arthra

A new report on religious liberty in Iran was released in September 2006 from the United States Department of State "International Religious Freedom" has been released and can found at

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71421.htm

It details persecution and deprivation of the rights of Iranian citizens and among these details the repression of the Baha'i Faith and persecution of Baha'is in that country. The Report enumerates and supports what has been reported previously but has I think some further detail so I am posting this link above for anyone who wants to read more. I'm also posting an excerpt from the report on abuse and persecution of the Baha'i community in Iran:

Abuses of Religious Freedom


The property rights of Baha'is were generally disregarded, and they suffer frequent government harassment and persecution. Since 1979 the government has confiscated large numbers of private and business properties belonging to Baha'is, as well as religious material. Numerous Baha'i homes reportedly were seized and handed over to an agency of Supreme Leader Khamene'i. Sources indicated that property was confiscated in Rafsanjan, Kerman, Marv-Dasht, and Yazd. Authorities reportedly also confiscated Baha'i properties in Kata, forced several families to leave their homes and farmlands, imprisoned some farmers, and did not permit others to harvest their crops. In one instance, a Baha'i woman from Esfahan who legally traveled abroad, returned to find that her home was confiscated. The Government also seized private homes in which Baha'i youth classes were held despite the owners having proper ownership documents.


The Baha'i community claimed the Government's seizure of Baha'i personal property and its denial of Baha'i access to education and employment were eroding the economic base of the community and threatened its survival. On June 29, 2006 the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing found that government expropriations of property in Iran "seem to have targeted disproportionately" the property of Baha'is and other ethnic and religious minorities. He further mentioned that many of the confiscation verdicts made by Iranian Revolutionary Courts declared that "the confiscation of the property of the evil sect of the Baha'i [were] legally and religiously justifiable." There were recent reports of authorities forcing Baha'i businesses to close and placing restrictions on their businesses. Managers of private companies were reportedly asked to dismiss their Baha'i employees.


The Government continued to imprison and detain Baha'is based on their religious beliefs. The Government harassed the Baha'i community by arbitrarily arresting Baha'is and charging them with violating Islamic penal code Articles 500 and 698, relating to activities against the State and spreading falsehood, respectively. Often the charges were not dropped upon release and those with charges still pending against them reportedly feared re-arrest at any time. Most were released only after paying large fines or posting high bails.


In 2004, authorities initiated the destruction of the tomb of Quddus, a Baha'i holy site. Local Baha'is attempted to prevent the destruction through legal channels, but the tomb was destroyed in the interim. The Baha'is were not allowed permission to enter the site and retrieve the remains of this revered Baha'i figure. The house of Mizra Buzarg-e-Nuri, father of the faith's founder, was destroyed without notice.


According to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, since 1979 more than 200 Baha'is were killed, 15 disappeared and were presumed dead, and more than 10,000 Baha'is were dismissed from government and university jobs.


In 2004, a Baha'i optician in Hamadan was reportedly kidnapped and brutally attacked by five individuals, who threatened him with death if he did not recant his faith and convert to Islam. Local authorities were unwilling to pursue the case and a local judicial official reportedly told him "it would cost him [the victim] dearly" if he pursued his complaint against the assailants.


In 2004, for the first time, the Baha'i community wrote an open letter to the Government of the Islamic Republic, addressed to President Khatami, seeking an end to Baha'i-focused human rights and religious freedom abuses. Numerous anecdotal reports indicated a marked increase in government persecution of Baha'is after this letter. Much of this anti-Baha'i activity focused on Yazd, presumably due to Yazdi Baha'is having presented Yazd intelligence-security officials with a copy of the letter.


In late 2004 and January 2005, nine Baha'is in Yazd were arrested and briefly detained, and their homes searched and some possessions confiscated. On January 14, 2005, authorities summoned, questioned, and released another Yazd Baha'i, and four days later on January 18, four individuals came to his home and beat him with batons, inflicting severe injuries to his face, back, and arms. The same individuals, equipped with batons and communication devices, also attacked the home of another Baha'i later that day. On that same day, these same persons went to the home of a third Baha'i and attacked him with batons, causing serious head wounds. This third Baha'i was attacked again on January 25; on January 27 his shop was set on fire.


In February 2005, the Baha'i cemetery in Yazd was destroyed, with cars driven over the graves, tombstones smashed, and the remains of the interred left exposed. Two days later, a gravestone was removed and left in front of a Baha'is home, along with a threatening letter. The Baha'i community filed a complaint with authorities at the national level, but no action was taken. These events coincided with the launch of a campaign of defamation against the Baha'i faith in government-controlled media.


In February 2005, two Baha'is were released from prison after serving almost fifteen years on charges related to their religious beliefs.


