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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Iran Press Watch <neysan@iranpresswatch.org>
Date: Sat, Nov 29, 2008 at 3:12 PM
Subject: Iran Press Watch: The Baha'i Community
To: ahang.rabbani@gmail.com

Iran Press Watch: The Baha'i Community

A Business is closed Because the Owner is Baha'i

Posted: 29 Nov 2008 09:25 AM CST

Translated by Ahang Rabbani

Mr. Husayn Derakhshan had repeatedly visited Isfahan's Trade Union for Interior Designs which grants permits for various construction works in hope of securing a license for his company "Derakhshan Interior Design". For this purpose he had completed all administrative and legal steps pertaining to such an enterprise and received a positive response. The only remaining legal hurdle was for the Security Office for Public Spheres to issue consent for this application.

On 24 June 2007, the Security Office for Public Sphere contacted Mr. Derakhshani and requested an in-person meeting. When Derakhshani arrived at their office, he was asked to sign a pledge – a copy is attached. In this documented pledge, he was asked by signing to commit to observe all moral, legal and principles of the Revolution, as well as Islamic precepts. Furthermore, the handwritten lines are noteworthy, inasmuch as by signing this document, he would guaranteeing that he would be at his place of business during all working hours of the interior design company, and that none of his family members would be allowed to run the business during his absence.

Mr. Derakhshan did not sign this pledge, and after a few days, on 25 June 2007, he received a notice that his application for business license was denied and he had to close shop effective immediately. On 7 July, his place of business was officially closed and sealed by the municipality.

After many letters and much follow up, finally on 25 August 2007, Mr. Derakhshan was able to meet with Colonel 'Asemi, the head of Isfahan's Security Office. In this meeting, Colonel 'Asemi stated that Derakhshani's business was illegal, since he had indicated his religion to be Baha'i in the application form.

It should be noted that the places of business of a number of other Baha'is in Baharestan (a town 20 kilometers southeast of Isfahan) have also been closed. After these Baha'is repeatedly complained about these closures, their licenses were renewed, while Mr. Derakhshan's license application has not been approved despite his repeated attempts and many letters.

On 12 May 2008, the city's Trade Union for Interior Designs Office advised Derakhshani, "A business license will not be given to you until you leave this city."

It should be noted that during the past 30 years, Baha'is have been barred from working in governmental offices and from holding any important position. Now, solely for the reason of being Baha'is, they are being deprived of the right to privately held businesses.

[The following report was posted on Thursday, 27 November 2008 at the online site of Human Rights Activists of Iran: http://www.hrairan.org/Archive_87/1233.html and it was also reported by Iran Press News on the same day at http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/050103.htm and appears above in translation.]

Islam and Minorities: The Case of the Baha'is

Posted: 29 Nov 2008 09:09 AM CST

By Christopher Buck

A special conference on "Islam and Minorities" was held at the University of Victoria in British Columbia on May 2-3, 2003. Presenting papers at this conference were internationally-renowned Islamicists, among whom was Dr. Andrew Rippin, who read, in absentia, my paper, "Islam and Minorities: The Case of the Baha'is." This invited paper was later published in Studies in Contemporary Islam 5.1–2 (Spring/Fall 2003): 83–106; Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Conference of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS); published June 2005.

This paper essentially presents an "Islamic" argument, by suggesting that it is in Islam's enlightened self-interest to protect the rights of all religious minorities. The Islamic Republic of Iran is a special case because its anti-Baha'i policies are notorious and have been openly condemned by the international community for nearly a quarter of a century. This notoriety has, like the Salman Rushdie affair, resulted in much negative press for both Iran as a country and, more unfortunately, for Islam as a religion, even though Iran's practice of Islam is peculiar to its own form of Shi'a Islam.

"The Baha'i question" raises serious questions in the West over just how "tolerant" Islam really is. One may say that popular perceptions of Islam will increasingly be shaped by how Muslim countries treat their minorities, especially religious minorities. The "Baha'i question" has confronted the Islamic world with a "test case" by which Islam's claims to religious tolerance will be vindicated, compromised, or reformed. Practically speaking, it will probably be the force of international law that ultimately constrains the application of Islamic restrictions on Baha'is, as has partially happened in Iran. Whether it is possible for an Islamic state to grant full rights to a religion that it fundamentally opposes and, thus, has the greatest difficulty in tolerating, the Baha'i question invites further discussion in the context of Islam and minorities.

Download "Islam and Minorities" here (PDF File, 1.01MB)

More on the Arrest of Baha'is in Yasuj

Posted: 28 Nov 2008 05:16 PM CST

Translated by Ahang Rabbani

According to field reports, three Baha'is in Yasuj, the capital of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, were arrested because of social activities. According to these reports, three Baha'is of this town, namely, 'Ali-Askar Ravanbakhsh, Zulaykha Musavi (the wife of Mr. Ravanbakhsh), and Ruhiyyih Yazdani commenced classes for [virtues and moral] education of children in July of the present year. However, they were interrogated by the Ministry of Intelligence and their personal property, such as books, CDs, and religious pictures were confiscated.

Following a summons by the Intelligence Ministry, these individuals were arrested on 28 October 2008. After two days during which their family had no news of them, they were told that the three Baha'is had been seized and incarcerated in the central prison of the city.

For some inexplicable reason, the arrested Baha'is remain unable to receive visitors or to meet anyone. The charges against them are stated as "efforts against national security by forming anti-Islamic classes". It is said their court date is 18 November 2008.

What befell the aforementioned Baha'i activists has a precedent: previously 54 Baha'i youth were arrested in Shiraz because of their efforts to teach underprivileged children, which it was suggested had security implications. Presently three of these youth are imprisoned and are completing their four-year sentences.

[Further to our report on 29 October 2008 under the title "Arrest of Baha'is in Yasuj", Human Rights Activists of Iran has filed a report on 16 November 2008 at http://www.hrairan.org/Archive_87/1196.html which appears above in translation. The moral educational classes mentioned in this report had no religious content, other than drawing from the great religions of the world to teach moral, ethics, virtues and good citizenship to children of various ages.]

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