For five years, seven Baha'i leaders have been wrongly imprisoned in Iran.

Their 20-year sentences are the longest given to any current prisoners of conscience in Iran. Their harshness reflects the Government’s resolve to oppress completely the Iranian Baha'i community, which faces a systematic, “cradle-to-grave” persecution that is among the most serious examples of state-sponsored religious persecution in the world today.

Baha'i communities around the world have launched a campaign calling for their immediate release – and the release of all innocent prisoners of conscience in Iranian prisons.

“Five Years Too Many” campaign leads to global outpouring of support

A global outpouring of support and concern for the plight of the seven Iranian Baha’i leaders – and for the situation of other prisoners of conscience in Iran – marked worldwide commemorations of the fifth anniversary of the arrest of these Baha’is.

Statements calling for the immediate release of the seven came from every continent, issued by government officials, religious leaders, human rights activists, and ordinary citizens during 10 days in May as part of the “Five Years Too Many” campaign. Local and national media reports also carried news of the campaign around the world.

“Our hope is that the government of Iran will understand clearly that the seven Baha’i prisoners, who have been unjustly and wrongfully held for five long years simply for their religious beliefs, have not been forgotten,” said Diane Ala’i, the Baha’i International Community’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

“Our ultimate hope, of course, is that Iran will immediately release the seven – and all other prisoners of conscience in Iran,” said Ms. Ala’i.

As the campaign came to a conclusion, one theme that emerged was the degree to which religious leaders around the world find Iran’s persecution of Baha’is unconscionable.

In South Africa, Shaykh Achmat Sedick, vice president of the national Muslim Judicial Council, used a Five Years Too Many campaign event on 15 May to talk about freedom of religion from an Islamic perspective. He described how the teachings of the Qur’an support religious freedom – and added that Iran’s persecution of the Baha’i community is entirely unjust.

On 14 May, some 50 religious leaders representing virtually every religious community in the United Kingdom sent a letter to UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, calling on him to demand that Iran immediately release the seven.

Signatories to the letter included Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury; Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth; and Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, an Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain.

“Iran has abandoned every legal, moral, spiritual and humanitarian standard, routinely violating the human rights of its citizens,” they wrote. “The government’s shocking treatment of its religious minorities is of particular concern to us as people of faith.”

And in Uganda, the Inter-Religious Council issued a joint statement with the Baha’i community there calling on Iran to respect the fundamental human rights of Iranian Baha’is.

“These sheer violations of basic human rights of Iran’s religious minorities by the regime of that country gave rise to international outrage from governments and civil society organizations and all freedom-loving people worldwide,” said Joshua Kitakule, Secretary General of the Council, on 15 May in Kampala.

Other significant responses during the final days of the campaign included:

● A letter calling for the “immediate release of the seven” by prominent people in India, signed by L. K. Advani, chairman of Bharatiya Janata Party; Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney General of India; Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, Chief Imam of the All India Organization of Imams of Mosques; and Miloon Kothari, former UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, among others.

● A series of statements issued by prominent Austrians in support of the seven, including one by Efgani Donmez, the first Muslim elected to the Austrian Parliament, who said “The Baha’is in Iran are part of the society, part of the Iranian culture. They should also have the (same) rights as all the other citizens in Iran.”

● A speech in Ireland by campaigner and Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental, who said the discrimination faced by Iranian Baha’is sadly reminded him of what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany. “I can very well identify with the struggle that the Baha’i religion suffers in Iran,” said Mr. Reichental on 15 May in Dublin.

● A video message by Nico Schrijver, a member of the Senate of the Netherlands and vice-chairperson of the Geneva-based UN Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, who said: “The leaders of the Baha’i community have been detained for the sole reason that they are Baha’is. This is of course a complete violation of human rights law.”

The campaign, which ran 5-15 May, quickly found support from others, including Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr, and Lloyd Axworthy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Canada, as previously reported.

Among the most notable expressions of concern was a joint press release by four UN human rights experts, issued on 13 May, which stated that the seven are held solely because of their religious beliefs, that their continued imprisonment is unjust and wrongful, and that Iran’s treatment of religious minorities violates international law.

Six of the seven Baha’i leaders were arrested on 14 May 2008 in a series of early morning raids in Tehran. The seventh had been detained two months earlier on 5 March 2008.

Since their arrests, the seven leaders – whose names are Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm – have been subject to an entirely flawed judicial process, and were ultimately sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, the longest of any current prisoners of conscience in Iran.

