Iran Update

Vahid Mahmoudi, one of the seven Baha’is imprisoned for their association with the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), was released on 8 January 2012, after his five-year sentence was reportedly suspended. 48 year old Mr. Mahmoudi had been working in an administrative capacity with BIHE.

Mr. Mahmoudi was sentenced in October 2011 to five years in prison along with six other Baha’is. Kamran Mortezaie also received five years imprisonment. Four year jail terms were given to BIHE lecturers Ramin Zibaie, Mahmoud Badavam, and Farhad Sedghi, consultant Riaz Sobhani, and helper Nooshin Khadem.

Transcripts taken down by people present at the hearing said that the seven were found guilty of 'membership in the deviant Bahaist sect, with the goal of taking action against the security of the country, in order to further the aims of the deviant sect and those of organizations outside the country.' The judgements also cast the activities of the accused in support of BIHE as crimes and as evidence of their purported aim to subvert the State. There is, of course, no foundation whatever to the judiciary's assertion that the seven sought to undermine Iranian national security, and the authorities are themselves fully aware that such an accusation is utterly without credence.

Economic pressure on Iran’s Baha’i community is acute, with both jobs and business licenses being denied to Baha’is. Government jobs, including not only in the civil service but also in such fields as education and law, have been denied to Baha’is since the years immediately following the Revolution and Muslims often are pressured to fire Baha’is in their employment in the public sector.

Recently, the Public Places Supervision Office of Kerman has taken steps to bar Baha’is from work in income-producing professions such as computing, real-estate, the sale of iron alloys and metals, jobs relating to health, cosmetics products and services, and food products. Not only are licenses not extended or issued for them but their previous licenses are also being revoked. Further, it is not permitted for a significant number of Baha’is to be active in any one profession or trade. The authorities have also revoked the licenses of several co-workers of Baha’is. Baha’is have been told that there cannot be a large number of Baha’i-owned shops on the same street.

In another recent example, a Baha’i in Isfahan – shortly before being fired from his work – requested from the social security agency that he be allocated the amount that had been deducted from his wages for his pension. He received notice that his request was not being pursued as it was a “non-issue,” given the fact that the reason for his losing his job was his membership in “the deviant Bahaist sect”. The notice specified that he and another 14 individuals were fired based on the legal prohibition on their being hired in the first place, and thus their claims were of no account.

Baha’i-owned businesses frequently come under attack from vandals and arsonists. Optical shops owned by Baha’is have often been targeted for closure. Authorities also use the tactic of arresting Baha'is and demanding huge sums of money, or the equivalent in property deeds for bail, as a method of impoverishing the Baha'is. The denial to Baha'is of access to higher education is likewise an element in the ongoing campaign to reduce the members of the Baha'i community to poverty.

In Canada, two pre-eminent university presidents have urged all of their fellow Canadians to join them in calling for an end to Iran's persecution of Baha'i educators and students. The appeal came from Canada's former minister of foreign affairs and president of the University of Winnipeg, Lloyd Axworthy, and Allan Rock – who is president of the University of Ottawa and former Canadian ambassador to the UN. See http://news.bahai.org/story/878

Using some of its strongest language to date, the United Nations General Assembly roundly condemned Iran for its "serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations." By a vote of 89 to 30 with 64 abstentions, the Assembly approved a resolution on 19 December that expressed "deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations" in the country. The vote came after Iran attempted a "no-action motion," aimed at blocking the resolution by calling for adjournment of the debate. The motion failed by a vote of 100 against, 35 in favor, with 42 abstentions. See http://news.bahai.org/story/876

A similarly strong resolution condemning Iran for its human rights violations was adopted by the European Parliament. See http://news.bahai.org/story/867

Governments, organizations and individual supporters around the world are calling for the release of jailed Baha'i leaders and Baha’i educators.

Forty-eight leaders of medical education in the United States joined the worldwide protest against the Iranian government's persecution of Baha'i students and educators. See http://news.bahai.org/story/874

(For details of these and many other statements, see separate section on international reaction. Some of the media reports can be viewed here.)

