Throughout its long history, the social system of the march of humanity had undergone various stages, arriving to where it is today. The experience was successful and managed to achieve unity within the family, the tribe, the state and the nation, and global unity became an objective for which a tortured humanity struggles to attain. Building a nation became stable and it became the duty of a world walking in the path of attainment to give up entirely on divisions and differences, admit to the unity and integration of its human relations, and establish once and for all the tool that materializes at best this basic principle for a better life.

In order for humanity to reach the required level of maturity it will need a complete transformation of the current social system, which should enable it to totally integrate the pluralism that marks human kind and benefit humanity of the wide range of talents and knowledge cultivated during thousands of years of cultural encounters and human experiences. From here, the principle of the “sameness of humankind” emerges. This notion has become a priority in today’s world, because it eliminates the causes of disputes and misunderstandings among people, among them the existence of different languages. During the past years, several problems have emerged among people, one of them was caused by the absence of a single common language spoken by the world. If this language exists, there would be harmony and unity among people and the world would be united.

Choosing a secondary global language alongside the national languages of countries, to be taught in all schools around the world, would be an easy tool for exchanging opinions, spreading culture and knowledge and increasing the level of understanding and rapprochement between people. In this manner, if any person travels from one country to another, it would be as if he or she is always heading home. This is a call upon all governments around the world, represented by their parliaments, to implement this important notion.

On the occasion of the 50th commemoration of the United Nations entitled “the transformation point for all nations”, the Bahai’i International Community issued a statement in October 1995 stating the following: “we propose the appointment of a high level committee that includes intelligent and concerned members coming from various parts of the world, with relevant expertise from linguists, economists, sociologists, educators and media persons, to conduct careful studies on the subject of a global language and the adoption of a common script.

In the end, the only choice the world has is to unanimously adopt a single global language and a single script to be taught in schools around the world, in addition to the local language or languages of each country. The goal of this is to facilitate the transformation of the world into a global society by improving communication between people, decreasing administrative costs of businessmen, governments and all those involved in global and humanitarian tasks and endeavors, and promoting more sincere and hearty relations among all members of the human family. This proposal should not be wrongly understood, because it does not at all imply the annihilation of any language or culture. It was discussed in Europe at the beginning of the past century where a new language known as Esperanto was announced. Discussions however, did not go far because the world was occupied with the tragedies of wars.

Whether we like it or not, the world is heading towards its unity. We read about the proposed global currency that was made in Belgium to replace all currencies, carrying the slogan “unity in diversity”, which was discussed in the corridors of the Industrial Summit in Italy a fortnight ago. This is another tool for achieving the unity of humankind. It will decrease the major gap between abject poverty and extreme wealth. Other tools will be discussed in upcoming articles.

Related posts:

1. Egyptian Baha’i: Women are world peacemakers
2. Iran’s persecution of Bahá’ís is devastating
3. Controversy over the Egyptian tourism ad continues

Manama, Bahrain – 23 May is a day when Baha’is from different pockets of the world celebrates the 165th anniversary of the birth of the Baha´i faith. While in Iran, families of seven Baha´i leaders are having sleepless nights after authorities reportedly arrested and jailed the group. The Iranian deputy prosecutor said in February the group was charged with propaganda against the regime and insulting religious sanctities.

It’s not only in Iran but places like Egypt and others where the Baha’i community are looked upon as apostates of Islam. Some call them ‘Zionists in disguise’ while others suffer from “Baha’i phobia”. They have no place of worship, their cemeteries are destroyed, properties confiscated and most of all- their faith is not recognized in the Arab and Gulf states.

“Just because they have their temple in Israel (Haifa) does not mean they should be labeled as Zionists. Historically, Baha’is have immense respect to Islam. But Jewish have more rights compared with Baha’is in Middle East,” said Esra’a Al Shafei, Director of Mideast Youth Foundation which runs the Muslim Network of Baha’i Rights.

The project (www.bahairights.org) is developed by the Bahraini activist along with a group of Muslim interfaith activists who believe in tolerance and co-existence. Frustrated with the growing silence by Arab governments, the group stormed into limelight when it launched this first kind of project in 2006 which primarily worked for rights of Baha’i and their acceptance in the society as a contributing community.

“It was a challenge for us to start this project at a time when Egypt and Iran were silently persecuting Baha’is because of their faith. We wanted this community to be legally recognized and accepted in any Muslim society,” Al Shafei said.

Baha’i Faith believes in the unity of God, religion, world peace, balance between nature and technology and gender equality among other teachings. The religion holds Baha’u'llah (the Glory of God) to be the greatest prophet which is seen as heretics for Muslims who believe Prophet Mohammed as the greatest of all prophets. There are an estimated six million Baha´is in the world spread over in 200 countries. According to a 2008 report on International Religious Freedom by the US authorities, there were about 300,000- 350,000 Baha´is in Iran followed by 2,000 in Egypt registered as religious minority in Muslim countries.

Al Shafei said with International pressure on these countries, Egypt for example she said, started to issue IDs for Baha´i, something which the government ignored earlier in issuance of the official ID cards. The Egyptians authorities only recognize three religions- Islam, Christianity or Judaism. Al Shafei said the result was hundreds of Baha´is left on the margins of the society with no access to medical care, education, employment, housing and other government services.

