Correction : Although the article --probably truthfully enough-- says
that the
number of Baha'is officially executed in Iran since 1979 is 300 people,
that figure is
misleading. There have been numerous ( numerous ) unofficial killings and
relentless
persecution of many other kinds besides murder and arson The grand total
of Baha'i deaths , while no-one can say for sure, is in the 10,000 range
BR
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Iran's Bahai community fear rise in persecution
Kasra Naji ("BBC," July 2, 2010)
Tehran, Iran - First there are the images of wooden beams on fire. Then
buildings come into view, some without windows and doors, others reduced to
rubble.
The shaky mobile phone footage posted on YouTube by Iranian human rights
activists shows scenes of destruction filmed secretly from inside a car.
The activists say the footage shows the results of an attack on the
properties of Bahai residents in Ivel, a village in northern Iran.
They also say that non-Bahai residents supported the demolitions.
Bahai groups outside Iran have also received eyewitness reports from Ivel.
The witnesses said that several days before the bulldozers moved in, some
people in the village signed a petition demanding the expulsion of their Ba
hai neighbours.
Many Bahais had left already: a number of families had fled previous
attacks on Bahai property in Ivel. In 2007, for example, six houses were
torched.
However, this time the Bahais left in the village complained to the police
in the nearest town, Kiasar.
The police denied that there was a petition against them and refused to
provide any protection.
The reports from Ivel residents say that by June 22, almost 50 houses
belonging to Bahais had been flattened.
Not recognised
Bahais have lived in the area in Iran's Mazadaran province for more than
100 years, says Diane Alai, the representative of the Bahai community at the
UN in Geneva.
Bahai groups warn that life is becoming harder and harder for the 300,000
followers of the religion in Iran.
They say they have noticed an increase in the persecution of Bahais since
the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
It has not been this difficult for Bahais since the early years of the
Islamic Revolution in 1979, Bahai representatives say.
The Bahai faith emerged after a split in Shia Islam in the 19th Century. It
was founded in Iran - but it has long been banned in its country of
origin.
The Bahais consider Bahaullah, born in 1817, to be the latest prophet sent
by God.
Followers of the faith have faced discrimination in Iran both before and
after the 1979 revolution.
The religion was not recognised by the post-revolutionary constitution, and
its followers have limited rights under Iranian laws.
For example, Bahais are banned from working in government offices, and they
are not allowed to study at university.
Iranian inheritance laws do not apply to Bahais, and Bahai businessmen are
often denied a licence to set up shop.
Bahai cemeteries have also been desecrated.
Jailed leaders
The leadership of Iran's Bahai community - five men and two women - have
been in jail for more than two years.
They have have been accused of spying for Israel - a common charge against
Bahais, whose international headquarters is in the Israeli port of Haifa.
"Their crime is that they are Bahais and they say they do not want to
change their religion," says lawyer and Nobel peace prize laureate Shirin
Ebadi.
Ms Ebadi fled Iran after her own life was threatened.
Now human rights activists fear that the discrimination against Bahais is
intensifying and that history is repeating itself.
Nearly 300 members of the faith have been executed so far - mostly in the
first few years of the revolution.
Some Bahai leaders were executed shortly after the revolution. Others were
arrested and have not been heard of until today.
"We call them the years of horror," one Bahai woman told the BBC. She did
not want to be identified.
Little hope
Bahai organisations say that their religion has six million followers
across the world.
Their teachings have not gone down well with many mainstream Muslims, who
see the Bahai faith as an affront to Islam. Some even call the Bahai
blasphemous.
But there has been pressure on Iran to improve the plight of its Bahai
community.
Some senior Shia clergymen - although uncompromising when it comes to
theology - say Bahais must be given basic rights and treated like citizens.
"They are members of mankind," says Mohsen Kadivar, an Islamic scholar at
Duke University in North Carolina.
"As such they should be treated humanely and in accordance with the rights
of citizens and basic human rights."
Before his death last year, Iran's Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri,
the most senior authority on Shia Islam, issued a fatwa in favour of Bahais.
He called on the Iranian government to grant followers of the religion
basic civil and political rights.
There has also been diplomatic pressure on Iran.
When 56 member states of the UN Human Rights Council condemned Iran's human
rights record in February, they specifically mentioned the discrimination
against the country's biggest religious minority.
Mohammed Javad Larijani, head of the human rights council of the Iranian
judiciary, defends court action against the religious group.
"Bahais have to answer to the courts in Iran because they engaged in
cult-type activities contrary to the the most basic human rights of the
people,"
Mr Larijani told the UN Human Rights Council.
--
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