Statements about the persecution of Baháʼís
Members of the Baháʼí Faith have been persecuted in various countries, especially in Iran, the location of one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world. The Baháʼí Faith originated in Iran, and represents the largest religious minority in that country. Since the later part of the 20th century many third party organizations such as the United Nations, Amnesty International, the European Union, and the United States have made statements denouncing the persecution of Baháʼís asking that human rights be maintained. Members of the Baháʼí community in Iran have been subjected to unwarranted arrests , false imprisonment, beatings, torture, unjustified executions, confiscation and destruction of property owned by individuals and the Baháʼí community, denial of employment, denial of government benefits, denial of civil rights and liberties, and denial of access to higher education. General. United Nations. The United Nations and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has published reports on the persecution of the Baháʼís since the Iranian Revolution in 1979; in every year since 1984, except for 2002, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has passed a resolution expressing concern about human rights violations against the Baháʼís in Iran. The Special Representative  on Iran, Professor Galindo Pohl, Canadian Jurist and UBC Law Professor, Maurice Copithorne, and the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, Professor Abdu'l Fatah Amor, have all reported on the persecutions that the Baháʼís have faced in Iran. Throughout the years the Commission has written: Amnesty International. Amnesty International has also documented the persecution of the Baháʼí community in Iran. It has written: European Union. The European Union in the 2004 EU Annual Report on Human Rights wrote: Then in a speech given at the European Parliament in October 2005 on behalf of the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and  Multilingualism, Jan Figel said: United States government. The United States Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor stated in the 2004 Report on International Religious Freedom that: In 2008, the United States House of Representatives passes HR. RES. 1008, condemning the persecution of Baha'is in Iran. Iranian government. The Iranian government claims that Baháʼís are enemies of the state, were supporters of the former Shah's government and spies employed by imperialist governments of the West. The Ayatollah Khomeini, even before his return to Iran said in an interview that he believed that Baháʼís were traitors — Zionists  — and enemies of Islam. The Iranian representative to the United Nations tried several times, albeit unsuccessfully, between 1982 and 1984 to convince the United Nations diplomatic community that the Baháʼí Faith is a politicized organization with a record of criminal activism against the Iranian government and not a legitimate religion like Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism which are protected under Iranian law; Iran has not acknowledged that the Baháʼí Faith is a religion. Iranian writers and academics. The general belief among the Iranian people follows the statements of the Iranian government that Baháʼís are enemies of the state, and supporters of  the previous government of the Shah: There are many Iranians who have published how and why Iranians think of Baháʼís as outsiders. Dr. Mohammad Tavakoli, a Muslim-Iranian, who is a Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Toronto presents in "Iran-Nameh", a Persian language academic journal, a study that examines the processes that led to the ghettoization and eventual "othering" of the Baháʼís in Iran by the political and religious forces within Iranian society. Other statements include: On July 15, 2013, Mohammad Nourizad kissed the feet of a 4-year-old Baháʼí boy whose parents had  been arrested for participation in the Baháʼí Institute for Higher Education saying: "…why shouldn't I kiss your feet as a representative of the office of [Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] and the [many] Shiʻite sources of emulation?" and published the event on his blog. The boy's father responded in a letter from prison dated July 18 saying in part: "Mr. Nourizad! You asked Artin to slap you and to spit on you. I heard this request as your attempt to ease his pain, and the utmost sign of your honesty and your acceptance of responsibility. At  the same time, I wish that no human body should have to be exposed to such a thing, as the body houses the human spirit and the human spirit is a display of the Divine one." Response from the United Nations. The United Nations responded to the Iranian government's accusations by stating that there has been no evidence of Iran's claims and that the Baháʼí community in Iran professes its allegiance to the state. The United Nations pointed to the Baháʼí teaching of obedience to the government of one's country and stated that any involvement in any  subversive acts against the government would be antithetical to precepts of the Baháʼí religion. The United Nations also stated that if the Iranian government did acknowledge that the Baháʼí Faith is a religion, it would be an admission that freedom of religion does not apply to all in Iran and that it is not abiding by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenants on Human Rights to which it is a signatory. Response from prominent figures. Many well-known personalities have also raised their voices about the issue. Some include Rainn Wilson's CNN article, KC Porter's  Yaran song, Mithaq Kazimi's Quenching The Light video and Jack Lenz's Freedom to Believe Foundation. Arrest of Baháʼí leaders in 2008. There have been widespread calls from public figures, governments and organizations to the Iranian government to release the Baháʼís, especially after the trial was announced on February 11, 2009. Many Brazilian members of government have spoken out for the Baháʼís as early as April 