The Netherlands condemns the trial of Iranian Bahá’is

February 20, 2009 Netherlands is concerned about the trial of seven leaders of the Bahá’i community in Iran. The seven have been held since May, without any access to legal assistance, on charges of blasphemy and spying for Israel. The trial opens this week.

The leaders of the Bahá’i, a religious minority in Iran, are facing a possible death sentence if convicted of the charges. The Netherlands fears that the trial will not be fair, and it has asked Iran through the EU to allow an independent observer to monitor the judicial process.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen is seriously concerned about the fate of the Bahá’is: ‘The Netherlands will continue to work hard to eliminate human rights violations and the oppression of religious and ethnic minorities. We will do this bilaterally, by repeatedly calling the Iranian authorities to account for their human rights policy, and internationally, by bringing the plight of religious minorities to the attention of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.’At the initiative of the Netherlands and several other member states, the EU has issued a declaration objecting to this instance of religious discrimination. Not only are many Bahá’is being detained without formal charges, they are also excluded from Iranian universities and denied certain permits.

Commentary: Stop religious persecution in Iran - CNN

By Rainn WilsonSpecial to CNN

Editor's note: Actor Rainn Wilson plays paper salesman Dwight Schrute in the television comedy "The Office."

(CNN) Why is Rainn Wilson, "Dwight" on "The Office," writing a news commentary for CNN? Good question.
It's a bit strange for me, to say the least; a comic character actor best known for playing weirdos with bad haircuts getting all serious to talk about the persecution of the fellow members of his religious faith.

Dear readers of CNN, I assure you that what I'm writing about is no joking matter or some hoax perpetrated by a paper-sellin', bear-fearin', Battlestar-Galactica obsessed beet farmer.

I am a member of the Baha'i faith. What is that, you ask? Well, long story short, it's an independent world religion that began in the mid-1800s in Iran. Baha'is believe that there is only one God and therefore only one religion.

All of the world's divine teachers (Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Moses, Abraham, Krishna, etc.) bring essentially the same message -- one of unity, love and knowledge of God or the divine.
This constantly updated faith of God, Baha'is believe, has been refreshed for this day and age by our founder, Baha'u'llah. There. Nutshell version.

Now, as I mentioned, this all happened in Iran, and needless to say the Muslim authorities did not like the Baha'is very much, accusing them of heresy and apostasy. Tens of thousands were killed in the early years of the faith, and the persecutions have continued off and on for the past 150 years.

Why write about all this now? Well, I'm glad you asked. You see there's a 'trial' going on very soon for seven Baha'i national leaders in Iran.

They've been accused of all manner of things including being "spies for Israel," "insulting religious sanctities" and "propaganda against the Islamic Republic."

They've been held for a year in Evin Prison in Tehran without any access to their lawyer (the Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi) and with zero evidence of any of these charges.
When a similar thing happened in 1980, the national leadership of the Iranian Baha'i community disappeared. And this was repeated again in 1981.

In fact, since 1979, more than 200 Baha'is have been killed, holy places and cemeteries desecrated, homes burned, civil rights taken away and secret lists compiled of Baha'is (and even Muslims who associate with them) by government agencies.

It's bad right now for all the peace-loving Baha'is in Iran who want only to practice their religion and follow their beliefs. It's especially bad for these seven. Here's a link to their bios. They're teachers, and engineers, and optometrists and social workers just like us.

This thought has become kind of a cliché', but we take our rights for granted here in America. Imagine if a group of people were rounded up and imprisoned and then disappeared not for anything they'd done, but because they wanted to worship differently than the majority.
There is a resolution on the situation of the Baha'is in Iran being sent to Congress. Please ask your representatives to support it. And ask them to speak out about this terrible situation.
Thanks for reading. Now back to bears, paper and beets!

Prayer for the Seven Iranian Baha'is in Jail

Arabic Prayer From the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá

Iranian professionals post public apology to Baha'is - February 6, 2009 - CNN

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- A group of Iranian intellectuals released a public apology this week for what they say is a long history of the country's mistreatment of members of the Baha'i faith.

