The Bahá’í World News Service has just published its latest update about the persecutions of the Bahá’ís in Iran.
Sadly, the seven members of Iran’s Bahá’í coordinating committee remain in jail in Tehran, uncharged. Bahá’ís around the world are very concerned for their safety.
Dr Shirin Ebadi’s continued willingness to defend the seven is a tribute to her courage in facing an onslaught of criticism and false allegations that she and her daughter have become Bahá’ís:
Mrs. Shirin Ebadi – a prominent Iranian human rights attorney who is a Nobel laureate – maintains that she and her colleagues at the Defenders of Human Rights Centre in Iran are prepared to defend the jailed Baha’is, despite criticism and false accusations leveled at her and her family because of their involvement, including charges that she or her daughter have become Baha’is. Mrs. Ebadi is a Muslim, and the Baha’i International Community confirms that neither she nor her daughter have ever been Baha’is. She has stated that attorneys have been trying to get access to those in jail but such access has been denied.
It seems bizarre to me that being a Bahá’í (and Mrs Ebadi and her daughter are clearly not Bahá’ís) is a matter of “accusation”. But that’s the way the authorities in Iran think. Bahá’ís are considered najes, unclean, so surely no one would want to be accused of being one of those, that group of others, outsiders (despite the fact that the majority of Bahá’ís in Iran are of the same Persian and Azerbaijani ethnicity as their fellow Iranians).
OK, so “accuse” me of being a Bahá’í. I plead guilty, your honour!
Anyway, you can find the official statement of the Bahá’í International Community about Iran’s disinformation campaign against the Bahá’ís here.
You may also want to have a look at this list of recent news stories about the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran from the Bahá’í International Community.
Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, persecution, Shirin Ebadi, human rights
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