Thirteen years on, the MDG values are as imperative as ever

Scott Sheeran (L) and Dr Ahmed Shaheed (R)

LONDON – At a seminar in Parliament on December 18, Dr Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, expressed concern over an Iranian state policy of excluding from higher education those it deems “ideologically unsound,” such as minorities, political activists, and women.

Dr Shaheed described the discriminatory policies of the Iranian government as, “eroding progress made in female enrolment in post-secondary institutions, creating significant obstacles for minority access, punishing political, cultural, and human rights activists for exercising their civil and political rights, and undermining academic freedom.”

In his recent report to the UN General Assembly, Dr Shaheed reported that Iran is still far behind fulfilling its obligations under international law to treat women as equal to men, because gross inequalities in the Iranian legal system have not yet been rectified.

Dr Shaheed, whose mandate as UN Special Rapporteur was reconfirmed by the UN Human Rights Council in March this year, stated the importance of global scrutiny of Iran on its human rights record. “The international community has an indispensable role to play in continuing to support the voices of Iranian citizens that continue to demand that the right to education become a reality for all,” said Dr Shaheed.

At the seminar, organised by the All Party Parliamentary Friends of the Bahá’ís Group and chaired by Nic Dakin MP, Dr Shaheed sat alongside a panel of experts on human rights in Iran.

Tahirih Danesh, a researcher on women’s rights, added her voice to the international chorus of voices condemning Iran’s recent move to ban women from access to 77 higher education courses across Iran.

Left to right: Scott Sheeran, Dr Ahmed Shaheed, Nic Dakin, Daniel Wheatley, Tahirih Danesh

Recognising the contributions that women have made towards advancing justice in Iran, Ms Danesh paid tribute to imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh who was awarded the EU’s Sacharov prize on the same day.

Scott Sheeran, Director of the Human Rights in Iran unit at the University of Essex Human Rights Centre explained the complex nexus of rights that relate to the right to education. As well as education, it included the rights to non-discrimination and equality before the law, the freedoms of expression and religion, and the rights of minorities.

Daniel Wheatley of the UK Bahá’í community shared details of the lengths to which Iran’s government has gone to exclude Bahá’ís, Iran’s largest religious minority, from access to education. The Bahá’í Institute of Higher Education (BIHE) was set up as a distance learn

ing university in response to the denial of access to education, however Iranian authorities have repeatedly raided homes where classes take place, and imprisoned the teachers holding classes.

Last week, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution on human rights in Iran. The resolution expressed “deep concern” over the limitation of access to higher education for women and also over the imprisonment of Bahá’í educators and students. The resolution passed with 86 in favour, 32 against and 65 abstentions.

Naomi Long MP, the Member of Parliament for Belfast East, spoke of a recent intensification of the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran, with a strong emphasis on the Baha’is in Semnan at the debate.

Naomi Long MP and Alistair Burt MP. (c) Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Parliamentary Copyright

In Semnan, a town to the east of Tehran, Baha’is have been subjected to arson attacks on homes and businesses, Baha’i students are expelled from secondary schools, Baha’i owned businesses are closed down resulting in the losses of jobs for both Baha’i and non-Baha’i employees, and schoolchildren have been incited to commit acts of violence against their Baha’i classmates.

“The situation is clearly grave,” said Ms Long, “and the treatment of the Baha’i community is an indicator of the lengths to which the Iranian authorities are willing to go in the persecution of religious and cultural minorities.”Ms Long referred to the recent reports of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the  UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Dr Ahmed Shaheed.

In his report released last month, Mr Ban described the persecution of the Baha’is as “systematic” and included “severe socio-economic pressure and arrests and detention.” Dr Shaheed in his report also describes a “deeply troubling picture of the overall human rights situation in Iran, including many concerns which are systemic in nature.”

UK Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt responded to Ms Long on behalf of the UK government, describing Iran’s treatment of the Baha’i community as “appalling.”Mr Burt made it clear that the Iranian government does not speak for the Iranian people on its human rights record.  Ordinary Iranians are “disturbed that, as a good Muslim nation, they are put in the dock for offences committed by their own government,” said Mr Burt.

