Category — Human Rights

The Bahá’í World News Service’s Iran Update has just been updated. I’m both angry and deeply concerned to learn that:

The seven members of the committee that sees to the minimum needs of the 300,000-member Baha’i community of Iran are still being held by the government. No formal charges have been filed against them, and none of them have been allowed contact with an attorney.

The Baha’i International Community learned several weeks ago that the seven were each allowed one brief phone call to their families. Since then, however, there has been no contact with them, nor has there been any news regarding their health or well-being.

Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm (all arrested on 14 May) and Mrs. Mahvash Sabet (detained in Mashad on 5 March) are believed to be held in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran.

The update makes it clear that these faithful and dedicated Bahá’ís were arrested purely because they are Bahá’ís and not for any alleged risk to Iran’s national security.

The statement of support from the six women Nobel Peace Prize laureates is also mentioned and there’s a round-up of some of the other significant statements of support we have received.

Read the update here. Oh, and please note that the URL for the Bahá’í World News Service is http://www.news.bahai.org/. Apparently some people are still using outdated versions of this address.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, human rights, Evin, Nobel Peace Prize, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli Vahid Tizfahm, Mahvash Sabet

Bilo’s blog, Baha’i Faith in Egypt and Iran, reports that Bahá’í children in Egypt are being turned away from school, even though Egypt’s administrative court recognized the right of Bahá’ís to have ID cards back in January.

According to this story in Daily News Egypt:

Adel Ramadan, a lawyer with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) — which brought the case that was ruled on in January — says that schools are refusing to accept personal identity documents printed on paper…

According to a report published in Arabic-language daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, school officials claim that they cannot accept identity papers in which the religious affiliation field is left blank.

Ramadan says that the decision was taken in pursuance of the state’s policy of forcing people to issue the new computerized identity papers, but has the effect of discriminating against Bahais who either hold the old paper identity documents or have not been issued new documents following the Interior Ministry’s failure to implement the Administrative Court’s decision.

I very strongly agree with Bilo’s closing comment about this outrage:

This sad development must be seen by all Egyptians as a disgrace. Identity cards or not, these children belong in the schools, not the streets. How can a civil society tolerate such atrocities directed at innocent children? Unfortunately this is the exact same strategy that has been pursued in Iran against its children. Is this what Egypt–a nation endowed with so much great heritage–wants to be remembered for? One would certainly doubt that!

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Egypt, human rights, education, ID cards

The Khaleej Times reports that the Iranian parliament is about to debate a draft bill which would make certain blogging activities punishable by death.

MPs on Wednesday voted to discuss as a priority the draft bill which seeks to “toughen punishment for harming mental security in society,” the ISNA news agency said.

The text lists a wide range of crimes such rape and armed robbery for which the death penalty is already applicable. The crime of apostasy (the act of leaving a religion, in this case Islam) is also already punishable by death.

However, the draft bill also includes “establishing weblogs and sites promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy”, which is a new addition to crimes punishable by death.

Those convicted of these crimes “should be punished as “mohareb’ (enemy of God) and “corrupt on the earth’,” the text says.

Under Iranian law the standard punishments for these two crimes are “hanging, amputation of the right hand and then the left foot as well as exile.”

The bill — which is yet to be debated by lawmakers — also stipulates that the punishment handed out in these cases “cannot be commuted, suspended or changed”.

I certainly don’t approve of promoting corruption or prostitution, but a great deal turns on how the Iranian judiciary interpret “corruption”. And our old friend “apostasy” - already featuring in a draft penal code under consideration by the Iranian parliament - would attract a mandatory death sentence.

Now what the law says and how judges make use of the law are not always straightforwardly related in Iran, and laws worded in this way would almost certainly be used against Iranian Bahá’ís, since any attempt to inform people about the Bahá’í Faith can be interpreted as promoting “apostasy”.