The apology -- titled, "We are ashamed" -- was published on the Web site Iranian.com and was signed by 42 Iranian professionals, all of whom do not live in Iran.
"As Iranian human beings, we are ashamed for what has been perpetrated upon the Baha'is in the last century and a half in Iran," the letter says.
In the letter, the group detailed incidents of violence and discrimination that it says the Iranian government has perpetrated against Baha'is.
The Islamic republic has been condemned by human-rights activists and governments across the globe for its treatment of members of the Baha'i faith.
The Baha'i movement has said that six of its followers were arrested in January in Tehran, including one who works with Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, the lawyer and activist. Seven leaders of the group arrested in 2008 also remain in jail.
Members of Baha'i -- who say they are targeted in the predominantly Shiite nation because of their faith -- have faced arrests and other oppression over the years.
They say the persecution is part of a pattern that began in 1979. That's when the monarchy of the Shah of Iran was toppled and an Islamic republic was created.
Baha'i -- regarded as the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran -- claims to have 5 million members across the globe and about 300,000 in Iran.
The European Parliament passed a resolution in January that criticized Iran's treatment of Baha'is. The U.S. State Department also criticized Iran's treatment of Baha'i followers in a report last year.
For more details visit: We are ashamed!

!يكفي قرن ونصف من الاضطهاد والسكوت

{هذه العريضة كتبتها مجموعة من الأكاديميين، والمؤلفين، والفنانين، والصحفيين، والناشطين الإيرانيين المقيمين في كل أرجاء العالم. كما وقَّع عليها العديد من أبرز المثقفين الإيرانيين}

--------------

!إننا نستحي
!يكفي قرن ونصف من الاضطهاد والسكوت

باسم الخير والجمال وباسم الإنسانية والحرية
إننا كإيرانيين نشعر بالخجل والحياء مما ارتكب بحق البهائيين منذ قرن ونصف من تاريخ إيران.
إننا نؤمن بأن كل إيراني يستحقّ كافة الحقوق والحريات المنصوص عليها في وثيقة "الإعلان العالمي لحقوق الإنسان"، بغضّ النظر عن العرق، واللون، والجنسية، واللغة، والدين، والعقائد السياسية، أو أية عقيدة أخرى، وبصرف النظر عن الجماعة الإثنية، والطبقة الاجتماعية، والثروة، والأصل أو أي وضعية أخرى. بيد أن منذ ظهور الدين البهائي حتى يومنا هذا، لقد يُحرم أتباع هذا الدين من حقوقهم الإنسانية لمجرّد عقائدهم الدينية.
منذ ظهور الدين البابي ومن ثَمَّ الدين البهائي في إيران، لقد قتل آلاف من مواطنينا بسيوف التعصب والخرافة لمجرّد عقائدهم الدينية وذلك طبقاً للوثائق التاريخية والشواهد المعتمدة. وفي مطلع العقود الأولى بعد تأسيس هذا الدين، قتل حوالي عشرين ألفاً من الذين اعتنقوه في مختلف مدن إيران.
إننا نستحي من أنه في هذه الفترة لم يسجّل أيُّ صوت يعترض على هذه الجرائم الوحشية.
إننا نستحي من أن الأصوات المعترضة على هذه الجرائم الشنيعة كانت ومازالت نادرة وصامتة.
إننا نستحي من أنه بالإضافة إلى القمع الشديد للبهائيين في العقود الأولى بعد تأسيس دينهم، فقد شهد مواطنونا هؤلاء في القرن الماضي حملات الاضطهاد الدورية عليهم، التي طَالَهُم من خلالها تحريق بيوتهم وأماكن عملهم وتهديمها، وواجهت حياتهم وأموالهم وعائلاتهم الظلم القاسي. وبالرغم من كل ذلك فقد ظل المثقفون والمفكرون الإيرانيون ساكتين أمام هذه الفاجعة.
إننا نستحي من أنه على طول السنوات الثلاثين الماضية، قُتل أكثر من مئتين بهائيٍ بناءً على قانون سُنَّ لقتل البهائيين بسبب عقائدهم الدينية.
إننا نستحي من أن جماعة من المثقفين برّرت الإكراه والضغط على المجتمع البهائي في إيران.
إننا نستحي من سكوتنا أمام حرمان البهائيين المتقاعدين من حقوقهم لمعاش التقاعد بعد عقود من الخدمة لأجل وطنهم.
إننا نستحي من سكوتنا أمام آلاف من الشباب الإيرانيين الذين حُرموا من إمكانية الدراسات العليا في الجامعات بسبب إيمانهم بدينهم وصدقهم في الاعتراف به.
إننا نستحي من سكوتنا أمام الأطفال البهائيين الذين واجهوا التحقير في المدارس بسبب عقائد آبائهم الدينية.
إننا نستحي من سكوتنا أمام هذا الواقع الأليم في بلدنا الذي فيه يُقمع البهائيون ويحقَّرون بشكل منظم. ويعتقل العديدُ منهم لمجرّد عقائدهم الدينية، ويُهجم على منازلهم وأماكن عملهم وتهدَّم، ويصل الأمر أحياناً إلى انتهاك حرمة مقابرهم أيضاً.
إننا نستحي من سكوتنا أمام هذا السجلّ الطويل الفظيع المحزن في تهميش البهائيين على يد نظامنا الشرعي ومن قبل قوانين حكومتنا. كما نستحي أمام الاضطهاد وانعدام العدالة للمنظمات الرسمية وغير الرسمية نحو هذا المجتمع من مواطنينا.
إننا نستحي من جرائمنا وجورنا وإنا نستحي من سكوتنا أمام أعمالنا.
نحن موقّعو هذه العريضة نستغفركم أيها البهائيون ولاسيّما ضحايا الجنايات من بهائيي إيران.
لن نسكت أبداً بعد اليوم أمام الظلم المرتكب بحقكم.
إننا واقفون جنباً إلى جنب معكم في التوصّل إلى حقوق الإنسان المنصوص عليها في وثيقة "الإعلان العالمي لحقوق الإنسان".
لنستبدلْ المحبة والوعي بالجهد والضغينة.

