EU: Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the situation of people belonging to religious minorities in Iran
The European Union is very concerned at the deterioration in the exercise of freedom of religion or belief, and especially the freedom of worship, in Iran, where the pressure on people belonging to religious minorities has worsened in recent months.

The European Union is deeply disturbed by the arrests since April of Iranian converts to Christianity and members of the Baha'i community. It calls for their immediate and unconditional release and the cessation of all forms of violence and discrimination against them.

There have been many reports that people belonging to the Christian, Baha'i, Sufi and Sunni minorities in Iran are regularly suffering forms of persecution such as confiscation of property, desecration of their places of worship, imprisonment and numerous acts of violence, including some life threatening.

The European Union is concerned at the Iranian parliament's decision to consider a draft law making apostasy one of the crimes punishable by death. If adopted, that law would be a serious infringement of the freedom of religion or belief, which includes the right to change religion and the right to have no religion. It would violate Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was freely ratified by Iran, and would threaten the lives of a number of Iranians who have been arrested and held without trial for several months on account of their religious beliefs.

The European Union urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to reconsider its decision to examine the law in question, release all those who have been imprisoned because of their religious affiliation and allow all its citizens to exercise their freedom of religion or belief in full.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania and Montenegro and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

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EU: Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the situation of people belonging to religious minorities in Iran

I know I'm late to the party (story of my life) but I just wanted to note that implicit or explicit in the writings of the world's revealed religions is the answer to this question. Christ, for example, poses it as a matter of "fruits" (one of the quotes that prompted Christopher Hitchens to criticize His grasp of agriculture ) If you look at the core teachings of the claimant and extrapolate what a community built on them might look like or what effects they might have in a person's life, you can get a sense of what the fruits are.

Bertrand Russell said that if every one lived by Christ's teachings as enunciated in the Sermon on the Mount, the world would be transformed. Alas, while many individual Christians attempted to live by those teachings, Christian institutions did not necessarily do this with the result that rather than looking for ways to keep to Christ's major injunction (love one another) as they maneuvered past hostile non-Christians and internal disagreements, they allowed doctrine to trump obedience.

The Baha'i scriptures tell us that if one looks through history, one can see these individuals and know them by their fruits. By the lives they led and the ideas they espoused. They were not men of their time. Their teachings were all revolutionary (or evolutionary) in some way. Take Baha'u'llah's teachings about the harmony of science and religion or the equality of women and men. Would you expect those to come out of 19th century Iran?

Iran’s new school year again excludes Baha’is
3 October 2008
NEW YORK —

As the new academic year got under way, young Baha'is in Iran again found the door to higher education closed.

Although in its public stance the Iranian government maintains that Baha'is are free to attend university, reports over the past few weeks indicate that the policy of preventing Baha'is from obtaining higher education remains in effect.

Baha'i students attempting to gain admittance to universities and other institutions this fall found that their entrance examination results were frozen and their files listed as “incomplete” on the Web site of the national testing organization.

Baha’is who had successfully enrolled in universities in previous years continue to be expelled.

And those who have sought redress through the courts have been disappointed, their cases rejected.

“As has been the case for the last four years, the Iranian government continues to use a series of devious ploys to prevent young Iranian Baha’is from receiving higher education,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.

“The effect of the government’s policies is to close the doors of universities to Baha’is, despite Iran’s supposed commitment to international laws upholding the right to education.

“Our plea to the international community, and especially to professors, administrators and students everywhere, is that they raise their voices on behalf of Iranian Baha’i students,” said Ms. Dugal.

According to reports from Iran, the principal method this year by which authorities are preventing Baha’is from enrolling in university is by blocking their examination results and declaring their files “incomplete.”

The tactic was used last year, too, but this year it became evident that many of the Baha’i students had been identified earlier in the application process. When they tried to log on to the national university examination Web site, rather than seeing their exam results, they got a Web page with the words “Error – incomplete file.” (See screen shot in Persian, and English translation.)

The Web page to which they were automatically directed had a URL (Internet address) ending with the words “error_bah” – an apparent reference to the fact that their files were declared in “error” because they were Baha’is. (The complete address was search sanjesh)

The error message is displayed despite the fact that Baha’i students had dutifully filled out all required information and successfully sat for the examination.

Last year, for the 2007-2008 academic year, of the more than 1,000 Baha’i students who sat for and satisfactorily completed the entrance examination, nearly 800 were excluded because of "incomplete files."

Without complete files, enrollment in all public and most private universities in Iran is impossible.

Students who have contested the fact that their files were improperly listed as incomplete have so far met a deaf ear in Iranian courts.

In a ruling last April in Branch 1 of the Court of Administrative Justice, a Baha’i student who filed a grievance against the national Education Measurement and Evaluation Organization (EMEO) had his case dismissed.

“In light of the fact that the (EMEO) does not recognize the plaintiff as having fulfilled the requirements, the plaintiff’s case has no merit and is thus dismissed,” the court ruled. (See court document in Persian, and English translation.)

