After being held for almost two years in the notorious Evin Prison without any charges brought against them or permission to meet their lawyers, the trial of the Yaran began in January 2010 and was concluded in June 2010. The trial was held in the 28th branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran and was essentially a show trial. Outside observers were not allowed into the courtroom despite it officially being a trial open to the public, but film crews of the regime were dispatched to tape the trial. The Baha’i seven, aware of the role the regime planned for them, refused to participate in some of the hearings.

The fictitious charges brought against the Baha’i leaders are espionage, initiation and expansion of illegal organizations, collecting and transmitting classified information to foreigners in the aim of disrupting national security, holding illegal meetings to plot the actions against the security of the state and spreading corruption on earth. These activities were coordinated with the “usurper regime that is occupying al-Qods” (Israel) and guided by the leadership of the Baha’is, the Universal House of Justice, which is located in Israel.

The seven Baha’is are the members of “Friends of Iran” (Yaran Iran), a national-level coordinating group for the Baha’i community in Iran. Six of the group, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm, have been arrested in their home in Tehran on May 14, 2008. Mahvash Sabet was arrested on March 5, 2008 during a visit to Mashad. All official Baha’i governing bodies were disbanded in Iran in 1983.

Update: Initial reaction of the Baha’i international community:

“If this news proves to be accurate, it represents a deeply shocking outcome to the case of these innocent and harmless people,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.

“We understand that they have been informed of this sentence and that their lawyers are in the process of launching an appeal,” said Ms. Dugal.

Related posts:

1. The 7 Baha’i Leaders Refused to Participate in their Show Trial in Tehran
2. Trial of 7 Baha’i leaders delayed yet again
3. Five More Baha’is Arrested in Iran

At the beginning of the third session of the trial, which was supposed to be open, the families of the Baha’is on trial were barred from entering. Instead, cameramen, ministry of intelligence officials and interrogators were let in. After consulting with their attorneys, the seven Baha’i leaders decided not to participate in this show trial, and refused to enter the courtroom. The Baha’i leaders stated that if regime officials are allowed to participate in the hearing, making it a public session, their family members should be let in as well.

According to Diane Ala’i, the Baha’i International Community’s representative to the United Nations, the Baha’i seven who made up the unofficial leadership of the Baha’is in Iran are “entering their third year of imprisonment without being allowed to at least be released on bail, or even released without it — for they are absolutely innocent.”

The previous court sessions of this show trial were also closed to the public, while cameras were let in. The seven face several charges, including espionage, initiation and expansion of illegal organizations, collecting and transmitting classified information to foreigners in the aim of disrupting national security, holding illegal meetings to plot the actions against the security of the state and spreading corruption on earth. These activities were coordinated with the “usurper regime that is occupying al-Qods” (Israel) and guided by the leadership of the Baha’is, the Universal House of Justice, which is located in Israel. The charge of spreading corruption on earth carries the death penalty.

Related posts:

1. Iran Sentences Baha’i Leaders to 20 Years in Prison
2. Long List of Charges against the Seven Baha’is as their Trial Commences
3. Trial of 7 Baha’i leaders delayed yet again

Struggle fought in hearts
Human rights in Iran

by Randolph Dobbs
08-Apr-2010

Human rights and globalization share a common vocabulary. No matter where people may live in the world they share a vital interest in the basic requirements of liberty, including the right to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion;” the right to “freedom of opinion and expression” and the “right to peaceful assembly and association.” These and 27 other specific freedoms outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were adopted by the United Nations more than 60 years ago.

Partly as a result of this declaration as well as a growing global view of social responsibility, human rights transcend national borders. Globalization is more than just economic interests—it includes a social and political interdependence that promotes human rights worldwide.

Unfortunately for the people of Iran and most especially for Iranian Baha’is, human rights are neither widely recognized by the Islamic government nor is their application evenly distributed. Yet human rights are universal exactly because they define the interests of those without power—even in authoritarian states like Iran.

