Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic met on 19 January to discuss a resolution condemning the Iranian regime's persecution of Baha'is. The Committee's chair, Dr. Frantisek Sebej, pictured center with red tie, said, "Though I do not expect that the Iranian Government will stop the persecution of Baha'is, at least it will not dare to do more horrific things while thinking that no one is watching and nobody cares."

[BWNS, 20 Jan. 2012] BRATISLAVA, Slovakia —Treatment of the Baha’is in Iran has “escalated to an institutionalised and blatant policy of persecution,” according to a proclamation issued by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Slovakian parliament.

The proclamation describes the Iranian government’s incitement to hatred based on religion and belief as “abhorrent.” It also states that the “regime’s endeavors to persecute Baha’is is chilling indeed,” and demands an end to Iran’s “spiralling efforts to destroy the Iranian Baha’i community.”

Baha’is “must be guaranteed their full and equal human rights” and “be allowed to contribute to the public life and development of Iran along with their fellow citizens,” wrote the Foreign Affairs Committee.

“The fact that this Committee has taken on the situation of Baha’is in Iran is important for two reasons,” said its chairman, Frantisek Sebej.

“One, because the democratic parliaments of the world must care about and deal with the denial of human rights of suppressed minorities in other parts of the world, at least for the reason that we are the luckier ones who live in a free world and have the obligation to care for others.”

Members of the Slovak Republic's Foreign Affairs Committee studied the situation of the Baha'is of Iran at a hearing on 7 December 2011. Addressing the Committee, pictured center, is Andrea Polokova, a representative of the Baha'i community of Slovakia.

“The second reason is that with such a resolution we can help the Baha’i community.”

Noting “a sharp increase in the systematic, government-supported program to destroy the Baha’i community in Iran,” the statement also describes the destruction of Baha’i holy sites and cemeteries as an “atrocious blow to religious cultural heritage of significant value for humankind.” It calls for the immediate release of the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders and the Baha’i educators jailed for their association with the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education.

“At issue are denial of the right to life, liberty and security of person; violent attacks; arbitrary arrests and imprisonments; denial of access to education; confiscation and destruction of personal community property; and the denial of employment, pensions and other benefits,” the proclamation says.

The Committee – which approved the proclamation at a meeting held yesterday in the building of the National Council of the Slovak Republic – also resolved to send the statement to senior figures in Iran, including President Ahmadinejad.

“Though I do not expect that the Iranian Government will stop the persecution of Baha’is,” said Dr. Sebej, “at least it will not dare to do more horrific things while thinking that no one is watching and nobody cares.”

Further information

The International Reaction page of the Baha’i World News service is regularly updated with responses from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and prominent individuals, to actions taken against the Baha’is of Iran.

—

Source: http://news.bahai.org/story/882

Members of the UK Parliament taking part in a debate on 11 January on Iran's human rights violations. Pictured from left to right: Alistair Burt, MP for North East Bedfordshire and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside; Andrew Selous, MP for South West Bedfordshire; and Kerry McCarthy, MP for Bristol East.

[BWNS, 13 Jan. 2012] LONDON — Members of Parliament here have sharply criticized Iran for its human rights violations, focusing especially on the “steep rise” in the persecution of religious minorities.

In a debate held at Westminster Hall on Wednesday 11 January, MPs highlighted the fact that virtually every religious minority in Iran is now facing oppression.

Some 19 MPs, representing the UK’s three major parties, participated in the debate.

Watch video coverage of the debate, here.
Read a transcript of the debate, here.

In the opening speech, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, described the persecution of Baha’is as “pervasive and escalating dangerously.”

“The repression takes a number of forms in an ongoing and systematic persecution,” said Mrs. Ellman. “It means arbitrary arrest and imprisonment and the denial of access to higher education and areas of employment. The homes and businesses of Baha’is have been subject to arson attacks, cemeteries have been destroyed, and children have been harassed.”

