr. Mahrami was threatened with death on a number of occasions by Mr. Fallah, the Public Prosecutor of Yazd at the time. The manager of Mr. Fallah's office also repeated this threat several times. The last time Mr. Mahrami received a death threat was two months before he died, when – in Yazd prison – a judge by the name of Husayni told him, "Even if you are released from prison, we will get rid of you in a [car] accident." 

 

Mr. Mahrami was first called before the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Yazd in 1995 and questioned about his adherence to the Baha’i Faith. Several meetings were held in an effort to persuade him to renounce his beliefs, but he refused. In the years following the Islamic Revolution, a wave of fierce persecution against the Baha’is resulted in the imprisonment of hundreds of innocent members of the community, of whom 206 were executed, killed, or died in prison between 1978 and 1998. Mr. Mahrami was among the countless number of Baha’is throughout the country who were also summarily fired from their jobs for no reason other than their adherence to the Baha'i Faith. He had previously worked in the Iranian civil service but, at the time of his arrest, was earning a livelihood installing Venetian blinds. 

 

Despite assertions by Iranian officials that Mr. Mahrami had been convicted of spying for Israel, court records incontrovertibly indicate that he was tried and sentenced solely on the grounds of being an "apostate" for believing in the Baha’i Faith. It should be noted that, in an unwise attempt to prevent Mr. Mahrami from losing his job in the civil 
service, a non-Baha'i colleague had submitted his photo to a newspaper with a false announcement that he had recanted his faith. When it became clear to the authorities in later years that Mr. Mahrami was unquestionably a member of the Baha'i community and had never recanted his beliefs, they accused him of converting from Islam to the Baha'i Faith. Consequently, they arrested him as an apostate, and on 2 January 1996 the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death. Since his heirs are not Muslims but Baha’is, his properties and assets were confiscated. 

 

After his lawyer had appealed to the Supreme Court, Iranian officials announced that the Court had rejected the verdict of the Revolutionary Court and referred the case to a civil court. However, in 1997 we received the news, conveyed orally to his relatives, that – despite urgent and diligent action around the world to protest through governments and thereby pressure the Iranian authorities to discharge Mr. Mahrami without penalty – the Supreme Court had confirmed his death sentence. The authorities never publicly bowed to international pressure calling for his release, but in December 1999 on the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, they declared an amnesty and commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. 

 

Mr. Mahrami's funeral was held on 16 December. He is survived by his aged mother, his wife, his four children, and his grandchildren. 

 

As reported above, Mr. Mahrami's death occurred in the midst of a media campaign vilifying the Baha'i Faith and its adherents. These developments cannot help but revive chilling memories of what happened to the Iranian Baha’is in 1955, when they were denounced as enemies of Islam from pulpits, in the press and on radio broadcasts of sermons. The pronouncements incited the population to hatred and led to mob violence throughout the country. Baha’is were publicly beaten and castigated; Baha'i properties, homes, farms, and businesses were wantonly destroyed; and – worst of all – a family of seven in the hamlet of Hurmuzak was set upon by a mob of many hundreds and literally hacked to pieces. 

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

 

As previously reported, the most serious recent outbreak of violence occurred in Yazd early in 2005. The events began when Baha’is approached the officials of the Intelligence Office in Yazd to present them with a copy of the letter that the Iranian Baha’i community had previously addressed to President Khatami. The officials refused to accept it, ordered the Baha’is to stop its distribution, and later told them that if they did not stop, they would suffer the consequences of having the Iranian public rise against them, invade and burn down their homes, assault them, and possibly kill a few of them. The officials asserted that they would deal with the local Baha’is themselves, but added that the Baha’is had engaged in a dangerous political game that would be addressed in more general terms at the national level. 

 

On 18 January, four individuals came to the home of a Baha’i who had previously been summoned and questioned by the intelligence section of the police force. They attacked him with batons, inflicting severe injuries to his face, back and arms. The same individuals, equipped with batons and communication devices, had also attacked the home of another Baha’i that evening, cutting the telephone line and kicking the door open, but they had dispersed when the neighbours came to see what was happening. Later that night, the attackers went to the home of yet another Baha’i, who had a shop 
adjacent to his house. Three of the assailants attacked him with batons, causing serious head wounds, and broke the shop window. This attack was repeated on 25 January and two days later the shop was set on fire, destroying all the merchandise. One of the man’s neighbours informed him confidentially that these attacks had been ordered by the commander of the police force – who had proposed that the homes of Baha’is throughout the country be attacked and burned and that problems be created for Baha’i children. The Baha’is reported the assaults but were told that the police were trying to protect them and that they should not accuse the authorities of being behind these incidents. 

 

In February 2005, the Baha’i cemetery of Yazd was wantonly destroyed with cars driven over the graves, tombstones smashed and the remains of the interred left exposed. Two days later, a gravestone was removed and left in front of a Baha’i’s house along with a threatening letter. The Baha’is had meanwhile filed a complaint with authorities at the 
national level, but to no avail. They were told that what had happened was a consequence of their own action, as they had incited the public, which was hard to control. In fact, the Baha’is are confident that the attacks against them were all planned and implemented by the Iranian authorities, using their own agents and functionaries. 

 

Violence against Baha'is had also occurred in other localities such as Hamedan. In one such case, a Baha’i was kidnapped and brutally attacked more than once by individuals he did not know. On 21 July 2004, five men took him to an unknown location and only released him four hours later, after he had been severely beaten and threatened with death if he did not recant his Faith and become a Muslim. He immediately went to the police station to document the incident. The police form requested that he undergo a medical examination, and the medical examiner’s report stated that he had suffered extensive bruising from being hit numerous times with a hard object (both documents are dated 21 July 2004). 