The same court rejected the claim of another Baha’i university student who had been expelled because of his religious belief and had approached the court seeking readmission.

In rejecting that case, the court made a reference to the 1991 Golpaygani memorandum which outlines a broad plan to block the “progress and development” of the entire Iranian Baha’i community, including by expelling Baha’i university students.

The court wrote, “Considering that the plaintiff meets the criteria as defined by the (1991 Golgaypani memorandum) ratified by the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution and is thus considered to have failed and has no valid argument to prove that there has been a violation of the guidelines in order to justify his claim, his grievance is not recognized.” (See court document in Persian, and English translation.)

Recent reports also indicate that Baha’is who are enrolled in universities – and there are now very few such Baha’is – continue to be expelled as their religious beliefs become known.

In August, for example, a student at Fazilat University was just three weeks from graduation when she was brought before authorities; when she refused to recant her faith, she was dismissed from the university.

Despite a record of deceitful dealings by the government, there is increasing evidence of support for Bahá'í students by many Iranians, both inside and outside of Iran.

Notable among them was an article by Ahmad Batebi, a prominent human rights activist now in exile. That article, “The Bahá’ís and Higher Education in Iran,” published 2 September 2008 in Rooz Online, protests the denial to Bahá’ís of access to higher education and the persecution of the Bahá’ís of Iran generally. (See article in English and Persian.)

Source:

Iran’s new school year again excludes Baha’is

Aside from the oppresion of Christians and anti semitic rhetoric in Iran this was noted in the State Dept. Report:

The State Department report notes that over the past year the Baha’i community, the largest non-Muslim religious group in Iran, experienced increasing persecution. Baha’is were not allowed to teach or practice their faith, and their religious tenets were condemned on government-controlled radio and television broadcasts. More than seventy Baha’is were arrested and more than two dozen are still in prison. Public and private universities continued to deny admittance to or expel Baha’i students. In addition, the Iranian government repeatedly pressured Baha’is to accept relief from mistreatment in exchange for recanting their religious beliefs.

Source:

VOA News - Iran's Abuse Of Religious Liberty

Pressure is on Baha'is to recant their Faith.

- Art

Iranian authorities to Baha’i students: Scrap your dreams

Author:

Kawthar (Sudan) - October 5, 2008

Every year, millions of students worldwide prepare excitedly for a new academic year - a journey that will equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary to become active and productive citizens. But instead of worrying about homework, pop-up quizzes and detention, Baha’i students in Iran worry about being admitted to academic institutions in the first place.

Iranian authorities constantly deny that they discriminate against Baha’i students, citing a recent policy change that allowed students to enrol in universities for the first time in almost 3 decades. Although students were no longer forced to declare their religious affiliation when applying for the national university entrance examination, a memo revealed last year exposed their hypocrisy. The memo, sent from Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, instructed all institutions to expel any student discovered to be a Baha’i.
Over the past two years a new tactic was employed: namely, denying Baha’i students admission by alleging their files are incomplete. Last year, almost 800 (of over 1,000) students had their dreams shattered this way. But this year, when trying to login to the national university examination website, Baha’i students were redirected to:

search sanjesh

Whether the Iranian authorities were caught in the folly of their ways, or “error_bah” was intentional is a tough call. But should the authorities want to upgrade their message for the next academic year, we have a fitting suggestion:

We have a handy response for them to use, should they run out of excuses:

“How can we be accused of denying Baha’is access to education when we do not recognize their existence? The accusations are baseless!”

Source:

Iranian authorities to Baha’i students: Scrap your dreams - Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) –

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday expressed concerns about possible human rights abuses in Iran and urged the country to do more to combat discrimination against women and minorities.

While praising Tehran for strides made in fields such as education and the provision of health services, Ban used a new report on human rights in Iran to list a number of areas where progress was needed.
One of the minority groups suffering discrimination in Iran was the Baha'i community, Ban said.

Baha'is regard their faith's 19th-century founder as the latest in a line of prophets including Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammad. Iran's Shi'ite religious establishment considers the faith a heretical offshoot of Islam.

Baha'is say hundreds of their followers have been jailed and executed since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Tehran denies it has detained or executed people for their religion.

The Baha'i faith originated in Iran and claims 5 million adherents worldwide, including 300,000 or more in Iran.

There have also been reports of "an increase in rights violations against women, university students, teachers, workers and other activist groups," Ban said in the report, which was issued to all 192 U.N. member states.


Source:

U.N. concerned on Iran human rights - Yahoo! News

I came across soem more sad news from Iran recently though I'm unsure of the source but it seems consistent with previous reports:

More on the Arrest of Baha’is in Yasuj
November 28, 2008
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 ÈÇÒÏÇÔÊ ÝÚÇáÇä ÇÌÊãÇÚí ÈåÇíí ÏÑ íÇÓæÌ 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.]

