Last updated: 23 November 2008

Note: This report, updated regularly, is provided as a service to news media and others desiring details of the situation of the Baha'is in Iran. All information has been verified by the Baha'i International Community.

Words in italics have been altered or added since the previous update.

Top judicial official orders review of verdict favoring Baha’is

The head of the Judiciary in Iran, Ayatollah Shahroudi, intervened in an appellate court case that had been decided in favor of four Baha’is, and a second appeals court then ruled against the Baha’is.

The four defendants, all of Hamadan, were accused of “teaching against the regime.” They originally were found guilty, but earlier this year an appeals court overturned the verdict and said the Baha’is were innocent. The appeals court ruled that – given the Baha’is’ claim that not only are they not against the government but are absolutely obedient to it – teaching the Baha’i Faith cannot be regarded as teaching against the regime. The court also stated that it took into account the example of the Prophet and the Immaculate Imams, who urged kindness toward all people.

Ayatollah Shahroudi, however, ordered that the case be reconsidered by a different appeals court, and this time the verdict came back as guilty. This second court explained that Imam Khomeini had said that promoting the Baha’i Faith is equivalent to denying Islam and the Islamic Republic, and also that Baha’i leaders teach their faith in Israel. (The Baha’i International Community states categorically that both of those assertions are false.)

The four Baha’is were sentenced to an unknown period of imprisonment, and one of the them was also sentenced to a subsequent three years of exile in Khash.

At least 28 Baha’is currently in jail

There are at least 28 Baha’is in jail in different parts of Iran who are imprisoned because of their religion. At any given moment, there may actually be more than this number, but sometimes Baha’is are detained overnight and released, or they may be allowed out on bail after depositing with the court a sum in cash or surrendering business licenses or titles to property.

Among those in prison are all seven members of the Baha’i coordinating committee, and three young adults in Shiraz whose case was the subject of an internal investigation -- the results of which completely vindicated the prisoners. (See next two sections of this document for details.)

Baha’i leaders still in prison; Shirin Ebadi continues in their defense

The seven members of the Baha’i coordinating committee remain in Evin Prison in Tehran. They are being allowed brief, infrequent visits with their families, but even scheduled visits are sometimes canceled by authorities.. No announcement has been made of formal charges, or a possible trial, although in early August a government prosecutor was quoted in the press as saying the individuals had “confessed” to operating an “illegal” organization with ties to Israel and other countries – charges categorically denied by the Baha’i International Community. (See BWNS article.)

Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, a prominent Iranian human rights attorney who is a Nobel laureate, and her colleagues at the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran are defending the jailed Baha’is but have been denied access to the prisoners. (Officials have tried to accuse Mrs. Ebadi’s daughter of converting to the Baha’i Faith, but this is not true, as confirmed by both Mrs. Ebadi and the Baha’i International Community. See Baha’i statement.)

The members of the Baha’i coordinating committee who are in prison are Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, and Mrs. Mahvash Sabet. The first six have been jailed since May, and Mrs. Sabet since March.

Confidential report confirms innocence of Shiraz Baha’is

Three young Baha’is are still imprisoned in Shiraz despite an internal report dated last June from the Office of the Representative of the Supreme Leader for the province of Fars stating the young people had been involved in humanitarian activities and nothing else.

The confidential report came to light on 23 October when it was published on the Web site of the Human Rights Activists of Iran.

It has been a year since Haleh Rouhi, Raha Sabet, and Sasan Taqva began serving four-year prison sentences, following their conviction on charges related to indirect teaching of the Baha’i Faith. Officials have described their supposed crime as engaging in anti-government “propaganda,” but the internal report belies that charge.

See the Baha’i World News Service article for more details.

Government promotes petition against Baha’is

During Ramadan, in September, an anti-Baha’i petition was displayed prominently at major Muslim gatherings in both Tehran and Qom.

In Tehran, on a day that huge crowds gathered at a special enclosed area to hear Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei lead prayers and offer a sermon, the petition was positioned where worshippers would sign it as they entered. Officials from the Ministry of Intelligence were on hand to gain the maximum number of signatures.

In Qom, the petition was presented at the time of the annual Jerusalem Day march and was on display at the entrance of the Khomeini Mosque, which encloses the Shrine of Fatima Masoumeh – one of the holiest spots in Iran for Shiite Muslims.

The petition was filled with falsehoods and inflammatory statements about the Baha’i Faith, and called for the dissolution of “Baha’ist institutions.”

In fact, elected Baha’i institutions, which exist in almost all countries of the world, were banned by the government of Iran in the early 1980s, and since then Iranian Baha’is have been forced to take care of the needs of their 300,000-member community on a less formal basis.

Denial of education

Instances of students being expelled from educational institutions – with authorities openly stating that the reason is the fact that they are Baha’is – continue to be reported.

One example is the case of Neda Keshavarz Rahbar, an accountancy student at Fazilat University in Semnan: On 4 August 2008, just before her graduation, she was summoned and questioned as to why she did not inform the institution that she was a Baha’i. She pointed out that her application forms indeed indicated her religion. She was given the opportunity to recant her faith, and when she declined, she was immediately expelled from the university.