“That any state can treat its religious minorities in this way is shocking, and all the more so given the religious underpinning of the current regime and its oft-stated claim to respect human rights,” he added.

Kishan Manocha, Director at the Office of Public Affairs of the Baha’i community of the UK said the debate offers  non-partisan, informed and principled scrutiny of the Iranian government’s persecution of the peaceful Baha’i minority. “The timing of this debate is strategically significant,” said Dr Manocha. “It coincides with two international experts presenting their reports on Iran and also freedom of religion or belief to the UN General Assembly in New York.”

This week, the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, the committee responsible for human rights, heard submissions from Dr Ahmed Shaheed, the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, and Dr Heiner Bielefeldt, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

The debate was attended by members from across the political spectrum. Members of the Alliance, Conservative, Democratic Unionist, Labour, and SDLP parties expressed their support and concern over the treatment of the Iranian Baha’is and others in Iran.

In his concluding remarks, Mr Burt called on the Iranian government to embrace values such as mutual respect and tolerance with regard to its treatment of ordinary Iranian citizens.

“Iran has a shameful record of detentions of human rights defenders, journalists and bloggers, and seems callously ready to use tools such as the death penalty in order to intimidate. The quiet determination of the Baha’is to co-exist peacefully with fellow Iranians as part of a diverse and tolerant Iranian society should be embraced by Iran’s government.”

You can stream the entire of last Wednesday’s debate online from the UK Parliament website (footage starts at 16:30), or read the transcript of the debate here.

This edition includes reflections on what it is to serve in a community, as well as reports on multifaith social action and celebrations to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. We also explore the Festival of Ridvan, which commemorates Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration as a Manifestation of God in 1863, and look at the significance of the Festival for Bahá’ís across the UK today.

A dramatic intensification of persecution of Bahá’ís in the Iranian city of Semnan has been described as “distinctive and alarming” by the Bahá’í International Community.

Dozens of attacks since 2009 against a large number of Semnan’s Bahá’ís have been carried out by officials, semi-official groups, and plainclothes agents.  At least 30 Bahá’ís have been arrested, with several now serving long prison sentences; homes and shops have been targeted by arsonists; and numerous Bahá’í-owned businesses have been shut down by authorities.

Bahá’ís in the city are also facing ongoing harassment, marked by the close and constant surveillance of state security agencies, hate speech from clerics, abuse directed against Bahá’í children, and vandalism of the Bahá’í cemetery.

The Semnan Bahá’í cemetery after it was vandalized in February 2009. Approximately 50 gravestones were demolished and the mortuary building was set on fire.

Coordinated persecution

“It seems that in Semnan the Iranian authorities are oppressing the Bahá’ís with a particular intensity by mobilizing and coordinating official and semi-official elements,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations.

“These include various government offices and departments, the police, the courts, local officials, and the clergy.”

“This coordinated approach is at once distinctive and alarming.  Their aim in all of this is to enforce ever more strongly the government’s long-established policy of seeing that the progress and development of Bahá’ís are blocked,” she said.

For Bahá’ís in Iran oppression has been a feature of life ever since the Faith’s founding in the mid-19th century.  But since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Bahá’ís have faced a government-sponsored strategy of persecution, suffering countless raids, arrests, and imprisonments in a systematic campaign which intensified in 2005 and further escalated in 2008-2009.

The disproportionate number of attacks against Semnan’s Bahá’ís flared up after a series of widely publicized anti-Bahá’í seminars and rallies was organized in the city in late 2008 and 2009.  The homes of some 20 Bahá’ís were subsequently raided by authorities who seized Bahá’í materials, computers, and mobile telephones.  Nine Bahá’ís whose homes were raided were arrested, all on entirely false charges relating purely to their practice of the Bahá’í Faith.

