The ongoing denial of higher education to Iran's Bahá'í community, and raids against the country's pseudo-underground Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), has lead a group of young Bahá'í activists in the United States to launch a creative public awareness initiative called "Conspiracy to Educate: Guilty as Charged."

The campaign features video and photographic mock 'mugshot' montage of Bahá'í's, who had previously or are currently attending institutions of higher education, holding up arrest placards and proudly declaring "If education is a crime, then I am guilty as charged."  Often, participants even dress in graduation caps with orange jumpsuits or classic black and white striped prisoner clothing to further accentuate the imagery. The implication is that had these individuals been in Iran, they would have been violating the Islamic Republic's law by receiving a higher education - thus, "guilty as charged."

Beginning at the Association for Bahá'í Studies conference last August, the campaign has gathered images from hundreds of Bahá'í's from cities throughout the United States.  Created by Justin Byrth and friends, the project is aimed at generating a movement of awareness and action among Bahá'ís and non-Bahá'í's to help resolve the Iranian Bahá'í education crisis.  So far, this initiative has generated thousands of Facebook 'likes and video views.

Kevin Mehrabi

Below are video and photo examples of some of the campaign's efforts.  Be sure to visit/like the Conspiracy to Educate Facebook page. 

The campaign's first video, produced after the Association for Baha'i Studies conference:

Photos of a few of the participants, in full prisoner clothing and holding arrest placards - bearing their respective names, fields of study, and the institutions of higher education they attended.

"Quenching The Light is a PSA that highlights the persecutions of Baha'is in Iran. It features the paintings of Baha'i martyrs mixed with live video footage of the decedents of the martyrs."

NEW YORK — As seven Baha'i leaders in Iran complete their third year in jail, the Baha'i International Community has confirmed that the two women amongst them have been transferred to another prison.

The seven were all members of a national-level ad hoc group that helped attend to the needs of Iran's 300,000-strong Baha'i community.

This Saturday, 14 May, six of them – Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm – will begin their fourth year behind bars. The seventh member of the group – Mahvash Sabet – was arrested three months earlier than her former colleagues, on 5 March 2008.

After an illegal 30-month detention in Tehran's Evin prison, they were tried on trumped-up charges and sentenced in August 2010 to 20 years in jail. They have been held at Gohardasht prison since that time.

"We now know that Mrs. Kamalabadi and Mrs. Sabet were transported on Tuesday 3 May to Qarchak prison, some 45 kilometres from Tehran," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

"We understand that they are incarcerated with up to 400 other prisoners in a large warehouse-type room with minimum facilities," she said.

"It is not clear if this is to be a long term arrangement, but any amount of time held in any prison is too long for these innocent people."

The five men are still being held under close scrutiny in a wing of Gohardasht prison, reserved for political prisoners.

Anniversary observations

Events are taking place around the world over the next few days to mark the third anniversary of the arrest of the seven.

In the U.S.A. on Thursday 12 May, a special reception will be opened in Washington D.C. by U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, who recently introduced bipartisan resolutions in the House of Representatives and Senate calling attention to the continued plight of Iran's Baha'is.

In the Netherlands, members of religious communities and interreligious networks are being invited to offer prayers – on Friday and Saturday in the country's places of worship – for freedom of religion or belief in Iran.

A special "Solidarity Concert" is being planned in India to remember all victims of human rights abuses. The concert will be held at the auditorium of the Baha'i House of Worship in New Delhi on Wednesday 18 May.

Global outcry

The imprisonment of the Baha'i leaders has provoked widespread protests from governments throughout the world. The European Union and the President of the European Parliament have also joined the condemnation, along with numerous human rights organizations and other groups, religious leaders, and countless individuals.

Recently, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, reiterated his deep concern about the "ongoing plight of the seven Baha'i leaders and the continued attacks on the Baha'i Faith in Iran.

"Your dignity and patience is admirable in the face of such severe discrimination and intimidation for simply staying true to your faith," Mr. Cameron wrote last month in a letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Cameron expressed his hope that the recent appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur – to monitor Iran's compliance with international human rights standards – and the imposition by the European Union of sanctions would "convey to Iran the strength of international concern over its human rights record and demonstrate that continued rights violations will not go unnoticed."

http://news.bahai.org/story/821

In his annual address to the Iranian people on the Iranian (and Bahá'í) new year (Norooz), President Barack Obama mentions, in part, the persecution of the Bahá'í community in Iran.

Alluhuabha

Kindly some dearest friends have already asked me for several times to write them how I spend time in prison. At first, I would like to mention that my imprisonment assigned for 4 years that 3 years of it have been expired so for in isolation cell (individually prison).

in this 3 years, I have been in the house of detention of security office center of Fars province (shiraz), where there is any public prison and all who stay there are of security or politics accuser and live in isolation cell.