In March 2005, a series of Baha'i arrests and imprisonments began throughout the country. In Tehran on March 6 2005, intelligence officials arrested and took into custody three prominent Baha'is, and another was arrested and imprisoned on March 16. Agents conducted prolonged searches of their homes and confiscated documents, books, and other belongings. They were all detained without charge, and released after having posted bail.


On March 8 2005, one of the Baha'is previously arrested and briefly detained for having distributed an open letter from the Baha'i community to President Khatami, received a three-year sentence and was incarcerated in Evin prison. He did not have access to lawyers nor to any form of legal counsel. Another Baha'i previously arrested and detained, was tried in absentia and given a one-year sentence for the same alleged offence.


On April 25 2005, five more Baha'is were arrested and imprisoned, all members of farming families whose properties had been confiscated in the village of Kata, when they obeyed a summons and came to the court for hearings concerning their grievances. On May 3 2005, four more Baha'is from Kata answered a similar summons and appeared before a court in the same province. The judge asked them if they would relinquish their property, and when they refused, the judge ordered their arrest and detention. Later that month, all nine were released from prison after a business license was used as collateral.

On May 16 2005, nine Baha'is were summoned to appear before the office of the Public Prosecutor in the city of Semnan. They were charged with "creating anxiety in the minds of the public and those of the Iranian officials" and distributing "propaganda against the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran" for having distributed copies of the November 2004 open letter to various government officials. They were detained and subsequently released, with the understanding that they would appear for a hearing at a later date.


Between August 2005 and May 2006, eighty-seven Baha'is were arrested (but only eighty-six were detained). At the end of the period covered by this report, two remained in prison. Most of the others were never formally charged but they were only released after posting bail. For some, bail was deeds of property worth approximately $11,000; others were released in exchange for personal guarantees or work licenses. Some were not allowed to resume working for six months after their detention. There were also reports of attacks on Baha'is by unidentified assailants.

In the first week of August 2005, fourteen Baha'is were arrested from several cities, including Tehran. They were held in incommunicado detention, and there was concern from several sources that they were at risk of torture or ill treatment. During the rest of August and during September, nine more Baha'is were arrested in various cities. On September 17 and 19, three were released on bail. On September 5, four Baha'is were sentenced to ten months of imprisonment for opposition to the government. On the same day, the homes of nine Baha'is were searched in Yazd, and books, computers, tapes, videos, and CDs were confiscated.


On December 19, 2005, the longest imprisoned Baha'i, Zabihullah Mahrami, died in prison of unknown causes. He was arrested in 1995 and convicted of apostasy in 1996. He was forced to engage in hard labor at the penitentiary and regularly received death threats. His family was told he died of a heart attack, but Mahrami was reportedly in good health prior to his death.


On January 15, 2006, three Baha'is from Kermanshah were arrested on charges of "involvement in Baha'i activities and insulting Islam." Their homes and four others were raided the same day and books, documents, and other items were confiscated. On January 16, the Revolutionary Court set property worth more than US$30,000 as collateral for the three Baha'is, and they were released on January 20. On February 5, 2006, three Baha'is from Esfahan were arrested for coordinating Baha'i activities.


On March 18, 2006, Mehran Kawsari was released from jail without bail. He was tried in connection with the November 2004 open letter to then President Khatami that requested the restoration of human rights for the Baha'is and was charged with taking measures against the internal security of the government.


From May 9 to 11 2006, eleven Baha'i homes were raided in Shahinshahr, Najafabad, and Kashan but no arrests were made. On May 19, six Baha'i homes were raided in Shiraz, and notebooks, computers, books, and documents were seized. The homeowners were among the fifty-four Baha'is arrested that day. The individuals were mostly youths engaged in humanitarian service. With permission from the Islamic Council of Shiraz, they were teaching classes to poor children as part of a UNICEF program. On May 24-25, fifty-one out of fifty-four of the detainees were released. As of June 14, the remaining three had been released, initially for collateral payments of $54,600 per person but in the end solely based on personal guarantees.


On June 13 2006, one Baha'i man from Sanandaj was arrested and released on June 29 on unknown terms. There was an unconfirmed report of five more arrests in Shiraz, but no further information is yet available. On June 18, three Baha'is from Hamadan were arrested after government officials confiscated books, computers, and Baha'i documents, but they were released on bail on June 21. No details of the terms of their release were available. On June 21, one Baha'i from Baluchistan province was reportedly abducted, and authorities said they suspected criminal elements were involved. On June 28, one Baha'i was taken into custody and was being held in the Ministry of Information's detention center. This individual was previously arrested and released in August 2005.

__________________
Follow Baha'i Forums on Twitter and Facebook