“We are fighting this war of perception in Arab and Gulf states to understand and accept this community. These people deserve their rights rather than being jailed or executed,” the activist explained.

It was not an easy journey for Al Shafei who has been vociferously condemned and criticized by clerics from the oil rich, Saudi Arabia and other regions.

“They call us names and say we will go to hell. Our work for some conservatives is against Islamic teachings.Some clerics leave abusive or life threatening comments on our website. My source of strength is my family for being supportive and understanding my passion for the cause,” the female activist said.

Their plate may be full of criticism, but there is also a small but growing portion of progressive Muslims who are supporting the cause. ” We have no propaganda and have managed to gain the trust of Muslims to support the Baha´is and stop their oppression,” the Bahrain youth explained.

Baha´is constitutes approximately 1% of Bahrain’s population, and the community faces no governmental interference in their worship and gatherings. In 2007, the Baha’i community organized a cultural conference to teach about their faith in the tiny island which is a close US ally. In neighboring Kuwait, where the community numbers at 400, the government views the Baha’i Faith as not being sanctioned by the Qur’an (holy book of Islam), the community cannot construct places of worship. But Baha’is can practice their faith privately without governmental interference. The situation is the same in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Jordan and Lebanon.

But the real change, Al Shafei said would happen when all the majorities start fighting for the rights of the minorities.

“For example, an Israeli supporting Palestinian human rights or Arabs recognizing Kurdish rights can make a sea change of difference. We need to create a network to humanize people towards religious and ethnic minorities across the world,” the Bahraini said.

Related posts:

1. Bahraini Woman Activist Urges Arab and Gulf States to Recognise Baha’i Faith
2. Reform Middle East: “Unity is the Answer”
3. Reform Middle East: Call for Ideas and short Essays

Author: Majdi Khalil | Originally published in Arabic on: Friday, 15 May 2009

Struggles for freedom of faith in Egypt

It never occurred to Basma Moussa or Camliya Lutfi that they would become symbols for defending freedom of faith in Egypt when they both set out to defend a private matter or private affair. However, just because this private affair affects public interest, the Egyptian society was disgraced with falsity and lies about the existence of a civil state and freedom of conscience and belief.

For those who do not know, Basma Moussa is a notable professor at the College of Dentistry in Cairo University. But her main obstacle is that she was born into a Bahai’i family, and this is considered a huge charge in a country that dismissed the issue of citizenship and preoccupied itself with the features of a religious state, because an Islamic religious state only recognizes the religions acknowledged by Islam, and thus does recognize the Bahai’i religion.

The problem is not about Islam denying the Bahai’i religion because every religion rejects the other ideologically and in practice. The real problem is the effect of religious beliefs on denying citizenship or weakening it, and in this case we would be confronted with religious state or a state moving towards becoming a religious one. This is the greater danger on Egypt because the intrusion of propagators of a religious state over citizenship reached the extent of introducing a draft law that incriminates those who embrace any religion other than Islam, Christianity or Judaism. In other words, this draft law would completely deprive the followers of the Bahai’i faith and others of their citizenship and throw them into prison as criminals until they embrace Islam. This situation is much worse than the state of the inquisition courts in Europe during the dark ages.

As a Bahai’i, Basma Moussa faced a great deal of discrimination, prosecution, provocation and intimidation in her professional life. She was even accused of being an atheist on television and threatened to death because of her apostasy.

What she was confronted with at Cairo University is another example of the penetration of extremist religious thinking into educational institutions to an extent where university professors abandoned their researches, workshops and teaching jobs to investigate consciences, charge their fellow professors of a different faith with atheism, intimidate, deceive and conspire against them.

Let it not surprise you, dear reader, when you hear about the deteriorating state of Egyptian universities. Those who are familiar with behind the scenes of Egyptian universities are well aware of the sufferings of non-Muslims seeking to attain positions as teachers in Egyptian universities. Basma Moussa was in trouble when it was discovered that she was a Bahai’I, and for that reason, the teacher’s committee deliberately failed her four times in her Masters’ degree despite her distinction and diligence. Fanaticism is ever visible and shameless. Basma used to earn 95% in some of the oral examinations boards and zero in other boards. But because God does not allow the labor of the diligent to go to waste, responds to the cries of the aggrieved, and He is mightier than all oppressors, Basma was saved from this destructive current and she peacefully passed her Masters’ degree. However, the oppressors did not leave Basma at peace. They refused to enroll her for the doctorates degree for another four years, despite the fact that she is enrolled as a current student and not a new one. After she was able to register, what she had faced during her doctorate’s degree was far worse than what she had faced while doing her masters. It came to a point where a university professor demanded a fatwa (a formal legal opinion) from Al-Azhar mosque on the issue of the Bahai’is so as to prevent the appointment of Basma at the department. The fatwa arrived from Al-Azhar stating that the Bahai’s religion is atheism. The same professor, along with 17 other professors took the fatwa and distributed it in the corridors of the university and leaked it to the press as well. But because Basma is a strong-hearted fighter who committed no crime for being a Bahai’i, she stood in the face of these hypocritical oppressors who had abandoned educational research to investigate the consciences of people. In the end, despite her suffering, grief, fear and tears, she managed to triumph.