No country in the world has unlimited power to do whatever it wants to its own people. The very idea of national sovereignty includes a dual responsibility: to respect the sovereignty of other countries but also to respect the rights of its own citizens. As a member of the U.N. and signatory to a number of international conventions, the Islamic Republic of Iran has to face some tough questions about the treatment of its own people and especially the 300,000 Iranian members of the Baha’i Faith.

Baha’is have been persecuted ever since their religion was founded in mid-19th century Persia (present-day Iran). The Iranian Baha’i community is often viewed as the canary-in-the-coal-mine regarding human rights abuses because as the nation’s largest non-Muslim religious minority they suffer the most discrimination—denied access to higher education, prevented from working in government jobs or receiving federal pensions to cite only a few examples.

Since obedience to government wherever Baha’is reside in the world is a matter of religious principle, the Baha’is in Iran are a convenient scapegoat for the Islamic regime which seeks to redirect public ire over its difficulties. Following the Ashura Protests last December, a group of Baha’is were arrested on January 3 under the guise that they were responsible for the anti-government turmoil. But Baha’is must also refrain from involvement in partisan politics whether local, national or international. In the spring of 2008, seven Baha’i leaders were rounded up during the night and have been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison ever since. Faced with trumped-up charges of “spying for the state of Israel” and “spreading corruption on earth” their fate may be decided at a trial in a Revolutionary Court set for April 10.

Their families and fellow Baha’is around the world have good reason to fear what may result should they be found guilty. Some 25 years ago members of Iran’s national-level Baha’i leadership were arrested in a similar manner and executed by the Iranian government.

The Islamic Republic of Iran promotes division within its own country by pitting one group against another. To make this policy effective Iran has tried to isolate its people from accurate reporting of the news. According to Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based organization that promotes freedom of the press, Iran has more journalists in prison than any other country in the world—a distinction it has earned not only by jailing foreign correspondents but also by depriving its own citizens of the freedom of thought and conscience.

Iran, in fact, controls every aspect of its domestic news even down to minor details. Last November the country’s largest circulation newspaper, the Hamshahri, was temporarily closed down after it published a photograph of a Baha’i temple in India as part of an advertisement for tourism to that country.

Any kind of criticism, foreign or domestic, only fuels the Iranian Islamic regime’s worst expectations. The government is sensitive to international embarrassment and highly reactive as is clearly shown by its response to ongoing public protests over the Iranian presidential election held last June.

The international community, including the American government, should continue to highlight Iran’s human rights abuses as such global attention makes it more difficult to continue rights violations without being noticed.

What is also needed is a sustainable policy that promotes human rights, encourages international support and does so in a way that doesn’t antagonize Iran’s historical anxiety over foreign influence or heighten concerns over the loss of traditional values—a sustainable policy, in other words, that appeals to the Iranian government’s better judgment. In essence, the abrasive relationship between Iran and the rest of the world, particularly between Iran and the West, masks a deeper truth. Iran needs the rest of the world more than the rest of the world needs Iran.

That “the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens” is an oft-quoted excerpt from the 19th century writings of the prophet-founder of the Baha’i Faith, Bahá’u'lláh. Universal human rights and international conventions may not represent global governance, but the recent earthquakes in Haiti followed by those in Chile and just last week the modest quake in Los Angeles, pose an excellent metaphor for global unity and the interconnectedness of nations—what happens in one part of the world affects people living elsewhere.

Whatever happens in the show-trial of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran, the larger issue is the fate of the Iranian people. The question is: What kind of nation does Iran aspire to become? Will it remain a repressive society unable to overcome the effects of religious bigotry? Or will it live up to the ideals not only of international human rights but also Islamic standards of justice?

Bahai’s have the greatest respect for all religions. The sacred writings of the Baha’i Faith refer to Islam as “the blessed and luminous religion of God” and Iran, itself, as having a glorious future as a “focal center of divine splendors” to match its proud history of achievement.

In the face of injustice people turn to external interventions. They march in protest, conduct economic boycotts, work to enact various laws, abandon old policies and adopt new ones. Bahai’s believe that the ultimate struggle for justice in Iran will not be waged in the streets of Tehran, will not be contested in Islamic courts but will, instead, be fought in the hearts of the Iranian people.