2008. From the United States, representative Frank R. Wolf stated he was deeply disturbed about the systematic persecution of the Baháʼís witnessed through the announced trial. Later congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois offered  a resolution on the subject of the trial condemning the government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of its Baháʼí minority; the resolution was co-sponsored by other Representatives. A Senatorial resolution has been introduced by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, cosponsored by Sam Brownback, Kansas; Robert Menendez, New Jersey; Olympia Snowe, Maine; and Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island. In Canada, Deepak Obhrai, Canadian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, found the announcement of the trial very troubling, which was echoed by Lawrence Cannon, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs. In Germany, German chairman of the CSU Group in  the Bundestag, Peter Ramsauer stated that he had "deep concern". In the United Kingdom, British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell also expressed concern over the trial. The Presidency of the European Union (EU), with the support of the EU associated countries denounced the trial, which was echoed by the President of the European Parliament. In Australia, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spoke to the subject, as did Mark Weitzman, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Task Force Against Hate. In the Netherlands, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen said the Netherlands was seriously concerned, fears  that the trial will not be fair and has asked for an independent observer. The Canadian Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Human Rights has adopted a strongly worded motion February 24 which was forwarded to the full committee on the 26th. On the same day the UK Board of Deputies president, Henry Grunwald QC, has written to Foreign Secretary David Miliband with a renewed call to the government to support the persecuted Baháʼí community in Iran. Repeating steps taken in 2006 following the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion reports of the time, in April 2009 the Foreign Affairs Committee  of the Lower House of the Spanish Congress of Deputies unanimously approved a resolution concerning the "systematic" persecution being exerted on the Baháʼí community. In May 2009 a motion from the Australian House of Representatives expressed "serious concern" there was no access to legal representation or due legal process, that charges of "spying, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the Islamic Republic, and that these charges could attract the death penalty". The Representatives rose in motion calling on Iran "to respect rights to freedom of religion and the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression and association, in accordance with international  human rights conventions" and "to release the seven Baha'i detainees without delay." Six members of Parliament from both major parties spoke in support of the motion: Leichhardt Turnour, Cowan Simpkins, Hindmarsh Georganas, O'Connor Turckey, Isaacs Dreyfus, and Longman Sullivan. Members of the German Bundestag, partisan speakers Erika Steinbach MP (CDU/CSU), Christoph Strässer MP (SPD), Volker Beck MP (B90/DIE GRÜNEN) and chairman Burkhardt Müller-Sönksen MdB (FDP) united in issuing a joint declaration demanding "the immediate and unconditional release of the leaders of the Baha'i religious community." Human rights organizations have also released statements: Amnesty International released updated Action  Alerts about the trial in 2009 in February, and again in July, Freedom House strongly condemned the trial, and World Organisation Against Torture proposed actions to secure the freedom of the leadership and others arrested. Responding to a letter from Roxana Saberi, who was in contact with two of the women Baháʼí leaders while she was in prison, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom demanded the seven prisoners be freed rather than stand trial. There have been groups of individuals also speaking out. On February 4, 2009 267 non-Baháʼí Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists and activists from  some 21 countries including Iran signed an open letter of apology posted to Iranian.com and stating that they believed that the Baháʼís had been deprived of their rights in the Islamic Republic, and pledging their support of achieving the rights detailed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the Baháʼís in Iran. Several prominent Indians, including leading jurists of India's legal system, journalists, and civil rights activists, have also signed an open letter urging Iran to abide by international human rights conventions and release the detainees immediately. British entertainers wrote an open letter printed in "The Times" of  London of those to be on trial stating their solidarity with the Baháʼís." Rainn Wilson, an American actor, also published a commentary through CNN. A prominent group of more than sixty professors and scholars who specialize in Middle Eastern and Iranian Studies have added their voices in protest as well. Cherie Blair, a British barrister and wife of Tony Blair, urged readers of The Times to keep aware of state persecution of Iran's Baháʼí religious minority, and urge the Iranian government to give these individuals a fair trial and allow independent observers access to ensure this happens. Speaking to  a crowd of over 1,400 people packed into George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on September 12, 2009 Dr. Azar Nafisi, best-selling author: Shohreh Aghdashloo, days before winning her 2009 Emmy; and Dr. Dwight Bashir, Associate Director for Policy at the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, added their voices to those concerned about human rights in Iran and the persecution of Baháʼís in Iran. Aghdashloo's talk in particular was posted to YouTube.