 

The police referred him to the Revolutionary Court, but the court investigator angrily rebuked his colleagues and the soldier who had presented the case, demanding that the documents be returned to the police station. Moreover, he ordered the officer in charge not to create documentation in such cases, as it would be used by the Baha’is to demand their rights and to complain to international authorities. The victim persuaded another police official to send his documents back to the same court, where the judge advised him to withdraw his complaint or “it would cost him dearly”. He refused to comply and was then taken to the “information division”, where three individuals interrogated him about his beliefs and religious obligations. He was strongly advised to convert to Islam and warned that he should remember what had happened to another Baha’i in Hamedan – who had been killed under mysterious circumstances a month before. The Baha’is in Iran have not been able to elucidate events surrounding the death of the first victim. 

 

According to the international conventions on human rights, even if elements of the Iranian population hold animosity towards the Baha’is, it is the obligation of the government to protect all its citizens. The authorities tend to repeat that the Iranian people consider Baha’is as infidels and wish to attack them. It has, however, been the experience of the Iranian Baha’i community that many of their fellow countrymen respect and admire Baha’is for their ideals, good character and steadfastness. Negative attitudes are much more often expressed and fostered by government officials. 

 

For example, in The Irish Times (dated 20 May 2004), a report on the website of the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i, quoted the following in the question and answer section: 

Q. “We have Baahi [Baha’i] neighbours,” writes one, referring to Iran’s largest religious minority that is routinely persecuted by the authorities. “Our neighbours are good people and we have excellent relations with them. What should we do?” 


A. “These people are harem (forbidden, unlawful) and are the enemy of our religion and beliefs,” replies Khamenei. “You should end your relationship with them.” 

 

Arrests and imprisonments 

The following table presents details concerning the Baha’is detained in Iranian prisons, as of the end of July 2006. 

 

List of Baha’is currently imprisoned in Iran 

 

Name 

Date arrested 

Place 
arrested 

Prison 

Age 

Marital 
status 

No. of 
children

1. Mr. Bahram Mashhadi 
Farahani 


Unknown 

Tehran 

Tehran 
 

2. Mr. Pooya Movahhed 


28 June 2006 

Unknown

 

 

Total number of Baha’is currently imprisoned: two 

 

As mentioned in the section on latest developments, above, the total number of Baha'is released on bail and awaiting trial in Iran has now risen to 129. A complete list of their names can be found in attachment to this Update (see Annex). 

 

Detailed information about the most recent arrests is given below: 

 

As mentioned above, a Baha'i in Karaj, Mr. Pooya Movahhed, was taken into custody on 28 June 2006 and is reportedly being held in a Ministry of Information detention centre. First arrested on 5 August 2005 and released on bail ten days later, he had been sentenced in September last year (along with three other Baha’is) to ten months in prison on the spurious charge of opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran. It may be that he was rearrested to serve out this sentence, but no further details are available at this time. 

 

Mr. Farzin Ghaffari, a Baha’i resident of Sanandaj, was arrested in that city on 13 June and released on 29 June 2006. The precise terms of his release are not known. 

 

In Hamedan on 18 June at approximately 10:00 in the morning, government officials arrived simultaneously at the homes of Mr. Behrouz Rashedi, Mr. Mozafar Ayyubi, and Mr. Parviz Saifi. The officials searched these homes and confiscated computers, books, and Baha’i documents. They left early in the afternoon on that same day, taking with them all three Baha’is, who were placed under arrest, imprisoned for three days and then released on bail (on 21 June). No further details are available for the moment. 

 

On 19 May, Iranian officials arrested and imprisoned 54 members of the community, most of them youths, in Shiraz. None were formally charged and nearly all were released on bail within a week, but three of these Baha'is remained in jail for nearly a month. The arrests occurred while they were engaged in community service – together with several other volunteers who were not Baha’is – and had in their possession a letter of permission from the Islamic Council of Shiraz. At the same time, the authorities raided six Baha'i homes in Shiraz and confiscated notebooks, computers, books and documents. It should be noted that all of the non-Baha’is were released the same day without having to post bail, along with one very young Baha’i (a child under the age of 15). 

 

On the morning of 20 May, the judge in charge of all the cases stated to family members of those detained that most of them would be released soon. On 24 May, after five days of detention without charge, 14 of those imprisoned were released, with each one having been required to provide deeds of property to the value of ten million tumans (approximately US$11,000) as collateral. The following day, 25 May, 36 more were released, either under personal guarantees or having deposited work licenses as surety that they would appear when summoned to court. Thus, 51 were released in all and three remained in prison. 

 

These three, Ms. Haleh Roohi, Mr. Sasan Taqva and Ms. Raha Sabet, were finally released nearly a month later, on 14 June 2006. The judge had originally asked for bail to be posted in the amount of fifty million tumans (approximately US$55,000) per person. However, when requested to reconsider, he decided to release the three detainees on the strength of personal guarantees that they would appear when summoned to court. 

 

These revolving-door arrests are the latest in a long series, demonstrating that official repression of the community continues. In other localities: 

 

On 5 February 2006, three members of the community who were actively involved in the coordination of Baha’i activities in Isfahan were arrested and imprisoned there: Mr. Enayat Naimi, Mr. Surush Pezeshki and Mr. Ihsan Ishtiaq. It seems that they were subsequently released, but no further details are available at this time. 

 

On 15 January 2006, three Baha'is were arrested in Kermanshah: Mrs. Roya Habibi (Ghiami), Mr. Payman Ghiami, and Mr. Ataollah Hurzadeh. Their homes were raided, and the homes of four other Baha’is in Kermanshah were searched, as well. Books, documents and other items were confiscated from all of these homes. On 16 January, the office of the examining magistrate of the Revolutionary Court set property to the value of 10 million tumans (approximately US$11,000) as collateral for Mrs. Habibi’s release. For each of the two men, collateral was originally set to the value of 20 million 
tumans (approximately US$22,000). In the end, all three Baha'is were released on 21 January 2006, on condition that each of them present a deed of property to the value of 10 million tumans. 

