A community "under fire":

arthra

Baha'i
Messages
3,786
Reaction score
229
Points
63
Location
Redlands, California
The Baha'is of Semnan: A community under fire
The Baha'is of Semnan: A community under fire - Bahá'í World News Service


NEW YORK, 16 July 2012, (BWNS) – A dramatic intensification of persecution of Baha'is in the Iranian city of Semnan has been described as "distinctive and alarming" by the Baha'i International Community.

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

Baha'is 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 Baha'i children, and vandalism of the Baha'i cemetery.

"It seems that in Semnan the Iranian authorities are oppressing the Baha'is with a particular intensity by mobilizing and coordinating official and semi-official elements," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i 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 Baha'is are blocked," she said.

For Baha'is 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, Baha'is 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 Baha'is flared up after a series of widely publicized anti-Baha'i seminars and rallies was organized in the city in late 2008 and 2009. The homes of some 20 Baha'is were subsequently raided by authorities who seized Baha'i materials, computers, and mobile telephones. Nine Baha'is whose homes were raided were arrested, all on entirely false charges relating purely to their practice of the Baha'i Faith.

Since 2009, some 26 Baha'is 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 Baha'i 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-Baha'i propaganda disseminated in the city, the majority of Semnan's citizens reportedly harbor no ill will towards Baha'is, and many seek association with them. "Indeed, many Baha'is 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."

The Baha'i World News Service has published a Special Report at The Baha?is of Semnan - A Case Study in Religious Hatred - Bahá'í World News Service. The site includes articles, information and resources related to the case of the Baha'is of Semnan. It reports the systematic campaign of persecution in the city, a chronology of major incidents, and provides background information on incitement to hatred and Iran's blueprint for the strangulation of the Baha'i community.



To read the article online and view photographs, go to:
The Baha'is of Semnan: A community under fire - Bahá'í World News Service

For the Baha'i World News Service home page, go to:
Bahá'í World News Service - Bahá'í International Community
 
Is there anyone that doesn't know Iran is an oppressive regime? Or that religious persecution is prevalent around the world?

Russia for how long had zero tolerance for religion? Saudi Arabia and Christians...how do they get along?

Religions and those that are religious in these areas have a couple of sane choices, one is to go underground and the other is to move or not practice...moving is not always a choice...I know.

But for the life of me, I do not know why folks focus on the continual abuses...
 
Yep, we know Iran is perhaps the definition of repressive. Russia is intolerant of religion, yep, knew that right after Nov 1918. Saudis and Christians? We have known about this since before WWI.

One always has the choice to move but in the end, does it matter? We know about abuses (especially Iran under the Ayatollahs vis a vis the Bahai's or the Zorastrians).
 
So doesn't their defying the laws of the land by definition make them martyrs....

Isn't this a choice they continue to flaunt....and work toward fomenting change?

How should we respond to that, what is expected??
 
what I don't understand is.... why can I feel waves of pessimism here?

"Yeah, we know"...
"so what"...

Or is that just me?
I can see how it could be construed as apathy, but pessimism?

I don't know, I guess maybe. Maybe it is me. I contemplate 'what we resist persists' the continuous barage of 'we are being attacked' everywhere...whether it is clowns, lawyers, minorities, religions...is all such a waste of time in my mind.

Move forward...water has enough sense to go around rocks and wear them down....it doesn't just sit and try to go through them all the time...
 
So... persecuted minorities should just pack up and go home, Wil?

I know you don't mean that... or rather, I HOPE you don't mean that...

And yes, you're right -- I should've said "apathy"...
 
So doesn't their defying the laws of the land . . .?

Save that Baha'is are under obligation (from their own scriptures) to OBEY the laws of the land!!

The only thing they may not do is deny their Faith.

And as to why Baha'is and others make such a big deal out of this, perhaps you're not aware that in addition to Baha'is' being persecuted and jailed for their religions beliefs, hundreds of Baha'is have also been executed for them over the past few decades!
 
Thanks all for your posts and welcome to the Baha'i section of Interfaith online!


One of the reasons I post these incidents is because they are often not seen in regular media...

If Baha'is themselves don't share this news who will and where will you read it?

Another reason is that people can identify with the plight of those suffering and in some cases actually have a voice or indicate their objection to the continued persecutions...

As long as we receive reports about people like Adel Fanaian being deprived of their freedoms we'll share the information! :)
 
Yes, I know they are being executed, hence my reason for identifying them as martyrs...

I guess I am just a pussy.... where there is religious freedom I'll practice my beliefs freely..

Yes, me thinks if I were to live in a society and couldn't get out, and my family and I would be persecuted for outwardly displaying our beliefs....and likely killed....I'd go underground.
 
Courtesy of the Baha’i World News Service.
  • graffiti-home.jpg
    A home in Semnan sprayed with offensive graffiti which, when translated into English, reads: “Down with the pagan Baha’i. Down with America and Britain.”
    Download image
  • business-sealed.jpg
    A Baha’i-owned business in Semnan after being sealed by the local authorities.
    Download image
  • business-sealed-notice.jpg
    A Baha’i-owned business in Semnan is posted with a notice saying that it has been sealed by the local authorities.
    Download image
  • mortuary-arson-outside.jpg
    A mortuary building used to prepare bodies at the Semnan Baha’i cemetery was fire-bombed in February 2009. The graffiti painted on the wall, when translated into English, reads: “Death to Israel.”
    Download image
  • mortuary-arson-interior.jpg
    Interior view of a mortuary building used to prepare bodies in the Semnan Baha’i cemetery, after being attacked by arsonists in February 2009.
    Download image
  • graves.jpg
    Graves in the Semnan Baha’i cemetery after it was vandalized in February 2009. Approximately 50 gravestones were demolished and the mortuary building was set on fire.
    Download image
  • cemetery.jpg
    The Semnan Baha’i cemetery after it was vandalized in February 2009. Approximately 50 gravestones were destroyed and the mortuary building was set on fire.
    Download image
  • water-drums-graffiti.jpg
    Anti-Baha’i graffiti sprayed on steel water drums and tanks at the Semnan Baha’i cemetery. The graffiti, when translated into English, calls Baha’is “filthy pagans” and threatens, “We will kill you all.”
 
Back
Top