Tuesday, July 29, 2008
(CNN) Iran: Religious minority reports arson attacks
CNN has posted the following story about the arson attacks on the Baha’is in Iran: Religious minority reports arson attacks
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The Institute on Religion and Public Policy condemns arson attacks
The IRPP has put out the following statement:
Institute condemns Iranian arsonist targeting of Baha’is
In the early hours of the morning of July 18, the house of the Shaaker family in Kerman was set on fire, only weeks after their car had been torched and in the wake of a series of threatening phone calls. Officials investigating the fire ignored and dismissed obvious signs of suspicious activity, such as a muffled explosion, simply saying that it was the result of an electrical problem.
At least a dozen cases of arson that target Baha’is have been reported in Iran in the last 15 months. Furthermore, over two months ago, seven members of Iran’s national Bahá’í coordinating group were arrested. Although they have still not been charged, they remain in Evin Prison in Tehran, without access to an attorney or to their families.
Photographs of this attack, as well as details on other recent arson cases targeting Iranian Bahá’ís, are available on the Bahá’í World News website at: http://news.bahai.org/story/645.
About Institute on Religion and Public Policy
Nominated for the 2007 Nobel Prize in Peace, the Institute on Religion and Public Policy is an international, inter-religious non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring freedom of religion as the foundation for security, stability, and democracy.
The Institute works globally with government policymakers, religious leaders, business executives, academics, international and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations and others in order to develop, protect, and promote fundamental rights - especially the right of religious freedom - and contributes to the intellectual and moral foundation of the fundamental right of religious freedom. The Institute encourages and assists in the effective and cooperative advancement of religious freedom. Continue Reading…
Institute condemns Iranian arsonist targeting of Baha’is
In the early hours of the morning of July 18, the house of the Shaaker family in Kerman was set on fire, only weeks after their car had been torched and in the wake of a series of threatening phone calls. Officials investigating the fire ignored and dismissed obvious signs of suspicious activity, such as a muffled explosion, simply saying that it was the result of an electrical problem.
At least a dozen cases of arson that target Baha’is have been reported in Iran in the last 15 months. Furthermore, over two months ago, seven members of Iran’s national Bahá’í coordinating group were arrested. Although they have still not been charged, they remain in Evin Prison in Tehran, without access to an attorney or to their families.
Photographs of this attack, as well as details on other recent arson cases targeting Iranian Bahá’ís, are available on the Bahá’í World News website at: http://news.bahai.org/story/645.
About Institute on Religion and Public Policy
Nominated for the 2007 Nobel Prize in Peace, the Institute on Religion and Public Policy is an international, inter-religious non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring freedom of religion as the foundation for security, stability, and democracy.
The Institute works globally with government policymakers, religious leaders, business executives, academics, international and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations and others in order to develop, protect, and promote fundamental rights - especially the right of religious freedom - and contributes to the intellectual and moral foundation of the fundamental right of religious freedom. The Institute encourages and assists in the effective and cooperative advancement of religious freedom. Continue Reading…
(CNN) Iran: Religious minority reports arson attacks
CNN has posted the following story about the arson attacks on the Baha’is in Iran: Religious minority reports arson attacks
Continue Reading…
Monday, July 28, 2008
Arsonists in Iran target Baha'i homes, vehicles
NEW YORK, July 28 2008 (BWNS) — Acts of arson targeting homes and vehicles are the latest violent tactics directed against the Baha’is of Iran. “In the early hours of the morning of 18 July, the house of the Shaaker family in Kerman went up in flames, only weeks after their car had been torched and in the wake of a series of threatening phone calls,” said Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.
“As would be expected in the light of the mistreatment Baha’is in Iran are routinely receiving, the officials who investigated the fire either ignored or dismissed obvious signs of suspicious activity, including a muffled explosion, simply saying that it was the result of an electrical problem,” she said.
At least a dozen cases of arson that target Baha’is have been reported in Iran in the last 15 months, Ms. Dugal said. She gave the following examples:
“These latest attacks follow the authorities’ attempts to deprive the Iranian Baha’i community of its leadership,” Ms. Dugal said, referring to the arrests in March and May this year of the seven members of Iran’s national Baha’i coordinating group, all of whom are still locked up in Evin Prison in Tehran without any charges and without access to an attorney or to their families.