AUTHOR
Randolph Dobbs is the secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of Los Angeles and a member of the Regional Bahai Council of the Southwestern States.

Comment:

I was truly touched and became uncharacteristically emotional while reading this piece by Randolph Dobbs. For a long time I have been looking for an opportunity to apologize to my Bahai ex-classmates and ex-neighbours for allowing myself to be brain washed by the men of religious pretensions to treat them with suspicion and mistrust. I have been waiting for a long time, nearly 35 years, for an opportunity to let off the guilt bottled inside me on a public forum such as this. Thank you “Iranian.com”.

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to say sorry. I particularly would like to say sorry to a lone Bahai classmate of mine who was desperately seeking friendship in the school playground but was cruelly turned down because he was Bahai. Sorry, I just had no courage to leave the mainstream of religious ignorance, bigotry and prejudice. I am guilty.

Related posts:

1. Human Rights Watch Issues a Statement on the Violation of Baha’i Rights in Iran
2. Baha’is in Iran still facing major human rights abuses
3. Iran’s persecution of Bahá’ís is devastating

Part 1:

Part 2: (Note that it overlaps partially with part 1)

Part 3:

Part 4:

Related posts:

1. Round-up of Updates about the Ongoing Persecution of Baha’is in Iran
2. Iran’s persecution of Bahá’ís is devastating
3. Round-up of updates from Iran: Persecution of Baha’is continues unabated

In her letter from prison, dated 21 May 2009, Rouhi shared the story of her arrest and imprisonment. The video-slideshow below includes a reading of the English translation of that letter.

Related posts:

1. 3 Baha’i Youth Imprisoned in Shiraz!
2. A letter from a Baha’i family in Shiraz
3. HRA Iran reports on the worrisome condition of Iran’s Baha’i minority

Several homes of Baha’is were searched across Iran. On September 27, the house of Sohail Rouhani was searched in Yazd by security forces. They confiscated his computer, cell phone and CDs. On October 17, security forces searched the home of Shahram Azadi in Khorramshahr. They took his identification papers and his mobile phone. In Mahshahr, the house of a Baha’i couple Shokrollah and Sadigheh Hajiani was searched on October 19. Both were detained, and Mrs. Hajiani was later released. On October 21, security forces searched Pejzman Nikooneja’s house in Babol, confiscated some personal belongings and detained him for two hours.

Several Baha’i citizens were summoned to interrogations by security forces. Four Baha’is in Kashan, Shahrzad Mahjoor, Ruhieh Fanaian, Soheil Husaynipour and Feraydoon Fallah were interrogated by the Revolutionary Court on September 23 and later released. On September 26, another Baha’i resident of Kashan, Rosita Zabihian, was questioned by the Revolutionary Court. She was summoned to the interrogation by the Revolutionary Guards Information Office earlier that month. The same office summoned six Baha’is from the nearby village of Mazgan for interrogation. The six, Nourollah Samiee, Shahram Ehsani, Mr. Heshmatollah Ehsani, Mr. Nourollah Shahidi, Mr. Rahmatollah Shahidi and Mr. Siavash Dabestani, were question in Kashan on September 30.

While many Baha’i students were simply denied the right to start their higher education this year, despite passing the entrance exam, three Baha’i students in Semnan completed one week in the university before they were expelled.

A number of Baha’is have been arrested over the last month and a half. On October 12, Behnam Rouhanifard was arrested in Yazd and taken to an undisclosed location. Four days later, his brother, Sohail Rouhanifard was arrested too. On October 19, Peyman Kashfi, a Baha’i from Tehran was summoned to the Revolutionary Court, and never returned from there. When his family inquired about his whereabouts, they were told that he’s detained in section 209 of Evin Prison (the section reserved for political prisoners). He is not allowed to see visitors and accept packages from his family. On October 31, Yasuj Intelligence Office searched the house of Ali Bakhsh Bazrafkan, confiscated some of his belongings and then brought him to his son’s house, searched that house too and confiscated all religious writings. Ali was later arrested. On November 2, two Baha’is in Mashad were arrested and taken to an unknown location. Security forces arrested the two, Sonia Ahmadi and Mr. Ghanavatian after they’ve entered a religious session of the Baha’is in town that evening and filmed it.