She also expressed concern over the 20-year prison sentences being served by seven Baha’i leaders and Iran’s continuing effort to bar young Baha’is from higher education.

Noting remarks made recently by Canadian Senator Romeo Dallaire, Mrs. Ellman said that it “is extremely important that the world does not wait until there is a genocide. It should heed warning and take further action to put pressure on the Government of Iran to stop what they are doing.”

Participants also raised the issue of the increasing persecution of Christians in Iran. Andrew Selous, MP for South West Bedfordshire, reported that at least eight Christian leaders have been murdered since 1979, and expressed particular concern over the case of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was sentenced to death for apostasy in 2010 and has since been the focus of an international outcry.

Stewart Jackson, MP for Peterborough, spoke of “regular raids on gatherings” of Christians, “harsh interrogations and torture…including demands for the recantation of faith and for information on the identities of fellow Christians; detention for long periods without charge and other violations of due process; convictions for ill-defined crimes or on falsified political charges; the economic targeting of the Christian community through the demand of exorbitant bail payments; and the threat of imminent execution of a house-church pastor.”

Regarding Iran’s Jewish community, Martin Horwood, MP for Cheltenham, reported “increasing evidence that anti-Semitism is growing there, and that the small Jewish community there is being blamed for the actions of the Israeli Government.”

At the end of the debate, Alistair Burt, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said that while 2011 showed that demands for human dignity are irrepressible, Iran is moving in the opposite direction.

“Human rights are universal,” said Mr. Burt, “and Iran’s failure to meet its obligations is punishing and stifling the fulfilment of the wishes and aspirations of millions of people.”

Mr. Burt assured those present that the UK will continue to press other countries to support resolutions expressing concern over Iran’s human rights record in the United Nations and at the Human Rights Council.

Dr. Kishan Manocha, Director of the Office of Public Affairs of the Baha’i Community of the United Kingdom, has welcomed the wide ranging discussion.

“The fact that such a good number of MPs, representing all parties, participated really reflects a high level of concern about Iran’s human rights record, and especially its rising religious intolerance,” said Dr. Manocha.

“We are, of course, pleased that Baha’is were prominently mentioned,” Dr. Manocha added. “But we are also happy that UK Parliamentarians are focusing on the problems faced by other religious minorities. We need to speak as one on the situation of religious intolerance in Iran.”

Baha’i World News Service coverage of the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran

The Baha’i World News Service has published a Special Section which includes further articles and background information about Iran’s campaign to deny higher education to Baha’is. It contains news of latest developments, a summary of the situation, profiles of imprisoned Baha’i educators, feature articles, case studies and testimonials from students, resources and links.

Another Special Report offers articles and background information about the seven imprisoned Iranian Baha’i leaders – their lives, their imprisonment, trial and sentencing – and the allegations made against them. It also offers further resources about the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community.

The International Reaction page of the Baha’i World News service is regularly updated with responses from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and prominent individuals, to actions taken against the Baha’is of Iran.

The Media Reports page presents a digest of media coverage from around the world.

—

Source: http://news.bahai.org/story/880

Allan Rock

Lloyd Axworthy

[huffingtonpost.ca, 5-Jan-2012] With the eyes of the world on the Arab Spring, the populist struggles in Iran have faded from view. Yet some in Iran continue to face appalling levels of abuse, oppression, and injustice. The hopes for reform in Iran that were raised in June 2009 have proven empty, while the prisons remain full. Political prisoners are routinely tortured and some executed. Prominent among Iranian victims of hidden but unrelenting persecution are members of the Baha’i faith, Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority.

Canada has an important and enduring connection to this vulnerable group. Some 30 years ago, several thousand Baha’i refugees fled Iran to make Canada their home, settling in every province and territory and becoming proud and contributing Canadians.

There are now more than 30,000 Canadians of the Baha’i faith from many different backgrounds who have enriched our country by their citizenship. Following the Iranian Revolution, the Canadian government took steps at the United Nations and elsewhere to defend the rights of the Baha’i in Iran. Successive Canadian Governments have continued that leadership by sponsoring annual resolutions at the United Nations condemning Iran for its oppressive and inhumane policies.