Since 2009, some 26 Bahá’ís from Semnan have been sentenced to a total of more than 70 years in prison

A home in Semnan sprayed with offensive graffiti which, when translated into English, reads: “Down with the pagan Bahá’í. Down with America and Britain.”

Since 2009, some 26 Bahá’ís from Semnan have been sentenced to a total of more than 70 years in prison.  Eight are currently in prison having recently received sentences – ranging from six months to six years.  Additionally, another Bahá’í is serving a period of internal exile upon the completion of his jail term.  A further four are released on bail awaiting trial and eight more are sentenced but free pending appeal or awaiting the summons to begin their imprisonment.  Several more have been interrogated.

Three months ago, Adel Fanaian was sentenced to six years in prison for charges that included “mobilizing a group with the intent to disturb national security” and “propaganda against the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”  These false charges stem simply from his efforts to offer moral development classes for children and youth and help young people obtain a college education.

Bani Dugal noted however that, despite the hateful anti-Bahá’í propaganda disseminated in the city, the majority of Semnan’s citizens reportedly harbour no ill will towards Bahá’ís, and many seek association with them.  “Indeed, many Bahá’ís have Muslims as relatives and close friends,” she said.

“The situation should be carefully examined by all those who seek to restore the due process of law and respect for human rights in Iran.  These attacks carried out by semi-official elements or agents in plainclothes reflect yet another insidious attempt by the Iranian government to flout international standards of justice without overtly calling attention to itself.”

“We call upon governments everywhere to condemn Iran’s flagrant violation of human rights – rights that are set out in international covenants to which Iran is a signatory.”

With thanks to the Bahá’í World News Service.  Further information, including a Special Report about the situation in Semnan, can be found on the Bahá’í World News Service website.

Participants gathered at the National Baha’i Centre to celebrate work towards the equality of women and men

Comedian Omid Djalili joined equality activist Annette Lawson and representatives from UK civil society at the National Bahá’í Centre, on 18 July, to celebrate work towards the equality of women and men.

“The equality of women and men is not just a cause to be championed by women; it is for both sexes to pursue,” said Zarin Hainsworth, a member of the Bahá’í Faith who serves on its elected national administrative body.  This year she was included in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for work towards the equality of women and men.

“Recognition of one person doing this work is recognition of the importance of the work itself”

Representatives from a range of organisations, including the Women’s Federation for World Peace, UN Women UK, and Soroptimist International, joined academics and journalists at the gathering.  “Without the support of all of those working towards the equality of women and men I could not have achieved so much,” said Mrs Hainsworth.  “This is a collective effort.  Recognition of one person doing this work is recognition of the importance of the work itself, and everyone involved in it, and I feel it is an accolade for all of us.”

Mr Djalili, who frequently uses his comedy to highlight issues of social justice, and Dr Lawson, chair of the National Alliance of Womens Organisations (NAWO), both spoke on the importance of bringing gender issues to the attention of government and civil society.  NAWO has been a leader in lobbying and campaigning on women’s issues, and has been heavily involved with various international agencies at the United Nations on the equality of women and men.

Kishan Manocha, speaking on behalf of the Bahá’í community, said that the principle of the equality of women and men is a fundamental truth and is at the core of Bahá’í beliefs.  “Until women and men are equal,” he said, “the collective prosperity of the human race cannot be achieved.”  Increasingly it is recognised that faith communities have a vital, positive role to play in bringing about this equality.

Annette Lawson addressing the gathering

Unity of thought

Dr Lawson expressed how important it is to have a strong belief system behind work of this particular nature.  “Though I do not practice any faith, I have an incredibly strong belief system.  Those working in the area of the equality of women and men often share the same core beliefs, and these shared values enable us to better pursue this work together.”

Mr Djalili personally expressed his good wishes and admiration for the work that Mrs Hainsworth and her colleagues have done in this area and, true to character, infused plenty of humour into the event.  “As the old saying goes,” he quipped, “behind every man there is a good woman.  That’s actually incorrect.  In my case, it’s behind a great woman there’s a fat bald man struggling to keep up.”

