Iran’s persecution of Bahais is ‘crime against humanity,’ says Human Rights Watch

Members of the Baha'i religion demonstrate in Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach on June 19, 2011, asking Iranian authorities to release seven Baha'i prisoners accused of spying for Israel and sentenced to 20 years in jail (Ana Carolina Fernandes/AFP).
Members of the Baha'i religion demonstrate in Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach on June 19, 2011, asking Iranian authorities to release seven Baha'i prisoners accused of spying for Israel and sentenced to 20 years in jail (Ana Carolina Fernandes/AFP).

Human Rights Watch says that the Iranian authorities’ persecution of the Bahai minority since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 constitutes a crime against humanity.

The New York-based group says that the Bahais, Iran’s largest non-Muslim minority, face repression including arbitrary arrest, property confiscation, restrictions on school and job opportunities, and even the loss of the right to a dignified burial.

“The cumulative impact of authorities’ decades-long systematic repression is an intentional and severe deprivation of Bahais’ fundamental rights and amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution,” HRW says.

It argues that this fell within the scope of the International Criminal Court (ICC) whose statute defines persecution as the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law on national, religious or ethnic grounds.

HRW says that while the intensity of violations against Bahais “has varied over time,” the persecution of the community has remained constant, “impacting virtually every aspect of Bahais’ private and public lives.”

It says the Islamic Republic holds “extreme animus against adherents of the Bahai faith” and repression of the minority was enshrined in Iranian law and is official government policy.

“Iranian authorities deprive Bahais of their fundamental rights in every aspect of their lives, not due to their actions, but simply for belonging to a faith group,” says Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

“It is critically important to increase international pressure on Iran to end this crime against humanity.”

This is believed to be the first time a leading international organization has labeled Iran’s treatment of the Bahais as a crime against humanity.

Unlike other minorities, Bahais do not have their faith recognized by Iran’s constitution and have no reserved seats in parliament.

How many members of the community remain in Iran is not known, but activists believe there could still be several hundred thousand.

The Bahai faith is a relatively young monotheistic religion with spiritual roots dating back to the early 19th century in Iran.

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