The Supreme Leader’s reported fatwa labeling the Baha’i faith in Iran as a ‘deviant and misguided sect’ whose members should be shunned lays the foundation for enhanced persecution of the Baha’i community in Iran. The Supreme Leader’s fatwa, just days before the new president assumes office, reminds the international community of the official government’s perfidious agenda and who ultimately is in charge.
The Baha’i religion is a peaceful, independent global faith which the Iranian government and clerics have denigrated and vilified since the faith’s inception nearly 170 years ago. The Iranian government has killed or executed more than 200 of its leaders and have imprisoned thousands since the beginning of the Islamic revolution in the late 1970s.
I call on the world’s leaders and men and women of good will across the globe to make their voices heard in support of the Iranian Baha’i community.”
Brief Background
Already poor religious freedom conditions in Iran continue to deteriorate, particularly for religious minorities – especially Baha’is. During the past two years, Baha’is have faced increasingly harsh treatment, including increasing arrests and detentions and violent attacks on private homes and personal property. More than 650 Baha’is have been arbitrarily arrested since 2005. As of February 2013, at least 110 Baha’is are being held in prison solely because of their religious beliefs, twice the number held in early 2011. Throughout 2012 and early 2013, Baha’i-owned businesses and personal property were the target of arson attacks in several cities, with police doing nothing to find the perpetrators. Religious freedom conditions for Sufi Muslims, Christians and others also have deteriorated.
Since 1999, the State Department has designated Iran as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). USCIRF recommends in 2013 that Iran again be designated as a CPC. For more information, go to USCIRF 2013 Annual Report chapter on Iran. -Robert P. George, Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
The Baha’i religion is a peaceful, independent global faith which the Iranian government and clerics have denigrated and vilified since the faith’s inception nearly 170 years ago. The Iranian government has killed or executed more than 200 of its leaders and have imprisoned thousands since the beginning of the Islamic revolution in the late 1970s.
I call on the world’s leaders and men and women of good will across the globe to make their voices heard in support of the Iranian Baha’i community.”
Brief Background
Already poor religious freedom conditions in Iran continue to deteriorate, particularly for religious minorities – especially Baha’is. During the past two years, Baha’is have faced increasingly harsh treatment, including increasing arrests and detentions and violent attacks on private homes and personal property. More than 650 Baha’is have been arbitrarily arrested since 2005. As of February 2013, at least 110 Baha’is are being held in prison solely because of their religious beliefs, twice the number held in early 2011. Throughout 2012 and early 2013, Baha’i-owned businesses and personal property were the target of arson attacks in several cities, with police doing nothing to find the perpetrators. Religious freedom conditions for Sufi Muslims, Christians and others also have deteriorated.
Since 1999, the State Department has designated Iran as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). USCIRF recommends in 2013 that Iran again be designated as a CPC. For more information, go to USCIRF 2013 Annual Report chapter on Iran. -Robert P. George, Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
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