Baha’i arrests - Iran criticized at UN Human Rights Council
Not for the first time (see here, here and here), Slovenia (on behalf of the EU and other States), France, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland all criticized Iran for major human rights violations last Friday (6 May) at the 8th Session of the UN Human Rights Council. The Bahá’í International Community also condemned Iran for religious persecution.
Iran was hauled over the coals for religious and gender discrimination, and for the conditions surrounding its use of capital punishment. States were especially troubled by the recent arrest of seven Bahá’í leaders.
This is the paragraph about Iran from the UK’s statement to the Human Rights Council:
The UK is deeply concerned about the growing use of capital punishment in Iran and notes that at least three juvenile offenders face imminent execution in the coming days. We are concerned about the widespread repression of human rights activists, including, in particular, women’s rights defenders and trades unionists – and we call for an end to the persecution of members of the Bahá’í faith and reiterate the EU’s call for the release of the seven detained Bahá’í leaders.
It’s great to see so many countries keeping up the pressure on Iran. The totally unjust arrest of the Bahá’í leadership and the imprisonment of the Bahá’ís in Shiraz for trying to help underprivileged children has to be publicly condemned by all countries that respect human rights.
It would be encouraging to see more public statements by Muslim leaders in the West. After all, in quashing the convictions of a group of Bahá’ís in Hamadán in March this year, an Iranian court of appeal pointed out:
… in light of Article 14 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, ‘all Muslims are duty-bound to treat non-Muslims in conformity with ethical norms and the principles of Islamic justice and equity, and to respect their human rights.’
And
Moreover, considering the teachings of the Blessed Prophet (PBUH) and His Pure Imams, which command Muslims to show kindness in their dealings with others, this court finds that the conduct of the appellants does not violate the provisions of the above-mentioned article [Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code]…
It would be good to hear such unequivocal statements from our Muslim friends in the West.
Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, persecution, human rights, religious freedom, Islam, EU, UK, Human Rights Council
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3 comments
Hi Barney,
You wrote:
“It would be good to hear such unequivocal statements from our Muslim friends in the West.”
It would, but the problem is that the media tends not to report it.
Umm Yasmin writes:
“In 2006 I was involved in the organisation of the first conference of Australian Imams. My role was to co-ordinate the people who were minuting all the meetings, and at the end of it help produce a statement for the Imams to ratify and release to the public. If memory serves it was the second paragraph (after the opening necessaries) where the statement read that Australian Imams have condemned all forms of terrorism in the past and will continue to do so in the future. The Imams ratified the statement and it was released to the press.
Guess which media outlets reported the condemnation. Which newspapers had it screaming on the front pages of their daily editions? NONE OF THEM!!!”
Bad jihad is oxymoronic
I have been much heartened by so many declarations by Muslims, mostly young people, that I am tempted to believe that the bigots within Islam are a minority, if politically powerful. I am a Baha’i of Jewish origin, and so I am doubly grateful to these good people. Let their voices be heard. They will encourage a possible silent majority of Muslims who are embarrassed by the criminal behavior of faux Muslims, to speak out against their atrocities.
Thanks, Steve and Howard, for your comments. I have certainly had heartfelt expressions of sympathy from leading Muslims in the UK (who are friends of mine), but they are reluctant to say anything publicly. They are quite happy to do things behind the scenes.
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