HRW report exposes Iran's 'Boot on my neck' policy against Bahai's

• Published date: 05 April 2024
• Author: DEBBIE MOHNBLATT/THE MEDIA LINE
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

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The 49-page report, titled "'The Boot on My Neck': Iranian Authorities' Crime of Persecution Against Baha'is in Iran," highlights Iranian authorities' systematic violation of the fundamental rights of Baha'i community members. Human Rights Watch discovered a range of discriminatory laws and policies targeting Baha'is, including arbitrary arrests and imprisonments, property confiscations, limitations on education and employment, and even denial of dignified burial.

"More than 40 years of systematic persecution of Iran's Baha'is is a crime against humanity and should be judged as such," Clarisa Nieva, director of the public affairs office at the Baha'i community of Spain, told The Media Line.

Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, told The Media Line that Iranian authorities have violated the Baha'is' rights for decades. Anti-Baha'i measures are "directed by the state's most senior officials and the Islamic Republic's ideology and enshrined in the government's laws and policies," he said.

Baha'is are the largest non-Muslim minority in Iran, with a community size estimated at 300,000 members. Established in Iran during the mid-1800s, the Baha'i faith presents itself as a new revelation and a continuation of monotheistic and other religious traditions that preceded it.

"Human Rights Watch has found that the cumulative impact of authorities' decadeslong systematic repression of Baha'is amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution," Page said. He noted that the abuses impact every aspect of their lives, including education, employment, marriage, and even death, as authorities repeatedly demolish Baha'i graves.

In 1991, the Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council, an institution headed by Iran's president, issued a memo that shaped Iranian state policy toward Baha'is. The memo called for "marginalizing them politically, socially, and economically," purely because of their faith, Page said.

Page added that Baha'is are denied religious freedom in Iran. They are prohibited from establishing any official institutions and cannot freely hold prayers, even in private.

Baha'is are also subject to arbitrary arrests and jail sentences, Page said. The community's economic opportunities have been severely restricted, with Iranian authorities' closing some Baha'i business and confiscating lands belonging to Baha'is.

Since the creation of the Baha'i faith, Baha'is have lived throughout...