New tv series on Iran state network grossly misrepresents history, tenets of Bahá’í Faith

 

GENEVA – BWNS (Persian)

Bahá’ís deplore portrayal of their Faith in new tv series on government-owned Iranian national network

12 February 2010

Bahá’ís deeply deplore the malicious portrayals of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb, the Twin Prophet Founders of the Bahá’í Faith, in a new national Iranian television network series. The characterizations degrade, ridicule, and insult these Central Figures of the Bahá’í Faith, Who are revered by Bahá’ís worldwide. The broadcast of this series is all the more lamentable in the face of the government’s loud denunciation of religious defamation in international forums.

The series, titled “Salhaye Mashrooteh” (“The Years of the Constitutional Revolution”), began on 1 February to coincide with the beginning of the ten-day celebration in Iran of the anniversary of the Islamic revolution, is being aired daily and will conclude on 15 February.

It purports to present a factual historical account of Iran’s “Constitutional Revolution” in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, a period which coincides with the establishment of the Bahá’í Faith in that country. The programs purvey timeworn and wholly unfounded allegations that the Bahá’í Faith was created by British imperialists as an anti-Islamic movement.

This current national network television series is only the most recent occurrence in an unremitting and systematic campaign of propaganda against the Bahá’í Faith by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The campaign has utilized all forms of state-controlled mass media to incite hatred and, suspicion against the Bahá’ís throughout the country by flagrantly misrepresenting, denigrating, and distorting the history and teachings of the Bahá’í Faith.

Iranians eager to learn the truth have no easy access to accurate information about the Bahá’í Faith, as Bahá’ís in Iran are utterly denied the opportunity to correct the slander that is being promulgated by the authorities. Moreover, the mass media is so strictly controlled that even the mere publication of a photograph of the Bahá’í Temple in India in conjunction with an article promoting tourism to that country resulted in the immediate, albeit temporary, closure of the newspaper concerned.

Bahá’ís call upon their well-wishers to join them in seeking to counteract the falsehoods being spread by the government through wide circulation of accurate information about the Faith’s teachings. For those eager to assist in this process, the book titled “Tolouie Digar” and posted at: http://www.aeenebahai.org/node/835 and in audio version at http://www.aeenebahai.org/node/616, is offered as a reliable resource.

Source is at http://news.persian-bahai99.info/story/196. English version distributed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United Kingdom in e-mail letter dated 17 February 2010.
 

FRANCE: Company of Academics, Professionals Appeal to Iran Supreme Leader on Behalf of Bahá'ís

 
From Iran Press Watch.

Appeal to Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran

February 21st, 2010

Appeal to Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Le Monde, February 5, 2010

Seven Baha’is are at risk of the death penalty in Iran today. In detention for 20 months, these five men and two women, ranging in age from 36 to 72 years, have been accused by the Iranian judiciary system of committing “corruption on earth” and of being “spies for Israel”. The group of seven, who are known in their community as the “Yaran” or “Friends”, were acting as mediators toward different agencies of the Iranian state at the time of their arrest, trying to mitigate the oppression weighing heavily on the Baha’is of Iran, who have been the subjects of constant harassment by the Islamic Republic for 30 years.
Baha’is, who constitute the largest religious minority in Iran, are considered to be non-citizens and “unprotected infidels”. Easy targets, this peaceful community numbering 300,000 is being accused of causing all the problems which are the result of political and social tensions within the country.
Today, official newspapers are accusing them of being the organisers of the troubles which are convulsing the country, an accusation which is as unlikely as all those that have proliferated for more than a century.
As the trial of the seven “Yaran” approaches, arrests, the desecration of cemeteries, pillaging, and fires destroying the property of Baha’is have multiplied. Complaints registered by Baha’is are ignored. As of today, 48 Baha’is are in prison, and 75 more, awaiting their trials, have been released after having paid exorbitant amounts for bail, or having surrendered titles to property or commercial licenses.
For thirty years, access to university has been denied to them, nor do they have the right to benefit from a pension. They cannot be hired in the public sector, and their employers in the private sector have to request a driver’s license on their behalf. Those who attack them are never questioned legally. The harassment extends to insulting school children participating in flag-raising activities.
You, Your Excellence, have yourself in the past deemed that they must be reduced to “a state of subsistence”.
Baha’is for fifty years have been putting into practice, in Iran and elsewhere, the principles of the equality of men and women and the right to education, and have been expounding, among other tenets, harmony between science and religion. By virtue of this, they are winning growing support among the Iranian population.
We ask that the systematic maltreatment, orchestrated by the reactionary wing of the clergy and the government, cease, that liberty of conscience be recognized in Iran and that these men and women be freed.