The brutal regime in Tehran has turned a deaf ear. The Baha’i of Iran continue to be systematically persecuted. Over the past few years, many of their leaders have been detained and then sentenced to imprisonment following fraudulent trials. Hundreds more have been thrown into prison solely because of their beliefs. Baha’i businesses have been routinely shut down. Their cemeteries have been desecrated.

Among the many human rights violations that the Baha’i of Iran must endure is the systematic denial of access to higher education.

As Presidents of Canadian universities, we attach enormous value to access by young people to the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in tomorrow’s world. We regard education as the key to a better future for all peoples, and believe passionately that each person has the right to an education.

We are therefore deeply troubled that Iran’s Baha’i, among the most educated members of Iranian society before the revolution in 1979, are denied entry to universities and colleges in their own land. Admirably, rather than responding with violence, the Baha’i of Iran have decided to create their own informal education program in an act of cultural self-preservation.

Baha’i professors and professionals, sacked from their university and government positions, have teamed up to form the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) to give their young people good quality and advanced, if informal, education.

One of the ways the Iran regime has targeted the Baha’i is by the arrest last May of 19 of those associated with the BIHE. Many of them remain in prison today, not knowing their fate. Their sole offence was to try to educate their young. Two of those arrested are graduates of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education. They were charged with teaching without valid accreditation. The Iranian authorities confiscated their U of O degrees and then alleged that they had never earned them.

The regime’s offensive conduct, in direct contravention of international treaties signed by the government of Iran, undermines the basic rights of the Baha’i along with the future of their youth.

Happily, the plight of the Baha’i is not being entirely ignored. Those who support human rights, who believe in access to education and who deplore repressive governments are increasingly speaking out on their behalf. A growing group of academics, university administrators and notable advocates for peace including Desmond Tutu, Romeo Dallaire and José Ramos-Horta are condemning the Iranian regime’s denial of the right to education.

We are proud to join them, and we encourage all Canadians to add their voice in calling on the Iranian government unconditionally to drop all charges against educators, to halt all further aggression towards the BIHE and to allow the Baha’i access to education. The Baha’i of Iran must know that in resisting the cruel oppression of those who persecute them, they do not stand alone.

—

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/allan-rock/bahai-iran-politics_b_1186039.html?view=screen

]]> http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8676/feed 0 http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8631 http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8631#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:36:26 +0000 editor http://www.iranpresswatch.org/?p=8631 [bahai.us, 21 Nov. 2011] On May 12, 2011, United States Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois hosted a reception to raise awareness about the seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned in Iran. [view the video here]

Actress Eva LaRue is among the notable figures offering their support. Also featured in the video are Senator Kirk; U.S. Representative from New York, Michael Grimm; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Kathleen Fitzpatrick; Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the U.S., Kenneth E. Bowers; and brother of one of the imprisoned leaders, Iraj Kamalabadi.

Read a full review of the reception.

—

Source: http://iran.bahai.us/2011/11/21/video-yaran-iran-bahai-leaders/

]]> http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8631/feed 1 http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8628 http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8628#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:22:49 +0000 editor http://www.iranpresswatch.org/?p=8628

Senator Mobina Jaffer. "We must continue to stand up and directly face the threat presented by Iran to its own people," Senator Jaffer told the Canadian Senate on 1 December.

[BWNS 5 Dec. 2011] OTTAWA — At the Canadian Senate enquiry into the persecution of Iranian Baha’is, Canada’s first Muslim senator has strongly criticized Iran for its prosecution and imprisonment of Baha’i educators.

Senator Mobina Jaffer said that it was “unprecedented” that Iran has now criminalized the education of young people.

“What cruelty is this, that a government would imprison its citizens for educating others and make the process of learning a crime?” she asked the Senate.