The same situation occurred upon her promotion from teacher to assistant professor, whereby a committee of 15 professors was formed in order to review the issue of her promotion, and they gave her a zero. The bizarre and shameful thing is the presence of Christian professors among the members of the committee, who cowed out of confronting this injustice despite the fact that they themselves belong to another minority that suffers similar oppression.

Basma Moussa did not stop fighting for her right. She filed a complaint to the head of the Higher Council of Universities, who was kind enough to repeal the result provided by the said committee and form another committee consisting of five decent professors who discussed her papers and gave her a very good grade (B+). Now between a zero and B+ lies the issue of discrimination that befalls non-Muslim minorities in Egypt.

The series of repulsive and repellent incidents that Basma Moussa faced are repeating themselves on a regular basis with the Copts, to a point where Najib Basha Mahfouz’s nephew, Samir Samika, the founder of gynecology and obstetrics in Egypt, could not obtain a specialization in the aforementioned fields of medicine, and was forced to travel to Great Britain to obtain it. His son, Yousef, was also forced to do the same thing later on. This abominable fanaticism reached a point where our great writer, Najib Mahfouz, was deprived a scholarship to study abroad because the fanatics thought he was Christian, because his mother named him after her famous doctor Najib Mahfouz Basha.

All the suffering that Basma Moussa had to go through, and others are still going through, was not given any importance because such acts are part of a daily routine of injustices that occur against non-Muslims. However, the greater calamity occurred when the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs created the National Number Card in place of the old identification cards and refused to transfer the “religion” category for “Bahai’i” to the new card. With this new harsh and oppressive measure, which is completely incompatible with idea of citizenship, and deprives Egyptians of their citizenship, has placed thousands of Bahai’is in the category of “civil death” or complete deprivation of civil rights, whereby people cannot conduct any daily transactions without an identification card, including the issuance of birth and death certificates, opening bank accounts, enrolling in schools and universities, and other daily transactions.

At this point, Basma Mouss’a hidden force came out in public to confront this ignorant society that is depriving her of her basic rights and her citizenship. The issue here is not about an individual case, for an entire people is being condemned through this intolerable type of oppression. This issue is related to the complete eradication of the Bahai’i religion and forcing the Bahai’is to confront an unacceptable dilemma of either becoming Muslims or facing civil death. This is where the struggle for people’s rights becomes a national duty before a religious one.

The Bahai’is have been and continue to take a civilized path of the peaceful defense of their existence, citizenship and religion. They confronted almost six years before the judiciary and before a public opinion, which was almost entirely hostile to their religious beliefs, until a judgment was recently passed to place the mark (-) under the category of religion. But as the saying goes: (literal translation from Arabic) “Incomplete joy, flown away with the crow”. The Ministry of Interior decided that placing the mark (-) requires filing a personal case before the judiciary in order to obtain approval, and this does not apply to all Bahai’is. In other words, thousands of cases are awaiting a ruling from the administrative courts to put an end to this circus. Can you believe this nonsense? What about a dead person? Who will file his case so that he obtains a death certificate? Should he be embalmed until the law decides to issue this certificate for him? What about birth certificates? Do they remain on hold until they obtain this judicial judgment? Or do we demand that a baby remains in his mother’s womb until this humiliating issue is solved? The more important question is why these peaceful Egyptian citizens who committed no crime are being subjected to all this humiliation? These are fundamental questions posed to a rational society, and seem comical in civilized societies, but in backward religious societies, they are fateful and substantive, determining one’s life and destiny.

In addition to the judiciary, Bahai’is were confronted with a flow of questions posed by public opinion that was ignorant about their existence and invented fables about their faith, spoke badly about their behavior and fabricated allegations about their nationalism. It is nothing other than the sick human behavior that we have experienced throughout the history of humanity, where man constantly searches for justifications and excuses that sedate his twisted and devious conscience to commit the ugliest crimes against his fellow man. Basma Moussa played a major and courageous role in defending the basic rights of Bahai’is as citizens before public opinion, and their right to their faith, which they inherited from their fathers and forefathers.

I do not know how the Bahai’is would have acted without Basma Moussa. She is a woman in place of a thousand men, who addressed the centers of public opinion and educative societies adamantly, persistently and courageously, and explained her case and that of her people decently and cleverly, without overreaction and infuriation. She maintained her temper and composure in spite of all the pressures, provocations, false accusations, allegations about her religion, slandering her beliefs and the dangers she was being confronted with. Yet she manages to practice her work full of integrity, and looks after her family wholeheartedly.

My dear Basma, your resistance has become a symbol for the liberation of freedom of religion in Egypt. You courageous work in history has exposed the falsity of retarded people who placed history at a standstill at their narrow-mindedness and backwardness that time has exceeded centuries ago.

In the end, victory is for those who believe they can make it…and we believe that freedom shall surely prevail. The clocks will never go back in time.