Since August 2004, some 504 Baha'is have been arrested in Iran. There are about 95 Iranian Baha'is currently in prison because of their religion. To date, the cases of some 416 Baha'is are still active with authorities. These include individuals in prison, those who have been released pending trial, those who have appealed their verdicts, those awaiting notification to begin serving prison sentences, and a few who are serving periods of internal exile. Thousands more have been deprived of education, questioned, threatened, denied their pensions, or debarred from earning a livelihood.

Most of the detentions follow the familiar pattern of agents of the Ministry of Intelligence showing up at the homes of Baha'is, searching the premises and confiscating items such as computers and books, then arresting the residents.

The Baha'i International Community has learned of a recent wave of attacks on Baha'is and their property. In Rasht, three women were arrested on charges of activity against national security following terrifying raids on 16 Baha'i homes. In Semnan, around ten Baha'i-owned shops were sealed up by the authorities and two business licences were cancelled. In the city of Sanandaj, it has been reported that authorities have attempted to persuade groups of Baha'is to give an undertaking not to participate in gatherings – known as the Nineteen Day Feast – held in the homes of their co-religionists. See: http://news.bahai.org/story/863

Harassment over Baha'i burials and the desecration of cemeteries are clear indications that the persecution is based solely on religion and not the result of any threat posed by Baha'is, as officials sometimes claim.

In Tabriz recently, government officials informed the family of a deceased Baha’i that his burial must be performed according to Muslim custom. The officials then took the body of the deceased to the Baha’i cemetery in Miandoab where, in the absence of the family and without informing them, they pressured the Baha’i caretaker into burying the body.

Also in Tabriz, agents of the Ministry of Intelligence interrogated a Baha’i whose father was executed in 1981 for being a Baha’i. After asking the man and his wife a number of questions about community activities, the authorities stated that placing flowers upon the graves is considered “teaching” the Baha’i Faith and asked the man to refrain from placing flowers on his father’s grave and tending to the gravestone.

Baha’i school children at all school levels continue to be monitored and slandered by officials in schools. Secondary school students often face pressure and harassment, and some have been threatened with expulsion. Religious studies teachers are known to insult and ridicule Baha'i beliefs. In a few reported cases, when Baha'i students attempt to clarify matters at the request of their peers, they are summoned to the school authorities and threatened with expulsion if they continue to "teach" their Faith.

Harassment of Baha’is is pervasive and includes many incidents of all of the following:

• Arrests and detention, with imprisonment lasting for days, months, or years. In cases where the Baha’i is released, substantial bail is often required.
• Direct intimidation and questioning by authorities, sometimes with the use of high-intensity lights and physical mistreatment.
• Searches of homes and business, usually with Baha’i books and other items confiscated.
• School expulsions and harassment of schoolchildren.
• Prohibition on Baha’is attending universities.
• Court proceedings where Baha’is are accused of promoting propaganda against the government “for the benefit of the Bahaist sect.”
• Monitoring of the bank accounts, movement, and activities of Baha’is, including official questioning of Baha’is requiring them to give information about their lives, actions, neighbors, etc.
• Denial or confiscation of business licenses.
• Denial of work opportunities in general.
• Denial of rightful inheritances to Baha’is.
• Physical assaults, and efforts to drive Baha’is out of towns and villages.
• Desecration and destruction of Baha’i cemeteries, and harassment over burial rights.
• Dissemination, including in official news media, of misinformation about Baha’is, and incitement of hatred against Baha’is.
• Evictions from places of business, including Baha’i doctors from their offices and clinics.
• Intimidation of Muslims who associate with Baha’is.
• Attempts by authorities to get Baha’is to spy on other Baha’is.
• Threatening phone calls and letters to Baha’is.
• Denial of pension benefits.
• Denial of access to publishing or copying facilities for Baha’i literature.
• Confiscation of property.