Read Senator Jaffer’s speech in full

Senator Jaffer herself initiated the enquiry in June this year, one month after Iranian authorities raided some 39 homes of Baha’is associated with an informal community initiative – known as the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education – established to teach young Baha’is barred from university.

Addressing the enquiry, Senator Jaffer said that her concern was now for seven Baha’i educators who have received four- and five-year jail terms.

“Among those sentenced to four years in prison was Nooshin Khadem, a permanent resident of Canada and an MBA graduate of Carleton University,” she said.

“Nooshin came to Canada because Carleton University recognized her Baha’i Institute studies as the equivalent of an undergraduate education. She then transported her education back to Iran to teach others.”

“Now she is in jail for committing the ‘crime’ of transporting her education.”

Among other Baha’is who have recently been arrested and imprisoned, two also received degrees in Canada – qualifications which Iran now calls “illegal,” Senator Jaffer noted.

Married couple Kamran Rahimian and Faran Hessami completed graduate studies in psychology counseling at the University of Ottawa.

The Baha’i International Community has recently learned that Ms. Hessami was released on bail on 28 November. Both she and her husband are still awaiting trial. Their two-year-old son has had to live with relatives while both of his parents were in prison.

“As a nation that upholds human rights and values religious pluralism, we must continue to stand up and directly face the threat presented by Iran to its own people,” Senator Jaffer said last Thursday.

“Iran may not listen today, but the Iranian people are listening. They must know that Canada stands with them and will continue to speak up for their fundamental rights and freedoms.”

Also last week, Senator Romeo Dallaire – the former UN peacekeeping force commander who tried to stop the 1990s genocide in Rwanda – told the Senate enquiry that Iran’s current actions against Baha’is remind him of what he witnessed in Africa.

Baha’i World News Service coverage of the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran

The Baha’i World News Service has published a Special Section which includes further articles and background information about Iran’s campaign to deny higher education to Baha’is. It contains news of latest developments, a summary of the situation, profiles of imprisoned Baha’i educators, feature articles, case studies and testimonials from students, resources and links.

Another Special Report offers articles and background information about the seven Iranian Baha’i leaders – their lives, their imprisonment, trial and sentencing – and the allegations made against them. It also offers further resources about the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community.

The International Reaction page of the Baha’i World News service is regularly updated with responses from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and prominent individuals, to actions taken against the Baha’is of Iran.

The Media Reports page presents a digest of media coverage from around the world.

—

source: http://news.bahai.org/story/873

Canadian Senator Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire, who has called upon his government to address urgently Iran's "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Baha'i community as a separate religious entity."

[BWNS, 2 Dec. 2011] OTTAWA — Canadian Senator Romeo Dallaire, the former UN peacekeeping force commander who tried to stop the 1990s genocide in Rwanda, has said that Iran’s current actions against Baha’is remind him of what he witnessed in Africa.

“The similarities with what I saw in Rwanda are absolutely unquestionable, equal…and in fact applied with seemingly the same verve,” said Senator Dallaire.

“We are witnessing a slow-motion rehearsal for genocide,” he warned.

Senator Dallaire’s remarks came as part of a Senate inquiry into the persecution of Iranian Baha’is. The imprisonment of Baha’is for no reason other than their belief, he told the Senate, is comparable with the Rwandan situation.

Read Senator Dallaire’s speech here.

“[T]he prisons of Rwanda were filled with Tutsi people for almost the same reasons, except their crime was based on their ethnicity, rather than their religion,” he said.

Another parallel can be found in the persecution of Baha’i educators who try to teach young community members in the face of government efforts to ban them from university.

“Any Iranian who identifies as Baha’i is barred from higher education, from holding a position in the government, or from partaking in the political process,” he said.

“These attacks against the Baha’i leaders and teachers are troubling enough as human rights violations. However, they are even more disturbing because they took place in the context of the Iranian state’s severe repression of the entire Baha’i community. A similar scenario played out in Rwanda where the Tutsi ethnic minority was not allowed access to higher education in their country. They had to leave the country in order to access higher education.”