Hat tip: Mideast Youth for blogging this story.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, blogs, apostasy, death penalty, human rights

I was thrilled to learn that six women Nobel Peace Prize winners (only 12 women have ever won the Nobel Prize) have put out a statement calling on the Iranian government to free the seven leading Bahá’ís who are currently in jail in Tehran.

Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire (founders of the Peace People in Northern Ireland and winners of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976), Rigoberta Menchu Tum (a leading advocate of ethno-cultural reconciliation in her native Guatemala and Nobel winner in 1992), Professor Jody Williams (international campaigner for the banning of land mines, Nobel winner in 1997), Dr. Shirin Ebadi (Iranian human rights lawyer, winner in 2003), and Kenyan environmental activist Professor Wangari Muta Maathai (Nobel winner in 2004) have signed the following statement:

We note with concern the news of the arrest of six prominent Baha’is in Iran on 14 May 2008. We note that Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm are members of the informal group known as the Friends in Iran that coordinates the activities of the Baha’i community in Iran; we further note that another member of the Friends in Iran, Mrs Mahvash Sabet, has been held in custody since 5 March 2008; we register our deepest concern at the mounting threats and persecution of the Iranian Baha’i community.

We call on the Iranian Government to guarantee the safety of these individuals (and) grant their immediate unconditional release.

The statement has been issued in the name of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, which the six women laureates established in 2006 to contribute to building peace by working together with women around the world.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Friends in Iran, human rights, Nobel Peace Prize, Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Muta Maathai

One of the strengths of the UK Parliament is the time allotted to MPs to question government ministers about the work of their departments. On Tuesday 24 June it was the turn of ministers at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including Dr Kim Howells MP, Minister for the Middle East to answer oral questions in the House.

Over the years we’ve had many written answers to Parliamentary Questions, but it was exciting news when we learned that Tom Brake MP, a member of the All Party Parliamentary Friends of the Bahá’ís had won the opportunity to ask an oral question about the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran. There is a great deal of competition amongst MPs for opportunities to ask oral questions.

Here’s the Hansard record of the the questions from MPs and the answers by Dr Kim Howells MP, Minister for the Middle East. (Once an MP has asked an oral question he/she can ask a supplementary question and then other MPs can also intervene.)

Baha’is (Iran)

2. Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD): What recent reports he has received on the situation of Baha’is in Iran; and if he will make a statement. [213056]

The Minister for the Middle East (Dr. Kim Howells): When I raised with the Iranian ambassador to London the UK’s great concerns about reports of maltreatment of adherents of the Baha’i faith in Iran, he told me that Baha’ism is not officially recognised as a religion in Iran. We receive reports that Iranian Baha’is face routine discrimination and harassment on the grounds of their faith, and the informal Baha’i leadership has been detained for more than a month now. We remain deeply concerned by the situation of the Baha’is in Iran and will continue to raise our concerns with the Iranian authorities.

Tom Brake: I thank the Minister for his response. He will be aware of reports from Iran that a new penal code is being drafted, which will be considered by the Iranian Parliament, that would introduce a mandatory death sentence for apostasy. The code would have extra-territorial jurisdiction and could lead to a fundamental attack on the human rights of Christians and Baha’is, particularly those with one Muslim parent, who could, under the new law, be considered apostates. Will the Minister confirm what action the Government are taking on the issue, in particular with the international community, to remind Iran of its responsibilities under international law, in particular article 18 of the international covenant on civil and political rights?

Dr. Howells: Yes, I can confirm that the new draft penal code is currently being considered by a judicial committee in the Iranian Parliament, but it has not yet been debated or voted on in plenary. We are very concerned that the draft code makes apostasy punishable by death and that the provisions contravene the principle of religious freedom. We are worried about the impact that they would have on religious minorities in Iran, including Christians, as the hon. Gentleman said, and the Baha’i community. We have certainly made representations to the Iranian Government about the matter. The EU issued a statement of concern on 25 February and raised its concerns with Iranian officials in Tehran on 4 March. I called in the Iranian ambassador to express the UK’s concerns on 1 April. We are keeping a close watch on the issue, and I very much hope that our concern will help to galvanise international opinion against this barbaric proposal.

