Baha'i News: Even in death, Iran's Baha'is face persecution

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Even in death, Iran's Baha'is face persecution
http://news.bahai.org/story/881 


GENEVA, 19 January 2012, (BWNS) – Eighteen years ago, Baha'is in the Iranian 
city of Sanandaj were allocated a one-hectare parcel of barren land at the side 
of a road for use as a cemetery.

This rocky mountainside, devoid of vegetation, was hardly prime real estate but 
– after the first burial there in the autumn of 1993 – local Baha'is got 
together to landscape the site, dig out the rocks and replace the soil. They 
planted and watered by hand 250 cypress and fir saplings, contributed by the 
Office of Agriculture. They installed electricity and built a small room where 
bodies could be prepared for burial. 

At every step of the way, proper permits were obtained. When the Baha'is wanted 
to dig a well, permission was sought and granted from the regional water board. 
At every expiry date, the permit was correctly renewed.

Impressed by the transformation of the site, the Office of Natural Resources 
suggested that the Baha'is consider planting trees on public land adjacent to 
the cemetery, thereby expanding the green zone. As a result, the largely Sunni 
Muslim residents of Sanandaj came to respect the place as a symbol of the 
Baha'i community's peaceful presence in their city.

But now, the area's beauty and greenery appears to have instigated a change in 
official attitudes. Authorities want to repossess the cemetery, reasserting the 
state's claim on the land – even though Baha'is were once granted the deeds. An 
order for it to be confiscated, and the buildings and graves to be destroyed, 
will be heard in court at the end of this month. 

Recent harassment of Baha'is in Sanandaj does not bode well for the verdict. On 
19 December, Ministry of Intelligence agents carried out early morning raids on 
12 Baha'i homes in the city. Baha'i books, pamphlets and photographs were 
confiscated, along with compact discs, audio cassettes, computers, mobile 
telephones, computer drives, and various personal documents. 

"In the light of this upsurge of persecution of the Sanandaj Baha'i community, 
it looks like the fate of the cemetery has already been decided at the order of 
the Ministry of Intelligence," said Diane Ala'i, the Baha'i International 
Community's representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

In an announcement on 17 January, the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan 
called upon the authorities to practice “tolerance and acceptance of other 
beliefs.” It described the “new wave of pressure and restraints against the 
Baha’i community” as “inhumane and illegal actions…in violation of civil and 
political rights treaties and conventions.”


Disturbing the departed

Under Iran's present regime, the case of Sanandaj is not unique. Since 2007, 
there have been more than 30 incidents of vandalism, arson, or other problems 
related to Baha'i-owned cemeteries or efforts by Baha'is to properly bury their 
dead.

"Not content with only persecuting the living, the Iranian authorities seek to 
disturb the peace of even those who have passed on," said Ms. Ala'i. "This is 
the latest in a long string of attacks on Baha'i cemeteries and burial rites. 
All are in complete violation of international standards of human rights and 
any decent person's understanding of respect for the dead."

Among recent examples:

– A newly established cemetery in Sangsar, Semnan Province, given to local 
Baha'is by the municipality, was vandalized by unknown intruders in March 2011. 
The graves were piled high with dirt, the trees were uprooted, and the two 
small rooms were destroyed.

– In July 2010, graves in the Baha'i cemetery of Jiroft, Kerman Province, were 
destroyed by unknown intruders using bulldozers.  

– In late May 2010, the Baha'i cemetery in Mashhad was vandalized at night 
using a front-end loader and other heavy machinery. The cemetery's walls, the 
mortuary, and the place where prayers were recited were severely damaged.

Other incidents have involved efforts by authorities to interfere with Baha'i 
burial rites. 

In Tabriz, for example, Baha'is had been allowed access to the city's public 
cemetery for years. In August last year, the family of a recently deceased 
Baha'i woman was told that she would have to be interred with Muslim rites. The 
woman's remains had to be buried in a Baha'i cemetery in another town. A 
similar incident occurred last October when the body of a Baha'i man was taken 
from Tabriz to another Baha'i cemetery some 100 kilometers away and buried 
without his family being informed.

"Iranian officials in international fora consistently claim that Baha'is are 
not treated differently from others and are only 'punished' when they do 
something illegal," said Ms. Ala'i. "What precisely have these dead people done 
to deserve such treatment?"

"The beautification of the cemetery in Sanandaj and its surroundings is 
evidence of the sincere and positive contribution Iranian Baha'is wish to make 
to their country. What is equally evident is that the authorities find such a 
thing impossible to accept." 






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http://news.bahai.org/story/881

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