Homes belonging to some 50 Baha’i families in the Iranian village of Ivel in Mazandaran were torched last Thursday, 22 June, a report from the Baha’i World News Service confirms.

Villagers – incited by elements inimical to the Baha’i community –- blocked normal access to the village, while allowing trucks and at least four diggers to begin levelling the houses.

Amateur video, shot on mobile telephones and posted by Iranian human rights activists on the Internet, showed what appeared to be several buildings reduced to rubble as well as fiercely burning fires.

The demolitions are the latest development in an ongoing, officially-sanctioned program in the area which has targeted every activity of the Baha’is.

“They’re being forbidden to associate with Muslims, or even offer service to their friends and neighbours,” said Diane Ala’i, representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva.

“Even the smallest acts of good will – such as taking flowers to someone who’s sick in hospital or donating gifts to an orphanage – these are being seen as actions against the regime.”

Most of the Baha’i homes in Ivel have been unoccupied since their residents fled after previous incidents of violence or as a result of official displacement. In 2007, for example, six of their houses were torched.

“Baha’is have lived in this area for more than 100 years and it once had a large community,” said Ms. Ala’i. “But in 1983, a few years after the Iranian revolution, at least 30 families from this and neighboring villages were put on buses and expelled.

“Since then, they have tried to seek legal redress to no avail, while returning in the summer to harvest their crops,” she said.

A Baha’i man who came to the site with his family the day after the demolitions to try to harvest his produce was set upon and beaten by villagers.

Members of the Baha’i community have repeatedly complained to local government officials, including the provincial governor in Sari. The authorities always deny knowledge of the demolitions or the motive behind them.

“The UK Baha’i community is deeply concerned about this utterly unjust treatment of their fellow Baha’is in Iran,” said Dr Kishan Manocha, Secretary of the UK community’s national governing body.

“We keep the Foreign and Commonwealth Office informed of the latest developments in Iran and we are grateful for the support of many parliamentarians,” Dr Manocha continued. “The whole community constantly remembers their brethren in Iran in their prayers.”

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, persecution, human rights, demolitions

The UK Baha’i community was represented at the G8 World Religions Summit 2010 in Winnipeg, Canada, from Monday to Wednesday of this week.

Barney Leith, a member of the UK Baha’i community’s national governing council, joined other representatives from the world’s religions for the summit at the University of Winnipeg ahead of the G8 and G20 summits in Toronto.

The World Religions Summit 2010 was the sixth in a series of interfaith gatherings associated with the annual G8 meetings. It brought together more than 80 participants from all of the world’s major faiths including, for the first time, representatives of the Baha’i community.

Religious leaders from more than 20 countries attended, including each of the G8 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Inspired leadership and action

The summit urged world leaders to take “inspired leadership and action” to eradicate poverty, protect the environment and end violent conflict.

“Acknowledging our common humanity and embracing the imperative to treat all persons with dignity, we affirm that no one person is more or less valuable than another,” said the statement agreed by summit participants.

“We urge the political leaders to consider first the vulnerable among us, particularly our children, and to work together to address the dehumanizing scourge of poverty and injustice, and practice and promote care for our common environment, the Earth.”

The Reverend Dr. James Christie, secretary general of the Summit, said the meeting and its output was directed principally at the leaders of the so-called “Group of 8″ countries because they represent the nations that have the most power to effect change in the world.

“The reality is that these nations have the money, they have the clout, and they make a difference,” said Dr. Christie.

Some participants said it was also important for the religious communities themselves to redouble their own efforts to address the three main topics of their discussions – poverty, the environment, and peace.

‘The future ain’t what it used to be’

Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire addresses the G8 World Religions Summit 2010

In addressing the opening session of the summit, Canadian senator and humanitarian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire quoted baseball player Yogi Berra’s famous quip about the future before stating that this is an era of revolutions in the worlds of of information, the environment and security.

Things are changing so fast the politicians find it difficult to do anything more than react.

“Religions need to help politicians to think long-term and to live by the fundamental premise that every human being is human – to be treated equally and to be protected from human rights abuses,” said General Dallaire.

“National sovereignty is not an absolute,” said General Dallaire. “Love and faith are absolutes.”

Baha’i participation

Baha’i representatives from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States took part in the summit.

“It was an important experience for all of us,” said UK Baha’i representative Barney Leith. “We were there to share our understanding that solutions to the world’s problems require the application of spiritual principles and an understanding of the oneness and interconnectedness of humanity. We were also there to learn what the other faiths understand and are saying about the complex issues that the summit considered.”