David Lepper (Brighton, Pavilion) (Lab/Co-op): As an officer of the all-party friends of the Baha’i faith group, may I thank the Minister for the representations that he and others have made to the Government of Iran about the situation of individual Baha’is whose cases we have drawn to his attention? Will he also make representations to the Government of Iran about the denial of access to higher education of young Baha’is in that country? Of some 200 Baha’is who began university courses in autumn 2006, about 130 have since been expelled on the grounds of their religious faith. Will the Minister raise that point with the Government of Iran, too?

Dr. Howells: Yes, we will certainly raise it with the Government of Iran. That is one example of the way in which Baha’is in Iran are being marginalised because of their beliefs. That is wholly without justice and is a very worrying development.

Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con): The Minister will know that not only Baha’is, but Christians and indeed homosexuals often face torture and sometimes even death in Iran. Does he therefore share my concern about the recent alleged comments made by the Home Secretary when asked about failed asylum seekers who are openly homosexual, that they should return to Iran and be discreet in their sexuality? Given that there is no discretion, with the eyes of the state constantly on the gay community in Tehran and Iran more widely, does the Minister want to put it on record that he perhaps has a different view?

Dr. Howells: I am completely unaware of the alleged statements made by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, but I am only too willing to put it on record that people should not be punished in any way for the way in which their sexuality guides them. They should certainly not be tortured, imprisoned and hanged, as they have been in Iran.

We were all very pleased that the sufferings of the Bahá’ís in Iran have had such a good public airing in Parliament and we have great confidence that the government will continue to defend the human rights of the Bahá’ís.

Bahá’í News UK has covered this story here.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, persecution, human rights, parliamentary questions, Tom Brake, Kim Howells, David Lepper, All Party Group, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

I was intrigued by this story on the BBC today.

Apparently elderly people are particularly vulnerable to dehydration. It can cause dizziness - leading to potentially serious falls - constipation and confusion.

The manager of one care home in Suffolk decided to do something about this.

Staff at The Martins care home in Bury St Edmunds started a “water club” for their residents last summer.

Residents were encouraged to drink eight to 10 glasses of water a day, water coolers were installed, and they were each given a jug for their room.

This has dramatically improved the health of the home’s elderly residents.

Jean says she feels 20 years younger.

“I feel more alert - more cheerful too. I’m not a miserable person, but it’s added a sort of zest.”

There are fewer falls in the care home, fewer GP call-outs, fewer laxatives are used, fewer urinary infections occur, the residents sleep better, and those with dementia are less agitated.

Wendy Tomlinson, the home’s manager, says:

It’s been fantastic. The whole home buzzes now; there isn’t that period after lunch when everyone goes off to sleep.

Elder abuse a serious concern

As I get older, I get more and more concerned about elder abuse. This is, I suppose, selfish of me. But when I think back to my mother’s final years of life - she was in a particularly good care home near Oxford - I can see how easy it is for frail elderly people to be badly treated by impatient or poorly trained care staff or to become the victims of abuse by neglect.

When we are younger, our bodies adjust more easily to insufficient water intake, so care home staff and management may not realize (as a result of their own experience) that older people need to drink more.

So care homes may, without knowing it, be causing their residents to suffer unnecessarily.

Worse than that, I can imagine, for example, that there may be badly run homes where residents with dementia who wear incontinence pads are deprived of water so that staff do not have to change the pads or urine-soaked underwear so frequently. Such treatment may well constitute a human rights abuse

Tougher regulations for care homes?

Cross-bench peer Baroness Greengross has been convinced for some time that many old people are not drinking enough water. She would like to see tougher regulations for care homes so that staff are required to ensure that residents drink enough.

I hope that by the time I need to be consigned to a care home such kinds of elder abuse are as unacceptable as the abuse of children.