“As Baha’is worldwide watch with alarm this escalation in violence,” she added, “their fears that a sinister plan of persecution is unfolding become increasingly confirmed. Their only hope is that enough voices of protests are raised around the world to compel the government in Iran to put an end to this violence.”
http://news.bahai.org/story/645 Continue Reading…
“As would be expected in the light of the mistreatment Baha’is in Iran are routinely receiving, the officials who investigated the fire either ignored or dismissed obvious signs of suspicious activity, including a muffled explosion, simply saying that it was the result of an electrical problem,” she said.
At least a dozen cases of arson that target Baha’is have been reported in Iran in the last 15 months, Ms. Dugal said. She gave the following examples:
- On 15 July at 1:15 a.m., Molotov cocktails were thrown into the front courtyard of the home of Khusraw Dehghani and his wife, Dr. Huma Agahi, in Vilashahr, only months after anonymous threats directly related to her being a Baha’i forced Dr. Agahi to close her clinic in nearby Najafabad where she had practiced medicine for 28 years.
- On 25 July, the car of a prominent Baha’i in Rafsanjan, in Kerman province, was torched and destroyed by arsonists on motorbikes. Soheil Naeimi, the owner of the car, and 10 other Baha’i families in the town had received threatening letters from a group calling itself the Anti-Baha’ism Movement of the Youth of Rafsanjan that, among other things, threatened jihad (holy war) against the Baha’is.
- On 10 June, an outbuilding on the property of the Mr. and Mrs. Mousavi, elderly Baha’is living in the village of Tangriz in Fars province, was destroyed by fire when it was doused with gasoline. The Mousavis, along with their two sons who were sleeping close to the building, narrowly escaped injury when the gasoline tank used to start the fire exploded. The Mousavis believe that the perpetrator thought they were all sleeping in the hut when he set the fire. Mr. Mousavi issued a formal complaint against the person they suspected, but the legal office has declined to pursue the case because the suspect swore on the Qur’an that he was not guilty. Out of respect for the Qur’an, the Mousavis have dropped the charges.
- On 4 April, the home of a Baha’i was set on fire in Babolsar, in the north of Iran.
- In February in Shiraz, a 53-year-old businessman was attacked on the street, chained to a tree, doused with gasoline, and assaulted by unknown persons who then attempted to throw lighted matches at him.
- Also in Shiraz in February, several arson attempts were made against vehicles and a home belonging to Baha’is.
- On 1 May 2007, arson destroyed the home of ‘Abdu’l-Baqi Rouhani in the village of Ivil, in Mazandaran.
- In Karaj, the burial section of a Baha’i cemetery was set on fire.
“These latest attacks follow the authorities’ attempts to deprive the Iranian Baha’i community of its leadership,” Ms. Dugal said, referring to the arrests in March and May this year of the seven members of Iran’s national Baha’i coordinating group, all of whom are still locked up in Evin Prison in Tehran without any charges and without access to an attorney or to their families.
“As Baha’is worldwide watch with alarm this escalation in violence,” she added, “their fears that a sinister plan of persecution is unfolding become increasingly confirmed. Their only hope is that enough voices of protests are raised around the world to compel the government in Iran to put an end to this violence.”
http://news.bahai.org/story/645 Continue Reading…
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Message of Persecution
The following article was published in a local VA newspaper, The Arlington Connection: Message of Persecution
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Monday, July 14, 2008
Iran's blood-drenched mullahs - Human Rights getting worse
The following Op-Ed in today’s Washington Times includes information about the plight of the Baha’is in Iran: Iran’s blood-drenched mullahs.
The Op-ed is by Nir Borns, vice president of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East, and Shayahn Arya, Iranian activist and associate researcher at the Institute for Monitoring and Cultural Tolerance in School Education.