“It was notable that most, if not all, delegates understood that the challenges the world faces are at root spiritual.”

Human rights and religious freedom seminar

A day-long seminar on 21 June, sponsored by the Baha’i community of Canada, on human and religious freedom was one of the pre-summit activities on the campus of the University of Winnipeg.

A panel of four human rights experts from different religious backgrounds concluded that the right to freedom of religion must be upheld to ensure that its influence on society is progressive and positive.

Summit statement

The statement, issued after three days of deliberation at the World Religions Summit 2010, called upon political leaders to take “courageous and concrete” actions.

Regarding poverty, it said more than a billion people are “chronically hungry” and that women, children and indigenous peoples are among those most affected.

“The magnitude of poverty would be overwhelming were it not for the knowledge that this global inequity can be transformed into a shared life of human flourishing for all. Together, we have the capacity and the global resources to end extreme poverty and its impacts,” the statement said.

On the subject of the environment, the statement noted that all faith traditions “call us to careful stewardship of the Earth.” It warned of the effects of climate change and said “bold action is needed now.”

Governments were also called upon to halt the nuclear arms race, and to make new investments to create a “culture of peace.”

The Summit condemned religiously-motivated terrorism and extremism with the faith leaders committing themselves “to stop the teaching and justification of the use of violence between and among our faith communities.”

The statement was presented to Steven Fletcher, Canada’s Minister of State for Democratic Reform. Mr. Fletcher promised to deliver it to the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, for presentation to the G8 leaders.

More information

You can download the Statement from the World Religions Summit 2010 here.

You can read a fuller story on the Baha’i World News Service here.

Photos by Louis Brunet, © Baha’i International Community

Technorati Tags: Baha’i,   Bahai, G8, UK, religious leaders, summit, Winnipeg, poverty, environment, peace, security

Iran’s imprisoned leaders, l to r: Behrooz Tavakkoli, Fariba Kamalabadi, Vahid Tizfahm, Mahvash Sabet, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Saeid Rezaie, Afif Naeimi

The seven Baha’i leaders in Iran, imprisoned for more than two years, face their fourth court appearance on 12 June, the Baha’i World News Service has reported.

The trial of the seven began on 12 January after they had been incarcerated without charge in Tehran’s Evin prison for 20 months.

Further hearings in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran took place on 7 February and 12 April.

“In the court sessions held so far, no evidence of wrongdoing has been presented. As their lawyers have confirmed, the defendants are completely innocent and are being persecuted solely for their religious belief,” said Diane Ala’i, Baha’i representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

“The Iranian government should know that its actions against these innocent citizens are under scrutiny throughout the world,” she said.

“Once again we call for their immediate release. Failing that, the seven should – at the very least – be released on bail pending a fair trial.”

Baha’is in the UK, amongst whom are relatives of the imprisoned Baha’is in Iran, are anxiously waiting for the outcome of this protracted and unjust trial.

The seven defendants are Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm. Before their imprisonment, they attended to the spiritual and social needs of Iran’s Baha’i community, which numbers more than 300,000. Mrs. Sabet was arrested on 5 March 2008 and the others on 14 May 2008.

There are currently some 38 Baha’is in detention in various cities in Iran.

A summary of the human rights abuses suffered by the Baha’is in Iran is provided here.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, human rights, leadership, Yaran, trial, justice

The Baha’i International Community will be amongst a range of organisations cosponsoring the 12 June Global Day of Action demanding an end to human rights abuses in Iran, reports the Baha’i World News Service.

The initiative is coordinated by human rights group United4Iran. Cosponsors include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Nobel Women’s Initiative, the Baha’i International Community, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, FIDH (Federation Internationale des ligues des Droits de l’Homme), and Pen International.

“In our support for this nonpartisan initiative, we are standing together with ordinary citizens throughout the world to draw attention to the continuing and widespread abuse of human rights in Iran,” said Diane Ala’i, representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva.

The prominent nongovernmental organizations are joining with a wide range of local, student and Internet-based groups to host simultaneous events in cities and on campuses around the globe. Online initiatives include sending messages to specific recipients in support of individual prisoners of conscience.

Tiny cells

Earlier this month, United4Iran marked the second anniversary – on 14 May – of the jailing of seven Baha’i leaders in Tehran’s Evin prison, calling for individuals to show support by replicating the size of the small jail cells and taking a photograph.

“The response was overwhelming,” reported the United4Iran website. “Notes, emails, video, old photographs of the leaders, former students, (and) community representatives from all the world participated.”