 

The relevant court document in the case against Mrs. Habibi stipulated that she had been “charged with teaching the Bahaism sect and acting in an insulting manner towards all that is holy in Islam.” In a letter that Mrs. Habibi wrote to a family member about her arrest, she said that her interrogation had lasted eight hours and focused on questions about the religious instruction she had been giving and her role as a coordinator of this teaching programme. She had also been asked to answer 48 questions about the Baha'i Faith and its administrative order, as well as to give details 
about her father and six other Baha'is who had been killed in 1981 by order of Ayatollah Madani in Hamedan. 

 

Mrs. Habibi’s husband, Mr. Payman Ghiami (arrested at the same time as his wife), also wrote to a family member about his imprisonments and about the many times his family home had been searched and belongings confiscated. His previous arrests, beginning in 1998, had been related to his teaching activities for the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education, as well as his involvement in religious instruction and his association with non-Baha'i families. He wrote that this time (on 15 January 2006), the Ministry of Information had raided his home under a warrant from the prosecutor’s 
office, confiscating books, course materials and other items, and had also searched his place of work, sealing the premises. Mr. Ghiami had asked about the crime for which he was being charged, and had received as a response: “attracting non-Baha’is to the Baha’i Faith”. However, when he was taken to court the next day, he was told that his crime was apostasy, which is punishable by death, but that this charge had been reduced to involvement in Baha’i activities and insulting Islam. 

 

At their court hearing, all three of the Baha'is imprisoned and subsequently released in Kermanshah were informed orally that their cases would be referred to the Revolutionary Court for a final decision. No date has yet been conveyed to them. 

 

 

Ever since the government banned the Baha'i religious and administrative institutions in Iran, there have always been a few Baha’is who do what is minimally required to manage the affairs of the community in an ad hoc fashion at the national and local levels. Four of those engaged in this kind of work in Tehran were summoned to meet with the authorities there on 7 November 2005 and subsequently released, following interrogation: Mr. Shahram Firooz, Mr. Ghazanfaree, .Mr. Ahmad Ashrafi, and Mr. Shahram Najaf-Toomraee. 

 

Having executed or abducted scores of Baha'i administrators in the years immediately following the Revolution, the Iranian government now seems determined to re-initiate summary arrests and imprisonments, without charge, of the few Baha'is who manage the affairs of the community. This action was ominously foretold by an agent of the Iranian intelligence service. While interrogating one of the Baha’is arrested in 2005, the agent stated, "We have learned how to confront [the Baha’is]. We no longer pursue ordinary [Baha’is]; we will paralyse your inner core." 

 

Six community members were arrested on 8 November 2005 in the city of Karaj or in its environs: Mr. Afshin Akrami, Mr. Shahram Boloori, Mr. Vaheed Zamani, ..Mr. Mehraban Farman-Bordari, Mr. Sohrab Hamid, and Mr. Hooshang Mohammad-Abadi. All of them had been involved in managing the affairs of the community and in supervising the training of Baha’is through systematic study of the basic tenets of their Faith. They were released a month later, on 7 December. Each of them was required to produce property valued at 10 million Iranian tumans (approximately US$11,000) as collateral for release. It is not known whether any charges have been laid in these cases. 

 

Also on 8 November, officials searched two homes in Karaj belonging to Baha'is: Mr. Dariush Faiz and Mr. Rahmatullah Shahrezai. Both men were ordered to report to the court on 10 November, where they were questioned but not detained. 
 

Six others, previously imprisoned, were released on bail: 

• on 28 September 2005, Mr. Davar Nabilzadeh, from the city of Mashhad, arrested and imprisoned on 19 August; 
• on 2 October, Mrs. Sima Rahmanian Leghaee and Mrs. Mina Hamran, both arrested on 14 September and detained since then in Ghaem Shahr; and 
• on 11 October, Mr. Misagh Leghaee, Miss Mahvand Leghaee, and Mr. Shahin Sanaee, arrested and imprisoned in Babol Sar since 21 September. 


 

In all of these cases, the individuals concerned were required to use property as collateral for their release. It is not known whether any charges have been laid against them. 


 

Another Baha’i arrested in Babol Sar on 14 September 2005, Mr. Changiz Derakhshanian, was released on bail three days later with properties used as collateral. Two Baha’is from Sari, Mrs. Soheila Motallebi and Mr. Foad Naeemi, were 
arrested in that city on 20 and 28 August 2005, respectively, and released on 19 September. 

 

Mr. Behrooz Tavakkoli had been imprisoned since his arrest on 26 July 2005 with Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi Taefi in Mashhad, where they had intended to meet with other Baha'is and attend to administrative matters. In the evening of 26 July, a dozen agents of the Iranian intelligence services had come to search Mr. Tavakkoli’s home and confiscated books, notes and other belongings. While Mrs. Taefi was released on bail on 19 September, Mr. Tavakkoli was transferred to Tehran, where he was finally released on 15 November. He was required to produce as collateral property valued 
at 50 million Iranian tumans (approximately US$55,000). 

 

Mr. Tavakkoli has been doing Baha'i administrative work at the national level and is very well known to the Iranian authorities. Mrs. Taefi is a member of a coordinating group that supervises course work for Baha’is throughout the country who wish to engage in systematic study of the basic tenets of their Faith. It should be recalled that Mrs. Taefi had previously been arrested on 25 May 2005 and released on bail on 28 June. Some of those more recently arrested were engaged in similar activities at the local level. 

