Sari (/Sārī/ Mazandarani: ساری, Persian: ساری) is the provincial capital of Mazandaran

The contents of the letter of Ms. Naghmeh Hafezi to the District Attorney of the city of Sari has been given to HRA news and is copied below:

In the name of Him who is Exalted,

To the Honorable District Attorney of the Revolutionary Court of the City of Sari
With all due respect, I, Naghmeh Hafezi, daughter of Bijan would like to inform you that at 2:15 PM on Wednesday the 16th of Shahrivar, 1389 [September 7th, 2010], seven individuals dressed in civilian clothing, without ringing the doorbell, entered our apartment building and, using my 7 year old son [to open the door], raided our house and started to collect our personal belongings. When my husband, who was not home at the time they arrived, came home, he complained to them, asking why seven men without female accompaniment entered a house (where there was only a young woman present). At this point they started to beat up my husband, defamed our sacred beliefs and figures and insulted us with vulgar words.

They tore apart our religious pictures and insulted them. After collecting all of our household belongings, they created a list and told us this was the only copy; they said we had to sign it, but that they would not give us any other copy of it. When I refused to sign, they said if we didn’t sign it they would not give any of our belongings back to us.

When they were on the stairs they told me that we had to be at the Ministry of Intelligence by 9 AM the next morning; that if we were not there on time, they would come back for us with handcuffs. They treated me like a dangerous criminal — yet even as all of this occurred they did not have any warrant to justify their actions.

I ask you to investigate this violation of personal privacy and dignity, and to consider returning our belongings, including my personal laptop, computer bags, and memory cards for our camera and video camera, which contain personal and family pictures.

With great appreciation,
Naghmeh Hafezi

—
Source: http://www.iranpresswatch.org/fa/post/1186 and http://www.hra-news.org/685/1389-01-27-05-24-07/3853-1.html

Ferdosieh Nikoumanesh

(9 Sep 2010 – Radio Free Europe) Ferdosieh Nikoumanesh remembers a time when she and her family couldlive in peace as practicing Baha’is in the Iranian city of Ivel, where more than 50 Baha’i homes were demolished in June. Her childhood home, her grandparents’ home, and her grandfather’s store were among the many properties burned to the ground. Nikoumanesh and her husband now live in a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Nikoumanesh spent many of her childhood summers in Ivel, northeast of Tehran in Mazandaran Province, visiting her grandparents, who lived in the village until 1983.

She left Ivel when she was a little girl but still holds many memories of living alongside practicing

Ivel, Mazandaran, Iran

Muslims. Baha’is have resided in Ivel for more than 160 years and once made up more than half of the population — building schools, a hospital, and stores.

While her family’s homes and shop were destroyed this summer, her memories remain alive.

“The best part of the summer was with my grandparents. The feelings I have toward the land [in Ivel] are because of how my grandparents took us there and showed us how to experience its generosity,” she said.

She recalled raising livestock, picking flowers in the rich landscape, and having candlelit dinners over storytelling.

The current Iranian government made no apparent efforts to prevent the destruction of the Baha’i homes last June, nor has an investigation been launched into who orchestrated the demolition, despite efforts by the Baha’i community to seek justice.

On August 12, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton issued her strongest statement yet in support of the Baha’i community and in opposition to Iran’s repression of religious minorities. “The United States is deeply concerned with the Iranian government’s continued persecution of Baha’is and other religious minority communities in Iran,” Clinton said in a statement. “The United States is committed to defending religious freedom around the world, and we have not forgotten the Baha’i community in Iran.”

While the United States may have stepped up its criticism, the people of Ivel have yet to find justice for the loss of their homes.

The home, since destroyed, of the grandparents of Ferdosieh Nikoumanesh. "The best part of the summer was with my grandparents," says Ferdosieh Nikoumanesh.

“Two Baha’i men from Ivel — Faramarz Rohani and Mahmood Piri — sent letters and complained to the courts in Saari, Kia Sar, and Telma Dare. None of them gave the right response,” said Nikoumanesh. “They even said since this order was from the higher courts, nothing could be done.”

While the international community has spread awareness of the issue and many Muslims in the country oppose the destruction of Baha’i property, the government has done little to respond.

“Recently, there have been many attacks on Baha’i homes, cemeteries dug up, and sites of worship destroyed,” said Shastri Purushotma, the human rights representative for the U.S. Baha’i community. “But how can 50 houses be demolished without some prior arrangement to do that level of demolition? We don’t have documents showing the government was behind it, but all of these things need planning, heavy equipment, and government support.”

Nikoumanesh hopes to one day return to Ivel but knows the dangers she would face if she visited anytime soon. She and many members of the Iranian Baha’i diaspora continue to push for accountability in acts of vandalism toward Baha’is.

“My grandparents have passed, but we children still have faith in being able to return to Ivel and re-experience good moments of our childhood we had there,” she says.

