Baha'i News: Baha'is who offered education to earthquake-hit Iranian region arrested

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Baha'is who offered education to earthquake-hit Iranian region arrested


GENEVA, 15 March 2011 (BWNS) – Iranian authorities have arrested a number of 
Baha'is who provided education to children in a region devastated by an 
earthquake seven years ago.

The Baha'i International Community has so far been able to confirm the arrest 
of four Baha'is this month in connection with the provision of 
kindergarten-level education in Iran's Kerman Province, south-east of Tehran. 
Two other Baha'is from the city of Kerman were also arrested on Sunday 13 
March. Their involvement in education projects has not yet been confirmed.

"More than 26,000 people died and one in five teachers in the city of Bam 
reportedly lost their lives in the 2003 earthquake," said Diane Ala'i, 
representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations in 
Geneva. 

"These Baha'is were offering a vitally needed service to children whose 
education system had been all but completely destroyed." 

Last week, the Iran Student News Agency, reported that the prosecutor-general 
of the revolutionary court in Bam announced that a "number of Baha'is" had been 
arrested for "promoting their programs under the guise of kindergartens in Bam, 
Kerman and Tehran." Mohammad Reza Sanjari claimed that Baha'is "took advantage" 
of the need for cultural, social and educational measures following the 
earthquake. 

"This latest round of arrests is yet another example of the widespread, and 
intensifying, religious persecution being carried out by Iran against its 
300,000-strong Baha'i minority," said Ms. Ala'i.

"This and other recent actions suggest that the authorities will stop at 
nothing to keep Baha'is away from Muslims, even when the Baha'is are providing 
a service to those in their society in desperate need." 

Three Baha'is from Isfahan – including two 18 year olds – were also arrested 
earlier this month while teaching children.  They were subsequently released.  

Some 79 Baha'is are currently being held in prison in Iran.


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http://news.bahai.org/story/812

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