Signed:

Rosine Haguenauer, researcher, biology
Aitana Perea-Gomez, researcher, biology
Fethi Benslama, university student psychoanalysis
Malvyne Derkinderen, researcher, biology
Jacqueline Léon, researcher, linguistics
Anne Plessis, university student, biology
Genevieve Bordet, university student, linguistics
Sophie Louvet-Vallée, university student, linguistics
Cecile Sakai, university student, Eastern language and civilization
Anne Cecconello, ecology, urban studies
Jean-Pierre Hourdin, business executive
Michel Volovitch, university student, biology
Sophie Vriz, university student, biology
Jean-René Duhamel, researcher, neurosciences
Anna Montagnini, researcher, neurosciences
Eric Castet, researcher, neurosciences
Juliette Sablier, doctoral candidate, neurosciences
Daniel Diatkine, university student, history and economy
Anouchka Ibacka, linguistics student
Sophia Jomni, teacher, medical-social science
Hélène Kontzler, university student, economy
André Lapidus, , university student, economy
Claire Pignol, , university student, economy
Florencia Sember, doctoral candidate, economy
Catherine Tourre Malen, university student, anthropology
Bruno Hoen doctor at university hospital, infectious diseases
Michel Botbol, psychiatrist
Paul Kessler, researcher, physics
François Gros, honorary professor at Collège de France, biology
Lydie Koch, researcher, physics
Henri Korn researcher, biology
Dominique Schiff, researcher, physics
Gérard Toulouse, researcher, physics
Joyce Blau, university student, Eastern studies
Sonia Dayan-Herzbrun, university student, sociology
Joseph Parisi, researcher, physics

Translation by Iran Press Watch
Source: Le Monde, http://www.lemonde.fr/opinions/article/2010/02/05/appel-a-l-ayatollah-sayed-ali-khamenei-guide-supreme-de-la-republique-islamique-d-iran_1301458_3232.html#ens_id=1190750

Source is here.
 

Government shuts down Baha’i-owned businesses, arrests owners

 
Karaj Baha’i Man Arrested & His Store Sealed

18 February, 2010

RAHANA – on January 2nd, 2010, agents from the Intelligence Ministry attempted to arrest Payam Vali at his home, but had to leave since was not home at the time of their visit. Vali was subsequently summoned to the Intelligence Ministry, and arrested upon appearance on January 3rd, 2010.
8 days before he was arrested, the municipal police had sealed Vali’s eyewear shop along with 4 other Baha’i owned businesses in Karaj.

Shutting down businesses owned by Baha’is has become common in many Iranian cities. Many Baha’is have seen their businesses shut down by municipal authorities in Semnan, Tonkabon, Yasuj, Tehran, Sari and other cities. In most cases municipal authorities tell the owner –that is if he was lucky enough not to be arrested before his shop’s closure- that there is nothing they can do about the closure because it has been ordered by the Intelligence Ministry.

Source: RAHANA
 

UN Human Rights Council members condemn Iran's repression of Bahá'ís, others

From Bahá'í World News Service.

Nations rally to defend human rights in Iran

16 February 2010

The UN Human Rights Council focused on the situation in Iran in a session on 15 February at the Palace of Nations, the Geneva headquarters of the United Nations.

GENEVA — Countries from around the world have voiced strong concern at the United Nations Human Rights Council over Iran's deteriorating human rights record.

In speeches yesterday and in documents filed with the Council, nations and human rights groups described the degree to which Iran has failed to live up to its obligations under international human rights law.

"The good news is that governments and organizations are rallying to defend innocent Iranians, who have over the last year seen their human rights so gravely violated," said Diane Ala'i, the representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva.

"The bad news is that Iran continues to ignore such appeals," she said, speaking after yesterday's session of Council, which specifically focused on Iran's human rights record.

Muhammad Javad Larijani, secretary general of the Islamic Republic of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, told the session that there is religious freedom in Iran and that no Baha'i is persecuted for his beliefs. If any Baha'is are imprisoned, he said, it is because of "illegal activities" as a cult.

"Put bluntly, Iran once again completely discredited itself before the eyes of the international community," said Ms. Ala'i, noting that last week Iran arrested at least 14 more Baha'is.