In 1994, Senator Dallaire commanded the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda that was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the mass slaying of an estimated 800,000 Rwandans. He has since become honored and respected around the world for his humanitarian work and his courageous defense of people under threat. He has also been a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention.

When the facts and trends of the persecution of Iranian Baha’is are put together, he said, it amounts at a minimum to something he called “ideological genocide.”

“An essential element of ideological genocide is the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Baha’i community as a separate religious entity. It is this intent…that requires our urgent and deliberate attention.”

Beyond that, he said, there remains the possibility of mass atrocities if Iran’s repression of Baha’is is not checked.

“The alarming increase in incarceration among the Baha’is and, most particularly, among their leadership, the disproportionate sentences and unreasonable bail and the vile propaganda that paints Baha’is as cultish and part of a Zionist conspiracy to undermine the Islamic state of Iran is all…false. It is all an instrument to excuse the deliberate actions by that government to destroy that religion within their boundaries.”

“Make no mistake, these are not only indices of past and present persecution; they are warning signs of mass atrocities, of genocide. Let us not witness another one, fully conscious of what the consequences are,” he said.

The Canadian Senate inquiry into the issue of Iran’s persecution of Baha’is was initiated by Senator Mobina Jaffer. In remarks made on 21 June, Senator Jaffer called for “new steps” by Canada to “call Iran to account for its unacceptable treatment of the Baha’is.”

In October, Senator Hugh Segal also addressed the inquiry describing the suffering heaped on Baha’is as “systematic and brutal,” especially when they are known as a “peaceful faith that embraces the sanctity of all religions.”

Baha’i World News Service coverage of the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran

The Baha’i World News Service has published a Special Section which includes further articles and background information about Iran’s campaign to deny higher education to Baha’is. It contains news of latest developments, a summary of the situation, profiles of imprisoned Baha’i educators, feature articles, case studies and testimonials from students, resources and links.

Another Special Report offers articles and background information about the seven Iranian Baha’i leaders – their lives, their imprisonment, trial and sentencing – and the allegations made against them. It also offers further resources about the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community.

The International Reaction page of the Baha’i World News service is regularly updated with responses from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and prominent individuals, to actions taken against the Baha’is of Iran.

The Media Reports page presents a digest of media coverage from around the world.

—

Source: http://news.bahai.org/story/872

Editor

—

Debates of the Senate (Hansard)

1st Session, 41st Parliament,
Volume 148, Issue 17

Wednesday, October 5, 2011
The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker

(1530)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the inquiry of the Honourable Senator Jaffer calling the attention of the Senate to the deteriorating human rights situation of the Baha’i people in Iran.

Hon. Hugh Segal: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to the inquiry placed on the Order Paper by the Honourable Senator Jaffer with respect to the circumstances faced by Baha’i citizens in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The lessons of history are not prisons that shape our choices. However, if and when those lessons are ignored, we give the worst of history, its most horrific and criminal excesses the best chance to repeat themselves at the expense of all humanity. It is in this precise context that we must look at the Islamic Republic of Iran and its treatment of its Baha’i citizens with a frank and cold eye. We must do so with the highest regard for Iran’s history, civilization and culture and with nothing but the greatest respect and regard for its people, who have the same right to freedom, economic opportunity and happiness as we have. We must also look carefully and with clarity at events within Iran, the way that government acts, its designs on genuine democrats at home and its explicit oppression of minorities within its own borders.