٣ شباط / فبراير ٢٠٠٩
:الموقّعون
١. ابراهیمی، ‌هادی – رئيس التحرير لجريدة شهرگان – کندا، ونکوور
٢. احمدی، رامین – أستاذ في الجامعة وناشط في حقوق الإنسان– أمریکا، یل
٣. الماسی، نسرین – مدیرة التحریر لجريدة شهروند - کندا – تورنتو
٤. باقرپور، خسرو – شاعر وصحفي – ألمانيا
٥. برادران، منیره – كاتبة وناشطة في حقوق الإنسان – ألمانيا
٦. برومند، رویا – مدیرة إجرائية، موسسة برومند – أمریکا، واشنطن
٧. برومند، لادن – باحثة، مؤسسة برومند- أمریکا، واشنطن
٨. بیضایی، نیلوفر –كاتبة ومخرجة مسرحية – ألمانيا، فرانکفورت
٩. پارسا، سهیل – مخرج مسرحي – کندا، تورنتو
١٠. تقی پور، معصومه – ممثلة ومحرجة مسرحية – السويد، كوته بورك
١١. تهوری، محمد – صحفي – أمریکا، ماساجوست
١٢. جاوید، جهانشاه – ناشر – إیرانیان دات کام – المكسيك
١٣. جلالی چیمه، محمد (م سحر) – شاعر – فرنسا، باریس
١٤. جنتی عطایی، بهی - ممثل وكاتب ومخرج مسرحي – فرنسا، باریس
١٥. چوبینه، بهرام – كاتب وباحث – ألمانيا، کلن
١٦. خرسندی، ‌هادی – هاجٍ– إنجلترا، لندن
١٧. دانشور، حمید – ممثل ومخرج مسرحي – فرنسا، باریس
١٨. درویش پور، مهرداد – أستاذ في الجامعة – السويد، استکهلم
١٩. زاهدی، میترا – مخرجة مسرحية– ألمانيا، برلین
٢٠. زرهی، حسن – رئيس التحرير لجريدة شهروند – کندا، تورنتو
٢١. سهیمی، محمد – أستاذ في الجامعة – أمریکا، كاليفورنيا
٢٢. شفیق، شهلا – كاتبة وباحثة– فرنسا، باریس
٢٣. شمیرانی، خسرو – صحفي – کندا، مونتريال
٢٤. شیدا، بهروز – ناقد وباحث أدبي - السويد، استکهلم
٢٥. عبدالعلیان، مرتضی – عضو هيئة إدارة سی.جی.اف.ای – کندا، اکویل
٢٦. عبقری، سیاوش – أستاذ في الجامعة – الولایات المتحدة، أتلانتا
٢٧. عبقری، شهلا – أستاذة في الجامعة – الولایات المتحدة، أتلانتا
٢٨. فانی یزدی، رضا – محلّل سياسي - أمریکا
٢٩. فرهودی، ویدا – شاعرة ومترجمة – فرنسا، باریس
٣٠. فروهر، پرستو – فنانة وناشطة في حقوق الإنسان – ألمانيا، فرانکفورت
٣١. قائمى، هادی – منسّق حملة دولية لحقوق الإنسان في إیران - أمریکا
٣٢. قهرمان، ساسان – كاتب وصحفي - کندا، تورنتو
٣٣. قهرمان، ساقی – شاعر وصحفي - کندا، تورنتو
٣٤. کاخساز، ناصر – باحث ومحلّل سياسي – ألمانيا، بوخوم
٣٥. کسرایی، فرهنگ – كاتب وممثل مسرحي – ألمانيا، ویسبادن
٣٦. کلباسی، شیما – شاعرة – أمریکا، واشنطن
٣٧. ماهباز، عفت – ناشطة في حقوق المرأة وصحفية – إنجلترا ، لندن
٣٨. مساعد، ژیلا – شاعرة وكاتبة – السويد، كوتبورك
٣٩. مشکین قلم، شاهرخ – ممثل وراقص – فرنسا، باریس
٤٠. مصلی نژاد، عزت – كاتب وناشط في حقوق الإنسان- الجمعية الكندية لضحايا التعذيب– کندا، تورنتو
٤١. ملکوتی، سیروس – عازف وملحّن ومدرّس الغيتار الکلاسیکي – إنجلترا ، لندن
٤٢. وحدتی، سهیلا – ناشطة في حقوق الإنسان – أمریکا، كاليفورنيا