On October 30, Ruhollah Rezaei a Baha’i citizen in Shiraz was kidnapped by unknown men and tortured. He was threatened, hung by a rope to make his believe that he’s about to be hanged, undressed and burned with cigarettes all over his body. Mr. Rezaei was previously jailed for five years in 1981 when he was only 18.

On October 19, nine Baha’is from Mashhad, Davar Nabilzadeh, Kaviz Noozdahi, Rosita Vaseghi, Sima Rajabian, Nahid Ghadiri, Nasrin Ghadiri, Sima Eshraghi, Jalayer Vahdat and Hooman Bakhtavar, were summoned to the Security Office for interrogation. On October 25, the second hearing in their case took place. The nine face different charges, including propaganda against the regime, activities against national security, teaching the Baha’i Faith and insulting religious sanctities.
In Early Novemver, A Baha’i woman from Semnan, Manijeh Monzavian, was sentenced to three and half years in prison for acting against national security by promoting the Baha’i Faith and membership in Baha’i anti-regime organizations. As expected, the trial of the seven Baha’i leaders (the Yaran), which was set to start on October 18, was postponed for the fourth time. According to IRNA, Alireza Avaie, head of Tehran’s justice department, said that he “believes they will be tried in the near future.”

Following the destruction of the Baha’i cemetery of Vilashahr and Najafabad for the 18th time, Azizu’llah Subhi Najafabad, a Baha’i from Najafabad was buried on September 27 in Isfahan without notification to his family. As we’ve previously mentioned, his family was not allowed to bury him in the Baha’i cemetery following its destruction, and his body was held in the hospital since his death on September 15.

Various acts of vandalism against Baha’i property were perpetrated as well. In late September the windows of a car belonging to Mahboub Bandi, a Baha’i from Rafsanjan, were smashed by unidentified men. Only a few days later, on October 2, the car of Farzad Mohebati was set on fire in the same town. Also, On September 27, unidentified motorcyclists smashed the windows of Nezamuddin Fanaian’s car in Semnan. The similar attack was carried out in the city on October 7 against Adel Fanaian’s car. On November 2, a large water tank was stolen from a Baha’i cemetery in Sangar, near Semnan, probably using a crane. As we know from previous incidents, vandalism against Baha’i property is not investigated by authorities, thus affirming to the perpetrators a feeling of impunity.

As a background to this ongoing persecution is the state-supported incitement against Baha’is and their Faith. On October 8, a seminar in the city of Mashad for the “review and critique of sects” called the Baha’i Faith a “pseudo-sect”. Also, On October 10, Ghoranali Dorri Najafabadi, the representative of the Supreme Leader and the leader of the Friday prayer in the city of Arak, spoke to a group of women. In his speech he described Baha’i religious activities as “suspicious, seditious and criminal”. Until a few months ago, Mr. Najafabadi served as Solicitor General and was responsible for the decision to disband the informal local Baha’i councils (the formal ones were banned in 1979).

Related posts:

1. Round-up of Updates about the Ongoing Persecution of Baha’is in Iran
2. Round-up of updates from Iran
3. 10 homes raided in Mashhad; 2 Baha’is arrested

It is interesting how the Iranian regime accuses Baha’is of being agents of Israel and other Western powers, and that Uzbekistani state media now claims that Baha’is are in fact Iranian agents. The following is a translation prepared by BahaiRights from the original article in Russian:

Sect Member Sows Trouble
By Abduvali Turayev
September 16, 2009

A recent decision by the Khamzin regional court in the Uzbekistani capital Tashkent led to the expulsion without the right to return from Uzbekistan of a 36 year-old citizen of Kazakhstan. The Kazakh, Timur Chekparbaev, was found guilty of active propagation of the ideas of the Baha’i religious community.

The missionary had a temporary right to stay [propiska] in the Khamzin region of Tashkent. Looking at if from the side, it seems strange how a foreigner was able to put together a significant religion community in a short time. This community included young people not just from Tashkent, but also from the Djizak and the Bukharian governorates of Uzbekistan.
I would like to offer a short explanation to the readers about this new religion. The teachings of the Baha’is took shape in 1844 in Persia, as a totally separate religion, wholly based on the teachings of its founder, Baha’u'llah. It does not represent a cult within a religion, a reformist movement or a sect within some other religion. It can not be called a mere philosophical system.