Related posts:

1. ElBaradei Presses Need to Formally Recognize the Baha’i Faith as a Religion in Egypt
2. Dr. Basma’s Crime
3. Prayer needed for Egyptian Baha’is

Mohamed is a simple Egyptian citizen who shares with many other Egyptians his comforting calm features. He was born and raised in Shoraneya village and regularly travels to Cairo to earn his simple living.

Have you ever heard of Shoraneya before? Don’t rack your brain! It’s the same village that witnessed the burning of six Baha’i homes in the aftermath of the appearance of Mr Ahmed Abu Al A’ala, a Baha’i from this village on television saying that more than 1,000 Baha’is live in Shoraneya. His announcement infuriated people who torched the Baha’i homes.

I met Mohamed by mere coincidence in a local bread bakery in Boulac El Dakrour in Giza. When Mohamed learnt that I am a journalist, he smiled at me saying: “Do you know that I am one of the Shoraneya heroes?” His use of the word “hero” made me wonder so I asked him to elaborate.

“Do you consider your self a hero for burning down the homes of people who chose to worship God their own way?”
He looked at me and said: “You don’t understand; let me explain … we lived in a disgrace called Baha’is. Whenever we would leave the village to run an errand, people would mock us saying that we were “Baha’i atheists.” One day I needed to cross the island to finish some urgent paperwork and the ferry guy refused to take me on board because I come from Shoraneya. Our village is surrounded by water. He told me “I will not taint my vehicle with your Baha’i feet you SOB.”

Mohamed proceeded saying that the residents of other villages in Sohag governorate look down on him. They pick on me for neighboring those who attack Islam.

“How do you mean attack Islam?”

“Yes .. There was a guy who used to lead us in prayers and a couple of years later we found out that he was Baha’i. They say he used to pray without washing because he does not believe in washing the way it was mentioned in Islam.

“In Shoraneya, how do you view Baha’is?”

“Baha’is are bad people; they are Jews in reality! We know that they swap wives and that they are gay.”

“How did you find out such information, Mohamed?”

“The Sheikh at the mosque told us so in a religious lesson after prayer, and since then no one could even stand those Baha’is. We hated them and when Ahmed Abu El Ela appeared on TV and scandalized us, we decided to torch their homes .. even the “sheriff” when he arrived and saw the flames told us that we were real men and heroes.”

“He really said so?”

“Yes .. he was even sad that the fire did not eat up all of their houses. At the time I was in Shoraneya with my brother and we were both setting the houses on fire. We were arrested and released on the same night and no one bothered us from the officers because they could clearly see that we were heroes and that we did the village a favor.”

I was not astonished by Mohamed’s words; I have heard it a million times before about Christians, Jews, homosexuals, and “The Others” of this planet; The Other is always an atheist … rejected .. hated … or so most of us think. The question that echoes in my head now is: Why do Muslims reject The Other in such a harsh disgusting antagonistic way? More importantly, what is the future of a country where the majority of its people refuse to acknowledge The Other?

Related posts:

1. Mass exodus of Egyptian Baha’is from Sohag province
2. 70 Egyptians Arrested During Protest Against Relocating Baha’is to Their Village
3. Interview With a Baha’i Education Right Activist in Iran

The following report recounts a number of cases of abuse and discrimination against the Baha’i students as well as the violation of their human and civil rights as published by Human Rights Activists in Iran, and its committee on the Denial of Access to Higher Education to Baha’is

It must be kept in mind that given the absence of a free press and significant administrative limitations facing the Human Rights Activists in Iran this report can not be considered complete and does not reflect all the human rights violations across the country.

Baha’i students have been categorically denied higher education from the first years of the Islamic Revolution and following the opening of the universities in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. At that time Baha’i student and professors were expelled and were denied admission and re-entry for the following two decades.

However, the denial of education from 2007 onwards must be seen as stages implemented by the Ministry of Intelligence and their “Protection” arm in the Ministry of Education (Herasat, literally “protection”).

In 2008 large number of Baha’is applied for the country-wide national examination administered for university admission. This time a large number of Baha’is were able to participate and sit in for the exam. After the exams were finished and the results were announced the Baha’i students were unable to access their record on-line, and could not get access to their results. This was a repeat of 2007 were 800 students were denied admission on grounds of an “incomplete” profile. The 2008 students denied on similar grounds are estimated as 800-1000.

In 2007 a few students were allowed to get through this first stage but they were denied at a later stage when they had to choose from the 5 categories of “official” recognized religions, Shi’i Muslim, Sunni Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian as was the case in Shiraz. As the Baha’i students were unable to choose one of the following categories they were denied admission and higher education.

Despite this a few students were allowed in through the system but they have gradually and systematically purged from higher education and denied access to the universities.

Approximately 30 students have been expelled in the past 2 years. They are from across the country, and involve many universities.

The members of the Committee on the Denial of Education to Baha’i Students have also been pursuing through correspondence and in person a review of their cases. Two items are worth noting. In 2008 three Baha’i students, Mr. Navid Khanjani, Hesam Misaghi and Armin Rahmani went in person to the offices of their representatives in the Parliament to speak to them and were faced with physical abuse and the threat of violence and the security forces did pull firearm on the students seeking their rights. The situation was calmed by the personal intervention of Mr. Rahbar the MP from Isfahan.