 

As previously reported, officials of the Iranian intelligence agency carried out many more arrests during the first week of August 2005: 

• On 3 August 2005, the authorities arrested Mrs. Simin Gorji in the city of Ghaem Shahr. She was released on bail on 17 September; properties were used as collateral. 
• On 4 August, the following members of the community were arrested in the city of Mashhad: Mr. Hooman Bakhatavar, Mr. Kaviz Nuzdehi, Ms. Nahid Ghadiri, Ms. Nasrin Ghadiri, Mr. Vahid Ghadiri, Ms. Sima Rahimian, Mr. Jalayer Vahdat, 
and Ms. Rozita Vaseghi. The authorities also summoned another Baha'i woman, Ms. Sima Eshraghi, who was not home at the time of the arrests. When she obeyed the summons as requested, she was told that she would be contacted later about the time when she would need to present herself to the authorities. On 4 September, the eight other Baha'is were released on bail. 
• The following Baha’is were arrested on 5 August, while they were meeting in the city of Karaj: Ms. Nasim Ashrafi, Mr. Pooya Movahhed, Ms. Nasim Naderi, and Mr. Emad Sharghi. All these individuals had received training to promote the moral education of young Baha'is in Iran. With the exception of Mr. Movaheid, who lives in Karaj, they are all residents of Tehran. They were released on bail on 15 August (after business licenses had been posted as collateral). On 5 September, the court in Karaj sentenced all four Baha’is to ten months of imprisonment on the charge of opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran. This charge was verbally conveyed to them, and when they asked for a written document, the court refused to issue one. Two attorneys were hired to appeal the sentence. As reported above, Mr. Movahhed was rearrested and re-imprisoned in June 2006. 


 

A total of 37 Baha'is were arrested and taken into custody between March and May 2005. Those imprisoned included prominent members of the community, residents of Tehran, whose houses were ransacked; the authorities filmed some of these searches and confiscated a large quantity of documents, printed materials, books, copying equipment and other possessions. Six Baha'is in Shiraz were also arrested, nine more in the city of Semnan, and nine Baha'i farmers whose homes and land had previously been confiscated in the village of Kata. The names, places and dates of arrest and of 
release, for the cases involving each of these Baha'is, appear in the table of those currently released on bail and awaiting trial in Iran (see Annex). 

 

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

 

In November 2004, a group of Iranian Baha'is had transmitted an appeal in writing on behalf of the entire community to Mr. Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic. They also widely distributed copies of their appeal to governmental and non-governmental authorities and agencies throughout the country. Some of the Baha’is who distributed copies of the message were arrested. Most were detained for a short period of time and then released, as the authorities recognized that submitting an appeal of this nature did not constitute a crime. 

 

On 8 March 2005, Mr. Mehran Kawsari, who had previously been arrested and briefly detained for distributing the letter to President Khatami, was tried without access to lawyers, received a three-year sentence and was incarcerated in Evin prison. After legal action had been taken to appeal on his behalf, his sentence was reduced to one year. Although we received conflicting reports about whether his three-year sentence had been reconfirmed, it would seem that the authorities finally acted in accordance with the reduced sentence, as Mr. Kawsari was released without bail on 18 March 
2006. 
 

Another Baha'i previously arrested and detained, Mr. Bahram Mashhadi, was tried in absentia and given a one-year sentence for the same alleged offence, with no access to any form of legal counsel. The appeals court reviewed his case and confirmed the sentence. He is currently imprisoned in Tehran. 

 

Intelligence officials first arrested Mr. Mashhadi on 1 December 2004 when he was arriving to present the appeal to the Eastern Tehran Assembly of Jurists. He was taken to the local police station where he spent the night. The next day, Mr. Mashhadi was transferred to the headquarters of the Prosecutor's Office of the Revolution where he was interrogated. He was later taken to Evin prison in Tehran where his relatives tried to visit him on several occasions. For ten days the prison authorities disclaimed having any knowledge of his being incarcerated there, but on 12 December they finally acknowledged that they were holding him and demanded that, to secure his release, he had to post bail. Mr. Mashhadi did not wish to do so because past experience had led to concern that such payments contribute to establishing a system of extortion from citizens – such as Baha'is – who have no constitutional protection. 

 

Mr. Sa'id Purja'far was arrested when he presented a copy of the appeal to the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. Mr. Purja'far, a resident of Karaj, was taken to Gohardasht prison in Tehran where he was held without charge. Both young men were released without bail on 22 December 2004. Unlike Mr. Mashhadi, Mr. Purja'far was not subsequently sentenced to a prison term for the same reason. 

 

Several other cases remain officially unresolved: 

• Mr. Manuchihr Khulusi was conditionally released in December 2003. First arrested in 1999 and imprisoned in Mashhad, he had been held in solitary confinement, interrogated and beaten. After his trial, a death sentence was announced in February 2000. Later that year, he was released but in December 2002, the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad abrogated the suspension and sentenced him to four years imprisonment. Mr. Khulusi was incarcerated again for nine months. Having posted bail, he was only released on condition that he would be summoned to appear before the appeals court at a future, unspecified date. 
• Mr. Musa Talibi was freed from prison in May 2003, following the visit to Iran by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in February. Mr. Talibi had been arrested in 1994, sentenced to death for apostasy in 1996 and incarcerated in Tehran. We were unofficially informed in 1999 that his death sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment. He has been given no written document verifying his status. 
• Mr. Ramadan-Ali Dhulfaqari was imprisoned in Rafsanjan in 1993 and condemned to death for apostasy. Although he was released in 1994, the apostasy charge has never been resolved. 