– Baha’i World News Service

The South African Baha’i community sponsored a number of events around the country for its part in the Five Years Too Many campaign, enlisting the support of a range of officials, religious leaders, and media outlets.

On 27 April, to coincide with national Freedom Day in South Africa, local Baha’i communities in Durban and Mafikeng screened the film “Iranian Taboo,” a documentary film by prize winning Iranian-Dutch director Reza Allamehzadeh about the persecution of Iranian Baha’is.

In Durban, the screening was held at the Howard College Theatre at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, and was well attended by academics, students, and members of the local Baha’i community.

In conjunction with that screening, a number of professors at the University signed a joint statement calling for the release of the seven imprisoned Iranian Baha’i leaders. The statement asks the South African government to call on Iran to “uphold its obligations” to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to “immediately release these prisoners of conscience and allow the members of the Baha’i Faith in Iran to enjoy full citizen rights.”

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Watching Iranian Taboo at the Mafikeng Baha’i Center.

The statement was signed by Prof. Kartha Govender, a law professor and human rights specialist at the University; Prof. Johannes Smit, Dean of the School of Religion and Theology; and Prof. Patrick Bond, director of the Center for Civil Society, among others.

In Mafikeng, the screening was hosted at the Mafikeng Baha’i center and drew about 60 people.

In both places, local news media also covered the campaign. In Durban, East Coast radio interviewed Vida Vafae about the story of her husband’s father’s execution in Iran in the early 1980s. In Mafikeng, Motsweding FM and a local newspaper, the Mafikeng Mail, reported on the issues of the campaign.

On 15 May, the South African Baha’i Diplomatic Office sponsored a breakfast meeting in Johannesburg to discuss human rights in general, and as they relate to the situation of Iranian Baha’is in particular.

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Shaykh Achmat Sedick, executive member of the South African Muslim Judicial Council, speaking in Johannesburg.

The featured speaker was Shaykh Achmat Sedick, executive member of the Muslim Judicial Council, who talked about freedom of religion or belief from an Islamic perspective.

He said “the basis of the belief of Islam is justice and fairness.” In that context, he added, “You can’t believe unless you are free” and “belief is the right of everyone.”

The Qur’an makes that explicitly clear when it says “There is no compulsion in religion,” said Shaykh Sedick.

He also discussed one of the sayings of Mohammed, that “he who changes his religion, kill him,” which has widely been used to justify punishment for apostasy in Islam. Shaykh Sedick said he subscribes to the scholarly viewpoint that this saying – commonly known as a Hadith – should be considered unverified, since it has been transmitted by only one person.

He added that he believes the persecution of Baha’is in Iran is political. “It’s got nothing to do with the religious,” he said.

At the same event, Julia Mabale, deputy chairman of the Commission for the Promotion of Cultural, Religious and Linguistics Rights, promised to put the issue of the persecution of Iranian Baha’is before the Commission and to advocate for action to protect and promote “the religious rights of the Baha’is in Iran.”

Other media outlets covering the campaign in South Africa included two radio stations: SAfm, a national station owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, and Voice of the Cape, a Muslim-oriented station based in Cape Town.

For its part in the Five Years Too Many campaign, the Baha’i community of Ireland sponsored an event at the prestigious Buswell’s Hotel in Dublin.

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Human rights activist Tomi Reichental, at right, standing, speaks at the Five Years Too Many event in Ireland. On the left is Brendan McNamara of the Irish Baha’i community.

Held on Wednesday, 15 May, the meeting featured a speech by Tomi Reichental, a well-known human rights campaigner, author, and Holocaust survivor who has lived in Ireland for 50 years.

Mr. Reichental said the persecution of Iranian Baha’is unfortunately reminds him of what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany.

“I can very well identify with the struggle that the Baha’i religion suffers in Iran,” said Mr. Reichental. “People are discriminated against only because of their religion.”

He said when he reads about the discrimination Baha’is face in Iran, such as their exclusion from higher education, economic restrictions, and the “widespread incitement of hatred against the Baha’is including in the official news media,” he finds that these “exact things happened to us as Jews.”

He said he hoped the Five Years Too Many campaign would remind “the Iranian government the whole world is watching them.”

He made a direct plea for the release of the Yaran and for the end of religious persecution in all its forms.

“We are today the bystanders,” he said. “And we just must not be quiet. We must raise up our voices and do whatever we do to help these people so that they don’t sit for nothing, for years and years incarcerated just because they believe in something different.”