During the application and enrollment process for the current academic year, it became obvious that most Baha’is students had somehow been identified by authorities. When they attempted to go online to get test scores and fill in forms, they were met with an error page stating that their records were “incomplete.”

Students are increasingly being expelled from high schools and even primary schools, and Baha’i students are berated by their own teachers.

(See BWNS article of 3 October for more details about denial of education, including cases of students who have unsuccessfully attempted to seek redress through the courts.)

Cemetery desecration

A number of cemeteries around the country have been decimated in recent months by bulldozers, an obvious indication that the perpetrators are not small-time vandals.

The organization Human Rights Activists in Iran published photographs on its Web site showing the destruction on 23 October of the cemetery in Darzikola, a small town near Ghaemshahr in Mazandaran province.

A few weeks earlier, on 28 September, the Baha’i cemetery in Isfahan was vandalized by unknown individuals, who systematically felled hundreds of young trees and set fire to a storeroom where furniture and tools were kept.

Desecration of cemeteries belies the government assertion that anti-Baha’i activity stems from “security” concerns.

(See earlier BWNS article about cemetery destruction.)

More evidence of the campaign against the Baha’is

A recent case of entrapment is an example of another tactic being used against Baha’is. In Shiraz, Mr. Peyman Rohani was arrested and jailed for 10 days after an elderly man sat next to him on a park bench and, during conversation, began asking him about the Baha’i Faith. Mr. Rohani, a Baha’i, responded briefly to the questions. Suddenly, two police officers on motorbikes appeared and claimed that someone had reported that Mr. Rohani was teaching the Baha’i Faith. Mr. Rohani was taken to the Ministry of Intelligence, interrogated, detained for 10 days, and eventually released pending a future court hearing.

Also in Shiraz, at two of the high schools, all the students in grades 11 and 12 – hundreds of pupils in total – were required to attend a presentation about “Bahaism” given by Mrs. Mahnaz Raoufi and a Muslim cleric. The program made false accusations about Baha’is and repeatedly misrepresented the Baha’i Faith.

Anti-Baha’i publications:

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in November announced the publication of a new 304-page, anti-Baha’i book titled “Baha’is in the Pahlavi Era.” It is filled with misinformation and innuendo, and incorrectly portrays Baha’is of that period as spies and influential people in media, government, the military, and Savak, the intelligence agency. The book is from Kayhan Publications.

Separately, a small anti-Baha’i booklet was recently distributed in a cultural center in Fardis, a small city in Fars province. Filled with misleading information, it is titled “Imprisoned Ideology: An Introduction to the Perverse Baha’ist Sect.”

Kayhan, the government-backed national newspaper, has published nearly 100 articles since July consisting of excerpts from a new book that purports to be the memoirs of a man who had been a Baha’i but recanted his faith. The articles are filled with false and misleading material about Baha’u’llah, Baha’i administration, and supposed Baha’i activities. The same newspaper has published hundreds of articles in the last three years maligning the Baha’is.

Several local newspapers regularly print excerpts of sermons by Muslim imams that attack the Baha’i Faith and give false accusations.

Statements condemning arrests and persecution of Baha’is

Many governments, international organizations, and prominent people – including some Iranian groups and individuals both at home and abroad – have condemned the detention of Baha’i leaders without due process, or condemned outright the Iranian government’s persecution of Baha’is.

Summary

Harassment of Baha’is is pervasive and includes many incidents of all of the following:

• Arrests and detention, with imprisonment lasting for days, months, or years. In cases where the Baha’i is released, substantial bail is often required.
• Direct intimidation and questioning by authorities, sometimes with the use of high-intensity lights and physical mistreatment.
• Searches of homes and business, usually with Baha’i books and other items confiscated.
• School expulsions and harassment of schoolchildren.
• Prohibition on Baha’is attending universities.
• Court proceedings where Baha’is are accused of promoting propaganda against the government “for the benefit of the Bahaist sect.”
• Monitoring of the bank accounts, movement, and activities of Baha’is, including official questioning of Baha’is requiring them to give information about their lives, actions, neighbors, etc.
• Denial or confiscation of business licenses.
• Denial of work opportunities in general.
• Denial of rightful inheritances to Baha’is.
• Physical assaults, and efforts to drive Baha’is out of towns and villages.
• Desecration and destruction of Baha’i cemeteries, and harassment over burial rights.
• Dissemination, including in official news media, of misinformation about Baha’is, and incitement of hatred against Baha’is.
• Evictions from places of business, including Baha’i doctors from their offices and clinics.
• Intimidation of Muslims who associate with Baha’is.
• Attempts by authorities to get Baha’is to spy on other Baha’is.
• Threatening phone calls and letters to Baha’is.
• Denial of pension benefits.
• Denial of access to publishing or copying facilities for Baha’i literature.
• Confiscation of property.

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