Technorati Tags: elder abuse, care homes, water, dehydration, dementia

The Bahá’í World News Service site now provides an Iran update:

Note: This report, updated regularly, is provided as a service to news media and others desiring details of the situation of the Baha’is in Iran. All information has been verified by the Baha’i International Community.

It’s worth bookmarking.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Baha’i World News Service, Iran, news, human rights

It is good to learn that Mrs Mahvash Sabet, the secretary of the ad hoc Bahá’í leadership group in Iran, was able to make a short phone call to her family on 3 June. She’d been moved to Evin prison in Tehran on 26 May, having been held incommunicado by the Iranian intelligence ministry in Mashhad since 5 March.

Mrs Fariba Kamalabadi was also allowed to have a brief phone conversation with her daughter. She reassured her family that she was in good health.

A few days earlier prison officials had asked Mrs Kamalabadi’s family to bring her reading glasses to the prison. Mr Vahid Tizfahm’s family had been requested to bring clothes to the jail. Neither family was able to see the prisoners when they took these items to Evin.

Mr Afif Naeim’i’s sons took some clothes to Evin prison for their father on their own initiative, but they couldn’t get to see him.

Mr Jamaloddin Khanjani has also had brief telephone contact with his family.

The very fact that I think it is good to learn that these prisoners have had some very limited contact with their families shows how bad things are. They have not committed any crime. They have not been charged with any offence. They are incarcerated purely because they are Bahá’ís.

Some 15 other Bahá’ís are in jail in Iran. Some are held incommunicado and most of them have not been charged with any crime.

They should be out of jail and free to go about their business, free to live, free to practise their faith, free to be with their families and friends without the fear of arbitrary and outrageous detention.

Read the story on Baha’i World News Service here.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, human rights, Evin prison

Last Saturday (14 June) White House spokesman, Gordon Jondroe, who is travelling with President Bush in Europe condemned the arrest of the Bahá’í leadership in Iran, according to this story on the IranVNC site.

In a statement, Jondroe described Tehran’s record on human rights as “shameful” and called for the immediate release of six detained Baha’i community leaders:

The Iranian regime’s human rights record is shameful. A month ago today, the regime arrested six Bahai leaders solely on the grounds of their religion.

They should be released immediately. Iran should uphold the basic human right to practice religion and should end its persecution of the Bahai community.

Quite right! The arrest and continued detention of these dedicated Bahá’ís purely on grounds of being Bahá’ís is utterly disgraceful.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, human rights, religious freedom, White House

My good friend Tessa Scrine, Executive Officer for Government Relations for the Baha’i community in Australia, gave an excellent interview on ABC Radio National’s The Religion Report on 11th June about the 14th May arrests of the Bahá’í leadership in Iran.

You can pick up the link to the interview here. Once you’ve downloaded the show, you’ll need to start listening at about 11 minutes and 40 seconds into the programme.

And it’s worth listening to the next interview, which is with John Henderson, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, Australian partnership of Religious Organisations.

Go on, have a listen. You know you want to.

My ABC Radio story

Can’t resist telling you this. Some years ago, when I was Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the UK, I was sitting in my office in the Bahá’í Centre in London one afternoon when the phone rang. It was ABC Radio in Australia. They wanted an interview on the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran.

“Why don’t you call the Bahá’í national office in Australia?’ I asked.

“It’s three o’clock in the morning here,” the voice on the other end of the line said.

“Ah! OK, I’ll do the interview.”

So about an hour later I was hooked up by phone to ABC’s all-night programme for an interview. They’d also got hold of someone from Human Rights Watch in New York. So there we were, a global radio interview masterminded from Sydney. I was really impressed by ABC’s skill and by the quality of their show. The questions were intelligent and the level of discussion was clearly intended for a serious audience - at four o’clock in the morning!

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, human rights, Australia, ABC Radio, Tessa Scrine

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