EU condemns arrests of Baha’is in Iran
The European Union has issued a strong statement (through the EU’s Slovenian Presidency) condemning the action of the Iranian government in arresting six members of the Iranian Bahá’í coordinating committee and calling for their release:
21.05.2008
Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on Baha’i arrests
The European Union is deeply concerned by reports that Ministry of Intelligence officers arrested six members of the Baha’i faith in Tehran on 14 May, who are currently being held in Evin prison.The EU reiterates its serious concern about the continuing systematic discrimination and harassment of the Iranian Baha’is on the grounds of their religion.
The EU calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to uphold fully the right to adopt and practise a religion of choice, to end the persecution of the Baha’i community, and to release the detained individuals.
The Candidate Countries, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Montenegro and Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
I am very grateful to the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office for the part it played in proposing this to EU partners.
Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, human rights, religious freedom, EU, European Union, Slovenia, EU Presidency
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5 comments
I’m happy that my country issued this statement as a Presidential country of EU. This is the second one regarding the Baha’is.
By the way……are they trying to relate the Baha’is with that bomb explosion in Shiraz???
Tomaz, there have been suggestions from some quarters that the Bahá’ís had something to do with the Shiraz bombing, but of course, any such allegations are completely untrue.
This sort of aligation is not new, The Baha’is of Iran have been the object of ridicul, and were accused of many wrong doing since Ghajar dinesty, and most of the time proven innocent.
More than 25,000 Baha’is were martyred for their belief, and some were exiled to thr neighboring countries, and their belonging were confiscated and their home ransacket by the Muslim mobs.
Indeed, Reza, these allegations are not new. Bahá’ís in Iran have been subjected to all sorts of unfair and untrue accusations throughout their history. The numbers martyred is open to question. The figure often quoted is 20,000, but it is difficult to know for certain how many died in the 19th century. What is a matter of great concern is that these allegations are being repeated now and that Bahá’ís are suffering yet again because of the unjustified fear and hatred that the government of Iran holds against them.
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