Iran: Persecution of Bahais is a “crime against humanity,” says HRW
The human rights organization believes that the country's largest non-Muslim minority has been subjected to decades of systematic persecution.
The village of Ivel, in the province of Mazandaran, in northern Iran, where dozens of Bahai families were expropriated in 2020 by court decision (illustrative image). © Bahai International Community
By: RFI with AFP
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The organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) affirmed Monday that the
persecution of the Bahai minority
by the Iranian authorities since the Islamic revolution of 1979 constituted a “crime
against humanity
”. The New York-based human rights organization says Bahais, the country's largest non-Muslim minority, have been subject to arbitrary arrests, confiscation of property, restrictions on access to school and employment, and even the denial of the right to a proper funeral. “
The cumulative impact of several decades of systematic repression constitutes a severe and intentional deprivation of the fundamental rights of the Bahais and amounts to a crime against humanity
,” the organization said in
a statement.
Also read: Bahai religious minority: in Iran, “organized, thought-out, planned repression”
Bahaism is a monotheistic religion founded at the beginning of the 19th century in Iran, whose spiritual center is in the Israeli city of Haifa, which regularly causes its followers to be accused of being agents of Israel, a country hated by Tehran. Unlike those of other minorities, the Bahai faith is not recognized by the Constitution. They have no representative in Parliament. Their exact number in Iran is not known but they could be several hundred thousand.
HRW considers that these acts fall under the responsibility of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), considering that while the intensity of violations of Baha'i rights "
has varied over time
", their persecution has remained constant, "
affecting virtually all aspects of their public and private lives
. The organization says the Islamic Republic maintains "
extreme animosity
" toward the Baha'i Faith, adding that repression against the community is validated by Iranian law and is an official policy.
Imprisoned
Iranian authorities are depriving Bahais of their basic rights "
not for their actions but simply for their membership in a religious group
," said Michael Page, HRW's deputy Middle East director. “
It is fundamental to increase international pressure on Iran to put an end to this crime against humanity
.”
At least 70 Bahais are currently in detention or serving prison sentences and another 1,200 are facing legal proceedings or have been convicted, according to the UN. HRW says Bahais are subject to "
periodic state-sponsored hate campaigns
," while intelligence and judicial authorities regularly raid their homes, confiscate their property and subjugate them. to interrogations. “
Local authorities interfere in mortuary burial ceremonies and refuse to allow Bahais to bury their loved ones in Bahai cemeteries
,” HRW further asserts.
Mahvash Sabet, 71, a renowned poet, and Fariba Kamalabadi, a 61-year-old Baha'i figure, both arrested in July 2022, are still in prison and serving ten-year sentences, their second prison stay during of the last two decades.
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