Members of Iran’s Bahai Religious Community Arrested by Iran Government

TEHRAN, Iraq – Dawn on May 14th, 2008, officers from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence in Tehran arrested six members of the Bahai community in charge of coordinating activities of the Baha’i religious community.  The six members were taken to Iran’s Evin Prison that has a history of human rights abuses.  Another member, Mrs. Mahvash Sabit, Secretary of the group, was questioned about a burial that took place in a cemetery in Mashad.  The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (“IHRDC”) is concerned that the Iranian government will use these arrests to further persecute members of the Baha’i community merely because of their faith.  The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (“USCIRF”) states, “since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power a few years ago, Baha’is have been harassed, physically attacked, arrested and imprisoned.”

There has been a history of oppression under the Iranian government.  The IHRDC says, in 1980, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards arrested nine members of the Baha’i National Spiritual Assembly and were never seen again.  In 1981, again, “a second National Spiritual Assembly was constituted and eight of its members were arrested and summarily executed.”  In 1983, history repeated itself when seven members of the Assembly were hunted down and once again executed.  The IHRDC is concerned that the recently arrested members are in danger of meeting the same fate.  The report on the IHRDC website says members of the Baha’i community have been under surveillance by the Iran government since 2005 when the Ayatollah Khamenei ordered military agencies identify and monitor members of the Baha’i community.  Since 2005, Bahai’s have been the targets of attacks by vigilante groups acting with impunity under the Iran government.

For more information, please see:

Iran Human Rights Documentation Center – IHRDC Condemns the Arrest of Leading Baha’is – 15 May 2008

CNN – Iran’s Arrest of Baha’is Condemned – 15 May 2008

Author: Impunity Watch Archive