The Nobel Peace Prize-winning laureate Dr Shirin Ebadi says Iran should release the seven Bahá’í leaders accused of espionage because it does not have any evidence against them.

“In the files, in the case basically, there is nothing, no reason that basically convicts them,” says Dr Ebadi, whose Defenders of Human Rights Centre agreed to represent the Bahá’ís who have been detained without charge for more than a year in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

The trial is said to be beginning on Tuesday despite the fact that one of their lawyers is also detained in Evin and Dr Ebadi herself is outside the country.

The Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran has said that other attorneys can be appointed. But, Dr Ebadi told CNN, the court must recognize the replacements who are her colleagues and not appoint other lawyers.

Dr Ebadi’s firm took up the case of the seven Baha’is last year. They are accused of spying for Israel, spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic and committing religious offenses. The Baha’i International Community strongly denies all allegations citing decades of persecution of Iran’s 300,000-strong Bahá’í community, the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority.

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In an article published in last Thursday’s edition of The Times, Mrs Blair writes that, in the aftermath of Iran’s disputed Presidential election result, there is a risk that the ongoing threat to the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority may be overlooked. “They face a very uncertain, dangerous future,” writes Ms Blair.

Read Cherie Blair’s article here

The five men and two women, detained in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison since the spring of 2008, helped see to the minimum needs of Iran’s Bahá’í community after all Bahá’í institutions were banned by the Iranian government. Their informal committee was disbanded along with all local-level Bahá’í administrative groups in Iran in March this year. Family members of the seven have recently been told that they will face trial on Saturday 11 July. Spurious allegations made against them include “espionage for Israel”, “insulting religious sanctities”, “propaganda against the Islamic republic” and “spreading corruption on earth.”

“We must urge that the Iranian Government give the leaders of the Bahá’í community a fair trial,” writes Mrs Blair, “and allow independent observers access to ensure this happens. We must also call on Iran to live up to their international obligations to protect all their citizens and allow them to hold and practise their religious beliefs, without discrimination or fear.”

Mrs Blair’s article also pays tribute to Iranian lawyer and Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, who announced that she would defend the Bahá’í prisoners. As a result, Dr Ebadi’s “offices were raided and shut down, angry mobs appeared outside her home and she, and her family, received renewed and serious threats to their safety,” writes Mrs Blair.

“Shirin Ebadi is a courageous woman and a brilliant advocate. But we can not let her carry this burden on her own,” Mrs Blair says.

82-year old Christina Kitchen – who lives in Epsom – became an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Mrs Kitchen – a former biology teacher at Epsom’s Rosebery School for girls – has been raising funds for charities, particularly Oxfam, for more than 45 years.

“I was jolly pleased,” said Mrs Kitchen. “When people do things for the community it’s nice to be recognised.”

Mrs Kitchen told the Surrey Comet that her four sons were “all very amused and delighted” at her award. “All of them have followed in her footsteps in supporting various charities,” wrote the newspaper.

What connects an academic, a blogger, a Nobel prize winner, a postgraduate researcher, a cyber feminist, a journalist and a woman who let her head covering slip? The answer? They have all had their freedom to express themselves violated. They have all been imprisoned, flogged and fined in Iran.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Today, Iran severely restricts such freedom. Human Rights Watch, the UN Secretary General and numerous others have recently observed an escalation in attempts to silence Iranians who have something to say.

But now a new embargo on freedom of expression has formally been announced. Iran’s Prosecutor General, Ayatollah Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi, has declared that the very expression of affiliation to the Bahá’í faith is illegal. This was communicated in a letter to the Minister of Intelligence, Ghulam-Husayn Ejeyee, who needs no encouragement to violate rights. Human Rights Watch named him one of Iran’s ‘Ministers of Murder’ four years ago.

According to the Prosecutor General, everyone is free to have his own belief and faith. “However, no expression or declaration in order to disparage the thought of others, nor any attempt to teach them resulting in deception and agitation of minds is permitted.”

He goes on to determine that “the administration of the wayward Baha’i sect at all levels is illegal and forbidden … their danger to national security is documented and well-established.”

A few days later, the Prosecutor General made the rather fantastic claim that Bahá’ís in Iran are provided with all facilities afforded other Iranian citizens, and are respected as human beings, “but not as insiders, spies, or a political grouplet supported by Britain and Israel to cause disturbance in Iran”. Much kindness had always been shown Bahá’í citizens of Iran, he asserted, but there was “opposition to the relations of many of them with the enemies of the Iranian nation and particularly with Israel.”

