The Baha'i Faith Index

Baha'is in Iran: steadfast in spite of persecution

Former members of the Nat. Spiritual Assembly of Iran (BIC)

The small community room at the Arcade Library in Carmichael, California was filled with people, including some standing against the wall in the back of the room and others sitting cross-legged on the lineoleum-tiled floor.  It wasn't a typically sweltering-hot evening in July, in fact, there was a gentle, southwesterly breeze wafting through the open door.  But the people squeezed into the room weren't gathered to discuss the pleasant weather.  They were there to honor the hundreds of Baha'is who have been imprisoned, tortured, and in more than a few instances, executed for their beliefs.

The program began in an appropriately somber tone with prayers, two in English and one chanted in Farsi. The crowd, while largely Baha'is, were a mix of Iranians and Americans, Baha'is and those who were either friends of Baha'is or interested in the current political turmoil in Iran.

The first speaker was Marjan Aziza-Elahi, a resident of the Granite Bay Baha'i community who was joined at the speaker's podium by her six year old daughter, Raha.  During the widespread increase of government-sanctioned persecution of Baha'is following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Ms. Aziza-Elahi lost three of her uncles to execution. She did not, however, dwell on the horrific memories of that tragedy, but instead, remained focused on how Baha'is survived during the fiercely hostile early years of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Baha'is, along with concerned non-Baha'i family members and friends, helped each other with food, clothing, shelter and other necessities for survival, she explained.  They had to be careful, however, because gathering in a group would lead to arrest. The Islamic -ran government had outlawed the worship and teaching activities of the Baha'i Faith, and a group of Baha'is coming together for any reason was considered to be in defiance of the law.

She described how an 85 year old grandmother was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards because she refused to recant the Baha'i Faith. The elderly woman remained steadfast in her resolution that she would rather remain incarcerated than disavow her faith.  Eventually, she was released.

These circumstances still exist for Baha'is in Iran today.

Next, a slide show presentation offered the Baha'is the opportunity to remember and honor those who had "disappeared", died during imprisonment or had been executed.  Among those who were kidnapped and never seen again are the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran.  They were rounded up on August 21, 1980 and. it is assumed they are dead. Other slides revealed Baha'is in professional photographs, such as a Baha'i officer in the Iranian army before the Islamic Revolution, or snapshots of Baha'is taken by friends or family members.  It was difficult to comprehend why the Iranian government would consider the smiling people in those photographs such a threat that they had to be beaten, tortured, and inevitably, hung or shot by a firing squad.

Farhad Sabetan, the final speaker for the evening and a former United Nations representative for the Baha'i International Community (Baha'is have a seat in the UN as a non-governmental organization), reminded the audience that although followers of the Ba'b and Baha'u'llah have suffered incalculable tragedies over the past 150 years, the years between 1979 and 1991 were the worst in terms harrassment, false imprisonment, discrimination and other human rights violations.  Referring to the current unrest in Iran surrounding the re-election Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, Sabetan reiterated that no Baha'i is responsible for the protests, nor do they participate in any of the demonstrations. This position of neutrality has sometimes drawn sharp criticism from fellow Iranian citizen who are unhappy with the overwhelming political/economic status of their country and wish to have Baha'i participation.  Baha'is are not only forbidden to participate in partisan politics, demonstrations, strikes or any activity against their government of residence, but they must also abide by the laws of their country.  There is, however, one exception to that edict--they are must never recant their faith, even if faced with a myraid of injustices, including death.

"The Iranian people are now experiencing what the Baha'is have experienced for the past 30 years," Mr. Sabetan told the audience.  Although Iranian Baha'is feel the same anguish and sorrow as their countrymen concerning the turmoil in their homeland, they have been instructed to move on with their daily duties instead of participating in the political upheaval. As a result, they perform whatever tasks they can to financially and spiritually support their families and neighbors, whether they are Baha'i or not.