She then recited a poem written by Ali Ahmadi on the destruction of homes in Ivel:

“Oh, home, you
are still alive
even if it’s not
within your walls
within our hearts you are.”

– Ladan Nekoomaram & Sarvazad Katouzian

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/Bahais_In_Iran_Await_Justice_for_Demolished_Homes_Graves/2153322.html

Images taken from a video, shot on a mobile telephone in the village of Ivel, show fiercely burning fires and several Baha'i-owned properties reduced to rubble.

(BWNS) GENEVA — Homes belonging to some 50 Baha’i families in a remote village in northern Iran have been demolished as part of a long-running campaign to expel them from the region.

The action occurred in Ivel, Mazandaran, when inhabitants – incited by elements inimical to the Baha’i community – blocked normal access to the village, while allowing trucks and at least four front-end loaders to begin leveling the houses.

Amateur video, shot on mobile telephones and posted by Iranian human rights activists on the Internet, showed what appeared to be several buildings reduced to rubble as well as fiercely burning fires.

The demolitions are the latest development in an ongoing, officially-sanctioned program in the area which has targeted every activity of the Baha’is.

“They’re being forbidden to associate with Muslims, or even offer service to their friends and neighbours,” said Diane Ala’i, representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva.

“Even the smallest acts of good will – such as taking flowers to someone who’s sick in hospital or donating gifts to an orphanage – these are being seen as actions against the regime.”

Most of the Baha’i homes in Ivel have been unoccupied since their residents fled after previous incidents of violence or as a result of official displacement. In 2007, for example, six of their houses were torched.

Ivel, Mazandaran, Iran

“Baha’is have lived in this area for more than 100 years and it once had a large community,” said Ms. Ala’i. “But in 1983, a few years after the Iranian revolution, at least 30 families from this and neighboring villages were put on buses and expelled.

“Since then, they have tried to seek legal redress to no avail, while returning in the summer to harvest their crops,” she said.

The day after the demolitions took place, a Baha’i man who visited the site with his family to harvest his produce was beaten and insulted by other residents. In the past, those who are trying to drive the Baha’is out have set upon them when they tried to enter the neighborhood to rebuild or renovate their properties.

Persistent government attacks on Baha’is in all the mass media – along with inaction by local officials to protect them – have continued to incite hatred against the Baha’is in the region and throughout Iran, said Ms. Alai.

“This latest action shows the degree to which the authorities have completely failed to live up to their responsibilities to protect the Baha’is and their religious freedom,” she said.

Members of the Baha’i community have made repeated complaints both before and after the latest incident to local government officials, including to the provincial governor in Sari. In every case, knowledge of the demolitions or the motive behind them was denied.

While reports about the latest action began appearing on various Persian-language websites last Friday, the Baha’i International Community was only able to confirm details of the incident today. Latest reports indicate that 90 percent of the Baha’i homes have now been demolished.

Source: http://news.bahai.org/story/780

Ivel, Mazandaran, Iran

Baha’is of Ivel village [also written as Eival, or Evel] in Mazandaran, found out that the non-Baha’i citizens were preparing a local petition for the destruction, leveling and excavation of Baha’i residences; operations began yesterday in the village.

Human Rights News Service in Iran

RHANA: The Baha’is of Ivel village in Mazandaran went to Kiasar Municipality and informed them of the problem, but that entity negated the issue and declared it illegal. The next day, in addition to going to the Municipality of Kiasar again, they went to the Farmandary [county office] and the Provincial offices in Sari, as well as the General Court in Kiasar and the Public Order unit of Telmadareh, but all claimed ignorance, declaring such an act to be condemned and illegal, and calling the perpetrators criminals.

As reported by Rhana, in the midst of these events, a Baha’i family (that of Mahmood Piri) come face to face with a vehicle with 4 occupants, and noticed that a number of people were busy upstairs destroying their property .

At that point, Mahmood Piri encountered physical abuse from one of the occupants of the vehicle and was forced to leave the scene.

The Piri family along with another Baha’i family (Rohani) were not allowed to enter the area or even the vicinity by the people busy with the destruction. For 48 hours the village and the surrounding area were quarantined, and there was a constant watch to prevent people entering the village; moreover, all the roads were blocked. According to one person, 4 loaders and a number of trucks were busy tearing down, leveling and excavating around 50 of the Baha’i homes in Ivel.

Translation by Iran Press Watch
Source: http://www.rhairan.in/archives/17358

The session was once again closed, and family members were not permitted in the courtroom, the Baha’i International Community has learned.

The hearing, which lasted just over one hour, does not seem to have gone beyond procedural issues. No date was given for any future sessions.

The seven were arrested nearly two years ago and have been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since that time, spending the first year there without formal charges or access to lawyers.

After several postponements, their trial officially began on 12 January, when the seven were arraigned in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

That session was also closed to the public, but accounts in government-sponsored news media said the defendants were formally charged with espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, the 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 the charges have been categorically denied. The defendants are Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm.

