EVENTS AND ISSUES
New Delhi, 31 July 2006
Persecution of
Baha’is
IRAN AND THE RULE OF LAW
By Bani Duggal
(Iran’s largest religious minority, the three-lakh strong Baha’is
community has been facing a systematic and religious persecution by the Iranian
Government since 1979, when the Islamic Republic was established, says the
author, who is the Representative of the Baha’is International Community to the
United Nations.)
Respect for human rights is a clear indication of a nation’s
commitment to the rule of law, to humanitarian principles and to honesty in its
public affairs. And there is no better measure of Iran’s
genuine commitment to human rights than the way it treats its largest religious
minority, the 300,000-member Baha’is community of Iran, who are by their religious
principles committed to non-violence and non-involvement in politics.
Unfortunately, since 1979, when the Islamic Republic of Iran
was established, Baha’is have faced a systematic and ongoing religious
persecution at the hands of the Iranian Government.
In the early 1980s, until international pressure caused Iran to pull back from the brink,
some 200 Baha’is were killed, hundreds were imprisoned, and thousands were
deprived of their livelihood, access
to education, and virtually all civil rights.
Today, there are deeply disturbing signs that the Government
of the Islamic Republic of Iran is gearing up for a new round of persecution
against this innocent community.
Most worrisome is the news of the discovery by United
Nations officials of a secret letter from the Iranian military’s high command
to various Government agencies calling for them “to identify persons who adhere
to the Baha’is faith and monitor their activities”.
Sent on 29 October 2005 to the Ministry of Information, the
Revolutionary guard and the police force, the letter states that Iran’s Supreme leader,
Ayatollah Khamenei, had ordered that such information be collected “in a highly
confidential manner”.
Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on freedom of religion or
belief, told the world about the letter’s existence in a statement on 20 March
2006, saying that “such monitoring constitutes an impermissible
and unacceptable interference with the rights of members of religious
minorities”.
Jahangir also expressed
concern that the information gained as a result of such monitoring will be used
as a basis for the increased persecution of, and discrimination against,
members of the Baha’is faith.
Anyone familiar with some of the last century’s most
egregious episodes of human rights violations can easily read between the lines
of such a letter.
The identification and monitoring of minority groups are
rarely undertaken with good intentions, especially when it involves the state
military, police and other authorities.
Other recent trends and events in Iran likewise contribute to a great
sense of urgency when Baha’is look to the near future. First, there is the
re-emergence of the Hojjatieh Society.
Founded in 1953 as a specifically anti-Baha’is organization by a
charismatic Shiite Muslim cleric, the Hojjatieh Society has today reemerged in
Iran as an influential if secretive faction that has been linked in news
articles and Web blogs with the current Iranian administration.
Second, Iran’s
Government-controlled news media has begun a propaganda campaign against the
Baha’is. Kayhan, the official Tehran
daily newspaper, has carried more than 30 articles about the Baha’is and their
religion in recent months, all defamatory in ways that are meant to create
provocation.
Radio, television and internet programmes have joined in as
well with broadcasts condemning the Baha’is and their beliefs. We all know what hateful propaganda can lead
to. Again, recent history offers too many examples of its horrific
consequences.
The ghastly deeds that grew out of similar circumstances in
the past should not now be allowed to happen. Not again. Not ever. ---INFA
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