From: Iran Press Watch: The Baha'is <neysan@iranpresswat
Date: Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 11:36 PM
Subject: Iran Press Watch: The Baha'i Community
To: ahang.rabbani@
Iran Press Watch: The Baha'i Community |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2009 12:38 PM PST As part of the Iranian regime's confrontation with human rights activists and advocates, the recent harsh attacks on Nobel Peace laurette Shirin Ebadi have made it pay dearly. Silence on the part of many political activists who have focused their entire energy on a victory in the upcoming presidential election is questionable. I say "questionable, The first analysis that comes to mind explaining the state's costly move is that the closure of the Center for Defense of Human Rights and attacks on its founder, Shirin Ebadi, are serous warnings to other human rights defenders in Iran. That includes lawyers active at the Center, who, more than any other group, have voluntarily defended the rights of civil society, human rights and other political activists in recent years. Many people obtain information about the cases of political, social, civil, human rights, women's rights, students, workers and teachers union activists from attorney reports and interviews. Many civil society activists relied on their assistance when in danger and were certain that, in the case any unfortunate event happens, there is a lawyer who will speak and seek justice on their behalf.
We all know that volunteering to defend people accused of "acting against national security," is no small feat. One cannot forget what happened to critical dissidents during the dangerous and tumultuous days of the chain murders in the 1990s. We also know that, in such circumstances, representing a client can have dire consequences for the attorney. Therefore, the systemic confrontation and pressure on a group of lawyers who volunteer to represent political and ideological prisoners is not simply to confront them but is an attempt to isolate all activists who rely on their representation. Through this, a group of activists is naturally deprived of the right to representation by attorneys who themselves are under security pressures, and another group, thinking that having attorneys who are themselves under pressure can be more costly, choose isolation or less activist lawyers. Either way, the person harmed the most is the defendant who is not given the right to be represented by a lawyer who believes in equality and human rights. But the other dimension to recent attacks is a warning signal about the "behavior" of the Iranian regime, especially in light of the international prestige of Shirin Ebadi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Many of us - at least those in Iran - always thought that Ebadi was secure, and was backed by so much international prestige that when she reported physical threats against her and family members' lives, the Iranian president would be forced to promise that she would be safe (something that was done in April 2008, after threats were made on Shirin Ebadi's life.) Many of us had the good feeling that the Center headed by Ebadi, published quarterly reports covering human rights violations in our country; and that Ebadi occassionally held a press conference at the Center and challenged human rights violators. But today… she herself is subject to the most dangerous attacks. Attacking Ebadi means that the Iranian regime is ready to pay the highest price for confronting human rights defenders in Iran. Confronting her is confronting everyone who - whether individually or as part of a group - has entered that circle in society which challenges discrimination and inequality. This is a serious threat that must be responded to. If the human rights society in Iran is unable to defend itself, how can it claim to defend others? But we have a word for those politicians who claim to support human rights and civil society, but have failed to react appropriately to recent threats. How can they hope to earn the trust and votes of the public when they remain silent in face authoritarian attacks on human rights defenders? Source: http://www.roozonli |
| Bahai's Living in Iran with No Human Rights Posted: 19 Jan 2009 07:46 AM PST By Wahied Wahdat-Hagh, Die Welt, 12-Dec-2008 Editor's note: A german translation of this article can be found at http://europeandemo Universal human rights are being trampled underfoot in the Islamic "Republic" of Iran. In particular, the Baha'is in Iran are regarded as people with no rights. On 10 December, Human Rights Day, the organisation known as Human Rights Activists In Iran recalled a demonstration held in Tehran on 7 December 1953. At this demonstration, intended to show solidarity with the then prime minister Mossadegh, three Iranian students were shot dead: Shariat Razavi, Ghandchi and Bozorgnia. Since then, 7 December has been known as Student Day in Iran. This year, too, several hundred students gathered in front of the main building of Tehran University. Their demands included the release of students from Iranian prisons and an end to discrimination against Iranian women.