Also later on, Mr. Navid Khanjani and Hesam Misaghi went to the Ministry of Education in pursuit of their cases in December of 2008. They were interrogated in custody for 10 hours in the Ministry of Education and all their papers and files were confiscated by the Herasat security (mentioned earlier) and they were told that they should not follow-up on their

Related posts:

1. Confidential Iran memo exposes policy to deny Baha’i students university education
2. Iranian authorities to Baha’i students: Scrap your dreams
3. A Report on the First Nationwide Forum on the Right to Education

What connects an academic, a blogger, a Nobel prize winner, a postgraduate researcher, a cyber feminist, a journalist and a woman who let her head covering slip? The answer? They have all had their freedom to express themselves violated. They have all been imprisoned, flogged and fined in Iran.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Today, Iran severely restricts such freedom. Human Rights Watch, the UN Secretary General and numerous others have recently observed an escalation in attempts to silence Iranians who have something to say.

But now a new embargo on freedom of expression has formally been announced. Iran’s Prosecutor General, Ayatollah Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi, has declared that the very expression of affiliation to the Bahá’í faith is illegal. This was communicated in a letter to the Minister of Intelligence, Ghulam-Husayn Ejeyee, who needs no encouragement to violate rights. Human Rights Watch named him one of Iran’s ‘Ministers of Murder’ four years ago.

According to the Prosecutor General , everyone is free to have his own belief and faith. “However, no expression or declaration in order to disparage the thought of others, nor any attempt to teach them resulting in deception and agitation of minds is permitted.”

He goes on to determine that “the administration of the wayward Baha’i sect at all levels is illegal and forbidden … their danger to national security is documented and well-established.”

A few days later, the Prosecutor General made the rather fantastic claim that Bahá’ís in Iran are provided with all facilities afforded other Iranian citizens, and are respected as human beings, “but not as insiders, spies, or a political grouplet supported by Britain and Israel to cause disturbance in Iran”. Much kindness had always been shown Bahá’í citizens of Iran, he asserted, but there was “opposition to the relations of many of them with the enemies of the Iranian nation and particularly with Israel.”

The spurious nature of such assertions are obvious to anyone with the most basic knowledge of the Bahá’í faith, the persecution it has faced in Iran on religious grounds for more than a century, and the historical events which led to its Prophet being banished in 1868 to a remote corner of the Ottoman empire, which now happens to sit within the borders of modern-day Israel.

The broader implication of the Prosecutor General’s statement, however, is that it is possible to legally separate out a (generous) respect of religion or belief from its (dangerous) expression or declaration. This is apparently on the grounds that such expression would disparage, deceive and agitate others, destroying the “edifice of the Iranian belief system” and threatening “national well-being and welfare”.

What we are being told, therefore, is that the Iranian belief system is unitary and very vulnerable to the free expression of some bloggers, some morally loose women and some journalists – but not all Bahá’ís, all 300,000 of them that make up Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority.

Human Rights instruments depart from this perspective. How is it possible to single out one religious community and deny it any expression of its values? How can full religious freedom go hand in hand with the criminalisation of any expression or activity – personal or public – that may flow from it? UN standards recognise freedom of thought, conscience and religion as being far-reaching and profound; they encompass freedom of thought on all matters, personal conviction and the commitment to religion or belief, whether manifested individually or in community with others. The fact that the protection of religion or belief necessarily includes the protection of its expression is beyond dispute.

That said, it is the individual’s having, adopting or changing a religion or belief that is absolute. Manifestation can be limited when prescribed by law and necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

The Prosecutor General claims that all religious expression by Bahá’ís – regardless of what form it takes, what medium it uses and whether it is expressed in worship, observance, practice or teaching – is dangerous and therefore illegal. He does not demonstrate exactly what need this outright criminalisation serves, nor does he convince us why it is necessary and proportionate. The UN states that any limitations placed on this right “should not involve discriminatory purposes or be applied in a discriminatory manner”. It would be hard in this case to claim it is otherwise. It would also be hard to not be alarmed at this development, considering UN evidence that the Iranian government instructed all of its agencies back in October 2005 to identify and monitor the activities of every single Bahá’í in Iran.

If Iran imagines that the singling out of a religious minority for criminalisation – whilst asserting a policy of kindness and respect towards it – can possibly be believable, then why was its most recent report to the UN Human Rights Committee submitted more than 17 years ago? Perhaps the Prosecutor General has forgotten that on that occasion the Human Rights Committee criticised Iran in no uncertain terms, stating that the Committee was “particularly disturbed about the extent of discrimination against followers of non-recognized religions, notably the Baha’is, whose rights under the Covenant are subject to extremely severe restrictions. In the foregoing connection, the Committee received no satisfactory answer regarding the destruction of places of worship or cemeteries and the systematic persecution, harassment and discrimination of the Baha’is, which is in clear contradiction with the provisions of the Covenant.”

The outright prohibition on all declaration or expression of Bahá’í belief along with the ban on all their organisational structures, is all the more devastating for a community which does not have a clerical religious structure and is entering its thirty-first year of severe persecution.

