Assessment for Baha'is in Iran

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Risk Assessment | Analytic Summary | References

Risk Assessment

The outlook for Baha’is in Iran is not good. Although the general political situation in Iran improved with the election of President Khatami in 1997, the status of Baha'is has continued to worsen with the new president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005. A covert university which offered the Baha'i the only possibility for higher education was closed in 1998, and further restrictions on university enrollment through obligatory religious identification have forced Baha’is to withdraw from the university system. In addition, a 2006 letter from a senior political official has ordered the expulsion of any identified Baha’i student from 81 universities. As long as the government is controlled by a Shi'i Muslim clergy that considers them heretics, the Iranian populace will maintain its prejudices against Baha'is. While nongovernmental organizations such as the Baha'i International Community (UN) and Baha’i World Headquarters (based in Haifa, Israel) provide ideological encouragement, there is little force behind their demands for better Baha’i treatment in Iran. Although the government has reduced its repression from organized killings of Baha’is in the 1980s, repression still exists in different sorts of non-violent coercion, including arbitrary arrests, destruction of religious sites, and confiscation of property. Despite recent repression the Baha’is are not likely to rebel as it is not only against the principles of their religion, but has also not been a strategy employed by the group in the past. Nonetheless, government repression has been able to reduce the amount of nonviolent protest as well.

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Analytic Summary

The Baha’is of Iran are likely the most persecuted minority in the country. The Baha’i faith began as an offshoot of Shi’i Islam in Iran in the mid-1800s. Iran’s relatively small Baha’i community is distinct from the dominant Shi’i majority due to their religious differences (BELIEF = 2), although they are Persian speaking (LANG = 0) and of Persian origin (RACE = 0) like the Shi’i majority. The Iranian Shi'i Muslim clergy considers Baha'is to be heretics and has opposed them since the inception of the religion; accordingly, Baha’is have been mistreated in Iran for more than a century and a half --especially in the post-1979 era.

The observance of the Baha’i faith is prohibited by the Iranian constitution (CULPO106 = 3), as is the celebration of holidays, and organizations that promote Baha’i culture. In April 2001 however, the government announced the elimination of the requirement that citizens indicate religious affiliation at the time of marriage registration, which effectively allows Baha’is to register their marriages and civil attestation of their marriage to serve as a marriage certificate.

In the economic sphere, Baha’i face discrimination in the frequent confiscation or plunder of their homes by government officers. Seizure of personal property, in addition to the denial of access to education and employment (ECDIS06 = 4), is eroding the economic base of the Baha'i community. In the political realm, the Baha’i are prohibited from expressing themselves freely and are restricted on their rights during judicial proceedings and on political organizing. The Baha’is are specifically denied any position of influence (POLDIS06 = 4).

Coupled with this ongoing discrimination is an explicit policy of group repression by the Iranian government. Arrests, show trials, and systematic domestic spying are all frequent occurrences that have been levied against members of the Iranian Baha’i community (REPGENCIV04-06 = 3; REPNVIOL04-06 = 3). While no execution of an Iranian Baha’i has been reported since 1998, several Baha’i are currently imprisoned under a death sentence. Baha'is were subject to arbitrary arrest and detention by Iranian authorities throughout the 1980s. Many of these detainees were tortured and executed. There were more than 200 such executions during the 1980s and many more arrests. The Iranian government claims that these arrests and executions were for "criminal offenses" but it is far more likely that these "criminal offenses" were fabricated. Despite such brutal conditions, there are only three reported instances of Baha’i protest and no reports of rebellion in recent years (PROT04-05 = 1; REB98-06 = 0); this may be due to the Baha’i’s small numbers, primary urban dispersal (GROUPCON = 1), and the effectiveness of the Iranian government in curbing all forms of Baha’i association and organization.

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References

Amnesty International Report 2001-2003: Iran.

Baha’i International Community. “The Situation of the Baha’is in Iran,” http://info.bahai.org/persecution_iran.html

Cooper, Roger. 1985. “The Baha'is of Iran.” Minority Rights Group.

Helfgott, Leonard M. "The Structural Foundations of the National Minority Problem in Revolutionary Iran." Middle East Studies, XIII (1-4).195-213.

Human Rights Watch. World Report 2001-2003: Iran.

Keesing's Contemporary Archive, Keesing's Record of World Events, 1990-1994.

LexisNexis. Various news reports. 1990-2006.

Meron, Theodore. 1989. "Iran's Challenge to the International Law of Human Rights." Human Rights Internet Reporter. 13:1. 8-13.

Metz, Helen Chapin. 1987. Iran: a Country Study (4th ed.). Federal Research Division, Library of Congress.

Richard, Yann. 1989. "The Relevance of 'Nationalism' in Contemporary Iran." Middle East Review. Summer. 27-36.

Persecution of Baha’is in Iran. Various reports. 2004-2006. http://www.bahai.us/persecution-bahais-iran

UN Commission on Human Rights. 2/12/1990. “Report on the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

U.S. Department of State. Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Iran. 1991,1993, 2001-2006.

U.S. State Department. 2007. International Religious Freedom Report 2007- Iran. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90210.htm

The Washington Post, 1990-1994.

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