Iranian Baha'is

Seven jailed Iranian Baha’is make brief contact with families

NEW YORK — Seven prominent Baha’is imprisoned in Iran have each been allowed a brief phone call to their families, the Baha’i International Community has learned.
The calls were the first contact with the jailed Baha’is since six of them were arrested on 14 May in pre-dawn raids at their homes in Tehran. The seventh was arrested in March in the city of Mashhad.
The Baha’i International Community has learned that on 3 June, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet and Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi were permitted to make short phone calls to their families. Mrs. Sabet had been detained in Mashhad on 5 March but on 26 May was transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran, where it is believed the others are also being held.
Later it was confirmed that Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm also have made brief phone calls to their families.
No charges have been filed against any of the seven, who comprise the entire membership of a coordinating committee that saw to the minimal needs of the 300,000-member Baha’i community of Iran.
In 1980, all nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Iran were taken away and presumed killed as they were never heard from again. A year later, after the Assembly had been reconstituted, eight of the nine members were arrested and killed.
Besides the seven committee members imprisoned in Tehran, about 15 other Baha’is are currently detained in Iran, some incommunicado and most with no formal charges.

البهائيون فى ايران

تم السماح للسبعة بهائيين المحتجزين فى السجن منذ 14 مايو 2008 بايران، لاول مرة باجراء اتصال هاتفي قصير مع عائلاتهم ويمثل هؤلاء البهائيين السبعة اللجنة المركزية لرعاية شئون البهائيين فى ايران الذين يبلغ عددهم قرابة 300.000 بهائي ممثلين اكبر اقلية دينية فى ايران

هذا و لم يتم الى الآن تقديمهم للقضاء كما لم يتم توجيه اى اتهام لهم !وهذا يعيد الى الاذهان نفس السيناريو السابق الذى تم فى عام 1980 حيث اعتقلت السلطات الايرانية تسعة بهائيين هم اعضاء المحفل المركزى للبهائيين فى ايران فى ذلك الوقت (وهو الجهة الادارية المسئولة عن رعاية شؤون البهائيين ) ثم تم اعدامهم بدون اى محاكمة!!! بعدها بعام واحد تم تكوين محفل مركزى آخر وتم تكرار نفس السيناريو المؤلم حيث اعتقل ثمانية من اعضائه وتم اعدامهم !!!؟

