Bahá'ís face yet more persecution in Iran

The Bahá'í Faith is one of the fastest-expanding in the world, with more than five million followers. There are between 300,000 and 350,000 in Iran, where its founder Bahá’u’lláh was born in the 19th century. It is a fundamentally peace-loving religion with slightly utopian ideals of universal harmony. It is also the largest religious minority in Iran. The Bahá'í community has been particularly under siege since the 1979 Islamic revolution but there is a long history of persecution before this. The latest alarm has been provoked by a report by United Nations raporteur Asma Jahangir into the plight of Bahá'ís in Iran. It is discussed on an excellent Bahá'í blog here. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has instructed a number of government agencies, including the revolutionary guard and the police force, to 'collect any and all information about members of the Baha'i faith.' Ms Jahangir, whose brief at the UN is freedom of religion and belief, concludes that this monitoring 'constitutes an impermissible and unacceptable interference with the rights of the members of religious communities.' She is also concerned that the information gained as a result of this monitoring will be used to support 'the increased persecution of, and discrimination against, members of the Bahá'í faith, in violation of international standards.'

Members of the Bahá'í community are not recognized as a religious minority in Iran and do not have the right to practise their religion. M Jahangir has long been concerned by the 'systematic discrimination' against members of the Bahá'í community in Iran and has already intervened with the government several times. But now she fears that the situation in Iran for all religious minorities is deteriorating.
Here is one example of what the Bahá'ís in Iran have suffered, reported on the faith's own site: 'In June 1983, for example, the Iranian authorities arrested ten Bahá’í women and girls. The charge against them: teaching children’s classes on the Bahá’í Faith — the equivalent of Sunday school in the West. The women were subjected to intense physical and mental abuse in an effort to coerce them to recant their Faith — an option that is always pressed on Bahá’í prisoners. Yet, like most Bahá’ís who were arrested in Iran, they refused to deny their beliefs. As a result, they were executed.' (See photo insert) 17-year-old Mona Mahmudnizhad was one of the women executed. There are many other stories of arbitrary arrests, imprisonments and property confiscation and members of the faith are not allowed access to public universities in Iran. After many UN and other international protests, Iran reduced the execution rate but what is concerning about the latest development is that it indicates that the ultimate goal of the persecution, the eradication of the faith in Iran, has not changed.
(quoted from posting by Ruth Gledhill on Monday, 27 March 2006 at 03:47 PM in Current Affairs, Religion, Weblogs Permalink )

For more on this matter......
http://mail.justice.com/jump/http://news.bahai.org