Semnan, Iran

[Edior: Semnan seems to be a testing ground of systematic anti-Baha'i activities in form of persecution, arrests, refusal to education, and refusal of all community life including burial. Iran Press Watch has carried many stories covering these actions against the Baha'is in Semnan.

You may wish to ask Mr Khosravi, the Mayor of Semnan, if he is aware of this systematic persecution of the Baha'is in his city. you can use his website: click here. or email him at khosravi@semnan.ir]

The Life of Mr Hedayati, a Baha’i Resident of Semnan

RAHANA – Semnan, known for its carpets and textile industry, is a small city at the southern foot of the Alborz Mountains in Northern Iran. The small city is also a fertile breeding ground for anti-Baha’i activities, and the anonymity prevalent in larger cities is non-existent. Members of the city’s Baha’i community are regularly harassed, their houses and businesses set on fire, and their cemetery desecrated by unidentified gangs – gangs that walk away unpunished and unprosecuted by the authorities. For their part, city and government authorities have not stopped bullying the Baha’i community, with tactics ranging from flat-out arrests and day long interrogations to refusal to issue burial permits for the deceased members of the community.

Read Full Story

Complete lack of news about an imprisoned Baha’i

As reported by Harana, no information is available about Lua Khanjani, a Baha’i resident of Tehran, who was arrested along with her husband, Babak Mobash-sher, on 13th of Dey [3 Jan 3010]. With a lapse of 45 days after her arrest, she had had no telephone contact nor any visit with her family. Furthermore, lack of any response by authorities and their not allowing her to have a lawyer have intensified worries of her family.

Read Full Story

Five Baha’i websites blocked

On the morning of the 2nd of Esfand [21 Feb. 2010], five websites hosted by members of the Baha’i community of Iran, by the names of Viewpoint, Disturbance in the City, Recognition of Baha’u'llah, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, and Introduction to Baha’i sites, were simultaneously blocked.

Read Full Story

5 Baha’i Residents of Shiraz Sentenced to 10 Months in Prison
March 1, 2010 (HRANA) Five Baha’i residents of Shiraz were convicted of propaganda against the regime by Branch 1 of Shiraz Revolutionary Court and were each sentenced to 10 months in prison.

HRANA – According to the Committee of Human Rights Activists, 5 Baha’i residents of Shiraz, Haleh Hooshmandi, Keyvan Karami, Farham (Hadi) Masoomi, Afshin Ahsanian and Vahdat Dana, were tried by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz and were sentenced to 10 months in prison on the charge of propaganda against the regime.

Read Full Story

First session of trial of two Baha’is
Rahana, Tuesday 4 Esfand 1388 [23 February 2010]

Taraneh and Naghmeh Ghanooni

The trial hearing for Taraneh Ghanooni and Naghmeh Ghanooni was held today – it lasted ten minutes.

Read Full Story

[Editor: Dr. Payam Akhavan is a Founder and Board Member of Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre:

Payam Akhavan, LL.B., LL.M, S.J.D. (Professor, McGill University Faculty of Law): Payam Akhavan is Professor of International Law at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He earned his Doctorate from Harvard Law School and was previously Senior Fellow at Yale Law School and Distinguished Visiting Professor at University of Toronto. He is the author of numerous publications and his 2001 article "Beyond Impunity" in the American Journal of International Law has been recognized as one of “the most significant published journal essays in contemporary legal studies.”

See http://www.iranhrdc.org/httpdocs/English/boardmembers.htm]

The Baha’i Community, Human Rights, and the Construction of a New Iranian Identity
A Lecture by Dr. Payam Akhavan in Chicago

February 24th, 2010

Human rights and Iranian identity

What does it mean to be Iranian? What does it mean to be a human being? These are the questions confronting theIranian

people at this crucial juncture in their long history. In the incredible and unforgettable scenes that have unfolded in the streets of Tehran, and Isfahan, and Shiraz, and Tabriz, and Mashhad, and Ahvaz, and every other city and town in Iran, we are witnessing a struggle far greater than a mere political contest between different presidential candidates. We are witnessing a struggle for the soul of the nation; a struggle to build a new identity for the Iranian people. The encounter between the protestors and their tormentors is an encounter between the dark past and the bright future. It is an encounter between violence and non-violence, between the courage of those that are willing to sacrifice their lives for justice, and the cowardice of those that savagely beat and murder the defenseless. It is an encounter between the best and worst potentials inherent in humankind.

Read Full Story