من ناحية اخرى ، بالاضافة الى السبعة الممثلين للجنة المركزية لرعاية شئون البهائيين فى ايران، يبلغ عدد البهائيين المعتقلين حاليا 15 فرد! ومما هو جدير بالذكر ان جميعهم لم يتم تقديمهم الى القضاء او توجيه اى اتهام اليهم !!!؟ فقط تم ايداعهم السجن الى اجل غير مسمى!؟

تعقيب

على الحكومة الايرانية ان تدرك ان الزمن قد تغير وان المجتمع العالمي بأكمله لن يسمح لها بتكرار سيناريوهاتها السابقة ، فقد آن الأوان ان يقف الجميع بمختلف انتمائاتهم وعقائدهم يدا واحدة ضد اى مساس بحقوق الانسان فى اى بلد ،وضد اى تمييز لاى مواطن تحت اى مسمى كان!؟

فلتدرك الحكومة الايرانية انها ستخسر الكثير لو استمرت فى هذا الانتهاك الصارخ للمواثيق الدولية

Five Baha’is Detained in Iran

IRAN – BAHA’I – ARRESTWashington 28 May (IranVNC)—Five more Baha’is in Iran have been arrested and taken to prison less than two weeks after the leaders of the country’s largest non-Muslim religious community were detained in Tehran’s Evin prison.“We have just learned ourselves that the three men in the Esfahan area were arrested and jailed on May 24 in connection with the burial of a Baha'i in the local Baha'i cemetery,” a representative of the Baha’is of the U.S. told IranVNC today. “They were summoned to a local court in Villashahr, handcuffed and then transferred to prison in Esfahan. We have no further information,” she said.


The arrest of the three men, Hooshmand Talebi, Mehran Zini, and Farhad Ferdowsiyan, was first reported yesterday by the Iran-based rights organization Human Rights Activities in Iran. The same organization also reported that three other Baha’is in Iran’s northern Mazandaran Province had been arrested in recent days. Asked about the report, the representative explained: “We have learned that two Baha’is (not three) from Ghaemshahr, Mazandaran province, were taken into custody on May 19, 2008 to commence serving their prison sentences, following the rejection of their appeals last year.”The Iranian government has not made any comments about the new arrests, which come after the detention of six out of the seven leaders of the country’s Baha’i community earlier this month on charges of “acting against the country’s interests.”The international Baha’i community has rejected the charge and has expressed concern over the lack of information available about the individuals. “What is clear is that none of their fundamental rights are being upheld. They have had no access to family members or counsel. We don’t even know if they have been before a judge or whether they have been formally charged,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations, according to the Baha’i World News Service.

“All we know is what a government spokesperson said last week, which is that they were arrested for ‘security reasons,’ a charge that is utterly baseless,” she said.But yesterday, in response to a question about the six detained individuals, Judiciary Spokesperson Ali-Reza Jamshidi said they had been charged with participating in “illegal gatherings.”“The six people have been given a two-year suspended prison sentence for the crime of acting against national security by participating in illegal gatherings,” Fars News Agency quoted him as saying in a news conference.

Sources: IranVNC Washington correspondent, Human Rights Activities in Iran, Fars News

Iran 'plans to destroy Baha'i community' - CNN - May 22, 2008

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A top Baha'i official has criticized Iran's claim that the six imprisoned leaders of the religious minority were held for security reasons and not because of their faith.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government has been accused of trying to eliminate the Baha'i community.

Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, called Iran's assertion "utterly baseless."

"The allegations are not new, and the Iranian government knows well that they are untrue," Dugal said on Wednesday, quoted in a news release issued by the Baha'i movement.

"The documented plan of the Iranian government has always been to destroy the Baha'i community, and these latest arrests represent an intensification of this plan."

Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said the people were detained for "security issues" and not their faith, Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency said.

Elham said on Tuesday that the Baha'is were members of a group working together "against national interest."

"The group is an organized establishment linked to foreigners, the Zionists in particular," he said.

The arrests of the six last week and another Baha'i leader in March sparked sharp condemnation by the Baha'is, the United States, Canada, the European Union and humanitarian groups.

The Baha'is say the latest arrests are part of a pattern of religious persecution since 1979, when the monarchy of the Shah of Iran was toppled and an Islamic republic was created in the predominantly Shiite nation.