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Thursday, July 10, 2008
Bahais a target in Iran
Julia Duin’s column in The Washington Times published today: Bahais a target in Iran
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Monday, July 7, 2008
White House statement about imprisoned Baha'i leaders
On June 14 the White House made a statement about the imprisoned national Bahá’í leaders in Iran:
“The Iranian regime’s human rights record is shameful. A month ago today, the regime arrested six Bahai leaders solely on the grounds of their religion. They should be released immediately. Iran should uphold the basic human right to practice religion and should end its persecution of the Bahai community.” - Gordon Johndroe, National Security Council spokesperson. Continue Reading…
Baha'i followers know persecution is alive and well
On July 5 Oregon’s Statesman Journal published an article about a Baha’i who faced persecution in Iran, Baha’i followers know persecution is alive and well.
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Persecuted for her faith, woman 'never became bitter'
On July 5 Alabama’s Huntsville Times published an article, Persecuted for her faith, woman ‘never became bitter’, about the extraordinary life of Oliya Aqsanoshohada.
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Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Nobel laureates call for release of Iranian Baha’i prisoners
Six Nobel Peace Prize laureates have issued a statement calling on the Iranian government to immediately free seven prominent Iranian Baha’is imprisoned in Tehran.
The Nobel winners, under the banner of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, called on the Iranian government to guarantee the safety of the Baha’is — being held in Evin Prison with no formal charges and no access to lawyers — and to grant them an unconditional release.
“We are thankful to these internationally prominent activists for calling publicly for the release of our fellow Baha’is, who are detained for no reason other than their religion,” said Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.
The Nobel laureates issuing the statement are:
• Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire, founders of the Peace People in Northern Ireland and winners of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976
• Rigoberta Menchu Tum, a leading advocate of ethno-cultural reconciliation in her native Guatemala and Nobel winner in 1992
• Professor Jody Williams, international campaigner for the banning of land mines, winner in 1997
• Iranian human rights lawyer Dr. Shirin Ebadi, winner in 2003;
• Kenyan environmental activist Professor Wangari Muta Maathai, Nobel winner in 2004
Their statement, issued on the letterhead of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, reads:
“We note with concern the news of the arrest of six prominent Baha’is in Iran on 14 May 2008. We note that Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm are members of the informal group known as the Friends in Iran that coordinates the activities of the Baha’i community in Iran; we further note that another member of the Friends in Iran, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, has been held in custody since 5 March 2008; we register our deepest concern at the mounting threats and persecution of the Iranian Baha’i community.
“We call on the Iranian Government to guarantee the safety of these individuals (and) grant their immediate unconditional release.”
The Nobel Women’s Initiative, based in Ottawa, Canada, was established in 2006 by the six women laureates — who represent North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa – to help build peace by working with women throughout the world. Only 12 women have won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Continue Reading…
The Nobel winners, under the banner of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, called on the Iranian government to guarantee the safety of the Baha’is — being held in Evin Prison with no formal charges and no access to lawyers — and to grant them an unconditional release.
“We are thankful to these internationally prominent activists for calling publicly for the release of our fellow Baha’is, who are detained for no reason other than their religion,” said Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.
The Nobel laureates issuing the statement are:
• Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire, founders of the Peace People in Northern Ireland and winners of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976
• Rigoberta Menchu Tum, a leading advocate of ethno-cultural reconciliation in her native Guatemala and Nobel winner in 1992
• Professor Jody Williams, international campaigner for the banning of land mines, winner in 1997
• Iranian human rights lawyer Dr. Shirin Ebadi, winner in 2003;
• Kenyan environmental activist Professor Wangari Muta Maathai, Nobel winner in 2004
Their statement, issued on the letterhead of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, reads:
“We note with concern the news of the arrest of six prominent Baha’is in Iran on 14 May 2008. We note that Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm are members of the informal group known as the Friends in Iran that coordinates the activities of the Baha’i community in Iran; we further note that another member of the Friends in Iran, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, has been held in custody since 5 March 2008; we register our deepest concern at the mounting threats and persecution of the Iranian Baha’i community.
“We call on the Iranian Government to guarantee the safety of these individuals (and) grant their immediate unconditional release.”
The Nobel Women’s Initiative, based in Ottawa, Canada, was established in 2006 by the six women laureates — who represent North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa – to help build peace by working with women throughout the world. Only 12 women have won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Continue Reading…
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