Source: BWNS, English, Persian.

From September 6 through September 10, using large trucks and bulldozers, a number of unknown individuals destroyed and excavated the Baha’i Cemetery of Najafabad and Vilashahr [near Isfahan].

The cemetery, which belongs to the Baha’is of Najafabad and Vilashahr, and which is known as Gulestan Javid [“eternal garden”], is situated about 9 miles from Najafabad.  This land was given to the Baha’is of Najafabad and Vilashahr in the winter of 1995; it has been attacked 18 times since them.  It has been reported that 119 graves are located in this cemetery – 95 are in the first section and 24 more are in the second section.

According to reports by eyewitnesses, when Baha’is visited the cemetery on Thursday, September 10, 2009, they were confronted with a destroyed cemetery and excavated land.  The entire first section and portions of section 2 of this cemetery had been excavated, and large craters and earth-mounds were created.  In some segments, the earth had been removed to the depth of over a yard, and in other segments earth had been brought in from other areas and piled up in long rows as high as 10 yards.

Moreover, parking lots located on the northern and southern parts of cemetery were also excavated up to 35 yards from the graves, and large craters and mounds were created in them.

It should be noted that tracks from bulldozers and large trucks were clearly evident throughout the cemetery and surrounding land.  In addition, the remains of previously destroyed facilities that had included water tanks were taken away from the property.

It should be noted that the previous Baha’i cemetery of this region was thoroughly destroyed and eradicated in 1984.

According to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” 

Despite the fact that Iran is a signatory of this Universal Declaration, for the past 30 years Baha’is have been deprived of the most basic rights, such as the right to individual dignity and personal security – and even their cemeteries in many different towns have been attacked and destroyed.

Below are a series of photographs showing before and after the latest destruction of the Baha’i cemetery of Najafabad and Vilashahr.

[Posted on Sunday, September 20, 2009, at: http://chrr.us/spip.php?article5776. Translation by Iran Press Watch.]

Editor’s Note

Once again, after many previous instances, the Baha’i cemetery of Semnan and many places of business belonging to Baha’is have been attacked and vandalized by unknown assailants.

Several days ago, unknown individuals used bulldozers to destroy the building used to offer the Prayer for Dead by the Baha’is of Semnan; also they poured a large quantity of soil near the entrance to the same building in the cemetery, thereby blocking access to the burial washing facilities.  In recent months, this is the second attack against the same cemetery.  In previous attacks, assailants destroyed graves and set the washing facility on fire.

Moreover, in continuing attacks on Baha’i residents of this town, at 1:00 AM on the morning of August 8, for the second time motorcycle assailants attacked the shop belonging to Peyman Shadman (see IPW), a Baha’i resident of Semnan.  After their initial efforts, the assailants dispersed due to neighbors’ vigilance, while Mr. Shadman was able to extinguish and prevent the spread of the fires with the help of neighbors.  Surprisingly, the assailants returned, but once again due to the presence of people and their attempt to identify the assailants, they quickly dispersed.

It should be noted that several nights earlier, certain elements had tried to invoke fear in Baha’is by hanging a dead cat and smearing blood on the walls of the same shop.

During the same period, the sign on the shop of Sepehr Subhani, which asserted, “Pelasku Roshik”, was set on fire.

It is important to bear in mind that in all the above instances, and in every other instance in recent months in which Baha’is have suffered a loss of property, security forces have been informed of details and a report has been filed with them.  However, so far, not the least attention has been paid by any of these agencies to pursuing the offenders.  

[Posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2009, at hra-news and hra-iran.  Translation by Iran Press Watch.]

Following a trend of attacks by unknown individuals on Baha’i-owned businesses in Semnan, another business was set on fire.  A Baha’i-owned repair shop has been set on fire.

At midnight on Saturday, July 18, 2009, unidentified persons raided the automobile repair shop of Mr. Shirdel Pirasteh, a Baha’i resident of Semnan, and set it on fire, thereby causing significant financial damage. 

Regrettably, despite their knowledge of several such attacks against Baha’i businesses in Semnan within the past month, the security forces have not made any effort to identify or arrest the perpetrators. 

In should be kept in mind that in addition to the desecration of the Baha’i cemetery of this city and arson against a number of Baha’i homes and businesses in Semnan, some time ago several government organizations, in a strange move, published a list of Baha’is with their work addresses in that city on the public bulletin-boards without any explanation.

[Posted: http://www.hra-iran.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1436:46566&catid=84:502&Itemid=219. Translation by Iran Press Watch.]

As the store carried flammables like motor oil, the fire did tremendous damage. The firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to homes nearby. Mr. Shadman’s store has been set on fire several times but the authorities have shown no effort to stop the arsonists.

[Source: HRA-Iran http://hra-iran.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1360:arson-in-a-bahai-owned-automotive-shop&catid=66:304&Itemid=293]