Baha'i News: Third anniversary in prison for Iran's Baha'i leaders

[Baha’i World News Service - Subscribe <bwns-subscribe@bwc.org>]

Baha'i World News Service
http://news.bahai.org
For more information, contact news@bahai.org



Third anniversary in prison for Iran's Baha'i leaders  


NEW YORK, 10 May 2011 (BWNS) – As seven Baha'i leaders in Iran complete their 
third year in jail, the Baha'i International Community has confirmed that the 
two women amongst them have been transferred to another prison.

The seven were all members of a national-level ad hoc group that helped attend 
to the needs of Iran's 300,000-strong Baha'i community. 

This Saturday, 14 May, six of them – Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, 
Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm – will begin 
their fourth year behind bars. The seventh member of the group - Mahvash Sabet 
- was arrested three months earlier than her former colleagues, on 5 March 
2008. 

After an illegal 30-month detention in Tehran's Evin prison, they were tried on 
trumped-up charges and sentenced in August 2010 to 20 years in jail. They have 
been held at Gohardasht prison since that time.  

"We now know that Mrs. Kamalabadi and Mrs. Sabet were transported on Tuesday 3 
May to Qarchak prison, some 45 kilometres from Tehran," said Bani Dugal, the 
principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United 
Nations.

"We understand that they are incarcerated with up to 400 other prisoners in a 
large warehouse-type room with minimum facilities," said Ms. Dugal. 

"It is not clear if this is to be a long term arrangement, but any amount of 
time held in any prison is too long for these innocent people."

The five men are still being held under close scrutiny in a wing of Gohardasht 
prison, reserved for political prisoners.


Anniversary observations

Events are taking place around the world over the next few days to mark the 
third anniversary of the arrest of the seven.

In the U.S.A. on Thursday 12 May, a special reception will be opened in 
Washington D.C. by U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, who recently introduced bipartisan 
resolutions in the House of Representatives and Senate calling attention to the 
continued plight of Iran's Baha'is. 

In the Netherlands, members of religious communities and interreligious 
networks are being invited to offer prayers – on Friday and Saturday in the 
country's places of worship – for freedom of religion or belief in Iran.

A special "Solidarity Concert" is being planned in India to remember all 
victims of human rights abuses. The concert will be held at the auditorium of 
the Baha'i House of Worship in New Delhi on Wednesday 18 May. 


Global outcry

The imprisonment of the Baha'i leaders has provoked widespread protests from 
governments throughout the world. The European Union and the President of the 
European Parliament have also joined the condemnation, along with numerous 
human rights organizations and other groups, religious leaders, and countless 
individuals. 

Last month, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, reiterated 
his deep concern about the "ongoing plight of the seven Baha'i leaders and the 
continued attacks on the Baha'i Faith in Iran. 

"Your dignity and patience is admirable in the face of such severe 
discrimination and intimidation for simply staying true to your faith," Mr. 
Cameron wrote in a letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 
the United Kingdom.

Mr. Cameron expressed his hope that the recent appointment of a UN Special 
Rapporteur – to monitor Iran's compliance with international human rights 
standards – and the imposition by the European Union of sanctions would "convey 
to Iran the strength of international concern over its human rights record and 
demonstrate that continued rights violations will not go unnoticed." 




To read the article online and view photographs, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/821


________________________________________________

Copyright 2011 by the Baha'i World News Service. Stories and photographs 
produced by the Baha'i World News Service may be freely reprinted, re-emailed, 
re-posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise reproduced by any individual or 
organization as long as they are attributed to the Baha'i World News Service. 
For more information, go to http://news.bahai.org/terms-of-use/