Source:

More on the Arrest of Baha’is in Yasuj | Iran Press Watch

UK Foreign Policy Centre challenges Iran on human rights

LONDON, 30 November (BWNS) - The Foreign Policy Centre, a leading foreign affairs think tank in Britain, has published a new report on Iran titled "A Revolution Without Rights: Women, Kurds and Baha'is Searching for Equality in Iran."

The report concludes that, although the world is focusing on Iran's nuclear issue, the rights of women and minorities must not be overlooked.

Published as a pamphlet, the report was presented at a public program at the Houses of Parliament on 25 November, coinciding with United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The document evaluates the Iranian government's compliance with its own constitution and looks at how the country's treatment of women and minorities measures up to the international agreements it has signed.

UK Foreign Office Minister Lord Mark Malloch-Brown wrote the preface, describing the report as an "important contribution to the debate, and an important part of ensuring that improving Iran's human rights record stays firmly on the agenda worldwide."

"Iran consistently fails to meet the international commitments that it is signed up to," he wrote. "It ignores its own laws and terms of its own constitution such as arbitrary arrest and the denial of due process. And it is increasingly - and worryingly - using vague, national security-related charges such as 'acting against state security' and 'propaganda against the system' against individuals who are exercising their right to peaceful protest."


For the complete article as well as photographs, go to UK Foreign Policy Centre challenges Iran on human rights

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran expressed serious concern today about the recent detentions of three Baha’is in the province of Mazandaran and called on Iranian authorities to account for them.



Security agents detained Masoud Ataian, Soheila Motallebi, and Anvar Moslemi during a six-day period in November in Qa’emshahr and Sari in the Northern province of Mazandaran.


“These detentions are consistent with a pattern of persecution and arbitrary arrest of members of the Baha’i minority in Iran, and give cause to fear for the health and safety of those in custody,” said Hadi Ghaemi, Campaign spokesperson. “The government has yet to account for the detentions earlier this year of six Baha’i leaders, contributing to an alarming trend.”

Ataian was detained in his home in Qa’emshahr by Intelligence Ministry officials on 17 November 2008. Led by an agent called Mr. Movahhed, the officials searched his home, destroyed sacred pictures and confiscated holy texts, his computer and business documents. He has not been allowed to see a lawyer and has had only brief contact with his family.

Motallebi was detained in her home in Sari on 21 November also by Intelligence Ministry officials. They presented no warrant but searched her home and confiscated documents and books relating to the Baha’i Faith. She is being held in the Intelligence Ministry’s detention center in Sari and has been denied contact with her family. Human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani has agreed to take on her case, but has not been allowed to see her. Anvar Moslemi was detained two days later on 23 November in Sari.

Within the past year four other Baha’is have been taken into custody in Mazandaran. Tarazollah Allahverdi and his wife Sonya Tebyanian were detained on 17 October in Behshahr. Siamak Ebrahimi, detained and released two years ago, was again detained on 4 November in Tonekaban. He was sentenced to six months in prison and two years exile in the city of Zabol, over 1100 km away from his home. Ali Ahmadi, another Baha’i detained earlier this year in Mazandaran, is still being held in prison.

The Campaign urged on members of the international community to protest the continued harassment of Iran’s Baha’i community and called on the Iranian authorities to cease the unjust targeting and detention of members of the Baha’i community throughout Iran.

Source: The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights » Blog Archive » Concern raised over detention of Baha’is in Mazandaran

GENEVA, 23 December (BWNS)- The Baha'i International Community today expressed grave concern over the closing by the Iranian government of Shirin Ebadi's Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran and called for its reopening.

"The closing of Mrs. Ebadi's office is a blow to human rights for the whole of Iran," said Diane Ala'i, a representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva.

"The spokesperson of Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that the reason behind the closure was that the Center has no license. But it would be a simple matter to give them one. Otherwise, the fact that the Iranian government would shut down the office of its most famous human rights defender, who is Iran's only winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the first Muslim woman so recognized, can only be perceived by the world at large as further evidence that the government has no regard for rights and freedoms.

"Mrs. Ebadi and her colleagues are engaged in defending numerous individuals and groups in Iran, and the closure of the Center will certainly interfere with their efforts and impede the adequate legal representation that they are committed to providing," she said.

Among those being defended by Mrs. Ebadi and her organization are the seven Baha'i leaders who are currently being held without charge in Evin prison in Tehran. The seven were arrested in March and May in an ominous sweep that was reminiscent of when Baha'i leaders in the 1980s were rounded up and executed.

"Regardless of the attempts against human rights defenders in Iran, Mrs. Ebadi and her colleagues are courageously pursuing their work. For the good of the country, we call upon the Iranian authorities to resolve the administrative issue, and to allow the Center to reopen immediately," said Ms. Ala'i.



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Bahá'Ã* World News Service - Bahá'Ã* International Community