The isolation cell is just a small chamber where its ironic door is been closed all the time and there is not any window or trap- door to out side area and a lavatory set has been installed in this small room.

Every prisoner has been let to go out side for fresh air around 30 minutes every day. There is no tree, no grass; what you can see is only concrete floor (as wide as a volleyball field) and large wall which beyond them the beautiful blue sky can be seen.

When the weather is so hot or cold or it is rainy you can not go for open air. One time every week, I can call to my family and talk to them for 5 minutes and also once every week I can meet them behind a thick glass just for 5 minutes.

Every day some dedicated jailers are responsible for bringing breakfast, lunch and dinner and also to lead prisoner to open air. All of them are men and I can not hide this fact that their behavior against me is quite respectful and polite and up to now they have not tormented or hurt me.

In my cell there are a heater, a cooler, a TV set and also there are 3 blankets that one of them is used as a carpet and 2 of them for sleeping. Another facilities that I have on my cell are consistsRaha Sabet, Imprisoned for her faith. of: a soap, a shampoo, a tooth brush , a tooth paste , a box of handkerchief, a nail trimmer, a box of detergent, a towel , a comb and one added clothes and nothing else. I should mention that once every 2 or 3 weeks, the jailers ask a list of shopping from each prisoner for buying him/her the necessary hygienic facilities or some fruits. So as there is any refrigerator in our cells, the prisoners can buy only 1 or 2 kind of fruit like apple or orange.

Some of you may think that living with some simple facilities is very difficult, but the important fact is that every body, after passing some times, can learn how to live with such facilities without any problem; it means no problem if you do not have a mirror, and so even if you do not have comfort bed or furniture or refrigerator.

There is very important that how you train your spirit and thought for thinking about the values of humanity and spirituality freedom of all belonging just for divine goals. In this way you are glad and thankful and enjoy the opportunity.

It took one week for me that learnt how should I managed myself and my time for praying, reading the books, exercising, walking in the cell and watching TV without falling in the routine life.

Little by little, I learned while I am reading books, I took notes and starting to write searching articles. Also for the time of praying I make a schedule. For example, I memorized prayers and also began to practicing and learning an art that is called “illumination”. It is an Iranian noble art.

A bulk of my time is spent for reading and writing them. By helping BIHE (Bahai Institute for Higher Education), I started to study the political sciences (politics). Another field of my study is Islamic Gnosticism, Iranian social history, sociology and literature. (I've been given permission to have a book for each week.) In addition to study, some of my time is spending for writing articles and remembrance of prison and stories for children and youth. (Up to now, I succeed to write 60 stories that they are the profits of my practical experiences with children and youths and my studies.)

So, my daily schedule consists: at 6:30 am the jailer brings me breakfast, at 8 am I walk around my cell for 30 minutes and at the same time I chant “is there remover...”after breakfast, I start to study, at 10 am, the jailer take me to open air for 30 minutes and contemporaneous, I chant by myself “is there remover..”. When I got back to my cell, again I study or write something, at 12, the jailer brings lunch and up to 2:30 pm I watch TV and then rest fore a while. After that, again I study or write something, at 5 pm, I exercise for 30 minutes and after that I walk around my cell for 2 hour and at the same time again chant “is there remover...” (I chant more than 1000 times this verse every day).

After prayer I take a bath then listen to news and have dinner the jailer brought me before, after that I practice illumination for 2 hours, about 10:30 pm, I watch a film and finally sleep at 11 or 12 pm.

Every 3 months I have been allowed to have a vacation for one or two weeks. This is a nice opportunity for meeting my family and friends and going to a short trip and also can go to library and get some books in trust (about 12 books for 3 months next). Most of all, I can meet my illumination professor and he corrects my practices and teaches me new lessons.

When I am out, I have a golden opportunity to type my writings and articles by helping my friends. Also I can call all Bahai prisoners' families in other cities and seeking after them and their prisoners. Some times, I meet some of the authorities of the state or some of high ranking lawyers in the country and consult them about the human rights of the Bahai community in Iran.

Maybe you think that being in the prison is so hard but if you believe that patience and perseverance in misfortunes is the cause of spiritual progress and elevation of individual and community, it gives you pleasure. In spite of the fact that some days being in prison was hard for me, but whenever I think about the 3 years that have been passed so far, it gives me the feeling of spiritual joys. The days of prison has given me many important lessons and it has made me ready for giving more services to the human world.