State ban on education for Baha'is On 7 December 2008, Human Rights Activists in Iran published a statement by two Baha'i students issued on behalf of all Baha'is not allowed to study in Iran. Navid Khanjani and Hesam Misaqi linked this statement to the events of 7 December 1953. Today, 55 years later, many young Iranians are denied the right to university education. For more than 30 years, the Iranian Bahai's have had no civil rights. Until 2004, they did not even have the right to sit the university admission exam. While it is true that a few have enrolled in the past few years, most of them have been driven out of university, again solely because of their religious beliefs. A handful of Baha'is are currently allowed to study at Iranian universities in an attempt to limit international criticism. Cultural crime Khanjani and Misaqi rightly speak of a "cultural crime" since each year about 1,000 new applicants for university places are turned down and not allowed to study purely because of their beliefs. The students point out that Hossein Amanat, the architect of Tehran University, built before the Islamic Revolution, was a Baha'i. Amanat also built the Azadi Tower, the city's landmark. Today, however, Iranian students who are Baha'is like Amanat are apparently no longer allowed to study at the very university that was designed by a Baha'i. The first girls' school in Iran was also founded by Baha'is in 1909. It was later closed following pressure from fanatical clerics. Today, the children of those who instituted such schools are no longer allowed to study at Iranian universities. While Khanjani and Misaqi did not take part in this year's student actions, they nonetheless wholeheartedly supported the Iranian student activists. Khanjani and Misaqi hope that one day they will be free to take part in campaigns involving students of all beliefs and persuasions. On 9 December 2008, Human Rights Activists in Iran again reported on the systematic destruction of Baha'i cemeteries. Although the destruction of Baha'i graves is nothing new, this phenomenon has definitely increased over the past few months. The human rights organisation delivered a report on the Baha'i cemetery in Qaemshahr, created on a plot of land given to the Baha'i community by Abdolqani Abdi about 100 years ago. As early as 1983, a number of Muslims living near the cemetery prevented Baha'is burying their dead there. The bodies had to be buried in a cemetery in Darzikola. This cemetery has been repeatedly vandalised over the past few months. On 12 May 2008, the Baha'i community was warned by the Iranian secret service in Qaemshahr not to bury its dead in Darzikola either. No permission was granted to establish a new cemetery. At the same time two members of the Baha'i community were arbitrarily detained in the region of Mazandaran. On 23 October the Darzikola cemetery was destroyed by bulldozers, with only a few gravestones surviving the destruction. The Baha'i cemetery was subsequently attacked twice more, on 3 November and 22 November, to destroy the remaining gravestones. The Intelligence Service Ministry has a new representative in the province of Mazandaran. According to Iranpresswatch, it is highly likely that the new representative will use paramilitary forces to desecrate these Baha'i graves. Iranpresswatch also reported that three Baha'i social workers in Yasuj had been detained on 23 November 2008. Ruhiyyih Yazdani, Zulaykha Musavi and Ali-Askar Ravanbakhsh have helped children aged between five and seven from poor families to read and write. They were accused of being a "threat to national security" because they wanted to help children to lead a better life. As Timesonline reported, on the 60th anniversary of the adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, professors, clerics, writers and politicians have spoken up for the Iranian Baha'is and called for the right to freedom of education for Bahai in Iran: Source: http://europeandemo |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2009 07:37 AM PST Monday, 19 January 2009
Tehran:
Semnan:
Yasouj:
Yazd:
Isfahan:
Kerman:
The members of the national coordinating body of Baha'is of Iran:
Shiraz:
[Source: http://hrairan. |
| A New Persian Song from Iran Titled "Imprisoned" Posted: 19 Jan 2009 06:32 AM PST Editor's Note: As means of providing a forum for fostering artistic expressions of the Baha'i community of Iran, Iran Press Watch is pleased to share the following newly composed song titled "Imprisoned" http://www.iranpres This posting includes an audio/video/ |
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--
Ahang Rabbani, PhD
http://ahang.
http://iranpresswat
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