I will not dwell on its a historical and essentially genocidal view and purpose with respect to the Republic of Israel, not because its stance is in any way sane, but because whipping up anti-Israel hysteria and hatred has been the truck and trade of most despots, extremists, religious charlatans, dictators and other anti-Semites over the breadth of history — not only in the part of the world that Iran seeks to dominate but also elsewhere. In recent times, forces of darkness in locations as diverse as Venezuela and Malaysia have embraced this age-old and tiresome game. Going with the flow in the face of this is a reprehensible lack of spine, but as a general practice when it comes to hating Jews and Israel, it is counted upon by the common currents of fascism, communism and all the extremes on the flanks seen in many political histories. Few countries have been completely immune in the East or West, Christian, Islamic or non-denominational worlds. That excess on the part of the Islamic Republic’s supreme religious, political or Revolutionary Guard leadership is, since the days of the end of the reign of the Shah in 1979, not particularly unique, however loathsome and disreputable.

What is new and horrific is what has been done to imprison, oppress and intimidate the proponents of the Baha’i faith within Iran. Any government that would employ its hired revolutionarily guards to mow down its own citizens, who simply desired a fair count of the votes in the last general election, is capable of anything. What they have done to Iranians of the Baha’i faith speaks to the essential inhumanity and embedded intolerance that typifies this particular Iranian government’s distorted view of Islam and the manipulation of the most extreme interpretations of the Quran for its own narrow political and oppressive purposes.

History tells us something here which President Ahmadinejad and the al-Quds Brigade of the Revolutionary Guard cannot wish away. If you would oppress and kill your own people in large numbers because of their politics and religion, then when the opportunity comes to do the same in neighbouring countries or throughout a region where people of different politics or religion would oppose your domination, it is even easier for you to oppress or kill foreigners. Mr. Stalin and Mr. Hitler taught us that decades ago.

It is time that we cease the hopeful view that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s present administration is but a brief eccentric event in what should be a peaceful and constructive force in the politics of the world and its own region. There is not a shred of evidence that a truly democratic election with a truly democratic outcome will be allowed to transpire. Mr. Hitler was elected fair and square in 1933 under the then rules of the Weimar Republic. That was the end of free elections until the post-war Federal Republic of Germany, which followed a world war that destroyed much of Europe and killed in excess of 50 million human beings.

Am I suggesting that the oppression of Iranians of the Baha’i faith by the present government, combined with the repression of democratic forces and the subversive and well-funded Iranian activity to destabilize Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Iraq constitute a similar existential threat to large parts of the world’s population? Yes, honourable senators, that is precisely what I am suggesting.

Our duty, as allies of various partners in the region, including Sunni Arab states or our Turkish NATO allies, including the people of Lebanon, Palestine and Israel, who seek the freedom to make their own decisions about their own countries and futures, is to be clear and outspoken about what evil and malevolent intent guides the present leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. To ensure that in every way at all levels, with our allies and with respect to our geopolitical interests, we are preparing for and planning all that may be necessary to contain this vile and sadistic administration. This aggressive and inhumane administration, if unchecked and unpunished for every excess and inhumanity, will be the cause of a third world war as sure as we serve together in this upper chamber this afternoon.

What is necessary here is not just the reactive contact group’s continuing best efforts on some measure of nuclear restraint and international inspection. Canada’s new office of religious freedom should join with other similar units around the world to promote a collective course of action on behalf of the Baha’i faith community in Iran and erect a series of serious challenges in different bodies around the world for the Iranian government to face. This should be known as the Baha’i sanctions so that our Iranian friends understand precisely our collective humanitarian and principled intent. Religious oppression is always the first and most consistent instrument of the tyrant; failing to engage it directly only feeds the beast.

It goes without saying that Canada’s military, intelligence, diplomatic and other networks at home and abroad should be focusing on the granular threats posed by various Iranian forces around the world. These include places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. We must work with friendly military, diplomatic and intelligence forces amongst our partners in the Middle East, Europe and Asia, who have diverse relationships with the Iranians, in order to achieve a coherent and concerted effort to frustrate the wilful domination of the region and a world that depends on that region by the Republic of Iran’s leadership. I leave the specific measures, dynamics and aspects of that joint initiative and plan for defence and engagement to the experts in uniform and the various military, diplomatic and clandestine services around the world. I say simply that we must all prepare now, and we must all do our part.