For ever, I am very thankful for this grace and talent that is given to me without worthy of it by Bahaullah, and I pray from bottom of my heart for my dearest and more devoted father and mother that have given me the present of the opportunity of living and asking mercy, forgiveness and success for them in the sight of God.

I have written of all my experiences and memoires during my imprisonment. Maybe I changed it to a book when I will be released. But I pay respect for those who asking me to do this job  until then this brief comment may be suffice, and I hope for the day  that can steps with all of you for sending the message of peace and unity of Bahaullah to all mankind especially my dear Iranian fellow countryman until disappearing all of prejudices  and ignorance from the world s face.

Your honor and happiness is all my wish.

                   Assuring you of my highest esteem

                                                              Raha Sabet

(This letter is written on 8th Oct. 2010 in prison)

Rozita Vasseghi, Imprisoned for her religious beliefs

I am a Baha’i refugee from Iran living in Australia, persecuted and eventually driven out of my country by the government which came to power in the revolution in 1979. I am urgently trying to bring to the world’s attention the increasingly desperate plight of Baha’is in Iran. Members of the Baha’i Faith have been systematically persecuted for the last three decades.

When the revolution happened in Iran most people lost their freedom. Baha’i people in particular were persecuted – many were tortured and imprisoned; some two hundred lost their lives. Our right to work, study, worship and live normal human lives as Iranian citizens was taken from us.

The experiences endured by my family and me over the years may serve to reflect the experiences of the whole Baha’i community. Before the revolution my father worked in the courts. After the revolution he had to retire. When he had retired the government stopped his retirement benefits and demanded repayment of salaries paid by the previous government. We were forced to leave our home.

When the new government took power they didn’t let me continue my studies or my work which took away my future. In 1986 they arrested me and put me in prison for some time where they physically and mentally tortured me. They told to me they would do something to me that I would always remember them by; and they did. They tortured and killed many people (people I did not know) in front of my eyes and these memories still haunt me today. My only crime was to be a Baha’i. Finally they made it impossible for me to be in Iran and eventually I was able to come to Australia.

In 2005 they arrested my sister, Rozita Vasseghi, who was imprisoned for nearly one month (27 days); her only crime was to be a Baha’i. My mother put her house up for bail and Rozita, who lives with my mother, was released from prison and awaited her court hearing. Authorities went many times to their house and confiscated many items of my sister ‘s property. My mother is in her seventies and had to witness this persecution.

In the first week of January 2010 in Mashhad, they summoned Rozita and eight other Baha’is and read to them their court decision, refusing to allow them to have copies. My sister and her friends all received 5 year jail sentences and for 10 years they wouldn’t be allowed to leave the country. They gave them 21 days to appeal to the court. My sister and her friends appealed their sentences.

Suddenly on March 15th 2010, at about 7:00 in the morning, the authorities went to my mother’s house again, confiscated many of Rozita’s belongings and took her into custody. Even though my mother had just had an operation, she went to many places searching for her daughter, asking why she had been arrested. It was not until almost two months later, on May 9th 2010, that she was given any information about her daughter and allowed to visit her for ten minutes.

Almost five months ago my mother told me that the appeal by my sister and four of her friends to reduce their initial sentences was not successful. Rozita and one of her friends had been incarcerated since March this year, notwithstanding that their cases were still under appeal. Rozita has been detained, in solitary confinement in a Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Mashhad even though her name is listed in the normal prison system. Her health is seriously deteriorating. She has lost too much weight, has low blood pressure and she is suffering pain in her body, especially in her feet.

Five days a week my elderly mother goes to Mashhad’s legal offices seeking news of Rozita. She has only been able to see her three times for very brief visits. Rozita was shivering all over even though it was very hot. My mother was shocked the last time when she saw her daughter’s condition, although Rozita, with a smile, tried to hide her pain.

At the moment my family and I live in darkness. We don’t have a normal life and we are exhausted and live with broken hearts and sadness. We walk, we talk, we eat and laugh without enjoyment, only to survive. Here, alone in Australia, I try to be strong and hide my tears but in my heart I scream and beg for help.

When the authorities don’t allow Baha’i people to have normal lives like other people, raid the homes of innocent Baha’is, searching their houses, taking personal property, taking members of the family away to prison, what can we call the way they act? When children of Baha’i families are harassed by their teachers, or their classmates, or the parents of the other students, and young people and adults are prevented from going to university, what can we call this behaviour?