The Baha’i community of Ireland also produced a video for the campaign, which can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AqQkmNjFYtM

 

As part of the Five Years Too Many campaign, the Baha’i community of Ghana sponsored a symposium titled “Travesty of Justice – Incarceration of Baha’is of Iran.”

Held at the International Press Center in Accra on 15 May, the program featured a speech by Ken Attafuah, a professor at the Central University College. He spoke about basic principles and human rights – and also addressed the situation of the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders.

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In Ghana, Professor Ken Attafuah, left, Dr. Akwasi Osei, center, and Dr. Leslie Casely-Hayford were among the speakers at an event titled “A Travesty of Justice –Incarceration of Baha’is of Iran.”

“Improving religious tolerance is a collective obligation and, indeed, doing so involves expanding the scale of respect for fundamental human rights,” said Prof. Attafuah, who is also the Director of the William Ofori Atta Institute of Integrity in Accra.

“Being able to allow or accept diversity in society as a cardinal obligation of everything you want,” he said. “These are the key concerns in order to avert the kind of situation we find proliferating in northern Nigeria and, of course, in Iran where seven members of the Baha’i community have been incarcerated for the past five years.”

He noted also that the issues surrounding religious discrimination are distinctive because “no-one is born a Catholic or a Baha’i or a Presbyterian.”

“It becomes unjustified to be asked to deny those articles of faith in order that you, for example, will be allowed to hold a certain job…,” he said.

Dr. Akwasi Osei, Ghana’s Chief Psychiatrist and a member of the Office of External Affairs of the Baha’i community of Ghana, chaired the program. Leslie Casely-Hayford, a senior consultant for the research and consulting firm Associates for Change, spoke about the current situation of the Baha’is in Iran, giving a historical perspective and discussing the international response to the issue of the unjust incarceration.

“What the Baha’is want, worldwide, is no special privilege,” said Dr. Casely-Hayford. “They seek only their rights under universal declaration on human rights – the right to life, the right to liberty, security, and the right to education, work and professing and practicing their religion. Under the terms of the universal declaration on human rights the Baha’i community asks today for nothing less than the immediate release of these seven Baha’i leaders along with the hundreds of other prisoners of conscience in Iran.”

An FM station in Accra, Radio XYZ, covered the event, as did Radio France International.

A number of prominent Austrians have issued statements calling for the release of the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders in connection with the Five Years Too Many campaign.

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In Austria, Baha’is organized a Five Years Too Many event in a public square in front of St. Charles’s Church in Vienna.

Their statements were read at a solemn vigil held last Wednesday, 15 May, in a public square near St. Charles’s Church in Vienna, one of the city’s landmark buildings.

Among those issuing statements were: Barbara Prammer, president of the National Council of Austria; Helmut Tichy, director of the Office of International Law at the Foreign Ministry; Alexander Van der Bellen, Deputy to the Vienna Landtag and Town Council; Efgani Dönmez, Deputy of the Federal Council; Josef Ratzenböck, former Governor of Upper Austria; Susanne Schaup, a well-known Austrian author; and Anton Pelinka, a professor of political science and nationalism studies at the Central European University of Budapest.

In her statement, Mrs. Prammer referred to a May 2008 letter she wrote to the president of Iran’s parliament, in which she had expressed her “serious concern about the continuous and systematic discrimination against the Iranian Baha’is on the basis of their religion.”

“Unfortunately, the situation of the Baha’i community in Iran has got worse. Therefore, Austria and the EU are still demanding to stop immediately the measures of oppressing this peaceful community. I will follow this demand,” Mrs. Prammer said.

Dr. Tichy wrote his letter on behalf of Vice Chancellor Foreign Minister Dr. Michael Spindelegger. “The difficult situation of the seven incarcerated Baha’is is a serious concern for us and we regularly stand up bilaterally and multilaterally for the rights of the Baha’is. It is most deplorable that Iran did so far not release the seven representatives of the Baha’is who evidently were sentenced on the grounds of belonging to a religious minority,” he said.

In his statement, Mr. Dönmez noted that he is the first Muslim elected to the Austrian Parliament, and that he’d been warmly welcomed there, where “the majority of the Deputies belongs to the Christian Faith.”

“The Baha’is in Iran are part of the society, part of the Iranian culture,” said Mr. Dönmez. “They should also have the rights as all the other citizens in Iran…The Baha’is are an enrichment for the society; one must give them the opportunity to participate in society.”

Dr. Ratzenböck called on the Iranian government “to observe the human right on freedom of religion” and for “the immediate release of the innocent incarcerated Baha’is.”