 

Finally, it should be noted that Mr. Bihnam Mithaqi and Mr. Kayvan Khalajabadi were imprisoned in 1989 on charges arising solely from membership in the Baha’i Faith. They were sentenced to death in 1991 (reconfirmed on appeal), but in 2001, the chief of the judicial branch reduced their sentences to 15 years. Both were released in February 2004, having served out their full sentences. 

 

Denial of the right to organize as a peaceful religious community 


Since 1983, the Baha’i community in Iran has been denied both the right to assemble officially and the right to maintain its sacred institutions. In other countries, these democratically elected governing bodies organize and administer the religious activities of the community. The Baha’i Faith has no clergy; its institutions perform many of the functions reserved to clergy in other religions and are the foundational element of Baha’i community life, but in Iran they continue to be banned. 

 

Iranian Baha’is gradually made arrangements to worship in small groups, conduct classes for children and take care of other community needs in their homes. Authorities continued to harass them by disrupting meetings, arresting teachers of children's classes, and giving Baha'is suspended sentences to be carried out should they again commit the "crime" of attending religious instruction in a private home. 

 

The government is now attempting to prevent all Iranian Baha'is from participating in monthly religious gatherings and other group activities. Already in 2004, the authorities had intensified their pressure on the community (in ways that included threatening individual believers) and had ordered the Baha’is to suspend all social, educational and community-related activities – in other words, all activities that went beyond the individual observance of religious obligations. 

 

Moreover, the Baha’is were clearly informed that they would face the government's withdrawal of protection if they did not ban all collective activities. The officials stated that the most compassionate act of the Islamic Republic had been to establish laws that protect the Baha’is from the people of Iran, who might otherwise take the law into their own hands and “follow the dictates of their Islamic sentiments”. The implication was that the Baha’is could be subjected to mob attacks without protection from the government. 

 


Denial of access to education 


Documented evidence shows that, despite their claims to the contrary, the Iranian authorities once again blocked access to university for the Baha'is last year. 

 

A large number of Baha'i students passed the national university entrance examinations in June/July 2005, many with very high scores. It was not necessary to declare a religious affiliation in order to take the exam. However, when they received their results in August, they saw that they had been falsely recorded as Muslims on the official form. The students wrote back to the officials concerned, indicating that the registration form for the exam did not ask for a declaration of religious affiliation and therefore they did not understand why their religion was stated as Islam on the results form, when in fact they are Baha’is. They never received any reply. 

 

In 2004, when exactly the same thing happened, the students had reported the mistake but had been told that the "incorrect religion would not be corrected". Moreover, there had been reports of officials saying, after the Baha'is had taken the exam, that this amounted to a de facto declaration of faith in Islam. For decades the government has maintained, as a requirement for entrance to university, that Baha'i students renounce their Faith. The authorities are well aware that Baha’is will not do so, as a matter of principle. 

 

Complete information on the events of 2004, and full details regarding the ongoing effort by Baha'i students to obtain access to higher education in Iran, can be found at: http://denial.bahai.org/index.php 

 

Barring Baha’i students from access to higher education has been a long-standing policy of the Islamic Republic. The 1991 memorandum from the Iranian Supreme Revolutionary Council (published by the former UN Special Representative) stated, "They [Baha’is] must be expelled from universities, either in the admission process or during the course of their studies, once it becomes known that they are Baha’is". A statement recently posted on Ayatollah Safi's official website in Iran also refers to this policy. In response to a question about registering Baha’is in educational institutions, the Ayatollah responded: "Their registration as Baha’is, which is an anti-Islamic intelligence organization, is not allowed and is contrary to the interests of Islam and the principles and values of the Islamic Revolution." 

 

In the late 1980s, the Iranian Baha’is sought to mitigate the effects of the ban by establishing their own institution of higher education. Known as the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE), the Institute offered classes in private homes throughout the country, augmented by a scattering of specialized classrooms, laboratories and libraries. By 1996 several hundred students were enrolled and eleven had graduated with the equivalent of a bachelor's degree. 

 

In the early morning hours of 15 August 2005, four intelligence agents entered an apartment where Mr. Sina Vahdati, the administrative head of the BIHE responsible for academic affairs, was residing. The agents confiscated certain Institute documents, of which they appeared to have had prior knowledge, and left after having questioned him for a few hours. Later, Mr. Vahdati was directed to go to the local intelligence office in Tehran. When he arrived there on 16 August, he was dismissed and informed that he would need to return at a later date. 

 

The Iranian authorities had ordered the Baha’is to suspend all educational activities in August 2004 and specifically to close the BIHE and Advanced Baha’i Studies Institute. 


This was not the first time that officials had tried to block or to disrupt the BIHE. In 1998, officers of the Ministry of Information had arrested faculty members in cities across the country and seized textbooks, papers, records, computers, and furniture. And in July 2002 Revolutionary Guards had interfered with eight of the Institute’s 
district exams. 

 

The Baha’i Faith places a high value on education. Being denied access to university-level studies is demoralizing, and any erosion in educational levels inevitably leads to impoverishment. The Baha'i International Community has placed particular emphasis on this point over the past few years, with strong support from the international community. 

 

For several years, Iranian officials generated hope that Baha’i students would finally be able to attend universities in their homeland without having to renounce their religion. Not only did this give the impression that the authorities were acting with new liberality, but allowing the students to pass the exam and then blocking their admission may also have served other purposes. Clearly, it demoralized the students, creating a frustration that officials may believe will induce Baha’i youth to leave the country. Moreover, it achieved an objective that the authorities have long sought to attain: identifying by name the young Iranian Baha'is who demonstrate outstanding ability and may play a significant role in their community in the future. 

