Baha’i Women Singled Out for Harsh and Aggressive Persecution
Over 1,200 Facing Court Proceedings or Sentenced to Prison for Practicing Faith
November 5, 2024 – The Islamic Republic has intensified its crackdown on the Baha’i neighborhood, the nation’s largest unrecognized spiritual minority, with hovering arrests and detentions which have significantly focused Baha’i ladies, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) and the Baha’i International Community (BIC) mentioned as we speak.
While the Iranian authorities has for many years relentlessly persecuted members of the Baha’i religion, arresting and imprisoning their leaders and blocking them from college, jobs, and enterprise possession, the state’s assault on the neighborhood has enormously intensified, with over a thousand Baha’is—predominantly ladies—now going through courtroom proceedings or prolonged jail sentences.
“The Iranian authorities’s full-out assault on the Baha’i neighborhood calls for far higher world consideration—the Islamic Republic is aggressively making an attempt to erase a complete neighborhood merely for his or her want to follow their religion,” mentioned Hadi Ghaemi, govt director of CHRI.
“When Baha’i ladies are attacked, whole households really feel the ache of this injustice. The concentrating on of Baha’i ladies—who’re doubly marginalized each as ladies and as members of a spiritual minority—calls for pressing world consideration. Sentencing so many Baha’i ladies to jail only for their beliefs demonstrates the pressing want for governments to demand that Iran ends this persecution,” mentioned Simin Fahandej, the Baha’i International Community’s consultant to the UN.
Key Findings:
At least 70 Baha’is are presently in detention or serving jail sentences, whereas 1,200 are going through courtroom proceedings or have been sentenced to prolonged jail sentences.
In 2024 alone, greater than 93 Baha’is had been summoned to courtroom or jail—and greater than 75% of them had been ladies. (See checklist beneath for quite a few circumstances of Baha’i persecution from January to October.)
Since 2021, arrests and imprisonments of Bahai’s, property confiscations, destruction of cemeteries, denial of burials, and enterprise closures have elevated by 50% every year.
Release all imprisoned Baha’is;
Drop all costs and stop the persecution of Baha’is for the follow of their religion;
End the insurance policies of instructional and employment discrimination;
Return or present compensation for all confiscated or destroyed companies and properties;
Cease the destruction of Baha’i gravesites.
New Wave of Assaults Come After Decades of Brutal Persecution
Speaking to CHRI on situation of anonymity, a supply near a Baha’i household in Iran mentioned:
“The intensification of presidency pressures on the Baha’i neighborhood lately, corresponding to arrests or confiscation of Baha’i properties, has introduced again many previous traumas to the household. In the Eighties, a number of members of the Baha’i household that I do know had been executed, and a few of their properties had been confiscated. Just a yr in the past, one other girl from this household was arrested. This brought on many previous traumas to resurface.”
Iran’s structure doesn’t acknowledge the Baha’i religion as an official faith. For a long time, Baha’is in Iran have been systematically denied entry to schooling and employment alternatives, subjected to the confiscation or destruction of their enterprise and properties, confronted arbitrary arrests, sentenced to prolonged jail phrases on bogus costs after grossly unfair trials, and subjected to the destruction of their gravesites. This persecution violates quite a few worldwide conventions, together with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a signatory.
“The Islamic Republic’s systematic discrimination and intensive restrictions towards Baha’is — together with bans on college schooling, dismissals from authorities jobs, store closures, and particularly widespread property confiscations —leads us to conclude that the Islamic Republic of Iran is committing ‘spiritual apartheid’ towards the Baha’is.”
Targeting Baha’i Women: A Gendered Repression
Women inside the Baha’i neighborhood have more and more borne the brunt of the state’s persecution, which is geared toward dismantling the neighborhood’s management constructions. There have been a rising variety of circumstances the place Baha’i ladies are arrested on spurious costs corresponding to “propaganda towards the state” and “membership in unlawful teams”—frequent pretexts used to justify the broader persecution of non secular minorities. Many have been imprisoned below inhumane circumstances, denied entry to authorized illustration, and subjected to bodily and psychological abuse.
