Bahá’ís look to EU for action on Iranian persecution

Earlier this month the Brussels office of the Bahá’í International Community wrote to the EU High Representative, Federica Mogherini, urging that the European Union, as it engages Iran in a substantive conversation about human rights, “will give due regard to the nearly four-decade-long, systematic oppression of the Bahá’í community in that country and include, in its dialogue with Iran, a plan for concrete steps to remove obstacles gradually so that the Iranian Bahá’í community may contribute, on equal footing with its fellow citizens, to the advancement of their country.”

The letter began by referencing a statement signed by thirty-two Members of the European Parliament and national Parliaments calling on the Iranian authorities to end the economic oppression of the Bahá’ís.

It read

In early November 2016, over one hundred and thirty-two Bahá’í-owned businesses in cities across Iran were sealed by Iranian authorities after they were temporarily closed to observe Bahá’í holy days.

The closing of Bahá’í-owned businesses is one of the many tactics employed by the authorities to undermine the Bahá’í community, the largest non-Muslim minority in Iran, as a viable entity. Other measures of the deliberate and government led economic apartheid against the Bahá’ís include categorically denying Bahá’ís access to governmental jobs, delaying or preventing them from acquiring private job licenses, pressuring companies to dismiss Bahá’í employees, forcing banks to block Bahá’í clients’ accounts and depriving Bahá’ís from access to formal university education.

We call on the Iranian authorities to undertake an immediate review of their policies and to take immediate, visible, and substantive steps to remove the obstacles which prevent Bahá’ís from earning a living and contributing to the progress and prosperity of their country.

It was signed by

  • Lars ADAKTUSSON, Member of European Parliament
  • Lord ALTON, Member of House of Lords, United Kingdom
  • Maria ANDERSSON WILLNER, Member of Parliament, Sweden
  • Baroness BERRIDGE, Member of House of Lords, United Kingdom
  • Klaus BUCHNER, Member of European Parliament
  • Rt. Hon. Alistair CARMICHAEL, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
  • Therese COMODINI CACHIA, Member of European Parliament
  • Jean-Michel COUVE, Member of Parliament, France
  • Nic DAKIN, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
  • Mark DURKAN, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
  • Asdin EL HABBASSI Member of Parliament, Austria
  • Cornelia ERNST, Member of European Parliament
  • Laurent FURST, Member of Parliament, France
  • Michael GAHLER, Member of European Parliament
  • Guy GEOFFROY, Member of Parliament, France
  • Mary GLINDON, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
  • Ana GOMES, Member of European Parliament
  • Jytte GUTELAND, Member of European Parliament
  • Marian HARKIN, Member of European Parliament
  • Kelvin HOPKINS, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
  • Lord HYLTON, Member of House of Lords, United Kingdom
  • Dennis de JONG, Member of European Parliament
  • Tunne KELAM, Member of European Parliament
  • Andrew LEWER, Member of European Parliament
  • Viviane LOSCHETTER, Member of Parliament, Luxembourg
  • Lionnel LUCA, Member of Parliament, France
  • Omid NOURIPOUR, Member of Parliament, Germany
  • Anders ÖSTERBERG, Member of Parliament, Sweden
  • Charles TANNOCK, Member of European Parliament
  • Harry VAN BOMMEL, Member of Parliament, Netherlands
  • Julie WARD, Member of European Parliament
  • Baroness WHITAKER, Member of House of Lords, United Kingdom

The full text of the latest letter is as follows:

H.E. Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission
Brussels, 14 March 2017

Dear High Representative and Vice-President of the Commission,

The Bahá’í International Community is pleased to share with you the attached statement signed by thirty-two Members of the European Parliament and national Parliaments calling on the Iranian authorities to end the economic oppression of the Bahá’ís.

As you know, economic apartheid of the Bahá’í community is part of a highly coordinated effort by the government of Iran to undermine the Bahá’í community’s means of survival and to destroy it as a viable entity.

In a letter addressed to you on 12 April 2016 prior to your high-level visit to Iran on 16 April 2016, we expressed our hope that during your visit, you would find ways to address the issue of human rights, including those of the Bahá’ís, in such a way that Iran’s authorities will be encouraged to take concrete and palpable measures to remedy the situation. The joint statement
you and the Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif issued during that same high-level visit and the High Level Dialogue held in Brussels on 9 November 2016 provide an opportunity for Iran to demonstrate its commitment to human rights. 

While initiating a process to gradually build a relationship with Iran can no doubt be an important step in the European Union’s engagement with that country, we have yet to see any indication that closer interaction on the part of the international community with Iran leads to an appreciable change in the overall situation of the human rights of its citizens. However, we are confident in
the European Union’s commitment, as well as your own personally, to the noble cause of promoting human rights around the world and in Iran.

We trust that the European Union, as it engages Iran in a substantive conversation about human rights, will give due regard to the nearly four-decade-long, systematic oppression of the Bahá’í community in that country and include, in its dialogue with Iran, a plan for concrete steps to remove obstacles gradually so that the Iranian Bahá’í community may contribute, on equal footing with its fellow citizens, to the advancement of their country. We also hope that sound criteria will be established to measure this progress, so that Iran’s sincerity may be tested and demonstrated over time.

 

Sincerely yours,
Rachel Bayani
Representative
Bahá’í International Community – Brussels Office