Back in 1904 the Russian writer Sergey Ignatyevich Umanetz mentioned the Baha’i as a separate religion. And in 1925, an Islamic court in Egypt ruled that the Baha’i Faith is a separate religion, and not a sect within Islam. However, other opinions on this matter exist. For example, according to the known expert on sects Walter Martin “Baha’ism is an Iranian transplant in the United States, a syncretic religion that aims at uniting all believers in a worldwide brotherhood. The Faith adheres to the truths of the major world religions and considers Baha’u'llah to be the Messiah of our time. The Faith attaches less importance to other issues, and gives people the freedom of belief regarding those issues.”

It is clear that Mr. Chekparbaev arrived in Uzbekistan in the aim of creating a similar Iranian transplant in the country, drawing on the support of generous donations from sponsors. By the way, the headquarters of the Baha’is operate in the open in Israel. Certain elements from that country find it very useful to use the Baha’i community to shatter the unity of the Muslim ranks, since the Jews see Islam as the main opponent of Judaism. It is also interesting that in the dawn of Baha’ism, Russia offered asylum to one of the leaders of this persecuted religion. And in Ashkhabad [Turkmenistan], one of the Baha’i communities was built.

This young man [Chekparbaev] carried out missionary and proselytizing activity without having the proper religious education and the appropriate license to carry on an activity of such sort, and in violation of the Uzbekistani law, and the rules governing stays in the country.

Maybe in Kazakhstan they turn a blind eye on such things, but in Uzbekistan, the mission of the preacher of Baha’i religious ideas proved short. On the 24th of July of this year, Mr. Chekparbaev was arrested and sent to the court for holding yet another “meeting” in house 36 on Bayikurganska Street in the Khamzin region of Tashkent. The regional court gave him a rather lenient sentence: 15 days in prison followed by an expulsion from the country without a right to return.

In principle, Chekparbaev couldn’t officially carry missionary activity since Baha’i isn’t recognized as an official, separate religion by the world community. Therefore, this ideological sabotage had very clear goals that are connected to increasing the geo-political influence of Iran, and sowing confusion in the minds of millions of Uzbekistani citizens. Is seems that such a lenient treatment of all sorts of missionaries won’t stop the incoming waves of dark personalities, which wish to test their luck based on the questionable field of false prophets. The Uzbekistani authorities will kick out one person, but the people behind this will send someone instead. But the moral damage inflicted on the fragile souls on young people (by the way, Mr. Chekparbaev’s so-called flock included minors!), will not be reversed so easily. Who knows, maybe this is Kazakhstan’s attempts at transferring the work of all sorts of false prophets from their country to their neighbor, Uzbekistan.

Related posts:

1. Iran State Media Blames the “Baha’i Sect” for Recent Unrest
2. Iranian media claims arrested Baha’is possessed commincations equipment
3. Iran’s persecution of Bahá’ís is devastating

The report also includes an interview with Dr. Basma Moussa, a Baha’i who described the many difficulties facing the community in Egypt. Dr. Moussa said that even after the court ruling and subsequent decree from the government, there have been numerous difficulties and delays in getting new IDs and birth certificates. Dr. Moussa reported that even those who have obtained these documents, are unable to be registered as married, since the government still refuses to recognize Baha’i marriages.

Another person interviewed was Amm Ahmed whose house, along with the houses of four other Baha’i families, was burned down in Sharoniyah, Sohag province this March. Amm Ahmed, his wife and six children were forced to flee their hometown and are now living on the outskirts of Cairo. Amm Ahmad, who was born Baha’i, worked as a Qari’ (reciter of the Qur’an) until he declared his Faith publicly. He was then fired from his job, and he and his wife were jailed for nine months based on unknown charges.

As this report shows, despite the relative improvement in the legal status of Baha’is in Egypt, many problems remain. The Baha’i Faith is not recognized by the Mubarak regime as a legitimate religion and its adherents are still harassed and discriminated against.

