We stand in solidarity with all those of the Baha’i Faith and urge leaders around the world to condemn Iran’s persecution
Photo: Baha’i Temple in Wilmette, Illinois
WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–August 2, 2013. U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (US) and Hon. Irwin Cotler (CA), co-chairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Group for Human Rights in Iran, today condemned Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for his call to intensify religious persecution of Iran’s Bahá’í minority. Yesterday, Khamenei called the members of the Bahá’í Faith “deviant and misleading” and issued a religious edict for Iranians to avoid interaction with Bahá’ís. Kirk and Cotler issued the following statement:
“We condemn the Supreme Leader’s fatwa calling on its citizens to marginalize members of the Bahá’í Faith.
“Just days before Hassan Rouhani is set to take office, it is clear Iran remains committed to systemic religious persecution and human rights abuses. A regime that does not recognize the basic human dignity of its people will never be an honest broker in the international community.
“At a time when the Iranian regime is intensifying its campaign against Bahá’ís, we must continue to speak out until the persecution of the Bahá’í community comes to an end. We stand in solidarity with all those of the Baha’i Faith and urge leaders around the world to condemn Iran’s persecution.”
Background:
Baha’is comprise the largest religious minority in Iran, where the Baha’i religion was founded in the 19th century. Its central tenets include unity, peace, and understanding. Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Bahá’ís have been a target of systematic government-sponsored persecution. Roughly 200 Bahá’ís in Iran have been killed by government authorities since 1979 and more than 650 Bahá’ís have been arrested since 2005 alone. On February 28, 2013 UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran reported that there are 110 Baha’is currently imprisoned in Iran solely for practicing their faith. According to the 2013 U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Report, “during the past year, the already poor religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate, especially for religious minorities, in particular for Bahá’ís.”
On March 12, 2013 Senators Kirk and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced S.Res. 75, which condemns the Iranian regime’s continued persecution of its Baha’i minority, calls on the regime to release Baha’i political prisoners and urges President Obama and Secretary Kerry to designate Iranian officials and other individuals directly responsible for egregious human rights violations in Iran.
The Inter-Parliamentary Group for Human Rights in Iran, formed by co-chairs Kirk and Cotler in September 2011, works to combat the Iranian Government’s widespread and systemic violations of human rights and includes an international consortium of parliamentarians from around the world. Its work includes the Global Iranian Political Prisoner Advocacy Program, an initiative pairing Members of Congress and Parliamentarians from around the world with Iranian political prisoners and dissidents whose case and cause they plead.
Source: kirk.senate.gov
