Congress condemns Iran’s persecution of Baha’is
Washington, 1 August (IranVNC)—The US House of Representatives today passed a resolution condemning what it called the “state-sponsored persecution” of Baha’is in Iran and urged that country to end repression against members of this faith.
By: IranVNC
Published: Friday, August 01, 2008
17:50GMT—1:50PM/EST
BAHA’I – U.S. – IRAN – RESOLUTION
Washington, 1 August (IranVNC)—The US House of Representatives today passed a resolution condemning what it called the “state-sponsored persecution” of Baha’is in Iran and urged that country to end repression against members of this faith.
The resolution further calls on Iran to release three Baha’i youths – Raha Sabet, Sasan Taqva and Haleh Roohi – and for the Iranian Majlis [parliament] to reject a draft Islamic penal code which requires the death penalty for “apostates”, a term Iran applies to Baha’is and any convert from Islam. The three individuals, who were teaching underprivileged children in Shiraz, were arrested last November.
House Resolution 1008, the tenth congressional resolution since 1982 on the Baha’is in Iran, follows reports earlier this week of a rise in arson attacks this summer on homes and cars belonging to Baha’is in the provinces of Kerman, Esfahan and Fars.
According to these reports, these attacks have increased following the arrest in May of the seven leaders of the country’s Baha’i community. The seven individuals are being held in Tehran’s Evin prison without any charges and without access to an attorney.
Representative Mark Kirk [R-IL], who introduced the resolution, said today that “Congress should not be silent as Iran sets up the mechanism to ethnically cleanse its Baha’i minority, totaling 250,000 human beings,” reports the C-SPAN television network.
According to C-SPAN, Representative Howard Berman [D-CA] described the conditions of Baha’is in Iran as “deteriorating”, as 166 Baha’is have been arrested in that country in the last four years. Intelligence officers “continue to summon, arbitrarily detain, and interrogate Baha’is about all aspects of their lives,” he said.
Farhad Sabetan, the spokesperson for the Baha'i International Community, based outside of Chicago, said in a phone interview with IranVNC yesterday that he hoped that the world would raise its voice in objection to the treatment of Baha’is in Iran.
Speaking from California, Sabetan said: “Our hope is for the international community … to become aware of the atrocities against the Baha’is” and furthermore to realize the intensity of the attacks against them.
Sabetan described the Baha’is as an “apolitical group” who “have never risen against any government, nor will they ever rise against any government.”
Representative Kirk echoed Sabetan’s comments, telling the House of Representatives today that Baha’is did not pose a threat to the Islamic Republic, as their faith embodies “acceptance and tolerance and accommodation”.
He continued: “It is up to us to speak for them. It's up to us to hold up a mirror to the Iranian Government to show it as a vicious and cruel state.”
Sources: IranVNC correspondent, C-SPAN website
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