Bahá’í Persecution

By Kathleen Park

New reports of the persecution of members of the Bahá’í Faith in Iran have alarmed their fellow believers the world over. Bahá’ís in Norman, Oklahoma City, Edmond, and surrounding areas are asking not only for special prayers for the safety of the Iranian Bahá’ís, but for a public outcry against the deplorable situation of religious freedom in Iran.

Next week seven members of the administrative group who supervised the affairs of the believers in that country – until their arrest in March and May of 2008 – will be put on trial in an Iranian revolutionary court on charges of “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” These charges are “clearly a sham to justify the Iranian government’s documented and reprehensible intention to harm not only the Iranian Bahá’í leadership, but the whole of the Iranian community,” according to a message from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, in Wilmette, Illinois.

On February 13, 2009, this statement, “Persecution of Religious Minorities in Iran,” was released by the US Department of State:

“The United States condemns the Iranian government’s decision to level baseless charges of espionage against seven leaders of the Iranian Baha’i community: Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mr. Vahid Tizfahm and Mrs. Mahvash Sabet. Authorities have detained these Bahá’ís for more than nine months without access to legal counsel or making public any evidence against them. The accusations reported in Iranian and international media are part of the ongoing persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran. Thirty other Bahá’ís remain imprisoned in Iran solely on the basis of their religious belief.

“Other religious minorities continue to be targeted solely on the basis of their beliefs. Last month authorities arrested three Christians: Jamal Ghalishorani, Nadereh Jamali and Hamik Khachikian. In addition, authorities detained several members of the Gonabadi Dervishes, followers of Sufism, on Kish Island in January.

“We join the international community in urging the authorities to release all religious minorities who are currently in detention for peacefully exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Also on February 13, House Resolution 175 condemned the government of Iran “for its state-sponsored persecution of its Bahá’í minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights” and cited nine other resolutions in which Congress “deplored the religious persecution by the government of Iran of the Bahá’í community . . .”

Persecution of the Baha’is, the largest religious minority in Iran with about 350,000 members, has often turned bloody ever since its inception in 1844. In more recent times the pattern has become increasingly intense and widespread, beginning with the fall of the Shah in 1979 and the subsequent rise to power of the Islamic republic. Many Bahá’ís have been arrested without cause, a number have simply disappeared, and others, including women and girls, hanged on false or insubstantial charges.

The Bahá’í Faith proclaims the oneness of mankind and the sanctity of all religions. Its members are nonviolent, nonpolitical, peace-seeking people.

Many Iranian Bahá’ís have sought refuge in other countries. The Persian Bahá’í population in the US numbers in the tens of thousands. Many of these believers have themselves suffered at the hands of the Iranian government and braved countless hardships in fleeing to other countries, leaving behind family and friends for whose safety they still fear. The oppression they escaped include such government restrictions as barring children and youth from schools and universities, rescinding pensions, and firing without cause. Bahá’í homes and businesses have been seized or burned; all Bahá’í administrative structures are banned by the government; and holy places – even cemeteries – confiscated, vandalized, or destroyed.

We fervently ask for your prayers to God that these believers be freed and that the persecutions by the Iranian government cease. We further ask that you contact your Congressional members and urge them to support House Resolution 175 and issue a similar one from the Senate. See www.menstuff.org/resources/resourcefiles/write.html to find your legislators. For a commentary by Rainn Wilson on CNN, see Commentary: Stop Religious Persecution in Iran.

• About Kathleen Park
  Kathleen Norris Park is a freelance writer-editor in Norman, OK, and the public information representative of the Bahá’ís of Norman (www.bahaisofnorman.org).. She has been a fellow of The Xenia Institute since its inception and eagerly participates in its dialogue sessions with others developing communication skills and deepening their awareness of social justice.

Related links:

• Iran Accuses 7 Jailed Leaders of Bahá’í Faith of Espionage  |  The Washington Post
• Seven Friends Face Revolutionary Court  |  The Guardian (U.K.)
• Then They Came for the Bahá’ís  |  On Faith
• Got News? A Beet Farmer Gets Serious  |  GetReligion
• Iran Prosecutor: Bahais are Israeli Agents  |  Tehran Times