More than 150 people participated in the event, which received significant coverage in the Austrian news media. The Austrian newspaper Der Standard published an article on 15 May, and the Austrian news Agency (APA) distributed a press release about the event on 12 May.

The Austrian national public broadcaster ORF interviewed a number of people for a report, which is scheduled to be broadcast on 25 May as part of the “Religionen der Welt” (Religions of the World) series. That report can be viewed for free until 1 June at this link: http://tvthek.orf.at/programs/1656-Religionen-der-Welt

A video report produced by the Baha’i community of Austria about the event can be viewed at this link: http://youtu.be/S2Yo5zCIiR0

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Posters for the Five Years Too Many campaign outside the Luxembourg Baha’i Center.

In Luxembourg last Tuesday, some 80 people – including, Baha’is, Christians and Muslims – gathered to show their support for the seven unlawfully imprisoned Baha’i leaders in Iran and to ask for their immediate release.

The meeting was held 14 May at the Baha’i Centre in Luxembourg-City.

“The plight of the seven Baha’i leaders in Iran is emblematic for the Human Rights situation in Iran,” said Jutta Bayani, spokesperson for the Baha’is of Luxembourg. “We are gathered here to demand the immediate release of these innocent friends but also to show our ongoing support for all the victims of human rights abuses in Iran.”

The event also featured readings and a video presentation as well as chanting by children. Children and youth also brought roses bearing the names of the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders and displayed them in a vase under the portrait of the seven.

In the Netherlands, a number of prominent people – including government officials and parliamentarians – expressed their concern over ongoing human rights violations in Iran last week, also calling for more attention to the situation of the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders.

They spoke out in several venues, including one organized by the Baha’i community of the Netherlands as part of the Five Years Too Many campaign.

At an interactive debate at famous the Prison Gate Museum in The Hague on Tuesday, 14 May, Gilles Plug, the director of the North Africa and Middle Eastern department at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explained what the Netherlands is doing to promote human rights in Iran.

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Mr. Gilles Plug, director North Africa and Middle East for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, left, at the Five Years Too Many event in the Prison Gate Museum in The Hague on 14 May.

“Foreign Affairs is a body which, certainly, adopts the appeal of [the Five Years Too Many campaign], not just for the Baha’is themselves, but for all vulnerable groups in society everywhere in the world, from the conviction not alone for these groups themselves but for the constitutional state,” said Mr. Plug.

In a video message delivered at the debate, Nico Schrijver, a member of the Senate of the Netherlands and vice-chairperson of the Geneva-based UN Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, said that the arrest and imprisonment of the seven violated international law.

“The leaders of the Baha’i community have been detained for the sole reason that they are Baha’is,” said Dr. Schrijver. “This is of course a complete violation of human rights law. One of the fundamental human rights includes the right of religious freedom and to practice your own religion.”

The entire video can be viewed here.

On 15 May, there was a debate in the Parliament on freedom of religion or belief. The situation of the Baha’is was mentioned by NMP Harry van Bommel, who asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs if he was willing to ask Iran for the immediate release of the seven Baha’i leaders. Mr. Van Bommel also issued that call in his blog.

Frans Timmermans, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, responded by saying he would make such a request of the Iranian ambassador.

Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, former president of the European region of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and a founding member of Green Cross International, also issued a statement about the situation of the seven Baha’i leaders.

“To my brothers and sisters from the blessed tradition of Bahai. On this day of the Jewish festival of Shavuot, when we celebrate the revelation of the Torah, my prayers of the heart are with you, my beloved friends, for your freedom and safety.

“Our various traditions transmit the same message about the unity of humanity. The human family resembles one body. When one part of the body aches the other parts feel the pain. Thus we can only be healed when you have been restored to full health,” wrote Rabbi Soetendorp on 14 May.

Elements of the Five Years Too Many campaign in the Netherlands also received coverage in the news media. Shahrzad News filmed the event at the Prison Gate Museum, interviewing the main speakers, who included Bernadette Ficq, an asylum attorney with Lawyers for Lawyers, and Shirin Milani, a criminal court judge in the Province of Overijssel. And the main national newspaper, Volkskrant, published an article about the campaign, which can be viewed as a PDF by clicking here.

On the beach in Hawaii

May 21, 2013

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Members of the Baha’i community of Hawaii hold up photographs of the seven imprisoned Iranian Baha’i leaders at a beach side tribute on Saturday.

