The State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom report focused particular attention on Iran’s Baha’is, the country’s largest religious minority at between 300,000 and 350,000.
In releasing the report for 2011, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Suzan Johnson Cook stated, “The government continues to detain over 100 Baha’i, including the seven Baha’i leaders whose sentences for espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the system have been re-extended to the original 20-year penalty.”
The following are excerpts from the report about persecution of the Baha’is.
The government prohibits Baha’is from teaching and practicing their faith and subjects them to many forms of discrimination that followers of other religions do not face…
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the government has killed more than 200 Baha’is, although there were no reports of Baha’i executions during the year…At least 60 Baha’is were arbitrarily arrested during the year, some of whom were released. At least 95 Baha’is were imprisoned and 416 Baha’i cases were still active with authorities at year’s end, according to human rights groups…
In March, after a challenge from the prosecutor general, the government extended to 20 years the sentences of the seven leaders of the Baha’i community: Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Saeid Rezaie, Vahid Tizfahm, and Mahvash Sabet…
In May authorities detained at least 30 members of the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education, raided their homes, and took cultural items. Ultimately authorities arrested 16 persons for failing to meet the entrance requirements to the university and for being members of an “illegal cult with anti-human rights activities.” Authorities released nine of the detainees within 10 days of their arrest.
In October courts found the other seven…guilty of “membership in the deviant Baha’i sect, with the goal of taking action against the security of the country, in order to further the aims of the deviant sect and those of organizations outside the country,” according to unofficial transcripts of the trial. Courts sentenced them to four to five years in prison…
In addition to killings, executions, and arrests, Baha’is suffered frequent government harassment and persecution, and their property rights generally were disregarded. The government raided Baha’i homes and businesses and confiscated large amounts of private and commercial property, as well as religious materials belonging to Baha’is…
The government continued to hold many Baha’i properties that were seized following the 1979 revolution, including cemeteries, holy places, historical sites, and administrative centers. Unspecified actors destroyed many of the properties, including cemeteries. Baha’is generally were prevented from burying and honoring their dead in accordance with their religious tradition.
There were reports of authorities forcing Baha’i businesses to close, placing restrictions on their businesses, and asking managers of private companies to dismiss their Baha’i employees. Baha’i groups reported that the government often denied their applications for new or renewed business and trade licenses…
Public and private universities continued to deny admittance to and expelled Baha’i students. Although the government maintained publicly that Baha’is were free to attend university, reports indicated that the implicit policy of preventing Baha’is from obtaining higher education remained in effect during the year.
The Baha’i Institute for Higher Education, created in 1987 after Baha’is were barred from attending regular universities, reportedly was declared illegal in May for being a group that presented national security concerns…
The government prevented many Baha’is from leaving the country.
The Baha’i community reported that the government’s seizure of Baha’i personal property and its denial of access to education and employment was eroding the economic base of the community and threatening its survival. Members of the Baha’i community reported that Baha’i children in public schools faced attempts by their teachers and administrators to convert them to Islam.
Read the full report here as PDF.