Entire Baha'i Leadership in Iran Detained Without Charge

Solidarity Statement for the Freedom to Believe

To:  The United Nations (UN)

Baha’u’llah, the latest of these Messengers, brought new spiritual and social teachings for our time. His essential message is of unity. He taught the oneness of God, the oneness of the human family, and the oneness of religion.
Baha’u’llah said, “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” and that, as foretold in all the sacred scriptures of the past, now is the time for humanity to live in unity.

Six Baha’i leaders in Iran were arrested and taken to the notorious Evin Prison yesterday (5/14/08) in a sweep that is ominously similar to episodes in the 1980s when scores of Iranian Baha’i leaders were summarily rounded up and killed.
The six men and women, all members of the national-level group that helped see to the minimum needs of Baha’is in Iran, were in their homes Wednesday morning when government intelligence agents entered and spent up to five hours searching each home, before taking them away.
The seventh member of the national coordinating group was arrested in early March in Mashhad after being summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence office there on an ostensibly trivial matter.
Arrested yesterday were: Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm. All live in Tehran. Mrs. Kamalabadi, Mr. Khanjani, and Mr. Tavakkoli have been previously arrested and then released after periods ranging from five days to four months.
Arrested in Mashhad on 5 March 2008 was Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, who also resides in Tehran. Mrs. Sabet was summoned to Mashhad by the Ministry of Intelligence, ostensibly on the grounds that she was required to answer questions related to the burial of an individual in the Baha’i cemetery in that city.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom today called for strong international condemnation of the arrest of Baha’i leaders in Iran.
“The arrests of six Baha’i leaders yesterday, following the arrest of another leader in March, is the latest sign of the rapidly deteriorating status of religious freedom and other human rights in Iran,” said Michael Cromartie, the Commission Chair. “This development signals a return to the darkest days of repression in Iran in the 1980s when Baha’is were routinely arrested, imprisoned, and executed.”

“We protest in the strongest terms the arrests of our fellow Baha’is in Iran, Their only crime is their practice of the Baha’i Faith. Especially disturbing is how this latest sweep recalls the wholesale arrest or abduction of the members of two national Iranian Baha’i governing councils in the early 1980s -- which led to the disappearance or execution of 17 individuals, this proposed law goes against all human rights norms and standards, including international treaties that Iran itself has agreed to, it is important for the international community to speak out, now, before it is too late."

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Entire Baha'i Leadership in Iran Detained Without Charge Petition to The United Nations (UN) was created by and written by Niloufar Rad (niloufar.rad@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.