Iran’s criminalisation of the freedom of expression rights of hundreds of its Bahá’í citizens does not bode well for the wider cause of opinion, thought and conscience. In September last year, International PEN expressed alarm at increasing and widespread violations. The situation has just got a lot worse.

Related posts:

1. Columbian remembers religious persecution in Iran
2. Persecution of Baha’is intensified in Iran
3. Round-up of Updates about the Ongoing Persecution of Baha’is in Iran

Dear Number One,

As ordered, I went to see the play We Are Not Spies in Berkeley this past weekend for the purpose of discovering the true identity and purpose of its Bahai author, Mansour Taeed. Disguised as a drama critic, I gained admission to this show despite the fact that the theater was sold out and people were being turned away at the gate. This report omits details regarding the beautiful agent I seduced in the line duty to get my ticket.

First, my assessment of Bahai spy technology: it sucks. At the beginning of this one-man show, Taeed said the play would self-destruct soon after the performance ends. He even played the Mission Impossible theme. The play hasn’t self-destructed! A day after the event, I am still laughing at Taeed’s jokes, and still chuckling at his “film farsi” dancing. There’s also the lump in my throat that won’t go away.

Taeed’s beat up suitcase full of spy gadgets works a little better. It was made in Isfahan circa 1970. He opened it, and here’s some of what was in it:

1. Three Ray O Vac “D” sized batteries of the vintage we used in Iran for powering furniture-sized “portable” devices such as transistor radios and tape players.

2. One cheap Lamy (laamee) pen.

3. One “expensive” Parker pen.

4. A strange device for sawing plywood for the purpose of not flunking art class.

5. Another strange contraption for spraying poison at flying insects.

After this nostalgic show of force establishing his Iranian birthright, Taeed brought out one more item: a small picture of Abdul-Baha. It was the only possession that the Iranian audience did not universally connect to. But by then Taeed had made it impossible to abandon the thousands of other memories, tunes, poems, films, clothing, hairstyle, foods, carpets, doors, walls, buses, mountains, …that we share with him as Iranians. The only thing that kept me emotionally on mission was the in-your-face way Taeed drinks Pepsi. He takes a gulp and then glares at you, like, “You gotta problem with that?” Maybe that’s why kids used to beat him up at school. Not for being Bahai, but for drinking soda like you’re on his turf. Even Zoroastrians aren’t as defensive about their sacred haoma drink.

I have confirmed that the Bahai Pepsi militancy is traceable to a Bahai merchant who once owned the Pepsi franchise in Iran. He seems to have kicked ass against Coca Cola. This shows up subtly in the red, white and blue calligraphy Taeed uses to notate the family photos he projects onto the screen. Don’t be misled; those are not the colors of the Zionist-loving, Israel-supporting United States. Those are the colors of the Pepsi logo. I recommend returning funds and property confiscated from Taeed’s family in the name of collusion with Zionism, and instituting punishment proportionate to liking the wrong soft drink.

Taeed is not a harmless agent, though. He hides a most sinister secret. Disabling his bodyguard with a sharp blow to the back of the neck, I gained entry into his house that night disguised as a common party crasher (the body guard still claims to have been just another guest). Looking for evidence of Zionism I checked the bookcase, the wall art, CD rack, the food and drink. Nothing; just lots of Persian calligraphy. Ah, a suspicious history book! Dead end. I was hoping for books on how Iranians invented Christianity to vex the Romans. Isn’t that the real reason Jesus was crucified? Because he was a Parthian spy! Finally in desperation I snuck into Taeed’s office closet and waited for him to show up and place a call to Mossad.

What I witnessed was far worse. Taeed walked into the room, closed the door, then reached beneath his shirt collar and deftly yanked his face off! I stifled a scream as the empty eye sockets of a flesh mask stared up at the glue-streaked face of the real super agent. I recognized him right away. The big shiny teeth, the sparkly eyes, the glib, handsome smirk of Tom Cruise! Dear Number one, as our organization has suspected all along, the whole world is run by a secret cabal of good-looking actors.

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This article will share some background information and provide an update on the condition of the seven detained Bahá’ís tasked with coordinating the affairs of the Bahá’í Community in Iran.

After the abduction and disappearance of the nine members of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Iran after the revolution in 1980 and the summary execution of most members of the second such Assembly of Bahá’ís in 1983, the governing body of the Bahá’í Community in Iran voluntarily suspended its administrative activities in 1983 and the affairs of the Bahá’í community were managed by small groups of three individuals in each locale. After a few years, this group of three individuals on the national level became more organized and was named the institution of “The Friends of Iran.” The main responsibility of this institution was managing the affairs of this large religious minority such as recording marriages, handling divorce, assisting with burials, sending letters of introduction for traveling Bahá’ís, arranging for worship services, and similar activities. “The Friends of Iran” guided the Bahá’í community through many tumultuous years and provided hope and reassurance through critical times with a unified vision and exemplary resolve.