Among those arrested, she said, was Niki Khanjani, the son of one of the seven Baha'i leaders who are currently on trial on false charges.

"As the Nobel laureate Mrs. Shirin Ebadi has recently stated in an open letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Iran is now trying to increase pressure on prisoners by taking their relatives hostage," said Ms. Ala'i. "Jamaloddin Khanjani is 76. He has been incarcerated for almost two years – and then they arrested his granddaughter at the beginning of January and now, his son."

"These are the desperate acts of a regime that is frantically lashing out to blame others for its troubles and to suppress any viewpoint that is different from its own ideology," she said.

The majority of countries who spoke out against Iran focused on the violence following last June's presidential election and also on the situation of the country's religious minorities.

Brazil called for Iran to extend rights to all religious groups in the country, saying Baha'is should enjoy the same rights as everyone. Mexico said all minorities – particularly the Baha'i community – must be able to practice their religion.

"Romania and Slovenia devoted almost the entire allotment of their time to discussing the increasing repression of Iran's Baha'i community," reported Ms. Ala'i.

Human rights groups, in documents filed with the Council, made similar points.

"Despite constitutional guarantees of equality, individuals belonging to minorities in Iran are subject to an array of discriminatory laws and practices," wrote Amnesty International in its statement. "Minorities suffering persecution include ethnic and linguistic minorities such as Kurds, Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Turkmen and Baluchis, and religious minorities such as Baha'is and the Ahl-e Haq."

"The government systematically denies rights associated with freedom of religion to members of the Baha'i faith, Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority. In most cases, including the persecution of the Baha'i community, the government uses 'security' as a pretext for detaining individuals and denying them basic due process rights," said a statement from Human Rights Watch.

The session was part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a relatively new procedure that seeks to review the human rights record of all 192 United Nations member states once every four years. This year is the first time Iran has come up for review.

Source: BWNS
 

Appeal of family members, prominent jurist for intervention on behalf of imprisoned Bahá'í leaders

A moving appeal from relatives of the seven imprisoned Bahá'í leaders - the Yaran - in Iran, as well prominent Australian jurist leader.
(Excerpt:)

Roya Kamalabadi of Melbourne, a sister of one of the imprisoned leaders, said: “The very thought of my dear sister, Fariba facing possible execution for the love of humanity that she so cherishes in her heart is devastating to me and my family.”

“My dear fellow citizens, after the bitter experience of the Holocaust, humanity promised to itself that “Never Again” we shall allow such annihilation of humanity to take place -- let us once more reaffirm our vows not to let this happen to humanity ever again,” Mrs Kamalabadi said.

Eminent jurist calls for pressure

SYDNEY, 11 February 2010

International pressure should be brought to bear on Iran for the release of seven wrongfully-imprisoned Baha’i leaders, the eminent jurist John Dowd AO QC told an inter-faith gathering at the NSW Parliament on 9 February 2010.

“This is not a trial -- it is a persecution,” said Mr Dowd, the president of the International Commission of Jurists Australia.

Above

Melbourne Baha'i Roya Kamalabadi spoke about the imprisonment and trial of her sister, Fariba.

Among 130 people attending the gathering were MPs Rob Stokes and Anthony Roberts, Community Relations Commission chairman Stepan Kerkyasharian, leaders and members of faith communities and NGO representatives.

Grave charges have been levelled against the seven leaders in closed court sessions held on 12 January and 7 February 2010. All seven have denied the accusations which include espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, acting against the security of the country, and spreading corruption on earth.

Rhetoric of hatred

Mr Dowd said that just as the Nazis built up rhetoric of hatred and ridicule against the Jews prior to World War II, Iran is doing the same with Baha’is.

“It sets up religious courts to try breaches of religious laws and persecutes people as in Nazi Germany because having someone to blame is a very unifying factor among a suppressed people,” he said.

The seven leaders are effectively being charged with breach of Islamic beliefs, even though the Iranian constitution guarantees freedom of belief, he said.

Visibly moved

Relatives of three of the seven Baha’is spoke to the audience, many of whom were visibly moved by the sentiments expressed.

Roya Kamalabadi of Melbourne, a sister of one of the imprisoned leaders, said: “The very thought of my dear sister, Fariba facing possible execution for the love of humanity that she so cherishes in her heart is devastating to me and my family.”
“My dear fellow citizens, after the bitter experience of the Holocaust, humanity promised to itself that “Never Again” we shall allow such annihilation of humanity to take place -- let us once more reaffirm our vows not to let this happen to humanity ever again,” Mrs Kamalabadi said.