The spurious nature of such assertions are obvious to anyone with the most basic knowledge of the Bahá’í faith, the persecution it has faced in Iran on religious grounds for more than a century, and the historical events which led to its Prophet being banished in 1868 to a remote corner of the Ottoman empire, which now happens to sit within the borders of modern-day Israel.

The broader implication of the Prosecutor General’s statement, however, is that it is possible to legally separate out a (generous) respect of religion or belief from its (dangerous) expression or declaration. This is apparently on the grounds that such expression would disparage, deceive and agitate others, destroying the “edifice of the Iranian belief system” and threatening “national well-being and welfare”.

What we are being told, therefore, is that the Iranian belief system is unitary and very vulnerable to the free expression of some bloggers, some morally loose women and some journalists – but all Bahá’ís, all 300,000 of them that make up Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority.

Human Rights instruments depart from this perspective. How is it possible to single out one religious community and deny it any expression of its values? How can full religious freedom go hand in hand with the criminalisation of any expression or activity – personal or public – that may flow from it? UN standards recognise freedom of thought, conscience and religion as being far-reaching and profound; they encompass freedom of thought on all matters, personal conviction and the commitment to religion or belief, whether manifested individually or in community with others. The fact that the protection of religion or belief necessarily includes the protection of its expression is beyond dispute.

That said, it is the individual’s having, adopting or changing a religion or belief that is absolute. Manifestation can be limited when prescribed by law and necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

The Prosecutor General claims that all religious expression by Bahá’ís – regardless of what form it takes, what medium it uses and whether it is expressed in worship, observance, practice or teaching – is dangerous and therefore illegal. He does not demonstrate exactly what need this outright criminalisation serves, nor does he convince us why it is necessary and proportionate. The UN states that any limitations placed on this right “should not involve discriminatory purposes or be applied in a discriminatory manner”. It would be hard in this case to claim it is otherwise. It would also be hard to not be alarmed at this development, considering UN evidence that the Iranian government instructed all of its agencies back in October 2005 to identify and monitor the activities of every single Bahá’í in Iran.

If Iran imagines that the singling out of a religious minority for criminalisation – whilst asserting a policy of kindness and respect towards it – can possibly be believable, then why was its most recent report to the UN Human Rights Committee submitted more than 17 years ago? Perhaps the Prosecutor General has forgotten that on that occasion the Human Rights Committee criticised Iran in no uncertain terms, stating that the Committee was “particularly disturbed about the extent of discrimination against followers of non-recognized religions, notably the Baha’is, whose rights under the Covenant are subject to extremely severe restrictions. In the foregoing connection, the Committee received no satisfactory answer regarding the destruction of places of worship or cemeteries and the systematic persecution, harassment and discrimination of the Baha’is, which is in clear contradiction with the provisions of the Covenant.”

The outright prohibition on all declaration or expression of Bahá’í belief along with the ban on all their organisational structures, is all the more devastating for a community which does not have a clerical religious structure and is entering its thirty-first year of severe persecution.

Iran’s criminalisation of the freedom of expression rights of hundreds of its Bahá’í citizens does not bode well for the wider cause of opinion, thought and conscience. In September last year, International PEN expressed alarm at increasing and widespread violations. The situation has just got a lot worse.

According to the Bahá’í World News Service, the six were arrested after government security agents raided the homes of at least 11 Bahá’ís. During the raids, they also confiscated books and other items, such as computers and photographs. Among those arrested was Jinous Sobhani, who worked as an assistant for the Organization for Defending Mine Victims and also for the Defenders of Human Rights Center. Both were founded by Mrs. Ebadi.

“The arrest of these individuals reflects not only the grave situation facing Bahá’ís in Iran but also the overall human rights situation there,” said Diane Ala’i, a representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations in Geneva.

“As far as we know, all of these people were arrested primarily because they are Baha’is,” said Ms. Ala’i. But she confirmed the fact that Ms. Sobhani worked for the two organizations founded by Mrs. Ebadi.

“The connection of Ms. Sobhani to the work of Mrs. Ebadi’s organizations points to the gravity of the situation in Iran, where the government seems intent on stifling any expression of the importance of human rights or religious freedom,” said Ms. Ala’i.