The activities of the “Friends” occurred with complete transparency and were devoid of any hidden agenda. Incidentally, during this period, a particular office was designated in the Ministry of Information to follow the activities of the Bahá’ís. This office would contact the “Friends” directly if any questions would arise regarding a specific activity. Even Mr. Dorri Najafabadi, the chief prosecutor, has referred to this close monitoring. At the time of the suspension of Bahá’ís administrative activities in 1983, a letter was sent by the National Assembly of the time to Mr. Mousavi Ardabili indicating that in exchange for this suspension, the Bahá’í community requests that the government allow its high school Bahá’í graduates to enter universities, that the dismissed Bahá’í university professors be reinstated, and that the Bahá’ís fired from the public sector be given permission for employment. The government did not heed or honor any of these requests for minimal civil rights for the Bahá’ís of Iran.

In February of 2008, Mrs. Mahvash Shahriari (Sabet) was summoned to appear in the office of the Ministry of Intelligence in the city of Mashhad. She was arrested upon arrival and subsequently Mr. Khanjani, another member of the “Friends,” Mr. Khanjani, was summoned to Mashhad and was given assurances that she would be released on multiple occasions. These promises never materialized.

May 14, 2008, marked the beginning of a new chapter in repression of Bahá’ís in Iran, when the homes of the rest of the six members of the “Friends in Iran” were raided and Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi (Taefi), Mr. Jamaleddin Khanjani, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mr. Saeid Rezai, Mr. Afif Naimi, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm were arrested and transferred to Evin prison. For the first several months, they were deprived of visitation rights and were only on rare occasion allowed brief telephone contact with their family in exchange for money.

The first family visit was granted on September 8, 2008, and since then weekly visitation has been occurring. A representative of the Ministry of Intelligence is present in all such meetings and only immediate family members have been permitted to participate.

In the nine months since the arrest of the “Friends of Iran,” no verifiable or written documentation regarding court proceedings or the nature of their charges had been furnished until the Chief National Prosecutor and the speaker of the Judicial Branch, without providing any witnesses or evidence, labeled the “Friends” as criminals and alleged through the media that are charged with espionage. The speaker of the Judicial Branch signaled that they would be formally charged the following week and tried in court. As of the date of this report, the “Friends” have not been granted due process and have been deprived of legal counsel. No information has been provided to them or their family regarding the date or branch of court where they will be tried. It is noteworthy that the defending attorney, Ms. Shirin Ebadi, has not had any access to her clients or their legal files to date.

The allegations have only been verbally communicated with the “Friends” and their families and include “action against national security,” “irreverence to Islamic sanctities,” and “collaboration with Israel.” The open letter of the Chief National Prosecutor, Ayatollah Dorri Najafabadi, indicating the need for complete “annhilation of Bahá’í activities” in Iran has further added to the growing concern regarding the fate of the “Friends of Iran.”

It is noteworthy that the “Friends,” after enduring 3.5 months of solitary confinement, were transferred to a regular prison cell in September 2008, where they could interact with other prisoners. A month later, they were separated from other prisoners, where the five men are kept in one cell and the two women in another, isolated from others. Their status is still noted to be “temporary detention” and their fate is shrouded in obscurity. In light of the history of anti-Bahá’í activity of the Iranian government, the continued harassment of the Bahá’ís on the basis on their religious beliefs, and lack of access to written documents on the nature of their charges, and lack of due process with legal counsel, the situation of these seven Bahá’í prisoners in Iran is gravely concerning.

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In Shiraz, Iran, the City of Roses, Ruhi Hiebert remembers Saeid Razaie as a teenager laughing and smiling and playing his guitar. She remembers Afif Naimie, a little older and a little more serious, carefully teaching children Arabic.

This week, those memories will be going through her mind as she says prayers for the safety of her old friends: Both men are among a group of seven Baha’i believers in Iran who face trial for spying for Israel. At this point, their friends around the world fear they will be executed.

Local Baha’is invite the community to join their prayers Sunday, 10:30 a.m., at the Baha’i Center, 3209 Pulaski Pike.

The espionage charges are manufactured as a cover for a government desire to eradicate all Baha’is in Iran, says Hiebert, a Montessori teacher and director of the Montessori School of Madison. As a teenager in Iran, Hiebert endured imprisonment and beatings in Iranian jails for attempting to teach Baha’i children who had been expelled from school.

Baha’is in Iran are accused of spying for Israel, she says, because their world headquarters, established in Haifa long before that city was part of Israel, is now in the Jewish state.

But the newspapers in Iran are detailing how the arrested were caught possessing highly sophisticated communications equipment and other incriminating evidence – telephones, a global positioning system, a suitcase full of money, says Aziz Setayesh of Huntsville who grew up in Iran and visited family there last month.

“I don’t think they would execute them if the government didn’t know they were spying,” Setayesh said. “They had to have been paid by Israel to do something.”

The group is in danger of being assumed guilty without being able to defend themselves, said Hiebert. Baha’is are not allowed legal counsel, she said, a claim Setayesh disputes. Hiebert said that the two times she was arrested, she simply had to stay in jail until she was released and was not allowed either attorney or trial.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, who was a judge in Iran before the Islamic Revolution forbade women to be judges, and is now a lawyer, has offered to defend the group. But she has not been allowed to speak with them, according to a news release from Tim Tyson, a member of the Huntsville Baha’i Center.