Amin Tavakoli of Adelaide said his imprisoned brother, Behrouz, was in jail because of his belief in the oneness of the world religions and the oneness of humanity.

“If I could have one wish, it would be to see him one more time,” Mr Tavakoli said.

“I would hug him and put my ear to his chest and listen to the melody of his heart, a heart that plays the melody of love – love of God, love of humanity,” Mr Tavakoli said.

Ghodsieh Samimi of Sydney said when her niece, Mahvash Sabet, was arrested almost two years ago, her family was not informed of her whereabouts for almost three months.

“The family did not even know whether she was alive or not,” Mrs Samimi said.

Mrs Samimi said many Baha’is in Iran are persecuted every day with baseless excuses.

“Even children are constantly harassed at school, Baha’is are not allowed to attend higher education, and Baha’is are harassed at their home, at work and even on the street.”

Prayers

Representatives of six major religions in Australia offered prayers for the seven Baha’i leaders.

“We, the leaders of our communities and representatives of Australia’s faiths, join with the family of these seven Baha’i leaders,” said Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence, who is Senior Rabbi at Sydney’s Great Synagogue.

“We pray that they will be restored to their families; that they will be able to worship in freedom; that they will be able to celebrate their faith and inspire their fellows with the beauty and peaceful message of its teachings,” Rabbi Lawrence said.

“Today we gather with our concern and prayers for the seven Baha’i leaders who are imprisoned in Iran,” said General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, Rev. Tara Curlewis.

“As Australians we struggle to understand what it is like to live where one’s opinion or religion can not be openly expressed for fear of imprisonment or persecution,” Rev Curlewis said.

“May the people of this world respect their neighbour no matter what their race or religious belief,” she said.

Prayers were also said by Hindu Council of Australia representative, Vijai Singhal; Sikh representative, Mohinde Pal; Buddhist monk Bhante Tejadhammo; and the National Secretary of the Australian Baha’i Community, Arini Beaumaris.

Source: bahai.org.au
 

Iranian criminal procedure apropos Bahá'ís (Yaran) on trial

From Iran Press Watch.

The Trial of the Yaran under Iranian Criminal Procedure: "The Justice of God" or Procedural Injustice?

Posted: 05 Feb 2010

by Christopher Buck, Ph.D., J.D.
[Editor: Iran Press Watch welcomes back Dr. Christopher Buck, a distinguished legal scholar. While most writers expose the injustice of Iranian practice in contrast with the international practice, Dr. Buck demonstrates how the current treatment of the Yaran is even problematic within the context of Iran's own legal framework. Dr Buck's article comes in a critical time when in two short days, on the 7th of February, 2010, the second trial of Yaran is scheduled to take place. The Baha'i Communities around the world are holding devotional gatherings as a response to the call of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Community: "The prayers offered by the  [Baha'is] … worldwide have been a constant source of comfort and support to the  former members of the Yaran who have withstood their long ordeal with heroic  fortitude and patience." With these thoughts in mind we invite you to consider the discourse by Dr. Buck.]
Part I:
The "Justice of Islam," Jurisdiction and Venue, Prosecution and Indictment
The trial of the Yaran, the "first session" of which took place on January 12, 2010, is being conducted under the current system of Iranian criminal procedure, a creature of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Just as my previous article, "Iranian Islam, not the Yaran, on trial in the court of international opinion" (published by Iran Press Watch on January 12, 2010, the day of the first session of the trial of the Yaran), was an effort to show how the treatment of the Yaran reflects poorly on Iranian Islam inasmuch as the "Justice of Islam" is concerned, the present article demonstrates how, by Iranian legal standards, the treatment of the Yaran is in clear violation of the current Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its existing Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP).
Both articles, therefore, are essentially "Iranian" and "Islamic" arguments. I have not seen this approach taken by others. While the international community is interested to know how the treatment of the Yaran violates international standards, I believe that the Iranian audience would like to know how the legal course of the case of the Yaran is problematic within the Iranian legal context itself. This is not an easy task for anyone who has to comprehend a completely different system of criminal procedure for the first time. Consequently, I add this disclaimer: that my understanding of Iranian law is imperfect, to say the least; yet I have made every attempt to ground my argument in clearly documented principles of Iranian criminal procedure.
The Yaran — who have been held in the notorious Evin Prison since the spring of 2008 — are represented by four lawyers from the Center for the Defense of Human Rights based in Tehran — Ms. Shirin Ebadi (Iran's first female judge prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution, and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003), Mr. Abdolfattah Soltani (co-founder of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights), Mr. Hadi Esma'ilzadeh and Ms. Mahnaz Parakand. The latter two, Mr. Esma'ilzadeh and Ms. Parakand, took part in the hearing on January 12, 2010 and represented the accused, as Ms. Ebadi is out of the country. Mr. Soltani was unavailable, having been twice imprisoned previously.
"Representation" was unduly restrictive. Shortly after the trial, Ms. Ebadi commented: "When I and my colleagues accepted to act as their defense lawyers, they [detainees] had not been allowed to see their families for over a year. And for some time too, they were not allowed to meet with us. After a year and a half when the investigation ended, I and the rest of the lawyers were permitted to read the dossier and we met them on one occasion in prison." ("Iran's Ebadi says seven Baha'is must be acquitted." Washington TV. Online at http://televisionwashington.com/floater_article1.aspx?lang=en&t=1&id=17143.)
The purpose of this article is to help render translucent the otherwise opaque system of Iranian criminal procedure, which will never be fully transparent. See, e.g., Richard Vogler, "Islamic Criminal Justice: Theocratic Inquisitoriality," A World View of Criminal Justice (Hants, UK/Burlington, VY: Ashgate Publishing, 2005), 105–126.