The Bahá’í community has been actively engaged in work for the equality of women and men since its inception and continues in this endeavour at local, national and international levels, including through participation in the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Queen's University, Belfast

The Students’ Union Council at Queen’s University, Belfast, passed a robustly-worded motion on 26 April expressing outrage at the Iranian government’s practice of denying access to higher education on the basis of ethnicity or belief.

The full text of the motion is written below.

“This is a tremendously positive intervention”, said Soha Graham, a student at Queen’s.  “Access to higher education is an issue that’s naturally close to all our hearts, and it is important to shine a spotlight on those who would deny this right to others.”

In violation of article 26 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, human rights campaigners, women’s rights activists, and members of ethnic and religious minorities whose views as regarded as inimical to Iran’s government, are expelled or refused entry to university.

The experience of Iran’s Bahá’í community, which numbers around 300,000, is a stark example of this injustice

The experience of Iran’s Bahá’í community, which numbers around 300,000, is a stark example of this injustice.   According to a 1991 government memorandum, refusing access to higher education forms part of a strategy to block the “development and progress” of the whole community.

What is more, even the Iranian Bahá’í community’s own informal initiative to educate themselves – known as the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) – has been unjustly attacked and declared illegal.  A number of its educators remain behind bars following raids and arrests in May 2011.

Responding to these egregious human rights abuses, the Council at Queen’s mandated its Executive Management Committee to openly condemn Iran’s policy of discrimination in a public statement.  It endorsed Can You Solve This?, an international grassroots campaign concerned with access to higher education in Iran.  In addition, it called on the Committee to adopt “a policy to assist … BIHE thus allowing us to build links through education and resource sharing that will benefit the Bahá’í community in Iran during a time of oppression and open persecution.”

The motion was tabled by students at the university following a damning seminar about higher education in Iran.  The seminar featured a screening of Education Under Fire, a recent documentary film on the subject, and contributions from a panel of prominent speakers including the University’s Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Tony Gallagher, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissioner and a representative from Amnesty International.

“Receiving education is a fundamental human right”

Rajiv Perumal, a student at Nottingham University who has been actively involved with Can You Solve This?, said, “it is heartening to see such a strong response from Queen’s University.  Receiving education is a fundamental human right.  Hopefully other universities in the UK will look to Queen’s as an example and do their bit to ensure that this right is upheld across the world.”

Full text of motion

• Council Notes: That everyone has the right to education which should be universally accessible on the basis of merit as stated in article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• Council recognises: The Importance of Education in the promotion of understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups.
• Council Notes: That many young people in Iran today, including student activists, women’s rights activists, human rights defenders and members of religious and ethnic minorities, are barred from universities and institutions of higher learning because they have political views, social affiliations or religious convictions rejected by the Islamic Republic.
• Council further notes with outrage: That the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently employed a policy that members of the Bahá’í Community (Iran’s largest ethnic minority of at least 300,000 members) must be expelled from universities, either in the admission process or during the course of their studies, once it becomes known that they are Bahá’ís.”
• Council further recognises: That peer-reviewed academic literature have stated that the members of the Bahá’í community in Iran have been subjected to unwarranted arrests, false imprisonment, beatings, torture, unjustified executions, confiscation and destruction of property owned by individuals and the Bahá’í community, denial of employment, denial of government benefits, denial of civil rights and liberties, and, above all, denial of access to higher education.
• Council resolves: To mandate the Executive Management Committee to openly condemn the Iranian government for denying young people access to higher education on the basis of their beliefs by releasing a public statement to this effect.
• Council further resolves: To mandate the Executive Management Committee to promote the right to education for members of the Bahá’í Faith in Iran specifically by engaging with the Queen’s University Bahá’í Society and their Can You Solve This campaign (http://can-you-solve-this.org/uk/) whilst also adopting a policy to assist The Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) thus allowing us to build links through education and resource sharing that will benefit the Bahá’í community in Iran during a time of oppression and open persecution.