The Baha’i faith, which began in what was then Persia in 1844, declares that the Twelfth Imam, whom Shiite Muslims declare will return with Jesus to establish a reign of peace, already returned in the prophetic mission of the Baha’u'llah, the founder of Baha’i.

For these reasons, most Muslims consider Baha’i to be a false religion, much as many Christians consider the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be a false religion because of its addition to recognized biblical prophets and its extra-biblical sacred writings. Baha’i is not recognized as a religion in Iran, Setayesh confirmed, adding that most Iranians believe that both their religious and cultural teachings undermine the peace and security of the Iranian Islamic state.

Baha’is emphasize that all religions that work toward peace and justice are true, that religions must conform to science and reason, and that men and women and people of all races are equal. With about 5 million members, It claims members in nearly every country of the world.

The U.S. State Department has issued a statement defining the arrests as religious persecution, as has the European Union.

U. S. House Resolution 175 was introduced Feb. 14 to urge Iran to grant a fair trial to the accused. Updates and background on the situation are posted at http://iran.bahai.us, www.bahai.us and www.IranPressWatch.org. Hiebert said that it would be helpful if her neighbors would contact U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith to ask his support of the bill.

“We don’t respond to violence with violence,” Hiebert said. “When they kill us, when they burn down our houses – and they burned down hundreds of houses in my town – we don’t do that to them, but we pursue justice. We want the world to see what they are doing.”

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RFE/RL: Have your heard from your sister since her arrest last May? Has your family in Iran been able to meet with her?

Roya Kamalabadi: Her family in Iran — her husband and children — have been able to meet with her every now and then. During the first months of her detention they weren’t allowed to meet with her, but later [officials] gave them permission to visit her.

RFE/RL: How is she doing? And how are the prison conditions?

Kamalabadi: We don’t know much about her conditions. Recently during a visit she was very sick and unfortunately she didn’t have enough warm clothes to keep warm in the cold winter. She apparently has to sleep on the cold floor and she had a very bad situation. Before her arrest my sister had some heart problems and she was taking medication. Her family took her medication to the prison, but unfortunately [prison officials] wouldn’t accept them.

RFE/RL: Your sister is among the seven Baha’is who are expected to go on trial in the near future on security charges. What kinds of activities was she involved in before her arrest?

Kamalabadi: Baha’i religious institutions were banned in Iran after the revolution and religious and other issues such as marriages, divorces, death, and other similar issues are being managed by a group called “The Friends of Iran.” The Iranian government has always been aware of the existence of this group and [government officials] have had meetings with this group.

My sister is one the members of “The Friends” that takes cares of the issues of Iran’s 300,000 Baha’is, including education. As you know, Baha’is are deprived of higher education in Iran. [The Friends of Iran] had created a university and they were involved in educating young Baha’is in Iran, and in [administrative and religious] issues.

Government Pressure Increasing

RFE/RL: Iranian authorities have leveled serious accusations against your sister and the other Baha’i leaders. They’ve accused them of spying for Israel and insulting religious sanctities. Do you see any basis for these accusations?

Kamalabadi: All of the accusations are totally baseless. Their arrest is in fact one of the [steps] that is being used to suppress the Baha’i faith and members of the Baha’i community in Iran. The international Baha’i community has its main headquarters within today’s Israel. The reason for this is that the founder of the Baha’i faith was sent to exile by the then-Iranian government and the Ottomans to a region that is today Israel, 80 years before Israel was created.

Aside from that, Baha’is are banned from having government jobs in Iran, even the most insignificant ones, and they have no access to government documents to enable them to spy for a foreign government. Regarding the charge of insulting religious sanctities — one of the main principles of the Baha’i faith is respect for all sanctities and we believe that all religions come from God and we respect them.

RFE/RL: There has been growing pressure on Baha’is in recent years. But lately more arrests are being reported, and now there is this case against the Baha’i leaders, including your sister. What do believe the reason is behind this?

Kamalabadi: Apparently, whenever there is an [issue], in order to divert people’s attention, [officials ] create these kinds of problems and they crack down on Baha’is. This is one of the steps in the elimination of the Baha’i community in Iran.

The arrest of these people and the charges that have been brought against them is unfair; they haven’t enjoyed their most basic rights, including access to a lawyer. Iranian Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi had said she would represent the seven Baha’is, but [the judiciary] has not allowed her to meet with them and she hasn’t even been able to study their files. Ebadi herself has been threatened and harassed for accepting the case and this just shows that justice is not being applied to them.

Despite all the pressure on Baha’is in Iran, I’m seeing a very positive aspect and that is that many people, governments, rights groups, and also many Iranians know very well that the accusations against the Baha’is are baseless and Baha’is are being persecuted only because of their faith.

RFE/RL: You left Iran seven years ago and you now live in Australia. Did you leave because of the pressure and discrimination that exists in Iran against the Baha’is?

Kamalabadi: Yes. All the Baha’is in Iran are under pressure in Iran. I was a student after the revolution; I was fired just because of my faith and was not able to continue my studies.

When I had my own family, we were facing problems, like all the other Baha’is, in making a living. It was not possible for us to have government jobs and permission to run private [businesses] was often cancelled. It was very difficult. My children were harassed at school, and finally a time came when there was too much pressure and we decided to leave Iran.

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