As a gesture of solidarity, supporters were asked to mark off the size of the cells shared by the Baha’i prisoners then occupy the space, so as to better appreciate their suffering.

The cells of the Baha’is in Evin prison do not have beds, forcing the prisoners to sleep on the concrete floor.

The seven Baha’i leaders jailed in Tehran for the past two years are among about 36 Baha’is currently imprisoned in Iran because of their religion.

“All I can do is pray…”

Fariba Kamalabadi, left, pictured with a former student, who sent the photo to United4Iran

United4Iran also published an old photograph of one of the jailed Baha’is, Fariba Kamalabadi, with one of her former students. The student sent the picture to United4Iran along with words from a letter she wrote to her teacher: “Now that you are in prison … for making the world a better place, … it brings tears to my eyes. And all I can do is pray. The things you taught me I will always know.”

“We are grateful for this outpouring of sympathy being offered to the people of Iran who are subject to oppression,” said Ms. Ala’i.

Other initiatives

Several other organizations have recently launched campaigns in support of Iran’s oppressed Baha’i community.

The latest newsletter of the French branch of the organization Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT-France) includes a call for action in support of the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders, as well as 12 other Baha’is who have been recently detained.

On 14 March, Amnesty International requested messages of goodwill be sent to prisoners of conscience in Iran in order to mark the traditional Persian new year holiday.

The detained leaders of Iran’s Baha’i community were included among seven cases selected by Amnesty International.

To date, almost 600 messages have been received for the Baha’i prisoners – both individually and collectively – from as far afield as Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the United States.

Photos © Baha’i International Community

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, human rights, United4Iran, Amnesty International

Mary McAleese, President of the Republic of Ireland, has praised the universality of of the Baha’i teachings and the contributions of the Baha’i community make to life in Ireland, according to this report in the Baha’i World News Service.

“You are marked out as people with values that are worth observing, worth learning from, worth looking at, worth imitating and so never be in any doubt of the value you are every single day in this world,” President McAleese told a gathering of some 60 Baha’is during her first ever visit to the national Baha’i Centre in the Irish capital.

President McAleese, first elected as Ireland’s President in 1997, made her special visit to the Baha’i Centre on 30 April to mark the Festival of Ridvan, the anniversary of Baha’u'llah’s declaration in 1863 that He is the most recent in a line of divine Messengers that includes Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Mohammed, Moses, Zoroaster, and others.

The President also expressed concern about the persecution of Baha’is in other countries. She said it was both sad and remarkable that a Faith with such principles would attract, in any shape or form, violence from others.

Photo © Baha’i International Community

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Ireland, Dublin, McAleese

On 14 May the seven members of Iran’s Bahá’í leadership group will begin their third year in prison.

The prisoners are Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm.

Inhumane prison conditions

The cells, which have neither fresh air nor natural light, smell rancid and are so small that it is difficult for the Bahá’í prisoners to move around or get any rest. If the lights are turned off, the cells are plunged into darkness. The Bahá’ís have no beds and only limited bedding.

The prisoners are allowed fresh air for only two hours each week and contact with their families is mostly limited to a maximum of one ten-minute telephone call per week. On the rare occasions when their families are allowed to visit, the prisoners are separated from their loved ones by a glass barrier and they are deprived of the comforting embrace of spouses and children.

According to the journalist Roxana Saberi, who shared a cell for three weeks with two of the Baha’i prisoners, the women are confined in a small space. “They roll up a blanket to use as a pillow,” she said. “The floor is cement and covered with only a thin, brown carpet, and prisoners often get backaches and bruises from sleeping on it. … When I was with them, we were allowed into a walled-in cement yard four days a week for 20 to 30 minutes.”

UK Baha’is gravely concerned

“The Bahá’ís in the UK are gravely concerned by the injustice of the continued detention of the Bahá’í leaders in Iran,” said Dr Kishan Manocha, Secretary of the UK Bahá’ís’ national governing council. They are being held on baseless charges, which they have categorically denied.”

“We’re also worried by the deterioration of their health,” Dr Manocha said. “The utterly inhumane conditions in which they are being held contravene international human rights treaties which forbid torture and subjecting people to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

“We are calling upon the British government to press the Iranian Republic of Iran to set these prisoners free immediately,” he commented. “If the Iranian authorities refuse to free the Bahá’ís, they  should at the very least release them on bail and try them promptly and fairly, in accordance with international standards.”