Canada, among other nations, has walked out of and boycotted meetings where President Ahmadinejad has spewed his hateful and vile discourse, one that defiles the United Nations by its presence and despoils the wondrous and culturally heroic and rich history of the Persian people, for whom this warning that I offer today diminishes in no way my respect and affection.

(1540)

It would be a good thing if our foreign minister urged his colleagues across the civilized world to join him in calling in the respective Iranian ambassadors in those capitals to deliver the very same stern message about the way the Baha’i faithful have been treated. We should advocate that a series of “Baha’i sanctions,” new, precise and impactful, be imposed universally by countries of good will and common humanitarian belief.

This did not happen to the Germany of the 1930s. A world then beset by economic uncertainty and serious impacts of a calamitous depression looked the other way as the oppression, imprisonment and extermination of minorities within Germany first, then amongst its neighbours, then through all of Western and Eastern Europe proceeded. When engagement finally came with the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth allies, including Canada, standing alone against the Germans between 1939 and 1941, and the Americans and Russians entered alongside after being attacked themselves, millions had already died, and the machines of war and extermination were well launched, to the utter expense and horror of humanity for generations and decades to come. This is what we must act now to prevent.

The suffering heaped on our Baha’i friends is neither isolated nor peripheral. It is systematic and brutal, especially when the Baha’i are known as a peaceful faith that embraces the sanctity of all religions. The official Iranian oppression of Baha’i is more than the canary in the mineshaft. It is a clarion call to humanity and to free peoples and democracies everywhere to look directly at the harsh colours of the Iranian reality and not look away until the challenge is faced head on.

(On motion of Senator Tardif, debate adjourned.)

—

Source: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/Sen/Chamber/411/Debates/017db_2011-10-05-e.htm

In his 9 September speech to the Bled Strategic Forum, Jagland expressed his fear that  Europe’s  neighbours might not heed calls for more tolerant and inclusive politics if it could not cope with its own multicultural societies.

Speech by Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

‘Search for a New “World Order” in the Mediterranean’

Bled Strategic Forum

9 September 2011

Distinguished participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, I always prepare for my participation at events such as this one. When I was asked to speak at the panel devoted to the search for a New World Order in the Mediterranean, I started by googling the title. This was only partially helpful.

According to Wikipedia, a broadly used yet seldom quoted source of facts, the term New World Order stands for:

Firstly, a system of teachings in Bahá’í Faith, believing in a God’s divinely appointed scheme for the unification of mankind through the establishment of a world commonwealth based on principles of equity and justice.

Secondly, a conspiracy theory claiming that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world. Numerous historical and current events are seen as steps in an ongoing plot to achieve world domination through secret political gatherings and decision-making processes. This is indeed worrisome. I can just imagine what a bona fidae conspiracy theorist would think of our little gathering here in Bled.

Finally, and more reassuringly, the term New World Order has been used to refer to any new period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power.

I would assume that it was this last notion our hosts had in mind for this panel, even if, upon reflexion, the two others are not as different as it may seem at first glance. The differences are more a matter of ideological perspective than substance.

Be it as it may, what started on 18 December last year in the streets of Tunis, and quickly spread to many countries across the region, clearly qualifies as a new period of history and a dramatic change.

But if history is in the making, it has not been made yet. The violence and destruction caused by the Gaddafi regime is only one example, the dramatic situation in Syria is another, showing us how volatile and dangerous the situation still is.

For all the countries in question the challenges which remain, including economic and social ones, are enormous. The key to the long-term sustainability of changes is the way in which these challenges are met.

We should support the development of a system of government based on accountability, free elections, human rights and the rule of law. These are not European values, even if we often label them as such. They are universal values, originating from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are also a prerequisite for a progressive and successful society which can guarantee security, stability and prosperity to its people.

I often use the example of the freedom of expression which may be irritating to some, but its absence is harmful to all. Without critical voices, our societies have no effective protection against errors and abuse in the exercise of power.

