Iranian Government Introduces New Scheme to Try to Force Baha’is to Sign Their Own Death Warrants

          
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          BAI-Lkf INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
          886 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA • NEW YORK, N.Y. 100 1?'.U.S.A.
          Cable; L'.MAINTCQM NEWYORK - Telex: 666363 BICNY
          (212) 486-0360
          Representative
          to the United Nations
          Dr. Victor de Araujo
          Arternate Representative
          Mr. Gerald Knight
          IRANIAN GOVER}ThfENT_INTRODUCES NEW SCHENE TO TRY TO FORCE BAHA'IS
          TO SIGN THEIR OWN DEATH WARRANTS
          Move follows statement at UN General Assembly that Iran
          will not observe provisions of Universal Declaration
          of Human Rights
          citad Nations, 3 January 1985
          In a new mo a against the beie.agured Bah 'I religious minority, the
          gov2rnnant of the Islamic Republic of Iran is insisting that, as a
          ccndition of their release, Bahá'i detainees must sign a statement
          adnicting that they are members of an espionage organization and
          a rcain, that they will he guilty of a capital offence if any article
          relating to the Bahg'i Faith is found on their person or in their home.
          The text of the statement is as follows:
          the undersigned, [ details of personal status, including
          religion] undertake not to have in my possession any book,
          pamphlet, docutr .ent, symbol or picture of the misguided, Zionist,
          espionage group of Bahg'is. If any of the above—mentioned
          articles belonging to this hated underground movement is found on
          iy person or it t my home, this will be tantamnunt to my being of
          Accredited in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF)
          Associated with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI)
          BP0001O 2
          
        

          
          Iranian government introduces new scheme to try to page 2
          force Bahá'Is to sign their own death warrants
          those ‘who war against God' and the Attorney—General would be free
          to decide against me in the manner he deems fit.”
          Bahé'I prisoners are refusing to sign this undertaking, which not only
          misrepresents the BaM'i Faith but which would also leave them open to
          having Bahá'I materials (copious quantities of which have been
          confiscated by the authorities) planted on their persons or in their
          homes as evidence that they are persons who “war against God”.
          The significance of this terminology resides in the fact that it is used
          by the present régime in Iran to signify a crime deserving of death.
          Indeed, a number of Bahá'Is have already been executed in Iran on the
          charge of warring against God simply because of their membership in the
          Bah 'I community.
          Iran's Ambassador to UN asserts Iran will not observe provisions of
          Universal Declaration of Human Rights
          To sentence a person to death on a charge such as this is to ignore all
          the norms of international human rights law. This fact, however, does
          not deter the Government of Iran from pursuing its policies of religious
          oppression.
          As recorded in the official Summary Records of the 65th meeting of the
          Third Committee of the 39th General Assembly on 7 December 1984, Said
          Rajaie—Khorassani, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of
          Iran to the United Nations, stated that “The Universal Declaration of
          
        

          
          Iranian government introduces new scheme to try to page 3
          force Bahá'Is to sign their owiideath warrants
          Human Rights, which represented secular understanding of the
          Judaeo—Christian tradition, could not be implemented by Muslims and did
          not accord with the system of values recognized by the Islamic Republic
          of Iran; his country would therefore not hesitate to violate its
          provisions, since it had to choose between violating the divine law of
          the country and violating secular conventions.”
          In pursuing its campaign of religious persecution against the 300,000
          strong BaM'I minority, the Iranian Government is flagrantly violating
          all the “secular conventions” accepted by the international community in
          the field of human rights.
          Background to the situation of the Bah 'i minority in Iran
          The persecution of Iran's 300,000—strong Bah '1 minority is motivated by
          fanatical religious prejudice. Although the Bahi'I Faith, which was
          founded in Iran in 1844, is often mistakenly described as a sect of
          Islam, it is in fact an independent world religion with its own
          Prophet—Founder, Scriptures and Teachings. Iran's fundamentalist
          religious leaders are unwilling to toleratethe existence of any
          religion that appeared after Islam and are conducting a ruthless
          campaign to eradicate the Bah 'f community and destroy all traces of the
          Bah 'I Faith in the land of its birth.
          Since the start of the Islamic Revolution, 138 Bahá'Is have been
          summarily executed, 12 have diedin prison, 5 have been assassinated, 22
          have been beaten, stoned or burned to death by fanatical mobs and 14
          
        

          
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          Iranian government introduces new scheme to try to page 4
          force Bah 'Is to sign their own death warrants
          have disappeared without trace and are presumed dead — a total of 191
          Bah '1s who have died solely because of their religious beliefs.
          Thousands of Bah 'Is have been deprived of their jobs, homes and
          possessions, and BaM'I children are denied education unless they are
          willing to recant their faith. All Bah 'I holy places and community
          properties in Iran have been confiscated arid, in many cases, destroyed
          and the financial assets of the community have been appropriated by the
          authorities.
          Over 750 Bahá'Is, including women and children, are currently being
          held without charges in Iranian prisons. Many are being barbarically
          tortured to try to force them to confess to false charges of espionage —
          the very charges which Bahá'i prisoners would be tacitly admitting if
          they agreed to sign the government's new prison—release document.
          UN Special Representative to investigate human rights violations in Iran
          The treatment of Iran's Bahá'I minority is one of the matters that will
          come under the scrutiny of Mr. Andr s Aguilar of Venezuela, whose
          appointment as Special Representative on Iran was announced on 19
          October 1984 by Peter H. Kooijnians, Chairman of the UN Commission on
          Human Rights. Mr. Aguilar, a former Minister of Justice of Venezuela,
          is currently a member of the Human Rights Committee (an organ
          established under the International Covenant on Civil and Political
          Rights) and also a member of the Inter—American Commission on Human
          Rights.
          
        

          
          Iranian government introduces new scheme to try to page 5
          force Bahi'Is to sign their own death warrants
          The mandate of the Special Representative is “to establish contacts with
          the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and to make a thorough
          study of the human rights situation in that country .“
          For further information: Gerald Knight
          Bahi'i International Community
          866 United Nations Plaza
          New York, NY 10017
          Tel: (212) 486—0560 (office)
          (914) 997—7571 (home)