YOUR TURN: Baha’i faith group speaks against religious persecution

Kousari's views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. write to Gwen at gkousari@bsu.edu.

This past week, the city of Muncie and Ball State University celebrated the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr. with cultural food dinners, art exhibits and discussions on civil rights.

Related to these events is a continuing human rights issue of great concern to members of the Baha'i religion in Muncie involving seven members of the Baha'i Faith currently imprisoned in Iran.

The five men and two women were members of a national-level group known as the "Yaran-i-Iran" (friends of Iran) that formerly attended to the spiritual and social needs of Iran's 300,000-member Baha'i community — Iran's largest religion minority.

Twenty months after being imprisoned without charge, their trial began on January 12, 2010 and ended on June 14, 2010. Although the first session was closed to the public, accounts in government-sponsored news media said the defendants were formally charged with espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, establishment of an illegal administration, cooperation with Israel, sending secret documents outside the country, acting against the security of the country and corruption on earth.

All charges were emphatically denied, and evidence was given of Baha'is' non-involvement in politics. Since then, the seven were given sentences of 20 years each, reduced to 10. Today, they languish in prison.

Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, one of the lawyers representing the seven, explained she had carefully read the dossier of charges against the seven Baha'is and "found in it no cause or evidence to sustain the criminal charges upheld by the prosecutor."

Members of the Yaran have suffered terrible physical and psychological hardships while in prison. Their crime, though, is nothing more than being members of the Baha'i Faith, a religion that has been the focus of a systematic, government-sponsored persecution in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

Since then, more than 200 Baha'is have been killed, hundreds more imprisoned and thousands deprived of jobs, education, pensions and the freedom to worship. Additionally, Baha'i cemeteries have been destroyed, houses burned and businesses attacked. Although other groups in Iran are oppressed, Baha'is are persecuted solely because of their religious belief.

In a 2004 letter from the Iranian Baha'is to their government they stated that "they are well-wishers of the people and the state; they do not involve themselves with any political party; and they tenaciously uphold their faith's principles, which call on them to love and serve the entire human race and to bring about peace, amity and unity of religion."

The world's news media have long reported on the persecution of Baha'is in Iran, which worsened drastically after the 1979 Revolution. Sadly, continued international monitoring remains the only form of protection for Iran's Baha'is.

In 2006, President Bush called on the Iranian government to "respect the religious freedom of all its minorities and to ensure that these minorities are free to practice their religious beliefs without discrimination or fear."

Indeed, Iran was a signer of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. Article 18 of that document states that everyone has the right "to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance and teaching." Yet, Baha'is today in Iran enjoy no rights of any sort and can be attacked or persecuted with impunity.

When human rights violations occur, they affect us all. We in Muncie feel compelled to speak out against a government that persecutes one group by denying them employment, education and freedom.

On Thursday, January 27, a public program will be held at 7 p.m. in Ball State's Student Center Forum Room to remember the imprisoned Baha'is in Iran and to offer prayers for their release as well as for religious tolerance throughout the world.

Over 160 years ago, the founder of the Baha'i Faith observed, "The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens," while exhorting his followers: "Let your vision be world-embracing."

The Baha'i Faith is the youngest of the world's independent religions, with over 5 million adherents in the world. Its teachings include reverence for all world religions, elimination of all forms of prejudice, equality of men and women and universal peace.