 

Confiscation and destruction of community properties 


Baha’i cemeteries, holy places, historical sites, administrative centres and other assets were seized shortly after the 1979 revolution. No community properties have been returned, and many have been destroyed. Seizure of cemeteries in many localities has had particularly painful consequences, as Baha’is are permitted access only to areas of wasteland designated by the government for this purpose and are not allowed to mark the graves of their loved ones. 

 

In January 2004, individuals in the city of Babul began destroying a sacred site with great religious significance to all Baha’is throughout the world, as it is the resting place of Mulla Muhammad-'Ali Barfurushi, known as Quddus (the most holy).1 These acts were carried out with the full cooperation of local and religious authorities. Upon appeal to national officials and intervention by local Baha’is, the demolition was temporarily halted twice, but we later learned that the house-like structure over the grave had been levelled to the ground. Despite attempts to protect the site, demolition continued, and the Baha’is in Babul were subsequently prevented from retrieving the sacred remains of Quddus. 

 

On 28 April 2004, Kayhan (one of the official organs of the Iranian government) published an article entitled Mulla Quddus thrown from one grave to another – a derogatory Persian expression implying that the person concerned has been cast into hell. Its author reported on international efforts to intervene in the following terms: 

“…the international agencies purporting to defend human rights and the United States government have, in fact, organized political pressure and propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran in support of the perverse Baha'i sect.” 

1 In 1849, Islamic religious leaders killed Quddus, the foremost apostle of the Prophet-Herald of the Faith, for refusing to recant his beliefs. His resting place was among the many historic and holy places confiscated from the Baha’is by the Iranian authorities during the Islamic Revolution. 


 

Despite appeals from international authorities, officials pursued their plans. Beginning on 25 May, excavations took place in and around the area where it was understood that the remains were interred. This occurred contrary to the assurance the Baha’is had received that the sacred remains would not be disturbed and that the site would be covered with a green lawn. 

 

In June 2004, another site sacred to the Baha’is was demolished: the house in Tehran that had belonged to Mirza Buzurg-e-Nuri, the father of Baha'u'llah – a holy place associated with an important period in the history of the Faith. The instruction to tear down the building had been issued by Ayatollah Kani on 8 April; demolition began on 20 June in the presence of Ayatollah Kani’s sons and officials of the Ministry of Information. Photographs taken on 29 June show that about 70 percent of the structure had been destroyed by that date. 

 

The Iranian Baha’is set out to investigate the legality of this destruction, visiting the mayor responsible for the region and demanding to see the demolition permit. The mayor informed them that his office had received written instructions not to interfere with events pertaining to that building and suggested that they stop pursuing the 
matter. The Baha’is presented this news to a few reporters, who discovered (through a computer search) that the demolition of the house of Mirza Buzurg was included in the list of topics about which they were not permitted to report. Thus it was clear that the destruction had been planned well in advance and cloaked in secrecy. 

 

These demolitions are a matter of grave concern, as the pattern – if left unchecked – would deprive the Baha’is of many more holy places associated with the early history of the Faith, which have been confiscated by officials over the years. 

 

Confiscation of properties belonging to individual Baha’is 


Baha’i homes continue to be searched and documents and possessions seized. On 5 September 2005, the homes of nine Baha’is in the city of Yazd were searched, and their Baha’i and non-Baha’i books confiscated, along with their computers, tapes, 
videos and CDs. Many of those arrested and detained during this past year have had their homes searched and belongings confiscated, as mentioned in previous sections. 

 

The authorities also continue to act in accordance with their long-standing policy of confiscating Baha'i homes. In October 2004, we were informed that the homes of six Baha'i families in the village of Kata (in the Buyir-Ahmad region of Iran) had been confiscated by order of the prosecutor of the city of Shiraz, with the assistance of the local police. This act, which deprives these rural families of their only means of livelihood, was perpetrated solely because of their adherence to the Baha’i Faith. 

 

The Baha’is of Kata have been subjected to mob attacks, shootings, burning of property and pressure to force their conversion to Islam since the early days of the Islamic revolution. Many families fled their homes and took refuge in Isfahan, where local Baha’is cared for the injured and the children. On 18 October 2000, the Ministry of the Execution of the Decrees of the Imam informed the Ministry of Justice of the province of Buyir-Ahmad that the "possessions of the fleeing Baha’is situated in the village of Kata... were confiscated". The province Ministry was then provided with a list 
of properties belonging to Baha’is from Kata, instructed to confiscate them and (with assistance from the Maymand police department) to transfer any rents to the officer of the Islamic Council of the village. 

 

The directives were later published in the 21 October 2003 issue of the 'Asr newspaper, along with an even more complete list of properties. This published “Announcement of the Judgement” declared the verdict to confiscate the properties 
definite and executable. The same list and text appeared the next day in the Khabar newspaper in Shiraz. 

 

The confiscation of six Baha’i homes in October 2004 was executed on the basis of that judgement. It is therefore feared that the properties of all the Baha’is still residing in Kata – some 35 families – are also in danger of being confiscated. Nine of the Baha'is of Kata, whose properties had previously been confiscated, were summoned to court and taken into custody between April and June 2005. 

 

The property rights of individual Baha’is are generally disregarded. Since 1979, officials have arbitrarily confiscated a large number of private and business properties, homes and farms. In recent years, this has occurred in particular in Rafsanjan, Kerman, Marv-Dasht, and Yazd, as well as in Tehran, in the (above-mentioned) village of Kata and in the village of Matneq. 
 

These judgements demonstrate that the Iranian authorities continue to consider the Baha'i Faith as an illegal movement and legitimise, through the courts, violations against the rights of Iranian citizens who are members of the community. 