In December, the Baha’i International Community condemned the closing of Mrs. Ebadi’s Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran and called for its reopening.

Baroness Royall, pictured right, was speaking at a reception held on Monday 8 December at the UK National Bahá’í Centre to highlight a Baha’i International Community statement, Beyond Legal Reforms: Culture and Capacity in the Eradication of Violence Against Women and Girls.

Baroness Royall described the document as “excellent” and added that she was impressed by the value Bahá’ís place on the education of girl children. During her presentation, she outlined elements of the British government’s programme of legislation and action to deal with some of the areas of abuse that women suffer. “The United Kingdom has made great progress,” she said, “but there is still much to do. Strengthening of personal, social and health education (PSHE) in schools will be crucial in changing attitudes in children and young people in the long term.”

Baroness Royall also announced the launch in early 2009 of a new public consultation on violence against women and urged everyone to respond to the consultation.

The reception, hosted by the UK Baha’i community, was part of 16 days of activism to draw attention to the continuing need to eradicate violence against women. 

The chair of the Women’s National Commission, Baroness Gould of Potternewton, also congratulated the Bahá’í community on the statement and for what it does in the UK and internationally to promote gender equality and the elimination of violence against women. 

“The position of women and girls has improved in recent decades,” she said, “but many throughout the world are still deprived of the security and education that would enable them to develop their potential.”

“We need a change of culture and an integrated approach towards the elimination of violence against women and towards the development of a more equal society,” said Baroness Gould. However, she said, relevant government departments and NGOs need more resources to play their part in achieving the set objectives.

Zarin Hainsworth-Fadaei, President of the UK National Committee for UNIFEM, the UN women’s agency, highlighted some of the major themes of the document.

“Any effective programme to eliminate  violence against women and girls,” said Ms Hainsworth-Fadaei, “must be based in the understanding that the individual has a spiritual and moral dimension, which shapes their understanding of the purpose of their life and of their responsibilities towards others. Development of these moral and spiritual capacities through education must go hand-in-hand with the structural and legal changes that are slowly emerging at international and national levels.”

Robert Weinberg, External Affairs Secretary of the Baha’i community’s national governing council, the National Spiritual Assembly, welcomed the audience, which included more than 20 leading members of the women’s movement in the UK.

“Bahá’í educational activities at the grassroots level, whether it be in the fields of community development, literacy or healthcare, in the moral and social development of children and pre-teens – all of these activities have the principle of equality, rights and justice at their heart,” said Mr Weinberg. “We are learning at the local, national and international levels what it means to build a community where the capacities of all are encouraged, nurtured and trained so they can play their part in the building of healthy society.”

Lady Carpenter met her husband, then a young curate, at the Holy Trinity church in Marylebone where she was active in its Sunday School and Youth club.  They married in 1941. Dr Carpenter served at Westminster Abbey for 35 years, eventually becoming Dean from 1974 to 1986. On his passing in 1998, an obituary in The Independent said, “He and his much-respected wife, Lilian, will go down in the history of Westminster for being so accessible, friendly and prepared to listen.”

After exploring many religions, Lady Carpenter embraced the Bahá’í faith attracted to its belief in the underlying unity of all religions.  In a written tribute, the international governing council of the Bahá’í faith – the Universal House of Justice – recalled her ”open and free-spirited heart”. “Among those who knew her she has left behind fond memories of a noble and deeply spiritual character,” they wrote.

Lady Carpenter is survived by her four children and seven grandchildren.

The new report launched at Westminster by the Foreign Policy Centre on Tuesday 25 November, to coincide with United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, examines the religious, legal and social obstacles to equality faced by women, Bahá’ís and Kurds in Iran, comparing the experiences of the three groups.

The report, entitled A revolution without rights: Women, Kurds and Bahá’ís searching for equality in Iran, evaluates the Iranian government’s compliance with its own constitution and looks at how the country’s treatment of women and minorities measures up to the international agreements it has signed.