When the authorities are monitoring Baha’i people’s bank accounts, their phone calls and letters, and where they are going and coming, what can we call their attitudes? When the authorities confiscate people’s property, destroy their cemeteries and close Baha’i people’s businesses, what can we call the way those people act? When the authorities don’t allow Baha’i people to practice their own religion and when they destroy their holy places, what can we call those behaviours?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18 states “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

At this time there are many Baha’is in prison in different cities of Iran. The seven individuals who formed the national leadership of the Baha’i community, known as the Friends in Iran, after two years in prison have recently finished their trial and we have just heard they have been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and already they have been moved from Evin prison to another prison where conditions are known to be very severe. There was no evidence against them whatsoever. The purpose of the Baha’i Faith is to unite all the races and peoples in the world. The Baha’i Faith is about world peace, the oneness of humanity, the equality of women and men, education for all, the elimination of prejudice … and it can’t have any involvement with partisan political issues. These individuals and the others Baha’i prisoners I have mentioned have no involvement in politics and their imprisonment is based entirely on the fact that they are Baha’is.

Personally, even after all that has been done, the Baha’i concepts of acceptance, forgiveness and love mean that I cannot hate the persecutors but I abhor the madness of their actions.

As I have been imprisoned by Iranian authorities and have first-hand experience of the capabilities of these people and prison conditions, I am desperately concerned for the welfare of the Baha’is who are now in prison in Iran, including my sister.

I seek your urgent assistance to expose to the world what is happening in Iran by raising theRosa Vasseghi matter in Parliament, in the media, in your organizations, expressing concern to the Iranian Ambassador in your country, or speaking out publicly and asking the government of Iran to repeal the prison sentence of all those who have been falsely imprisoned, including my sister, and to allow them to be free.

 

-Rosa Vasseghi (2010)

(This letter was originally published on united4iran.org)

The charges presented against her are typical of those that the Islamic Republic pins on the Bahá'í faithful, including "Insult to Holiness," “Spreading Baha’i teachings,” and “Insulting Islamic Sacraments" - sensational charges demonstrative of the virtual illegality of being a Bahá'í in Iran.  

Since the pertaining laws that are supposedly being "violated" are so broad and ambiguous, they can be pinned on virtually every follower of the Bahá'í Faith, by nature of their mere adherence to Bahá'í theology.  That is, by believing in the Bahá'í teachings, one effectively believes in items contradictory of the dogmatic teachings upheld by the Islamic Religious Institutions, such as the validity of Messengers that came after Muhammad, and religious scripture revealed after the Qur'an. Subjectively, the Islamic courts can thus rule these beliefs as "insulting." - placing "offensive" the beliefs of all Bahá'í's.  

What else was be coupled with this belief to make it "criminal" in Rosita's case is still unclear, but apparently it must involve some sort of outward expression of these beliefs, since otherwise every Bahá'í in Iran would be arrested on the same charges.

As for teaching their religion, it should be noted that Bahá'í's do not proselytize their beliefs.  Teaching of one's religion is only permissible in the Bahá'í Faith if another person asks that Bahá'í a question.  That said, it is part of Bahá'í beliefs and practices that a follower is obligated to teach one who asks about their faith.  Thus, if a Bahá'í were legally prohibited from doing this, then they would be prevented from practicing aspects of their religion, thereby making adherence to the Bahá'í Faith, itself, sufficient to a crime.

This is yet another example of how the Islamic Republic's ambiguous laws in these matters, coupled with the courts utter lack of substantive debate, allow these Institutions to effectively punish Bahá'í's for their rightful religious beliefs while providing the illusion that a fair criminal-justice process has been applied. 

Kevin Mehrabi

(CNN) -- Prison sentences for seven Baha'i leaders in Iran have reportedly been reduced from 20 to 10 years, the Baha'i International Community learned Thursday.

Lawyers representing the seven were informed Wednesday of the reduction in jail terms, it said.

The Baha'i leaders -- two women and five men -- were arrested in 2008 and accused of espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order and the establishment of an illegal administration, among other allegations, according to the Baha'i International Community.

The group denies all charges and says they were trumped up in an effort to stifle the Baha'i religion, the largest minority faith in Iran. In the absence of official recognition of their faith, the seven national leaders helped meet spiritual needs of Iran's 300,000-strong Baha'i community.

The sentences have drawn condemnation from the United States and human rights groups.

Iranian authorities view Baha'i adherents as "heretics" who may face repression on the grounds of apostasy.

Baha'is may not establish places of worship, schools, or any independent religious associations in Iran. In addition, Baha'is are barred from the military and denied government jobs, according to a report by the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Iran, however, denies mistreatment of Baha'is and says followers of the faith are free to live in Iran. But it says activities against the Islamic state are illegal and the government thus views the seven Baha'is as criminals.

The Baha'i leaders are jailed at Gohardasht Prison in Karaj.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/09/16/iran.bahai.sentences/

Persecution of Religious Minorities in Iran