 

Denial of employment, pensions and other benefits 


There have been several recent indications that officials in various sectors are implementing the government initiative (reported above) to monitor the activities of Baha’is throughout the country. Information from Iran has confirmed that the Iranian Association of Chambers of Commerce (Ettehadiyeye Asnaf) has been compiling a list of Baha’is in every type of trade and employment, and that problems were being created for members of the community in various trades throughout the country. Moreover, in a letter from the Trades, Production, and Technical Services Society of Kermanshah addressed to the Union of Battery Manufacturers (dated 2 May 2006), the Society requested from the Union "a list of the names of those who belong to the Baha’i sect and are under the jurisdiction of your union". 

 

The monitoring is being followed by acts that target members of the community; for example, we have been informed that in six different localities (Khorramabad, Borujerd, Aligudarz, Uzna, Arak, and Kashan) Iranian officials have told Baha’is who are in business either to close down or to place limits on their businesses. There are also recent cases where managers of private companies have been pressured to fire their Baha’i employees. Limitations on employment opportunities continue to be imposed on Baha'is throughout the country. 

 

It should be recalled that, in the 1980s, over 10,000 Baha’is were dismissed from positions in government and educational institutions. Many remain unemployed and receive no unemployment benefits. The pensions of Baha’is dismissed on religious 
grounds were terminated. Some members of the community have even been required to return salaries paid to them before they were dismissed. 

 

Documents dating from 2003 provided evidence in the cases of four Baha’is who are being deprived of their rightfully earned pensions: 

1. In May of that year, a bank discontinued the disbursement of a Baha'i’s pension to his heirs because he was a member of the Baha'i “sect”. In November, the Office of Legal and Parliament Affairs confirmed this decision. 
2. The Personnel Office of Tehran University instructed its staff, in September 2003, to terminate a pension to the heirs of a Baha'i because of his association with "the perverse Baha'i sect". 
3. In October, the National Retirement Bureau informed a Baha'i that her father's retirement income had been discontinued owing to his association with "the perverse Baha'i sect". 
4. The General Office of Finance stated, in a letter to the Retirement Bureau (Province of Azerbaijan-e-Sharqi) in December 2003, that a Baha'i’s employment had been terminated due to his belief in "the perverse Baha'i sect", and hence 
there was no authorization to return or transfer his retirement deductions. 
5. Another Iranian citizen was deprived of his pension after over 20 years of service in the Ministry of Agriculture, solely because of his adherence to the Baha'i Faith. This government employee with an unblemished work record persistently appealed for the restoration of his pension. Finally, an Administrative Court decided: "to uphold the plaintiff's claim ... [and to declare] the dismissal order null and void…”. The Ministry vehemently objected to the verdict in a letter to the head of the Administrative Court, stating that "the implementation of this verdict and the 
referring of the case... not only create a variety of problems for the Ministry, but also allow such individuals, who openly confess to being followers of the perverse Baha'i sect, to claim civil rights". 


 

The Ministry’s statement serves as further evidence that, contrary to their claims, national government officials sanction and pursue persecution against Baha'is, even when solutions are proposed at individual and/or local level. 

 

Earlier documents involved decisions in four more cases, dating from 2001 and 2002, where Iranian Baha'is were denied access to their own, rightfully earned pensions. The documents explicitly state: “payment of pension to those individuals connected with the baha’i sect is illegal” [or an “unlawful act”]. 

 

 

The intergovernmental body most concerned with the right to employment is the International Labour Organization (ILO), which has repeatedly made reference to the ongoing discrimination against the Baha'is in Iran in its reports – often reiterating its concern about “the treatment in education and employment of members of unrecognized religions, in particular the members of the Baha’i faith” in this country. 

 

In 2006 the Islamic Republic of Iran was up for scrutiny with respect to ILO Convention 111 on Discrimination, under the organization’s procedure of triennial universal review. The Report of the Committee of Experts submitted to the ILO Conference this year contained a specific mention of the Baha'i community in Iran, with more detailed recommendations than in the past. 

 

Even more important: we were particularly pleased to note that the situation of the Baha'is received a considerable level of attention in Plenary at the ILO Conference in June 2006. The statements about discrimination on the basis of religion focused almost entirely on the Baha'is. The relevant extract in the Provisional Record of the 
Conference runs to nearly four printed pages; it can be accessed at the following 
address (from the bottom of page 41 to the middle of page 44): 
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc95/pdf/pr-24-part2.pdf 


 

2 Article 14 reads as follows: “In accordance with the sacred verse "God does not forbid you to deal kindly and justly with those who have not fought against you because of your religion and who have not expelled you from your homes" [60:8], the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and all Muslims are duty-bound to treat non-Muslims in conformity with ethical norms and the principles of Islamic justice and equity, and to respect their human rights. This principle applies to all who refrain from engaging in conspiracy or activity against Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran.” 

 

3 Article 20: “All citizens of the country, both men and women, equally enjoy the protection of the law and enjoy all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, in conformity with Islamic criteria.” 



 

Denial of civil rights and liberties 


Under Iranian law, Baha’is have no legal protection and thus their rights can be ignored with impunity. Harassment continues unabated, as reported in other sections, above. 

 

The application of some laws was modified, as for example measures taken by the government in 2000 enabled married Baha’i couples to register as husband and wife and to register their children. But the relevant law was not changed, so Baha’i marriages and divorces are still not legally recognized. The right of Baha’is to inherit is also denied. 

 

The freedom of Baha’is to travel outside or inside the country has often been impeded by the authorities and sometimes denied. Although more Iranian Baha’is have been given passports in recent years, it is not clear that there has been a change of government policy on this issue. Baha’is applying abroad to renew passports or obtain visas to return to Iran have frequently found Iranian embassy officials uncooperative. In some countries, Iranian embassies do not require applicants to state their religious affiliation, and Baha’is thus find it easier to obtain visas or renew passports. Requiring applicants to declare their affiliation with a “recognized religion” on passport application 
forms has been used to pressure Baha’is to recant their religious beliefs. 