For its part in the Five Years Too Many campaign, the Baha’i community of Hawaii held a beach side prayer session for the seven imprisoned Iranian Baha’i leaders – while also reaching out to the news media.

The tribute to the seven took place on Saturday, 18 May, in a private lagoon near Kapolei on the island of Oahu. White roses and photographs of the seven were displayed, prayers were chanted – and the observance was blessed by Aunty Nettie, a well-known cultural advisor whose official title is “Kahu of Lanikuhonua.”

The tribute was covered in the Hawaiian news media. The Honolulu Civil Beat published a story about the event on Tuesday, 21 May. As well, the local National Public Radio affiliate aired a program about the situation of the seven Baha’i leaders, also on Tuesday.

The Inter-Religious Council of Uganda last week issued a joint statement with the Baha’i community there calling on Iran to respect the fundamental human rights of Iranian Baha’is.

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Joshua Kitakule, Secretary General of the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, delivering a statement decrying the imprisonment of the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders.

At a conference on Wednesday, 15 May 2013, at the Metropole Hotel in Kampala, Joshua Kitakule, Secretary General of the Council, said Baha’is have long faced “persistent harsh persecutions” in Iran.

“These sheer violations of basic human rights of Iran’s religious minorities by the regime of that country gave rise to international outrage from governments and civil society organizations and all freedom-loving people worldwide,” he said, reading from the statement. [Click here for a PDF of the Statement.]

“We appeal to the United Nations and other international agencies to prevail over the Iranian government to put in place a conducive environment that provides for protection and promotion of fundamental and other human rights and freedoms for all Iranians, particularly freedom of worship,” said. Mr. Kitakule.

Established in 2001, the membership of the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda comprises the Catholic Church in Uganda, the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, the Church of Uganda, the Uganda Orthodox Church, and the Seventh Day Adventist Church Uganda Union.

The statement and conference came as part of the Baha’i community of Uganda’s participation in the Five Years Too Many campaign.

Also speaking at the event was Kintu Musoke, former Prime Minister of Uganda, who is now a senior presidential advisor.

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Kintu Musoke, former Prime Minister of Uganda

He told a story about visiting Iran in 1995 as Prime Minister. While touring, he said, he asked to visit Baha’i holy places.

“The request was noted by the officials who received us,” said Mr. Musoke. “But it was not answered. While we were taken to all religious places in Iran, Muslim, Christian, and other, our official tour did not include any of the Baha’i holy places.”

“All societies have to exercise tolerance even when you have different religious beliefs,” said Mr. Musoke. “It is the creator who created us in these diversities and he cannot force anyone to believe in what he doesn’t want.”

Mr. Musoke called for the release of the seven Baha’i prisoners, adding that he sincerely hoped the deplorable situation of the Iran’s Baha’is would soon come to an end, hastened by the worldwide sentiments generated by the “Five Years Too Many” campaign.

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Participants in Uganda’s Five Years Too Many conferences viewing photographs of the seven imprisoned Iranian Baha’i leader.

A number of journalists attended and reported on the event. Coverage included stories aired on many TV and radio stations, including Record TV, CBS Radio, NBS Radio, and the official Radio Uganda, as well as an article in the Daily Monitor, Uganda’s leading independent newspaper, and The New Vision newspaper, the country’s main government newspaper.

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Members of the Baha’i community of Slovenia gathered in Prešeren Square in Ljubljana as part of the Five Years Too Many campaign.

Gregor Lesjak, the religious affairs expert and author of encyclopedia on religious communities in Slovenia, has signed a statement in support of religious freedom for Baha’is in Iran.

“I wholeheartedly support the endeavors of the Slovenian Baha’i community towards the realization of the human right to ‘freedom of conscience’ and in particular its concern for the realization of this right among their members in Iran,” said Dr. Lesjak.

His statement came as part of the Slovenian Baha’i community’s observance of the fifth anniversary of the imprisonment of the seven Iranian Baha’i leaders.

Also lending support was Tadeja Jere Lazanski, Vice-Rector at the University of Primorska in Slovenia. “I support the freedom of conscience and the campaign for the release of the seven leaders of the Baha’i community of Iran,” said Prof. Dr. Lazanski.

Members of the community also gathered for a photo session at Prešeren Square in the capital city of Ljubljana, holding a simple, hand-made sign with the campaign’s theme. A prayer meeting for the seven was also held, said Aleksandra Zibelnik Badii, spokesperson for the community.

The Slovenian Baha’is also used Facebook to reach more than 12,000 people with the message of the “Five Years Too Many” campaign.