The experience of the democratic transition in Central and Eastern Europe can provide a wealth of very interesting and valuable lessons. But we must take into account not only similarities, but also political, economic, social, institutional and cultural differences which exist between the two situations.

These differences cannot affect the ultimate objectives – the respect for universal values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law – but they have implications on how these objectives can and should most appropriately and effectively be pursued.

It was against this background that the Committee of Ministers at its meeting in Istanbul in May approved a new Council of Europe neighbourhood policy.

The underlying principle of the policy is based on the fact that the political changes which are taking place in several countries in the region are home-grown and spontaneous. This is a very important element of legitimacy and lasting popular support. Our relations with the countries concerned and our action should be perceived and accepted as genuine co-operation and assistance, not interference. The key to the success of our endeavour is respect. Respect for the people in the region, for their courage, for their ability and their right to decide about their own future.

But ultimately, the shape and the quality of the “New World Order” in the Mediterranean will not only depend on the developments at its southern shores, but equally so on the way Europe will be able to meet its own challenges.

People IN the region are listening to our message on democracy and human rights, but they also watch television and read newspapers about the way we apply these values when it comes to people coming FROM the region, be they recent migrants, long-term residents, or nationals in European countries.

Later this afternoon, a round table hosted by the President of Slovenia Danilo Türk will debate a report entitled “Living Together – Combining Diversity and Freedom in the 21 century”. This is a challenging, even provocative analysis of the way Europe handles, or mishandles, the issue of diversity in our societies.

The group which prepared the report was led by Joschka Fischer. Several of its prominent members, including our moderator, Edward Mortimer, are here in Bled to  take part in the round table. I invite you all to read the report, but for now, I would like to quote one sentence from its executive summary.

Here is what it says: ”discrimination and intolerance are widespread in Europe today, particularly against Roma and immigrants, as well as people of recent migrant background, who are often treated as foreigners even in countries where they are both natives and citizens”.

These types of observations are not often a part of our discussions on Europe’s relations with its neighbours. But they should be. They are directly relevant to our credibility and image. How can we expect our neighbours to follow the European liberal and tolerant model if we cannot cope with the issue of interculturalism ourselves?

In conclusion, I should like to return to Wikipedia and its definitions of today’s theme. I do not know much about the rest of their beliefs, but when it comes to the definition of the New World Order, I would say that the Bahai’ans got it about right. It should be about equity, justice and respect.

The challenge – and the message to my fellow Europeans – is to practice what you preach.

Thank you.

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Source: http://humanrightseurope.blogspot.com/2011/09/jagland-urges-europe-to-practice-what.html

]]> http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8368/feed 0 http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8353 http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8353#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 05:27:56 +0000 editor http://www.iranpresswatch.org/?p=8353

The 13tAnnual Report on International Religious Freedomfrom the U.S. Department of State names Iran “Country of Particular Concern” for religious repression. The report is extensive and covers some 204 countries. See here for the section on Iran (PDF here). See here for the full report.

Below are the Secretary Hillary Clinton´s remark at the release of the report.

Editor

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(US State Dep. 13 Sep 2011) Remarks

(No. 253 – September 2, 2011 – 11:30 a.m. ET)

“I note with regret the reports that Iranian authorities have imprisoned an additional 11 individuals associated with the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education. Their detentions are based on unfounded charges of conspiring against national security. This institute provides valuable educational services to the Bahá’í community, which is denied formal higher education in Iran.

“I am also concerned that members of the Christian community continue to face difficulties, including being arrested on charges of apostasy. Also disconcerting are recent reports that Iranian officials have burned hundreds of bibles and destroyed an ancient church in Kerman.

“Canada calls on Iran to release individuals who have been arrested on the basis of their faith. We once again urge Iran to respect and protect its citizens’ fundamental human rights and ensure due process for all those who have been detained.”

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source: http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2011/253.aspx?view=d