Providing for their families and communities is not, however, a simple matter.  As Mr. Sabetan explained, Baha'is are forbidden to have jobs in the government or private sector.  They cannot own any property, whether it be a home or some land.  Their children are often harrassed at school, and when they grow up, they are barred from attendance in the universities.  As a result, Iranian Baha'is have become quite industrious by taking up a trade or opening a service-related business such house painting, auto repair, or janitorial work.  In some cases, university trained professionals such as doctors, teachers, attorneys and engineers have happily sold produce in the street markets for a living.

The purpose of the memorial service that day, Mr. Sabetan reminded those gathered, that was to not only honor those martryred, but to raise awareness of the false imprisonment and criminal charges that have filed against the seven members of ad-hoc committee of Baha'is that came together (with the full knowledge of the Iranian government) for the purpose of helping Baha'is remain steadfast in the  matters of daily life during this fearful time.  Unfortunately, the seven Baha'is were arrested in March and May of 2008, and they have been held in Tehran's Evin prison, the same facility where numerous protestors are now held.  The Baha'i 7, or Yaran (Friends) who are awaiting trial are Behrouz Tavakkoli, Saeid Rezaie, Fariba Kamalabadi, Vahid Tizfahm, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, and Mahvash Sabet.  Their court date has been postponed until October 18, 2009.

The evening ended a brief question and answer session with Mr. Sabetan, prayers and refreshments provided by the Carmichael community of Baha'is.

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This video, which has been entered into the 10th International Bitfilm Festival for digital film and new media, is an animated portrayal of the human rights violations that have been committed against the Baha'is of Iran.  The video was produced by Mideast Youth, an interfaith (Muslim, Baha'i, Christian, Jewish, Zoroasterian) coalition of young adults who work tirelessly for the cause of peace in the Middle East and around the world.

For more info:  Exiled Iranian Baha'i members pay tribute to executed members

EGYPT: Bahais accused of inciting sedition

The religious saga of the Bahai community is not over yet.

A prominent hard-line Islamist filed a complaint this week with Egypt's prosecutor-general against two Bahais, accusing them of defaming monotheistic religions, fomenting sedition and threatening national security, according to a report by a local newspaper.

Youssef el Badry -- along with a couple of other clerics and 18 lawyers --  has reportedly singled out Basma Moussa, a prominent Bahai follower who has recently become known for her outspoken criticism of the state’s discrimination against Bahais, and Ahmed Abouel Ela, who appeared on TV last month and said he converted from Islam to the Bahai faith.

The case follows a recent verdict  that acknowledged the right of Bahais to receive official identification documents that don't categorize them as either Muslims or Christians. Bahais are cautiously contemplating the implementation of the verdict.

Yet, even if implemented, the verdict does not necessarily mean that Bahais would be fully tolerated in a society immersed in Islamic conservatism.

Plaintiffs accused Bahais of being responsible for the violence that has recently erupted in southern Egypt. Muslim radicals set the houses of some Bahai families in the upper Egypt province of Sohag on fire in the wake of a TV show in which Ahmed Abouel Ela appeared and  reportedly claimed that the province hosted a large number of Baha’is.

-- Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

LA Times
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/04/egypt-bahais-accused-of-inciting-sedition.html

Egyptians win the right to drop religion from ID cards

Rights activists say the decision on a case brought by Bahais is an historic first step towards a more inclusive definition of Egyptian identity.

from the April 20, 2009 edition

Cairo - Egyptian followers of the Bahai religion celebrated a long-awaited legal victory last week when the country's Interior Ministry allowed them to obtain national identity cards without falsely listing their faith as one of the only three recognized by the state.

Rights activists say the ministry's decision to honor a court ruling allowing Bahais to leave their religion off their official documents is an historic first step towards a more inclusive definition of what it means to be Egyptian.

"It is a significant development in our legal history as a nation," says Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which filed a lawsuit against the Interior Ministry's Civil Status Department on behalf of Bahai citizens. "It is the first legal institution to sanction, or even accommodate, the idea that you can be Egyptian and follow a religion outside the three recognized ones."

All Egyptians are required to obtain a national ID card at age 16. The card states their religious affiliation, and since 2000 there have only been three options: Muslim, Christian, and Jewish.

