Baha'i News: Worldwide outrage at Iran's attack on Baha'i educators

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Worldwide outrage at Iran's attack on Baha'i educators


GENEVA, 14 June 2011 (BWNS) – Governments, organisations and educators have 
condemned Iran's latest attack on an initiative offering higher education to 
young Baha'is barred from university.

The government of Austria, more than 80 prominent Indians, and top academics 
from the United Kingdom, are among the latest to voice their support for 
Iranian Baha'is' right to education. Human rights groups have also joined the 
call for the release of imprisoned Baha'i educators. 
 
Some 39 homes associated with the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) 
have recently been targeted. Fifteen BIHE staff and faculty members remain in 
prison, three weeks after initial raids. Three others were also arrested and 
subsequently released, while more Baha'is associated with the Institute were 
summoned for interrogation by the Ministry of Intelligence.  

"The latest house searches and arrests demonstrate a further effort in order to 
block access to education for the Baha'i community," said Michael Spindelegger, 
Austria's Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister.

"The right to education is a fundamental human right for everyone, independent 
of his or her religion. The restriction of access to education for young 
Baha'is is unacceptable."

"To persecute people because of their Faith is a clear violation against human 
rights. Iran must observe its international obligations," Dr. Spindelegger 
said, on 1 June. 

Iran's Ministry of Science and Technology has now reportedly declared all BIHE 
activities to be illegal.

"Barring Baha'is from university exposes the government's own ignorance," a 
group of leading academics in England wrote in an open letter, published in The 
Guardian on 11 June.

"Young Baha'is who cannot study are denied a basic human right," the letter 
said. "Their desire to contribute to society is being strangled at the start of 
their adult lives."

"Academics, students and politicians should join common cause for Baha'i 
students in Iran. The authorities must be taught that human rights are 
universal," wrote the signatories, which included professors from Oxford, 
Cambridge and other prestigious universities. 

In India, more than 80 prominent citizens – representing the judiciary, 
academics, religious leadership, NGOs, human rights groups and the corporate 
sector – have signed a petition to the Iranian Government calling for the 
immediate and unconditional release of the BIHE prisoners.

"The recent atrocities heaped upon this persecuted community...deserves the 
strongest condemnation from every upholder of human dignity and honour in India 
and the world," says the petition, whose signatories include Justice V. R. 
Krishna Iyer, a former judge of India's Supreme Court, and Miloon Kothari, a 
former UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing.

"The consequences of this policy of disallowing the Baha'i youth to have access 
to higher education will be detrimental not only for the Baha'i community of 
Iran, but also for the nation as a whole." 

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is also urging Iran to end its 
discriminatory educational policies. "Despite being a signatory to the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), by which 
countries pledge to uphold international standards of religious freedom for all 
citizens, Iran is clearly targeting both the Baha'is and certain Christian 
communities solely on account of their beliefs," said CSW’s chief executive, 
Mervyn Thomas.

"CSW calls on the Iranian government to honour its commitments under the ICCPR 
and ensure that religious minorities are able to enjoy the freedoms outlined 
within the covenant."

In the United States, Senator Mark Kirk – who earlier this year introduced a 
bipartisan Senate resolution criticizing Iran's persecution of Baha'is – said 
the international community must "strongly condemn" the latest arrests.  "I 
pledge to redouble our efforts in the Senate on behalf of the Iranian Baha'i 
community and all citizens of Iran who yearn for human rights, freedom and 
democracy," said Senator Kirk.

A seminar – held at the University of California, Berkeley, on 22 April – 
highlighted the issue of human rights abuses in Iran, including the barring of 
Baha'is and others from higher education. The audience of academic staff, 
students and guests included Brazilians, Anglo-Americans, Nicaraguans, 
Salvadorians, and Afghanis.  

Firuzeh Mahmoudi, co-founder and executive director of United4Iran, spoke of 
the courage of a number of recently imprisoned students in Iran. 

The Iranian government has breached its international human rights obligations 
in many ways, said Ms. Mahmoudi, including "freedom of expression, freedom of 
association, belief, religion, privacy, right to participation in public 
forums, gatherings and protests; freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention; 
right to due process and fair trials; freedom from torture; from movement – 
that means being able to leave Iran, right to membership and participation."

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and the U.S. Commission on 
International Religious Freedom have also demanded the release of the 
prisoners. 

Among the articles about the attack on the BIHE in the world's media, reports 
have appeared in Brazil's O Globo newspaper, The Washington Post and on 
Australia's ABC radio, as well as on the websites of CNN International, 
University World News, Radio Free Europe, and The Huffington Post.

The situation of the Baha'is in Iran will further be highlighted on Wednesday 
15 June at a seminar to be held in the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament, 
and on Sunday 19 June at a major event organized by Rio's Commission for 
Combating Religious Intolerance, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.





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