The Baha'is say they have been killed, jailed and "otherwise oppressed" only because of their religion.

"The best proof of this is the fact that, time and again, Baha'is have been offered their freedom if they recant their Baha'i beliefs and convert to Islam, an option few have taken," Dugal said.

Dugal said Iran's practice of connecting the group to Zionism, the underlying political philosophy of the Jewish state, was a "distortion" and an attempt to "stir animosity" among the Iranian public.

The Baha'i World Center, which the movement refers to as its "spiritual and administrative heart," is in the Acre/Haifa area in northern Israel -- a location that predates the founding of the state of Israel since it was formed during the Ottoman Empire's rule of Palestine.

The Baha'is explain that their founder, Baha'u'llah, "after a series of successive banishments from his native Persia, was exiled, with members of his family and a small band of his followers, to the Turkish penal colony of Acre in 1868."

Dugal said the Iranian actions were the "most recent iteration in a long history of attempts to foment hatred by casting the Baha'is as agents of foreign powers, whether of Russia, the United Kingdom, or the United States and now Israel all of which are completely baseless."

Dugal said the government's philosophies are based largely on the idea that there can be "no prophet following Mohammed" and that the faith "poses a theological challenge to this belief."

They say Baha'u'llah is regarded by Baha'is as "the most recent in the line of Messengers of God that stretches back beyond recorded time and that includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ and Mohammed."

The Baha'is-- regarded as the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran -- say they have 5 million members across the globe, and about 300,000 in Iran.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/22/iran.bahais/index.html

CNN - Iran's arrest of Baha'is condemned

Iran's arrest of Baha'is condemned



CNN) -- Six Baha'i leaders in Iran were seized and imprisoned this week, the religious group said. The act prompted condemnation and concern from the movement and a top American religious freedom panel.

Iranian intelligence agents searched the homes of the six on Wednesday and then whisked them away, according to the Baha'i's World News Service. The report said the six are in Evin prison and that the arrests follow the detention in March of another Baha'i leader.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment, and the incident has not been mentioned in Iran's state-run media.
"Their only crime is their practice of the Baha'i faith," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i international community to the United Nations.
The group -- regarded as the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran -- says the arrests are reminiscent of roundups and killings of Baha'is that took place in Iran two decades ago.

"Especially disturbing is how this latest sweep recalls the wholesale arrest or abduction of the members of two national Iranian Baha'i governing councils in the early 1980s -- which led to the disappearance or execution of 17 individuals," Dugal said.
"The early morning raids on the homes of these prominent Baha'is were well-coordinated, and it is clear they represent a high-level effort to strike again at the Baha'is and to intimidate the Iranian Baha'i community at large," she added.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom -- a government panel that advises the president and Congress -- condemned the Wednesday arrests, as well as another in March. The commission chairman called the acts the "latest sign of the rapidly deteriorating status of religious freedom and other human rights in Iran."
The commission said the seven were members of an informal Baha'i group that tended to the needs of the community after the Iranian government banned all formal Baha'i activity in 1983.
The commission chairman, Michael Cromartie, echoed the fears that the "development signals a return to the darkest days of repression in Iran in the 1980s when Baha'is were routinely arrested, imprisoned, and executed."

The Baha'is are regarded as "apostates" in Iran and have been persecuted there for years.
"Since 1979, Iranian authorities have killed more than 200 Baha'i leaders, thousands have been arrested and imprisoned, and more than 10,000 have been dismissed from government and university jobs," the commission said.

The commission said that since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power a few years ago, Baha'is "have been harassed, physically attacked, arrested, and imprisoned."
"During the past year, young Baha'i schoolchildren in primary and secondary schools increasingly have been attacked, vilified, pressured to convert to Islam, and in some cases, expelled on account of their religion."

The commission said other groups in the predominantly Shiite Muslim country of Iran, such Sufis and Christians, are subject to intimidation and harassment. Ahmadinejad's inflammatory statements about Israel have "created a climate of fear" among the country's Jews.
The Baha'is say they have 5 million members across the globe, and about 300,000 in Iran.
The Baha'is say their faith "is the youngest of the world's independent religions" and that its basic theme is that "humanity is one single race and that the day has come for its unification in one global society."