The report lays out practical steps that British and European policy-makers can take to support the equal treatment of women and minorities with their fellow citizens in Iran. These include:

•        Diplomatic pressure to ensure human rights remain on the agenda
•        Access for the UN to monitor the situation on the ground
•        EU trade incentives such as the EU-Iran Trade and Cooperation Agreement linked to human rights improvements
•        Technical and political support for Iran’s WTO membership
•        Option of travel bans and financial restrictions for individual regime members responsible for human rights abuses

In is preface to the document, UK Foreign Office Minister Lord Mark Malloch-Brown described the report as an “important contribution to the debate, and an important part of ensuring that improving Iran’s human rights record stays firmly on the agenda worldwide”.

“Iran consistently fails to meet the international commitments that it is signed up to. It ignores its own laws and terms of its own constitution such as arbitrary arrest and the denial of due process. And it is increasingly – and worryingly – using vague, national security-related charges such as ‘acting against state security’ and ‘propaganda against the system’ against individuals who are exercising their right to peaceful protest,” said Lord Malloch-Brown. “The international community must take responsibility to lobby the Iranian government and support those within Iran who are bravely fighting for their human rights,” he said.

The launch of the report was held in the Wilson Room of Portcullis House in the House of Commons. Among those who addressed the audience were Mike Gapes MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Professor the Baroness Haleh Afshar; Iranian human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam; Drewery Dyke of Amnesty International; and Kaveh Mussavi, Head of Public Interest Law, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford.

Highlighting particularly the ongoing persecution faced by the Bahá’ís – Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, Baroness Afshar said, “The treatment of the Bahá’ís is appalling, unacceptable and – in every way – not only against accepted human rights regulations but the ancient traditions of Iran, a culture that has always been characterised by tolerance.”

The launch was chaired by former government minister Stephen Twigg, now Director of the Foreign Policy Centre. ”This report challenges Iran to fulfil its obligations to its own citizens under international law and its constitution,” said Mr Twigg. “We must support the tireless work of Iranian human rights activists working to bring change in their own country and make sure their struggle is not overlooked as the international community focuses on the nuclear issue.”

“International pressure really does make a difference in human rights cases,” said Ms Afshin-Jam, who is President of the Stop Child Executions Campaign.

The report is available online from the Foreign Policy Centre.

Mrs Guilda Navidi-Walker of Stisted was honoured by the World Wide Fund for Nature for the role she has played in helping convene summits for heads of states and ministers to agree to the protection of such areas, particularly in Brazil, South East Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Carpathian and Danube regions.

WWF’s Leaders for a Living Planet award recognises individuals who make a significant personal contribution to the conservation of the natural world and sustainable development.

Presenting Mrs Navidi-Walker with her award, James Leape, Director General of WWF, said, “Achieving conservation success is almost always the result of the actions and inspiration of one or more individuals who choose to make a personal difference and inspire others to join them. I am delighted to present Guilda Navidi-Walker with this award.” 

Accepting her award, Mrs Navidi-Walker said, “Bahá’í scriptures describe nature as a reflection of the sacred and advises that nature should be valued and respected…Every effort should be made to preserve the earth’s bio-diversity and natural order.”

“I am delighted to receive this award and would like to acknowledge the international Bahá’í community’s inspiring example of environmental leadership,” she said.

The award was presented at the annual WWF Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Awards held at St.James’ Palace in London, in the presence of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who is President Emeritus of WWF International. The event was co-hosted for the first time with Women in Diplomatic Service, the association of female diplomats in the United Kingdom. 84 countries were represented by their ambassadors at the ceremony.

Lois Lambert has been named a State Honoured Citizen. She is only the second non-Mongolian to have been given this award.

Mrs Lambert has been conducting moral education classes for students for the past two years at a medical college owned and administered by Professor Byambaagiin Batsereedene, who was until recently the Minister for Health.

As many as 80 students have studied materials on moral development with Mrs Lambert as well as watching and discussing films on social and environmental issues.

Along with the medal as a State Honoured Citizen, Mrs Lambert was presented with a certificate on a silver plate set in rose wood with the inscription: “In recognition of your invaluable intellectual contributions to the health sector of Mongolia through the training of medical professionals utilizing a positive participatory approach, excellent communication skills and demonstrating a high professional knowledge and exemplary ethics.”

Mrs Lambert – whose grandmother became a Bahá’í in the early years of the 20th century – arrived in Mongolia with her husband David in 1992, just three years after students and intellectuals had staged the country’s first demonstrations to challenge the hard-line single party system. David Lambert was awarded an MBE in HM the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2003 for his services to the development of English language studies in Mongolia.