Baha'i News: Panel explores crisis of human rights in Iran

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Panel explores crisis of human rights in Iran


LONDON, 17 June 2011 (BWNS) – Iran's human rights record has come under 
scrutiny at a seminar held in the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament.

The panel discussion – which included members of Parliament, experts and human 
rights activists – was co-hosted by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Friends of 
the Baha'is, along with human rights groups United4Iran and Christian 
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

"It is no exaggeration that the human rights situation in Iran is in crisis," 
said Nazila Ghanea, a lecturer at the University of Oxford and an editor of the 
Journal of Religion & Human Rights.

Dr. Ghanea charged the Iranian government with being "the main engine of 
intolerance, hate and persecution," pointing out that the systematic campaign 
of religious persecution against Baha'is, and the harassment, imprisonment and 
torture faced by all minorities or vulnerable individuals, are "instigated and 
perpetuated" by the authorities.

The government is "continually sending memoranda, laws, instructions and 
threats to civil servants, to universities, to teachers, to private businesses, 
instructing them to get rid of staff, students, and other individuals, who 
belong to 'deviant' groups, who are Baha'is, or who are politically active – 
who ask the wrong questions," said Dr. Ghanea.

Children are humiliated and bullied in schools, she added, "not by other 
children, but under instruction of government authorities and by their 
teachers."

Dr. Ghanea noted that this repression is now targeting a "wider and wider 
profile of people who are allegedly dissidents." In its prejudice against 
nearly the entire population, she said, "the Iranian regime had failed...to 
recognise the rich diversity of Iranian civilisation."

Women's rights activist and lawyer Shadi Sadr, who was imprisoned in Iran, 
spoke of the grievous situation of women prisoners. 

They are "deprived of many rights that are given to them...in accordance with 
international law...and the laws of Iran," she said. 

Ms. Sadr highlighted the extreme violence faced by women prisoners during 
interrogation which, through the fear it causes, inhibits the activism of women 
across the country.

Recent years have also witnessed increased persecution against Christians in 
Iran. 

Christian Solidarity Worldwide's Khataza Gondwe referred to the Iranian 
authorities' practice of using hate speech against minorities, citing a 
"prolific outpouring of inflammatory rhetoric" against the Christian community. 
According to Dr Gonwe, the rhetoric claims that Christians had "inserted 
themselves into Islam like a parasite," and were part of "perverted cults" and 
"foreign conspiracies."

Recalling the warmth and hospitality of ordinary Iranians he met during his 
visits to the country, Mike Gapes MP – a former member of the UK Parliament's 
Foreign Affairs Select Committee – contrasted the behaviour of the Iranian 
government in the interests of "security" with a "young, dynamic, vibrant 
society" that wants to "engage with the world."

Only when the Iranian government recognises all of its ethnic and religious 
groups, and accords them equal rights, will Iran's security be assured, said 
Mr. Gapes.

"The biggest security is human security," he said.  

Held on Wednesday 15 June, the seminar was the latest in a range of activities 
taking place around the world to mark the third anniversary of the arrest of 
Iran's seven Baha'i leaders. They were detained on baseless charges, convicted 
without evidence and in violation of due process, and are each serving 20-year 
jail sentences. 

A message sent to the seminar from leading human rights barrister, Cherie Blair 
QC, said Iran’s imprisonment of the seven "shames the country's leaders." Mrs. 
Blair called for the Iranian authorities to "free the Baha'i leaders and comply 
with their commitment to religious freedom."

Anglo-Iranian actor and comedian Omid Djalili – who was also on the panel – 
said that the seven were "holding on to their personalities and their 
identities" by staying true to their principles and faith. Mr. Djalili also 
praised the fortitude and perseverance of the Iranian Baha'i community as a 
whole.

Kishan Manocha, Director of the Office of Public Affairs of the UK Baha'i 
community, concluded that the seminar "underlines the extent of the human 
rights crisis in Iran, and it reminds us that not only Baha'is but other 
religious minorities, women, journalists and others are subject to ongoing 
human rights violations." 




To read the article online and view photographs, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/833


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