Referring to the widespread detention of Baha’i ladies in current months, a supply advised CHRI:
“It can’t be mentioned that these pressures and encounters are new. They existed earlier than. But the actual fact is that Baha’i ladies have all the time had a extra severe position in holding Baha’i conferences. We mainly dwell below the rule of an anti-woman authorities through which there are various types of discrimination. When you’re a girl and a follower of the Baha’i religion, this discrimination not solely intensifies but in addition comes with concern. Imagine a lady who spent her childhood within the Eighties with all of the disastrous information and the toxic ambiance towards the Baha’is and her members of the family.”
In a current case, on September 25, 15 Baha’i ladies had been re-tried by Branch 1 of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court in Isfahan, central Iran, on costs of “selling” their spiritual beliefs. On October 20, ten different Baha’i ladies had been collectively sentenced to 90 years in jail by the identical courtroom, with further penalties, together with fines and journey bans, on costs of “propaganda and academic actions deviating from Islamic regulation.”
They continued: “The systematic nature of those violations represents a steady sample of focused discrimination and persecution of this neighborhood and its members based mostly on their spiritual affiliation and id.”
The specialists highlighted how Baha’i ladies in Iran face compounded persecution as a consequence of each their gender and religion:
“The Baha’i neighborhood has seen an increase in assaults towards ladies during the last yr. It is reported that Baha’i ladies presently comprise two-thirds of all Baha’i prisoners in Iran, with a major quantity being held with out due course of and their whereabouts unknown. This intensification of assaults has reportedly seen a major current improve in arrests and summonses, with dozens of girls going through baseless legal costs and jail sentences. These ladies are being separated from their households, some with younger youngsters. It is reported that younger moms have endured the tough circumstances of solitary confinement, frequent interrogations, insufficient medical consideration, and restricted household contact.”
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran additionally raised severe considerations over the rise in arbitrary arrests this yr in his ultimate report to the UN Human Rights Council.
Additionally, the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran discovered that Baha’is and different minorities in Iran had been disproportionately focused throughout the state’s deadly suppression of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that erupted throughout Iran in 2022-23. It too famous that minority ladies, together with Baha’is, confronted compounded discrimination based mostly on each gender and faith.
Destruction of Baha’i Graves and Secret Burials
In August 2024, a 110-year-old Baha’i cemetery in Ahvaz was set on hearth, and its historic bushes had been reduce down.
The Islamic Republic’s destruction of Baha’i gravesites in Iran has been a documented follow for many years, together with the removing of grave markers as a part of efforts to erase their id.
Cases of Baha’i Arrests in Iran (January-October 2024)
The following is a CHRI abstract of the current state-led persecution of Baha’is from January to October 2024. All of those prosecutions lacked even essentially the most fundamental due course of rights.
October 29, 2024: Behrad Azargan, a Baha’i, was sentenced by Branch 15 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court to 11 years in jail, together with a two-year ban on on-line exercise and journey. His costs embody “disruptive instructional actions” by music courses, “membership in opposition teams,” and “publishing falsehoods.”
October 24, 2024: Paridokht Shojaie Baghini, a Baha’i, summoned to start a 25-month jail sentence for “instructional actions or deviant propaganda disruptive to Islamic sharia.”
October 24, 2024: Two Baha’i ladies, Souzan Eid Mohammad-Zadegan and Niousha Badeie Sabt, sentenced to 5 years in jail every on the sham cost of “instructional actions or deviant propaganda disruptive to Islamic sharia.
October 20, 2024: Ten Baha’i ladies sentenced to jail by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Isfahan, central Iran, for “propaganda and academic actions deviating from Islamic regulation.”
October 18, 2024: Faraz Razavian, a Baha’i, sentenced to 2 years in jail, an 80 million toman effective, and disadvantaged of social rights for 5 years for the schooling and promotion of the Baha’i religion.
October 13, 2024: Mahvash Sabet, a 72-year-old Baha’i imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison, denied pressing medical care regardless of needing specialised therapy for lung illness.
October 3, 2024: After a six-month suspension, 80-year-old Baha’i Ataollah Zafar has returned to Tehran’s Evin Prison to proceed a two-year sentence for “membership in unlawful teams and organizations with the purpose of disrupting nationwide safety”—a cost generally utilized to Baha’i religion members.
September 28, 2024: Baha’i citizen Mahboub Habibi was arrested in Shiraz by Islamic Republic brokers, and his spouse, Negar Misaghian, additionally a Baha’i, was arrested on September 18, 2024.
September 25, 2024: Fifteen Baha’i ladies had been retried in Isfahan for “selling” their spiritual beliefs after a June 2024 sentence of 5 years in jail.