Related posts:

1. Discrimination against Baha’is continues in Egypt
2. Baha’i children in Egypt facing discrimination
3. Lawsuits filed against Baha’is in Egypt

The first judicial ruling to give the custody of a child to his mother’s family after she embraced the Baha’i faith.

By Siham Al Basha

Today, Department 12 at Al-Zananiri Court issued the first ruling to give the custody of a little child to his “mother’s aunt” because his parents embraced the Baha’i faith. Fayza Abdul Fattah Muhammad and her brother Muhammad Abdul Fattah Muhammad, the father of the mother’s child Maha Abdul Fattah Muhammad, raised a court case number 164 for the year 2007 to take the child into their custody for fear that he would embrace the Baha’i faith.

On the seventh day, Muhammad Abdul Fattah stated that when his daughter married Usama Sabri Muhammad, he did not know that her husband came from a Baha’i family. His personal identification card and all the identity cards of his family were marked with the Islamic faith. For that reason, the father agreed to the marriage of his daughter. He stated: “two years after my daughter’s marriage, I was surprised to discover that she had embraced the Bahai’i faith and that she had known that her husband was a Bahai’i prior to their marriage. Abdul Fattah clarified that he had been waiting for the court ruling to be issued so that he could follow his daughter who now lives in Australia.

One of the comments on this article, reads:

The worst court ruling in the history of the Egyptian judiciary!

Written by: an Egyptian thinker

Has racism and ignorance brought us to the extent of depriving a father and a mother of their son just because they are non-Muslims?

Will this judgment of depriving a child of his family through the power of the law achieve victory for Islam? Or will the Muslim pay the price because it tarnishes the reputation of Islam by labeling them as racists who do not respect the rights of others?

Do you know that if the father raises this case to court in Australia, the judge would sentence him to jail on the charge of religious discrimination, which is a crime punished by the Australian Constitution??!!

This ruling is useless in Australia and cannot be issued because it conflicts with the International Conventions of Human Rights, and because the age of inquisition courts has ended all over the world expect in our honorable Arab countries…

I hope that all the ignorant persons who praise this ruling and who claim to have faith when they are the evil of the earth, would think about the motive behind this ruling. What would be the use of taking a child from the arms of his parents in the name of Islam when they live in a foreign country? Dozens other similar rulings will not have any effect on them while they are there. This action would only tarnish the reputation of Islam. As if we dig everyday for a reason for the world to repel against Muslims and Islam.

Related posts:

1. The Baha’i faith in Lebanon
2. Islam and Christianity: A Baha’i perspective
3. Baha’i children in Egypt not being admitted to schools because of their faith

Dr. Raouf Hindi, the official spokesman on behalf of the Bahai’is, confirmed that Dar Al-Mahfouzat (House of National Archives) in Egypt, specialized in issuing old official documents, refused to issue any official documents pertaining to Bahai’is and containing the sign (-) or “Bahai’i “ under the category of religion on the pretext of referring to the Islamic High Council first to check the possibility of issuing these documents.

About one month ago, when Raouf went to the House of National Archives to obtain the birth certificates of his son and daughter, Imad and Nancy Raouf Hindi, which contained the sign (-) following an administrative ruling to place the said sign under the category of religion, Hindi went to the House of National Archives once more to obtain the birth certificate of his oldest son Rami, to prove that he was a Bahai’i, and to issue a national identity card for him.

Hindi stated that Rami had an informal birth certificate that proved he was Bahai’i issued in 1987 and was valid until 2005. When he went to obtain the official electronic birth certificate, he was shocked to see an issued birth certificate stating that he was a Muslim, and considered it forgery of official documents. Hindi assured that with this obstinate behavior, Bahai’is are going back to square one, pointing out that his twin son and daughter have birth certificates containing the sign (-), while his oldest son has official document stating that he is a Muslim.

Related posts:

1. Egypt: The Civil Status Department refuses to recognize Baha’i marriages
2. Baha’is in Egypt still deprived of basic civil rights
3. Victory for Relgious Freedom in Egypt