Message-ID: <KF16+SOB7lA@ssc.msu.edu> Date: Fri, 16 Feb 1996 14:05:59 EST From: Don Osbor <mailto:don.osborn@SSC.MSU.EDU> Subject: Baha'i in Iran Gets Death Sentence To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Attached are two news releases concerning the recent death sentence for "apostasy" given to a Baha'i in Iran. I've also written a brief preface as background. I thought this would be of interest to the Devel-L list since human rights is of course essential to any true development (and since the topic of human rights has come up on this list).Baha'is have been persecuted in varying degrees by the authorities in Iran since the inception of the Faith in the middle of the last century. That persecution became much harsher and more systematic under the government in power since 1979. The execution of over two hundred Baha'is for their religious beliefs, the destruction of Baha'i buildings and holy sites, and the denial of basic human rights in many domains has caused regular condemnation by human rights agencies of the UN and many governments around the world. Thankfully the most overt form of persecution--execution--has become less frequent in recent years, due probably to international reaction. But the announcement of another death sentence for a Baha'i serves to remind us of the quiet daily suffering of the Baha'is in Iran.
One note concerning the Reuters report: Baha'is would not of course describe their Faith in terms of being an "offshoot" or being "created," but these are minor concerns in light of the current situation.
Don Osborn mailto:don.osborn@ssc.msu.edu Michigan State University _________________________________________________________________________
Bahai gets death sentence in Iran -French report PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuter) - An Islamic revolutionary court in Iran has sentenced to death a 49-year-old Bahai for apostasy, returning to his original faith after converting to Islam, the French branch of the Bahai faith said on Sunday. Dhabihu'llah Mahrami, an Agriculture Department employee in Yazd province, will also have all his possessions confiscated according to the court's ruling handed down in the past few days, a Bahai spokeswoman said. Mahrami, born a Bahai, was accused of converting to Islam in 1981 to avoid being fired from his government job but returned to the Bahai faith seven years later, according to translations of court documents provided by the French Bahais. ``The Bahais of France fear that this verdict marks a resumption of open persecution against our co-religionists in Iran. ``Thanks to the pressures of international opinion, executions had stopped...but there were still more subtle persecutions aimed at strangling them economically and repressing them socially,'' she said. The Bahai faith, an off-shoot of Islam, was created in Iran 150 years ago. It says it has six million members worldwide including 350,000 in Iran where, according to the court documents released in Paris, it is officially considered ``a misleading and wayward sect.'' The last execution of a Bahai in Iran was in 1992 when Bahman Samandari, a leading community member, was executed. REUTER
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WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Spokesman for the U.S. Department of State today condemned Iran's action in sentencing an Iranian Baha'i to death for apostasy.
Representatives of the American Baha'i community welcomed U.S. Government support for the Iranian Baha'is and urged other governments and the United Nations to join in protesting the death sentence.
Following are the official State Department statement and an explanation of the case released by the U.S. Baha'i group, which represents 120,000 American Baha'is. There are more than 300,000 Baha'is in Iran, by far the largest religious minority group in that country.
Official statement from the U.S. Department of State spokesman Nicholas Burns, Feb. 15, 1996:
"We have learned that a court of the Government of Iran has sentenced a member of the Baha'i faith, Mr. Zabihullah Mahrami, to death for apostasy.
"The United States Government strongly condemns the conviction and the sentence and calls upon the Iranian Government to repudiate them, to release Mr. Mahrami, and to take all steps necessary to ensure his safety.
"The United States further calls on the Government of Iran to cease its persecution of the Baha'i and other religious minorities and to comply with the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights."
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States issued the following explanation of the case:
* Yazd Court Sentences Baha'i: Mr. Zabihullah Mahrami, a 49-year-old Baha'i, was convicted of apostasy and sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Courts of the Province of Yazd (January 2, 1996). The sentence has been appealed to Iran's Supreme Court. The timing of the Supreme Court consideration is not known.
* Verdict finds apostasy based upon rejection of Islam: The court maintains that Mr. Mahrami, who was born into a Baha'i family, became a Moslem in 1981 and that after seven years, he returned to the Baha'i Faith. He was arrested on September 6, 1995 on charges of apostasy. The verdict states that on three occasions (October-December, 1995), Mr. Mahrami reaffirmed his Baha'i beliefs and refused to repent his alleged apostasy, although he would be spared the death sentence if he embraced Islam.
The court found Mr. Mahrami guilty of "denouncing the blessed religion of Islam and accepting the beliefs of the wayward Baha'i sect (national apostasy)."
* Threat to Christians and other converts from Islam: Iran officially recognizes Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism as religions whose members are afforded legal protection. If this verdict is upheld, however, an adherent of one of these religions who had converted from Islam could be prosecuted and would face the death penalty for apostasy. (Note: Iran does not recognize the Baha'i Faith as a legitimate religion, and all Iranian Baha'is are regarded as "unprotected infidels." In defining apostasy, however, Iranian clerics distinguish between Baha'is born into a Baha'i family and those who converted from Islam to the Baha'i Faith.)
* Action violates international law: The Yazd court verdict violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Iran is signatory. The Covenant specifically provides for an individual's right to have a religion, not to have a religion, or to change his religion.
* Baha'is urge protest against Iranian action: Baha'is in the U.S. and other countries urge government action and public protest to persuade Iran to set aside this verdict and to permit free choice of religion, according to international law.
* Three other Baha'is under death sentence: Two Baha'is condemned to death in 1992 for membership in the Baha'i Faith are still in prison in Karaj and have appealed to the Supreme Court. The third was released from prison in late 1993 but still faces charges of apostasy and could be rearrested.
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