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UN religious freedom expert condemns Iran as new report exposing campaign to demonize Baha’is is released |
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UNITED NATIONS, 24 October 2011 – Iran's persecution of Baha'is is among the most "extreme manifestations of religious intolerance and persecution" in the world today, according to a UN expert. The remarks of Heiner Bielefeldt – Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief – came during a press conference here in response to a question about a new report that documents the Iranian government's media campaign to demonize Baha'is. "The Iranian government has a policy of systematic persecution..." said Dr. Bielefeldt, "with the view of even destroying that religion worldwide...It's a very clear, clearly articulated policy of extreme hostility."
Asked whether he had received any response from Iran to his statements on the issue, Dr. Bielefeldt replied, "The typical response is the following: Bahaism is not a religion, it's a cult, it's an evil cult." "They distinguish...between genuine religions – in their understanding the divinely revealed religions Judaism, Christianity and, of course, Islam – and the rest," he said. "So this is a problem. "I mean they really excommunicate, systematically, the Baha'is from the application of freedom of religion or belief by simply denying their faith to have the status of a religion. And this is something states cannot do." Freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right, he said at the press conference on Thursday. "The starting point must be the self-understanding of human beings. Their deep convictions...That is what counts," he said. "Inciting Hatred"
“It’s all cynically calculated to stir up antagonism against a peaceful religious community whose members are striving to contribute to the well-being of their society,” she said. The report’s main conclusions are: • anti-Baha’i propaganda originates with – and is sanctioned by – the country’s highest levels of leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who gave a highly discriminatory speech in the holy city of Qom a year ago; • the campaign spurns international human rights law and norms, including a precedent-setting resolution passed earlier this year at the United Nations Human Rights Council that specifically condemns and combats the negative stereotyping and incitement to hatred of religious minorities; • Baha’is are branded as “outsiders” in their own land and as enemies of Islam in a manner that is clearly calculated to provoke the religious sensibilities of Iranian Shiite Muslims; • the campaign aims to deflect attention away from calls for democracy in Iran by using Baha’is as an all-purpose “scapegoat” – and, in so doing, to smear those who oppose the government as well as human rights campaigners as Baha’is, “as if that were the most heinous crime.” • the authorities disseminate ludicrous conspiracy theories including that foreign broadcasters, in particular the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA), are controlled by or under the influence of Baha’is because they report stories about human rights violations in Iran. “The diverse content of these attacks demonstrates tremendous effort and commitment of resources by the Islamic Republic,” says the report. Responding to the findings, Faraz Sanei – Iran researcher with the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch – told CNN that rights groups have long documented Iran's actions against Baha'is, designed to "deprive them of their ability to freely manifest the beliefs and teachings of their faith." The report, said Dr. Sanei, provides "valuable insight into the mechanics of a less documented and more insidious element of this campaign – anti-Baha'i propaganda propagated by official and semi-official media outlets, and the degree to which hate speech further exposes an already vulnerable minority group to discrimination and attacks by private actors. Bani Dugal said the demonization of Iran’s Baha’i community is a matter that deserves the attention of governments, international legal institutions, and fair-minded people everywhere. “The parallels between the campaign of anti-Baha’i propaganda in Iran today and other state-sponsored, anti-religious campaigns of the past are undeniable. History shows us that such campaigns are among the foremost predictors of actual violence against religious minorities –or, in the worst case, precursors of genocide.
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