Transcript Religious persecution, 21st century style

Religious persecution,
21st century style
The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights
 Is signed by all member states
 “…every organ of society, keeping this
Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive
by teaching and education to promote
respect for these rights and freedoms and
by progressive measures, national and
international, to secure their universal and
effective recognition and observance”
1844 in Shiraz: a new world faith is
born
The Baha’i Faith
 Upholds the divine origin of all the world’s major
faiths
 Advocates the equality of men and women
 Proclaims the equal worth of all people, of
whatever race, religion or nationality
 Advocates a world government
 Upholds the essential unity of science and religion
 Supports marriage, family life and universal
education
Baha’is now
 Live in every significant country and territory
in the world
 Derive from a bewildering variety of ethnic
groups
 Run thousands of socio-economic and
educational programmes
 Are active in the NGO and civil society
programmes of the UNO
Baha’is are loyal to governments
 “In every country or government where any of this
community reside, they must behave towards that
government with faithfulness, trustfulness and
truthfulness.”
 “If it should happen that one of the friends be
called upon to serve his country and people in
some capacity, he should apply himself to the
work with heart and soul, and discharge his duties
with perfect honesty, trustworthiness and
godliness.”
Iran: A long history of persecution
For many…death…for others exile
“We desire but the good of the
world and the happiness of the
nations; yet they deem us a
stirrer up of strife and sedition
worthy of bondage and
banishment… That all nations
should become one in faith and
all men as brothers…what harm
is there in this?”
Baha’u’llah to Dr E.G. Browne, 1890
“We fain would hope…that His Majesty the Shah will himself
examine these matters, and bring hope to the hearts.”
The persecutions of the
1950s…before
 The House of the Bab in Shiraz
… and after
 The House of the Bab in Shiraz
The persecutions of the 1950s -before
 The Baha’i national centre in Teheran
The army does its bit
As does the clergy!
… and after
 In 1979 the site became “The Free Islamic University”
The persecutions from 1979
onwards - before
 The House of the Bab restored to its pre-1955 condition
And after…
The house has since become a car park
1979 onwards, a systematic
campaign of persecution
 Women required to wear “Islamic” dress
 Baha’is dismissed from schools and universities
 Baha’is in government employment dismissed,
pensions cancelled, and some ordered to repay all
salaries ever earned!
 At first no protection from mobs and
assassinations. Next, the government joined in,
and many Baha’is have been imprisoned, and
around 300 executed
 Baha’i marriage outlawed as “prostitution”
 A lady murdered in front of her family at Kata in
1979
 Prof M Hakim, Prof of Medicine at the University of
Tehran, assassinated in January 1981.
1979 onwards (cont.)
 The elected National Spiritual Assembly
disappeared in 1981, never to be seen
again
 After an election was held to replace the
arrested National Spiritual Assembly, the
new National Spiritual Assembly also
disappeared for good
 The Baha’i administration was outlawed
 The Baha’i children’s savings bank was
seized without any compensation
 Seven members of the Baha’i community of
Yazd, executed in September 1980
1979 onwards (cont.)
 At least 7 Baha’i conscripts in the army have been
murdered without any punishment of the
perpetrators
 Hundreds of houses burned and assets seized
 Many Baha’is escaped to camps in Pakistan, and
thence elsewhere
 Women hanged in Shiraz in 1983 for teaching
Baha’i Sunday School
 Baha'i cemeteries desecrated
 The Baha’i cemetery in Shiraz
So, why are we talking about this
now?
 UN action vastly slowed down the persecution
after 1985. The number of actual executions
declined with UN pressure. We therefore know
that international efforts are effective
 The Baha’i home schooling and home university
system, created when state education was denied
them, has been closed down in 2005
 2005 has seen an upturn in arrests, and further
Baha’i holy places destroyed, including
Baha’u’llah’s parents’ house, one of the best
preserved early 19-century houses in the country
And above all…
 The Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on
Human Rights on freedom of religion and belief,
Asma Jahangir, announced in March 2006 that
she had discovered:
– A letter of 29 October 2005 from the Chairman of the
Command HQ of the Armed Forces of Iran that the
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran has
instructed government agencies to identify Baha’is and
to monitor their activities.
UN Statement 20 March 2006 (1)
“ The Special Rapporteur states that she is
apprehensive about the initiative to monitor
the activities of individuals merely because
they adhere to a religion that differs from the
state religion. She considers that such
monitoring constitutes an impermissible and
unacceptable interference with the rights of
members of religious minorities…”
UN Statement 20 March 2006 (2)
“ She also expresses 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’i Faith, in
violation of international standards.”
What are we asking for?
 We seek no special privileges
 We ask for international monitoring to
continue
 We ask for Iran to observe the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which it has
signed
 We want a Faith whose members are loyal,
peaceful, honest and trustworthy, to be
emancipated in the land of its birth.