I attended the event that was co-sponsored by Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Human Rights and the Bahá’ís of NYC in commemoration of the second year anniversary of the imprisonment of the seven Bahá’í leaders.
In Iran, over the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of civil society activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens being arbitrarily detained, sentenced, and even executed. Recent domestic unrest has been used as a pretext by the Iranian government to commit human rights abuses (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/03/24/iran-new-coordinated-attack-human-rights-groups ). However, looking closer at this issue shows that this is not a once off event but part of a bigger picture of human rights abuses that goes back years.
Bahá’ís, Iran’s largest religious minority, according to the Iranian government that estimate their numbers to be 350,000, have come under increased targeting. Seven elected Bahá’í leaders have been unlawfully detained since May 2008. They initially did not even have access to their lawyers nor where they charged for a year. This is just a continuation of the relentless persecution that Bahá’ís have been subjected.
Since the 1979 Revolution, hundreds of Bahá’ís have been executed. This includes my great uncle who I have never had the opportunity to meet but heard so much about growing up. He was one of the many Bahá’ís who systematically "disappeared".
As I grew older, I began to investigate religions, all religions. The Bahá’í Faith teaches that each individual must investigate the truth for themselves and make up their own minds what is true.
The Bahá’ís believe that all religions (including Islam) come from the same God. Therefore, they are no threat as they are not aligned with any group or political ideology / movement. Bahá’ís believe that humans are all from the same family irrespective of the artificially constructed barriers mankind has created such as race, gender or ethnicity. Furthermore, the Bahá’i law stipulated that Bahá’ís must obey the law of the land that we live in....so it baffles me how this could be considered a crime worth torturing or killing to stop. Yet, thousands of Bahá’ís have been arrested, dismissed from their jobs, or had their possessions and homes confiscated.
The prosecution of the Baha'i's in Iran is an official government stance. The 1991 Golpaygani memorandum (released to the public in 1993 by a United Nations official) outlines a comprehensive plan to block the development and progress of the Iranian Baha'i community by denying them "any position of influence" and refusing them employment, including by expelling Bahá’í university students.
Continued reports indicate that the policy of systematically preventing Bahá'ís from obtaining Higher Education in Iran continues. During the 2007-2008 academic year, over 1,000 Bahá’í students sat and satisfactorily completed the entrance examination. However, nearly 800 were excluded because of ‘incomplete files’. As a result, enrollment in all public and most private universities in Iran is impossible. It appears to be an attempt to force Bahá’ís to live uneducated in a state of poverty.
Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations spoke of solidarity and hope. She spoke of the support and assistance that is being shown to ordinary Bahá’ís by their neighbors when their houses were bulldozed in the middle of the night, and the musicians who refused to play when their Bahá’í colleagues were excluded from the recital. This message of hope made me realize that for light to shine brightest....you need it to be completely dark. Furthermore, it made me realize how true the quote a "thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness. Sincerity and love will conquer hate. " --Baha'i: Abdu'l-Baha: Paris Talks, Written in 1912 (pp 29-30)
I have always believed that a society is judged by how we treat the weakest, poorest and most vulnerable. Oppression in whatever form it takes reflects back directly on those who allow it to continue or perpetrate it. As such, the emancipation of the Bahá’ís is also about the emancipation of Iran. A country where human rights, the basic rights and freedoms that humans are entitled to are with held should make us all pause. Yet, I agree with Sarah Leah Whitson (Director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division) when she said "It is a battle that the Iranian people must win but I have no doubt that they will prevail."
I conclude by reiterating the dream of a 16 year old girl (mona) who was publicly hanged for teaching children's classes in Iran and hope for a world where there is
" Freedom from hatred, fear and ignorance".
The speakers at the event included:
Rudi Bakhtiar
Former CNN & Fox News Anchor, Current Communications Director for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
Bani Dugal
Principal Representative of the Bahá'í International Community to the United Nations.
Roxana Saberi
Iranian-American Journalist who was recently released from Evin prison where she was prison mates with Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, two of the seven Bahá’í leaders.
Sarah Leah Whitson
Director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division.
Featuring a special presentation by Oscar-nominated Shohreh Aghdashloo and actor, playwright Houshang Touzie, Anthony Azizi (Actor, Lost, 24, Flash Forward), Manoochehr Vahman (Classical Persian Violinist) and an ensemble cast directed by Shidan Majidi (Director, Miss Saigon).
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