International action

The Universal House of Justice – the head of the Baha’i Faith – has called for the worldwide Baha’i community to host special prayer meetings across the globe this Friday, to remember the Baha’is of Iran and all their compatriots who are similarly subject to oppression.

“It grieves our hearts to contemplate the passing of yet another year in which the seven former members of the Yaran remain imprisoned on baseless charges for which the authorities have no evidence whatsoever,” the House of Justice has written.

The second anniversary, they say, calls to mind the “multifarious forms of oppression” being faced by Iran’s Baha’i community, including “interrogations, summary arrests and imprisonment, deprivation of the means to a livelihood, wanton destruction of property, and the denial of education to Baha’i students.”

A collective gesture of solidarity with the imprisoned Baha’i leaders has also been called for by the human rights network United4Iran. They are asking sympathizers worldwide to replicate the dimensions of the cells in Evin prison, and document themselves confined to the space. Photographs and video clips will be then shared on the Internet to bring the international community’s attention to the ongoing arbitrary imprisonment being endured by the seven.

Read more about the United4Iran campaign here.

Read more about the situation on the Baha’i World News Service.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, Yaran, leaders, persecution, human rights, prison

The Baha’i International Community has challenged the belief that human beings are slaves to self interest and consumerism in a new statement issued for the UN Commission on Sustainable Development’s two-week meeting in New York.

The document, entitled Rethinking Prosperity: Forging Alternatives to a Culture of Consumerism, challenges the view that there is an intractable conflict between what people want – which supposedly is to consume more – and what humanity needs.

“The culture of consumerism … has tended to reduce human beings to competitive, insatiable consumers of goods and to objects of manipulation by the market,” it says.

In fact, “the human experience is essentially spiritual in nature: it is rooted in the inner reality – or what some call the ‘soul’ – that we all share in common,” it states.

“The document deals with the issue of consumerism by reflecting on the question of what is human nature,” said Peter Adriance, a member of the Baha’i International Community’s delegation to the Commission. “We must look at who we are and what our purpose in life is.”

“The transition to sustainable consumption and production is one of the great challenges of our times, and to achieve it will require a transformation in both thought and action. The cultural forces at play are powerful and demand re-examination if we are to move forward,” he said.

You can read the statement at http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/bic-statements/10-0503.htm.

You can read more on the Baha’i World News Service site.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, consumerism, spiritual, human nature, prosperity

Baha’is from across the United Kingdom gathered in Nottingham this weekend for the annual election of the National Spiritual Assembly, the governing body of the Baha’is in this country.

Ninety-five delegates, themselves elected by Baha’is at local level, fulfilled what for Baha’is is a sacred task of administrative and spiritual renewal.

They were joined by around 600 observers.

The role of National Convention

Delegates cast their ballots as the tellers observe the process

National Convention is an established part of the Baha’i calendar and has been held in the United Kingdom since the National Spiritual Assembly was first elected in 1923.

Each year during the 21 April-2 May festival of Ridvan – the Baha’is’ most significant annual festival and the time when Baha’is elect their local and national administrative councils – the Universal House of Justice, the community’s world governing council, addresses a major message to the Baha’is of the world.

This year’s message reviewed the progress of the global Baha’i community in recent years and and commented on the development in the community of a culture in which learning is the focus. All are encouraged to contribute to the development of knowledge, which is central to social existence.

The message also gave detailed guidance on how to promote ‘a way of thinking, studying, and acting, in which all consider themselves as treading a common path of service’.

Reflection on the message provided the platform for the delegates’ consultations. The discussions focused on the neighbourhood-level community building that Baha’is the world over are committed to.

Delegates shared their experiences and thinking about how the building of spiritual, social and material capacity is the foundation of community building. They spoke about the way Baha’is work with people of all faiths and none to improve the well-being of all.

The Convention encourages all delegates, whether veterans or first-timers, to speak freely. There is an ethos of careful listening and all contributions are accorded equal respect.

‘Convention is a time to renew our spirits and focus our vision,’ said one delegate. Another delegate was touched by the ‘sharing of experience and the very focused contributions’.

Election of the National Spiritual Assembly

Delegates receive the newly elected National Spiritual Assembly

One of the delegates’ main tasks at Convention is to elect the members of the National Spiritual Assembly for the coming year. Delegates were struck by the contrast with the political electoral process as the voting took place in silence and in an atmosphere of intense prayer.

There are no nominations and there’s no canvassing. Each delegate confidentially writes the names of the nine people he or she considers most suitable to serve on the National Assembly on his or her ballot paper. Once the delegates have placed their ballots in the ballot box, nine tellers count the votes. The nine people with the most votes are elected for the year.