September 23, 2024: Baha’i couple Soudabeh Mehdinejad and Shahin Mavedat had been arrested at their house in Gorgan, with Islamic Republic brokers confiscating digital gadgets and Baha’i literature.
September 18, 2024: Baha’i citizen Negar Misaghian was arrested at her house in Shiraz, southern Iran. Agents additionally confiscated her cellphone, laptop computer, and passport.
September 16, 2024: Several Baha’is in Tabriz had been arrested throughout coordinated raids by Ministry of Intelligence brokers, together with Sina Aghdasi, Azam Azmoudeh, and Iraj Norasteh. Homes had been searched, and private belongings had been confiscated.
September 9, 2024: The Kerman Appeals Court confirmed a two-year and one-month jail sentence for Baha’i Paridokht Shojaie Baghini with out holding a listening to. Shojaie was charged with “deviant instructional or propaganda actions opposite to or disturbing Islamic regulation.”
September 2024: Ten Baha’i ladies had been summoned by the Islamic Revolutionary Justice of the Peace in Isfahan, central Iran, for allegedly selling their religion: Neda Badakhsh, Arzou Sobhanian, Yeganeh Rouhbakhsh, Mojgan Shahrezaei, Parastou Hakim, Yeganeh Agahi, Bahareh Lotfi, Shana Shoghifar, Negin Khademi, and Neda Emadi.
Early September 2024: Baha’i residents Shiva Kashani-Nejad and Mojgan Samimi had been sentenced by Branch 3 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Rasht to 2 years and in the future in jail, fines, and extra punishments.
August 5, 2024: Matin Fahandej Saadi, a 34-year-old Baha’i, was arrested by IRGC brokers in Kerman. His house was raided, and private belongings had been confiscated.
July 29, 2024: Baha’i Nahid Behrouzi was arrested by safety brokers in Karaj and charged with “propagating the Baha’i religion.”
Mid-July 2024: Baha’i researcher Mojgan Salmanzadeh was arrested whereas touring in West Azerbaijan province.
June 2024: Sentences had been upheld towards three Baha’is, Hassan Salehi, Vahid Dana, and Saeid Abedi, who had been initially sentenced in October 2023 to house arrest and fines for “sectarian propaganda” and “membership in unlawful sects.”
July 2024: Baha’i citizen Roya Sabet, arrested in February 2024, was reported in important well being as a consequence of a extreme drop in blood strain whereas in detention in Shiraz.
June 9, 2024: Baha’i Tahereh Norouzi was arrested by safety brokers in Shiraz.
May 28, 2024: Security brokers destroyed a rice farm belonging to Baha’i households in Mazandaran province.
May 28, 2024: Baha’i Nazila Khanipour and her son Vesal Heravi had been arrested in Rasht, and Baha’i Sepideh Rashidi was arrested the day earlier than in Ahvaz.
April 2024: Fifteen Baha’i ladies in Isfahan had been issued arrest warrants for allegedly selling their religion by organizing instructional courses for kids, which is prohibited in Iran.
April 2024: Baha’i Anisa Fanaian was sentenced to 16 years in jail for “organizing a gaggle to undermine nationwide safety” and “propaganda towards the state.” She was energetic in offering schooling to deprived youngsters.
March 2024: Three members of a Baha’i household in Bojnurd, northeast Iran, had been convicted for “partaking in instructional actions and propaganda towards Sharia regulation,” receiving jail sentences and fines.
March 2024: Islamic Republic authorities demolished over 30 Baha’i graves at Khavaran Cemetery in Tehran, eradicating grave markers and bulldozing the burial websites.
February 2024: Fifteen Baha’is went on trial in Qaemshahr for “deviant instructional and propaganda actions opposite to Islamic Sharia.”
February 13, 2024: Two Baha’i ladies, Mina Karami and Nooshin Mesbah, started serving jail sentences for training their religion.
February 2024: Keyvan Rahimian was sentenced to 5 years in jail for offering schooling to Baha’is, who’re banned from Iranian universities.
January 2024: Baha’i Soroush Ighani reported to Adelabad Prison to serve a six-month sentence for his religion, whereas Mina Karami was summoned to serve a five-year time period.
January 2024: Baha’i Hoorieh Mohseni was sentenced to 3 years in jail for “membership in teams aiming to disturb nationwide safety” and “propaganda towards the state.”
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