Read the full article here.

Qur'án teacher openly clobbers, vilifies Bahá'í children

From Iran Press Watch.

Physical assault on two Baha'i students by their Qur'an teacher

Posted: 01 Feb 2010

Tuesday 29 Day 1388 [19 Jan 2010]
Society for Combating against Educational Discrimination ( P.C.E.D. ): Physical assault on two Baha'i students by their Qur'an teacher
Following a series of governmental activities aimed at the denial of rights to the Baha'is of Iran, a short time ago two Baha'i students at the Sa'adat Guidance School in Shiraz were subjected to severe physical assault by their Qur'an instructor, whose name was Mr Rashidi.
The following account describes the episode, in the words of one of the two 12 year old students:
' The end-of-the-period bell had not rung yet, but the Qur'an instruction had finished.
The students were talking together quietly, when suddenly the teacher's voice made us all silent: " You two, come here!". I thought he was addressing the students sitting behind us, but he was probably calling my friend and me. Before rising from our seats, the teacher reached our desk and first attacked my friend, who was sitting on the first spot of the bench. With several harsh blows he threw him off his seat and dragged him to a corner of the room, where he set upon him with fist blows and kicks. Stunned and frightened, I was looking at the teacher, who was walking towards me. I was frozen in my place in terror when his fist blows showered my head and face. The only thing I could do was to cover my neck to avoid the blows hitting my neck — because I had recently had a tonsillectomy, and was worried that the blows might hit the surgery spot. At any rate, he threw me to a corner of the room, as he had done to my friend, and said "sit here on the floor", as again he kicked us with all his might. As the repeated blows were falling on my head, the only sound I heard were the insults he heaped on the beliefs of my friend and me. Whenever he entered the classroom, addressing us two, he would denigrate the Baha'i Faith before starting his lesson. I don't know why on that day he displayed such harsh behaviour toward us for our belief. I felt he had always waited for an opportunity for vengeance against us, due to our belief in the Baha'i Faith, and now he had found that chance, carrying out his teaching duties appropriately! Beaten and heart-broken, I went home.
'The next day, my parents came to school to pursue the matter. The Principal, Mr Shafi'i, categorically denied that the episode had occurred, and promised to my family that if such a thing had in fact happened he would speak to the teacher. Arriving at the school the next day, I expected that we would certainly be consoled. The Principle, addressing the morning assembly from his podium, began with insults and undeserved accusations against the Baha'i Faith, calling it a British and Israeli invention, with followers who held empty and baseless beliefs, and who were spies and enemies of Islam. I was stunned. It seemed that instead of the teacher being chastised, he had been advised to play his part in this breach of rights in the most appropriate way!! '
As is stated in the National Charter of Student Rights:
Fundamental Student Rights:

• Article 1 – A student has the right to free speech and belief, and is to be protected from harm after expressing same.
• Article 2 – A student is protected against harm to his body, emotional and personal dignity. His supreme human station must be respected.

Society for Combating against Educational Discrimination
Translation by Iran Press Watch
Source: www.edu-right.us

Source: Iran Press Watch.
Photo source: http://www.payvand.com/news/08/jul/1030.html