 

Iranian government claims 

Officials quote Articles 142 and 203 of the Iranian Constitution to prove that all citizens “enjoy all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights”. However, the patterns of persecution described above clearly illustrate that these provisions are not enforced in cases involving Baha'is. Moreover, they are restricted by Article 13, which defines the three recognized religious minorities. 

 

Although the Iranian government claims to have taken steps to promote the rights of religious minorities, we have seen nothing to indicate that these measures apply to the Baha’is. In January 2003, the parliament approved a bill granting equal compensation in “blood money” to the recognized religious minorities. Yet because the Baha'i Faith is not recognized, the legislation does not benefit the members of the community. In the question and answer section of Ayatollah Safi's official website in Iran, one of the uestions concerns this matter and reads as follows: 

Q 471. Many of the Baha’is residing in the Islamic Republic [of Iran] express that “we are obedient to all the laws of Iran and have not committed any crime; however, we are subject to the violation of our rights.” Are Baha’is, fundamentally, and the Baha’i community residing in Iran, particularly, considered people of Dhimmih [recognized minorities] or not? And is payment of blood money to the relatives of a murdered Baha'i necessary or not? 

 

Ayatollah Safi’s answer is: 

A. Bahai’s are not considered as people of Dhimmih and cannot benefit from blood money. The people of Dhimmih are the recognized religious minorities that consist of Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, as long as they observe the 
religious laws pertaining to the people of Dhimmih. 

 

Iranian Baha'is nonetheless pursue such cases through the courts. A recent case involved 12 plaintiffs who filed a petition against a man accused of murdering their relative by running him down with his automobile. Their relative was a Baha'i. The court's verdict recognised the crime as a "quasi-intentional" murder – based on testimony by the accused – and convicted the man as charged, but sentenced him to only four months of imprisonment, without the payment of blood money. The sentence was suspended as time already served, allowing for immediate release. 

 

The reasons presented by the court for this decision were purely theological, elaborated with reference to the decrees (fatwas) issued by various Ayatollahs. The verdict declared that the Baha'i Faith had abrogated Islam, and it referred to Baha’is as a “perverse sect” and as “infidels”. The court concluded that Baha’is should receive neither requital nor blood money in cases of murder. This verdict is alarming because the theological basis on which the court made its decision paves the way for Muslims to believe that they are free to take the lives of Baha’is in Iran with impunity. 

 

 

In August 2003, Iran presented its report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the treaty monitoring body that reviews implementation by States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. In its Concluding Observations, the Committee took note “with 
concern of the reported discrimination faced by certain minorities, including the Baha’is, who are deprived of certain rights”, and also noted that certain provisions of Iran’s legislation “appear to be discriminatory on both ethnic and religious grounds”. The government of Iran has still not provided any additional information to CERD in response to the recommendations made by the Committee. 

 

It should also be noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran last presented reports to the Human Rights Committee and to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1992-1993. The government is not cooperating with these UN treaty bodies: it is 11 years overdue in its reporting obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and 10 years overdue under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 

 


Summary conclusion 


The current situation of the Baha’is in Iran reflects the nature of the persecution against the community and its historical context. Factions struggling for political ascendancy in Iran have repeatedly used the Baha’is as a scapegoat, based on hostility and prejudice generated by ecclesiastical propaganda. For over 150 years, from the pulpit, press, radio, television, and even from scholarly publications, the Iranian public has received a grossly false image of the Baha'is and their beliefs that incites hatred and contempt. The Baha'is have never been allowed to communicate the facts that would expose the lies and calumnies, which have come from those to whom the people of Iran look for guidance in spiritual matters. 

 

Nevertheless, the campaign to destroy the community has failed. The Iranian Baha'is have steadfastly refused to compromise their Faith. The persecution against them has become an established issue in the ongoing indictment by the international community – the United Nations, intergovernmental bodies, and civil society – of the Iranian government for its violation of universally accepted standards in human rights. 

 

For the 18th time since 1985, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution on 16 December 2005 expressing “serious concern” over the human rights situation in Iran. The resolution was put forward by Canada and co-sponsored by 46 countries including Australia, the European Union, and the United States. Among other things, it called on Iran to: 

“…eliminate, in law or in practice, all forms of discrimination based on religious, ethnic or linguistic grounds, and other human rights violations against minorities, including Arabs, Kurds, Baluchi, Christians, Jews, Sunni Muslims and the Baha’i....” 

and also to: 

“…implement the 1996 report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on religious intolerance, which recommended ways the Islamic Republic of Iran could emancipate the Baha'i community.” 

 

The resolution specifically mentioned the upsurge in persecution, noting the: 

“…escalation and increased frequency of discrimination and other human rights violations against the Baha’i, including cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, the denial of freedom of religion or of publicly carrying out communal affairs, the disregard of property rights, the destruction of sites of religious importance, the suspension of social, educational and community-related activities and the denial of access to higher education, employment, pensions, adequate housing and other benefits....” 

 

In a press release on the day of adoption, the Baha’i International Community thanked the international community and stated that its scrutiny and support remained virtually the only tool for the protection of innocent people in Iran. 

 

The Iranian Baha'is love their homeland, despite the suffering they have endured under successive regimes. They only ask to benefit from the rights accorded to all Iranian citizens, and they look forward to the day when they may be accepted as a respected and valuable part of the Iranian people. 

 

 

ANNEX: List of Baha’is released on bail and awaiting trial (as of mid-July 2006) 