Inclusivity

Those attending Convention this year were struck by the level of inclusivity. Everyone, whether enrolled Baha’is or friends of the community, is encouraged to participate in what the Universal House of Justice describes as ‘a process that seeks to raise capacity within a population to take charge of its own spiritual, social and intellectual development’.

Children and young people

Adults have a go at the gamelan

Activities for children and young people, including the opportunity to have a go at playing in a gamelan orchestra of Indonesian drums and gongs added to the energy of the occasion.

At the end of Convention the children performed a song they had learned to the delegates and observers.

The 11-14 year olds performed two plays, including one that contrasted the experience of Baha’i elections with the General Election currently under way in the UK.

And the older youth shared their very perceptive reflections on the message to the Baha’is of the world from the Universal House of Justice.

Bigger, brighter, happier than ever before

The children sing to Convention

One participant observed that delegates, members of Baha’i institutions, local dignitaries, and friends from localities around the United Kingdom ‘are literally flowing together through the university building..it is bigger, brighter, happier than ever before’.

Photos: Mehdi Van Den Bos, Barney Leith, Saleem Vaillancourt.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, National Convention, Nottingham, election, voting

The central role in the convention is played by the 95 delegates elected by Baha’is at local level across the country.

The delegates take part intensive consultations about the work of the Baha’i community in the coming year. They also participate in the election of the nine members of the community’s national governing council, the National Spiritual Assembly.

Elected to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly for the coming year are Mrs Zarin Hainsworth-Fadaie, Mr Pete Hulme, Mr Barney Leith, Dr Kishan Manocha, Ms Fidelma Meehan, Mr Patrick O’Mara, Dr Vafa Ram, Dr Shirin Tahzib, and Ms Sara Talai.

Discussions at this year’s convention have been inspired and shaped by a major message from the Universal House of Justice, the Baha’i world’s international governing council. Delegates have focused on developing understanding of Baha’i approaches to community building.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, election, consultation, National Convention

As the sun sets on 20 April, Baha’is around the world will be preparing for the greatest and holiest of their annual festivals, the twelve-day festival of Ridvan.

Perhaps uniquely amongst religious festivals, Ridván is not just a time for prayer and celebration. It is the occasion when Baha’is take part in the elections of their local and national governing councils, the Spiritual Assemblies.

Baha’is in some 100,000 localities around the world will get together in a prayerful atmosphere to elect their local Spiritual Assemblies, the nine-member bodies that coordinate local community activities.

“Baha’i elections are different,” said Aref Taidi, a member of the Welwyn Baha’i community in the south east of England. “Every adult Baha’i can vote and be voted for. Nobody is nominated and no one canvasses for votes. Before we vote, we pray so the election takes place in a spiritual atmosphere. It’s a sacred duty for Baha’is to take part in electing the Assembly.”

The same prayerful atmosphere will pervade the election of the Baha’i National Spiritual Assembly at the end of the Ridván period.

“It’s a two-stage election,” explained veteran Baha’i and former National Assembly member Dr Wendi Momen.

“Last December local Baha’is got together in 95 electoral units to elect their delegates. It’s the 95 delegates who go to National Convention on behalf of all of us,” Dr Momen said. “Each delegate votes in secret for the nine people she or he thinks can best serve as the members of the National Spiritual Assembly for the coming year. The nine people who get the most votes will form the National Assembly.”

“It’s very different from our General Election on 6 May,” said Mr Taidi. “We don’t have different parties in the Baha’i community. We vote for individuals who have the right qualities, such as well trained minds and a record of service to the community.”

“Baha’is can vote in political elections too, if they choose to do so,” said Dr Momen, “but they won’t vote on a party basis. As in the Baha’i elections, they should vote on the basis of the candidates’ personal qualities and integrity.”

The festival of Ridvan – an Arabic word meaning “paradise” – marks the anniversary of a crucial period in Baha’i history.

Baha’u'llah, Founder of the Baha’i Faith, exiled to Baghdad from His native Iran in 1853, had been summoned to Constantinople. During the twelve days before His departure, 21 April to 2 May 1863, He camped in a garden on the banks of the River Tigris. He named the garden Rivdan, or Paradise.

During this period Baha’u'llah announced to His closest companions that He was the Promised One of all earlier religions — “Him Whom God shall make manifest.” His declaration marks the beginning of the Baha’i Faith.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, festival,   Ridvan, election