The cards are necessary for accessing almost all aspects of life in Egypt, from opening a bank account to immunizing children.

Those who follow a faith besides the three the state refers to as "the heavenly religions" were previously either forced to lie about their religion or go without the cards, consigned to a bleak state of official nonexistence.

But on March 16, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court upheld a lower courts' 2008 ruling that all Egyptians have a right to obtain official documents, such as ID cards and birth certificates, without stating their religion.

The Interior Ministry had appeared not to recognize the 2008 ruling, and Bahais had reported trouble registering their children in schools and universities.

But the ministry issued the new order March 19 complying with the Supreme Administrative Court's decision, and it went into effect April 15. Authorities say new IDs will be available within two weeks.

Under the new rules, Egyptians can opt to have a dash mark printed in place of a religion.

Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, called the former policy "abusive" and "without any basis in Egypt's statutory law," in a statement released when the new policy went into effect.

"We hope this means that the government intends to eradicate all policies that discriminate on the basis of religion and instead promote freedom of belief for all Egyptians," he said.

Problems with documents began recently

The Bahai faith was founded in 19th-century Persia by the prophet Baha'ullah, who taught the spiritual unity of all mankind and embraced the teachings of many faiths, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. He also believed himself to be the last in a line of prophets that included Buddha, Abraham, Jesus, and Muhammad, which contradicts the Islamic position that Muhammad was the final prophet of God.

Egyptian Bahais long lived peacefully beside their Christian, Muslim, and Jewish countrymen. That began to change in the 1950s, when some in Egypt became suspicious of the fact that the Bahai world headquarters are located in the Israeli city of Haifa.

Egypt's Bahai citizens say they began having problems obtaining official documents in 2000, after an effort to modernize the Interior Ministry instituted a computerized system of issuing ID cards, ending the old practice of hand-writing them.

Violence toward Bahais

"Before that there were no problems, they used to write out Bahai or just put a dash," says Labib Iskander, a professor of mathematics at Cairo University and follower of the Bahai faith. "My old card still says Bahai, and to this day I still have not gotten a new one. Now when I do there will be a dash."

But the ruling comes at a tense time for the nation's Bahais, and recent violence directed at them suggests that popular attitudes have yet to catch up with those of the government.

In late March a riot broke out in the southern Egyptian town of Al Shoroneya after a satellite TV station aired a segment on Bahais celebrating the Iranian New Year with a picnic in a Cairo park.

One of the picnickers identified himself as a resident of the village and described it using a phrase in Arabic that could either mean "there are many Bahais there" or "everyone there is Bahai."

Eight Bahai residents' homes were set ablaze in the riot, and local media reports indicate the town's entire Bahai population has fled.

Dr. Iskander is happy about the government's new policy but says that old attitudes die hard, noting that the state is still unwilling to write the word "Bahai" itself on the national identity cards.

"They think that writing it would mean recognizing it as a religion, but that's not true," he says. "It would mean recognizing that some people are just different, and that they believe in something else. But they don't want to do that."

Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0420/p06s12-wome.html

Egypt changes religious ID policy

The main beneficiaries of the decree are the thousands of Egyptians who are adherents of the Bahai faith, Human Rights Watch and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said. Under the previous system, Egyptians trying to get birth certificates or identity cards had to identify themselves as Muslim, Christian or Jewish, the only religions recognized by the state.

Bahai, founded in Persia, teaches that all humans share a spiritual unity and that all religions are essentially the same. There are 5 or 6 million followers around the world.

"With this decree, the Interior Minister resolved a serious problem, albeit one that the ministry itself created," said Hossam Bahgat, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative. "We will monitor how officials implement the new regulations over the coming weeks to ensure their swift and smooth enforcement."

For the past nine years, Bahai followers and members of other unrecognized religions had to claim to be Jewish, Christian or Muslim to get essential documents. EIPR won a favorable court ruling last week.

United Press International
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/15/Egypt-changes-religious-ID-policy/UPI-99021239825550/