They say their founder, Baha'u'llah (1817-1892), is regarded by Baha'is as "the most recent in the line of Messengers of God that stretches back beyond recorded time and that includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad."

إيران تعتقل ستة زعماء من الطائفة البهائية

16/05/08

(CNN)-- اعتقلت السلطات الإيرانية ستة زعماء بهائيين خلال هذا الأسبوع، وفق ما أعلن مسؤولون في الطائفة البهائية.
وأدت العملية إلى موجة انتقادات واسعة وقلقا لدى الحركة البهائية فضلا عن منظمة أمريكية تدافع عن الحريات الدينية.
ومشطت عناصر من الاستخبارات الإيرانية منازل الأشخاص الستة الأربعاء، ومن ثمّ أخذتهم معها، وفق خدمة أخبار العالم البهائي.
وأضاف التقرير الذي أذاعته الطائفة أنّ المعتقلين يتمّ التحفّظ عليهم في سجن إفين وأنّ الاعتقالات تعقب عملية مماثلة جرت في مارس/آذار تمّ خلالها إلقاء القبض على زعيم بهائي آخر.
وقالت باني دوغال، الممثلة الرئيسية لجماعة البهائيين الدولية في الأمم المتحدة إنّ "جريمتهم الوحيدة هي تطبيقهم للعقيدة البهائية."
وتقول الجماعة، التي ينظر إليها على أنّها أكبر أقلية دينية غير مسلمة في إيران، إنّ الاعتقالات تعيد إلى الأذهان حملة القمع التي استهدفت البهائيين طيلة عقدين.
ويقول البهائيون إنّ عددهم يبلغ خمسة ملايين على مستوى العالم منهم 300 ألف في إيران وحدها.
وقالت دوغال إنّ 17 شخصا من أعضاء مجلسين بهائيين شهدتهما إيران في بداية عقد الثمانينات من القرن الماضي، إما اختفوا أو قتلوا.
وأوضحت أنّ حملات الدهم التي جرت فجرا على منازل المعتقلين تعكس "جهدا على مستوى عال" لمهاجمة البهائيين مجددا.
وشجبت اللجنة الأمريكية للحريات الدينية الدولية الاعتقالات التي جرت الأربعاء.
وقال رئيس اللجنة إنّ الاعتقالات هي آخر إشارة على التدهور المتسارع لوضع الحريات الدينية وحقوق الإنسان في إيران.
وقال مايكل كرومارسي إنّ هناك مخاوف من كون "هذا التطوّر ينبئ بعودة أيام القمع السود في إيران في عقد الثمانينيات عندما كان البهائيون عرضة بكيفية متكررة للاعتقال والسجن والإعدام."
وتعتبر إيران البهائيين "مرتدين" ونظمت عدة حملات لاعتقالهم طيلة سنوات.
وقالت اللجنة إنّ السلطات الإيرانية قتلت منذ 1979 أكثر من 200 زعيما بهائيا واعتقلت الآلاف من أتباع الطائفة وطردت أكثر من 10 آلاف بهائي من وظائفهم.
وأضافت أنه منذ قدوم الرئيس محمود أحمدي نجاد إلى منصبه، تمّ "التحرّش بالبهائيين، حيث هوجموا بدنيا واعتقلوا وسجنوا."
وقالت إنّ جماعات دينية أخرى مثل الصوفيين والمسيحيين، يعانون من الاضطهاد والتحرش في إيران، في الوقت الذي أشاعت فيه تصريحات نجاد حول إسرائيل "أجواء الخوف" لدى اليهود الإيرانيين.
ويقول البهائيون إنّ عقيدتهم "هي أحدث الديانات المستقلة في العالم" وأنّ محورها الأساسي هو أنّ "الإنسانية هي عرق واحد جاء اليوم الذي ينبغي أن تتوحّد فيه داخل مجتمع كوني واحد."
كما يقولون إنّ مؤسس العقيدة بهاء الله(1817-1892) يعدّ، بالنسبة إليهم، "الأحدث في خطّ رسل الله...الذين جاؤوا على مرّ الزمن ومن ضمنهم إبراهيم وموسى وبوذا وكريشنا وزرادشت والمسيح ومحمد."