CNN: Baha'is detained in Iran contact families

CNN has posted the following article: Bahais detained in Iran contact families Continue Reading…

Then they came for the Bahai

The Jewish Daily Forward has published the following Op-Ep about the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran: Then they came for the Bahai

Continue Reading…

Jailed Baha'i leaders make first contact with families

IranVNC has posted the following story: Jailed Baha’i leaders make first contact with families Continue Reading…

Seven jailed Iranian Baha'is make brief contact with families

NEW YORK, 19 June 2008 (BWNS) — 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.

http://www.news.bahai.org/story/640
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The Baha’i International Community has also posted a report summarizing the latest news it has verified from Iran: Iran Update Continue Reading…

Remembering a day of tragedy, a day of courage

(Mona Mahmudnizhad, Zarrin Muqimi-Abyánih, and Ruya Ishraqi)
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the day 10 Bahá’í women were hanged in Shiraz, Iran, for teaching religious classes to Bahá’í youth — the equivalent of being Sunday School teachers in the West.

One of the men attending the gallows on that day in 1983 confided to a Bahá’í: “We tried saving their lives up to the last moment, but one by one, first the older ladies, then the young girls, were hanged while the others were forced to watch, it being hoped that this might induce them to recant their belief. We even urged them to say they were not Bahá’ís, but not one of them agreed; they preferred the execution.”

According to eyewitness reports, the women, ranging in age from 17 to 57, went to their fate singing and chanting, as though they were enjoying a pleasant outing.
All of the women had been interrogated and tortured in the months leading up to their execution. Some still bore visible wounds.

The youngest of the martyrs was Muna Mahmudnizhad, known as Mona, a 17-year-old schoolgirl who, because of her youth and conspicuous innocence, became a symbol of the group. In prison, she was lashed on the soles of her feet with a cable and forced to walk on bleeding feet.

Yet she never wavered in her faith, even to the point of kissing the hands of her executioner, and then the rope, before putting it around her own throat.

Another young woman, Zarrin Muqimi-Abyanih, 28, told the interrogators, whose chief goal was to have her disavow her faith: “Whether you accept it or not, I am a Bahá’í. You cannot take it away from me. I am a Bahá’í with my whole being and my whole heart.”

The judge said, during the trial of another of the women, Ruya Ishraqi, 23, a veterinary student: “You put yourselves through this agony only for one word: Just say you are not a Bahá’í and I’ll see that…you are released…” Ms. Ishraqi responded, “I will not exchange my faith for the whole world.”

The names of the other women hanged on June 18, 1983 were: Shahin Dalvand, 25, a sociologist; Izzat Janami Ishraqi, 57, a homemaker; Mahshid Nirumand, 28, who had qualified for a degree in physics but had it denied her because she was a Bahá’í; Simin Sabiri, 25; Tahirih Arjumandi Siyavushi, 30, a nurse; Akhtar Thabit, 25, also a nurse; and Nusrat Ghufrani Yalda’i, 47, a mother and member of the local Bahá’í Spiritual Assembly.

All had considered their duty to teach Bahá’í religious classes — especially after the government had barred Bahá’í children from attending even regular school.

http://bahai.us/day-of-courage Continue Reading…

White House slams as "shameful" Iran's human rights

IranVNC reported on a statement made on June 14 by a White House spokesperson calling for the release of Baha’i leaders in Iran White House slams as “shameful” Iran’s human rights

Continue Reading…

AAUP passes resolution on denial of education to Baha'is in Iran

The American Association of University Professors passed a resolution on June 15, 2008, urging the government of Iran to “remove barriers that deny access to higher education on religious or ethnic grounds.” In particular, the AAUP wants to ensure that Iran does not keep members of the Baha’i religious community “out of universities.”

http://chronicle.com/news/article/4676/aaup-weighs-in-on-hot-button-academic-issues

Continue Reading…

NYTimes: Iran: Bahai Arrests Confirmed

The following article appeared in today’s World Briefing section of The New York Times “Iran: Bahai Arrests Confirmed” Continue Reading…

Treatment of Bahais: A Test of Human Rights in Iran

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy has described the treatment of the Baha’is as a test of human rights in Iran

You can access their report here

Continue Reading…

Open letter to President Ahmadinejad on Situation of Baha'i Detainees

On June 1, 2008, Ms. Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH, and Mr. Joe Stork, Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch, wrote an open letter to President Ahmadinejad expressing concern over the fate of the seven detained Baha’i leaders.

You can access the letter here

Continue Reading…

NYTimes: Iran: Bahai Arrests Confirmed

he following article appeared in today’s World Briefing section of The New York Times “Iran: Bahai Arrests Confirmed” Continue Reading…

ICJ calls on Iranian authorities to cease harassment of Baha'i faith leaders

The International Commission of Jurists issued a press release on June 2 calling for the immediate release of the Baha’i leaders in Iran. The press release can be downloaded from the ICJ site here Continue Reading…

Ignoring Baha'i plight hypocritical

Canada’s National Post published the following story on May 29, 2008

Ignoring Baha’i plight hypocritical; Iran arrests should be on Canada’s agenda

Continue Reading…

Baha'i arrests show loss of basic religious freedoms and human rights in Iran

Abraham H. Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote the following piece for The Cutting Edge: Baha’i arrests show loss of basic religious freedoms and human rights in Iran Continue Reading…

East Bay faithful condemn arrests of Bahais in Iran

The Contra Costa Times, CA, published the following article about a local event to raise awareness about the arrests of Baha’i leaders in Iran “East Bay faithful condemn arrests of Bahais in Iran” Continue Reading…