In this podcast we examine the persecution of the Baha’i community and talk to David Hoffman and Jeff Kaufman,  the executive producer and director of the film “Education Under Fire,” a new documentary that profiles an unofficial school that called the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE). BIHE is a type of underground university. In Iran, members of the Baha’i  faith are not allowed allowed to attend official universities. Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, also provides some background on the situation.

To learn more about the Institute and the campaign behind it visit the documentary’s website here.

Related Links: The Campaign’s Report on Iran’s Systematic Discrimination and Exclusion in Iranian Higher Education

The Bahá’í Faith was founded in the mid-1800s in what is now known as Iran. There are more than five million followers. In Iran, Baha’is are the largest non-Muslim minority religion, so they are perceived as a threat to the country’s religious establishment. Because of that, Baha’is face systematic persecution in nearly every facet of life – from employment to education.

After the 1979 Revolution, Iranian authorities renewed a historic campaign to eradicate members of the Baha;i community. Since then, over 200 Iranian Baha’i ’s have been executed, disappeared, or killed for their beliefs. Thousands more have been imprisoned and have had personal property confiscated or destroyed. And all members of the community are barred from obtaining higher education.

Many Baha’is are currently behind bars, even those who are not politically active and simply support Baha’i institutions.The BIHE was founded in the mid-1980s, and has never been legally recognized by the government. Earlier this year, seven people associated with the Institute were sentenced to 4 and 5 year prison terms.

(4 December 2010) The Iranian government should immediately end its policy of depriving university students of higher education based on their political or religious beliefs, and respect their freedom of expression and conscience, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today with the publication of a new report, “Punishing Stars: Systematic Discrimination and Exclusion in Iranian Higher Education.”

The 77-page report, based on interviews with 27 students barred from higher education, is being released on the occasion of National Student Day in Iran, 7 December.

“Excluding students from universities based on their political and religious views is a totalitarian practice that ruins careers and removes reform-oriented young people from future professional cohorts,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign’s spokesperson.

During the past six years, the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, through close coordination between its Ministries of Intelligence and Science, has systematically targeted university campuses to suppress social and political activism as well as to exclude Baha’i students due to their religious beliefs.

Hundreds of students have been barred from higher education through this process. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran interviewed 27 students barred from higher education. Additionally, the Campaign compiled a list of 217 students who were denied their right to education. The true numbers are believed to be much higher, as many targeted students have preferred to remain silent and not make their case public, fearing further persecution and prosecution, or hoping that they can reverse their education bans by giving written guarantees to cease future activism.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as the head of the cabinet, including the Ministries of Science and Intelligence, as well as the head of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (three bodies engaged in systematically depriving students from right to education), is ultimately responsible and should be held accountable.

These policies have included wholesale shuttering of independent student organizations, massive imprisonment of student activists, purging ideologically suspect faculty, depriving targeted students from continuing their higher education, and even assaulting social sciences and humanities curricula in an effort to cleanse them of “un-Islamic” concepts.

Contents:
I. Executive Summary
II. Background
III. In Their Own Words: Interviews with Students
IV. Unfolding of Starred Student Controversy
V. Regulatory Framework for Denial of Education
VI. Violations of International Law
VII. Recommendations
VIII. List of Students Barred from Higher Education, 2005-2010

Soon after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became President of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2005, the term “starred students” entered Iranian discourse on higher education, indicating a mechanism for discrimination against, and exclusion of, students from higher education based solely on their political beliefs, the exercise of their freedom of expression, and in the case of Baha’i students, their religious beliefs.

Punishing Stars is a thorough and systematic study of Iran’s discriminatory higher education practices, based on close examinations of official policies and on direct testimonies by students about being barred from study, and their efforts to seek accountability by Iranian authorities.

“’Barring students from higher education is a violation of Iran’s international legal obligations to promote equality and nondiscrimination, and the Iranian people’s right to education,” Ghaemi said.

The Right to Education, which is proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and guaranteed by the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, which has been signed and ratified by Iran, stresses equitable access to higher education, with meeting academic entrance standards the only legitimate admissions criterion. Students interviewed by the Campaign who had been shut out of universities included some who had among the highest scores on competitive national entrance examinations.

National Student Day, 7 December, is an occasion on which Iranian students have protested to demand their rights. It marks the date on which three demonstrating students were killed by security forces of the campus of Tehran University in 1953.

The Campaign called for an immediate end to such discriminatory practices, which punish university students for exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of assembly, expression, opinion, and religious belief.

She added that the seven individuals whose sentences were recently announced have been moved from Evin Prison to Rajaee Shahr Prison in Gohardasht, Karaj. According to her, after the trial, families have been able to visit the prisoners once every two weeks for ten minutes.  They are allowed to visit their male relatives one week and their female relatives the next, making them unable to visit with their whole families at the same time.

She also told the Campaign that the verdicts for the seven Baha’i leaders have not yet been served in writing.

(7 January 2010) Iranian authorities have added new charges against 7 Baha’i leaders detained since 2008, under which they could be executed if convicted, and have arrested at least 12 more members of the religious minority, while desensitizing the Iranian population with propaganda campaigns against the Baha’is, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. In news reports broadcast nationally, commentators have claimed that recent Ashura demonstrations were masterminded by Baha’is, although no evidence has been produced to support the accusations.

“Iran and the world are again confronted by the specter of Bahai’s being executed, this time on charges trumped up in the context of current widespread political unrest,” said Aaron Rhodes, a spokesperson for the Campaign.

Since Ashura (27 December), Baha’is known to have been arrested include Jinoos Sobhani, Leva Khanjani, Babak Mobasher, Payam Fanaian, Nika Hoveydai, Mona Hoveydai, Artin Ghazanfari, Farid Rohani, Ahmad Rohani, Negar Sabet, Ebrahim Shadmehr, and Zavosh Shadmehr.

The seven Baha’i leaders arrested in the spring of 2008, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm, are due to stand trial on Tuesday, 19 January. The charges in their cases have been expanded since their arrest and now include those that can carry the death penalty.

“Given the totally unjustified executions of two national Baha’i leadership groups that took place in the early 1980s, and the inciting rhetoric of the government against Baha’is following Ashura, there is a real concern for the lives of the Baha’i leaders about to be tried,” Rhodes said.

More than 200 Baha’is have been killed by the State following the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Thousands more have been arrested, harassed, surveilled, dismissed from their jobs, or had their finances and property confiscated by the government. Baha’is are prohibited from holding government jobs and their children are not allowed to attend university.

The Campaign calls on the international community and organizations to condemn the actions of the Islamic Republic against the Baha’i community, to release all Baha’is who have been arrested because of their beliefs, and to cease its targeting of Baha’is throughout Iran.

Group of Seven Should Be Freed Immediately

(14 May 2009) Seven Baha’i leaders detained in Evin prison, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm, should be immediately and unconditionally released, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. Six members of the group were arrested one year ago today; Mahvash Sabet was arrested on 5 March 2008.

“The illegal and unjust detention of these seven Baha’i leaders, which again shows a policy of oppressing a religious minority, must be brought to an end,” said Aaron Rhodes, spokesperson for the Campaign. “The group is being denied basic civil rights by neither being allowed to visit with their lawyer, nor being formally charged with any crime.”

Family members of the detainees have reportedly been told that the charges against them will be Mofsed-e fel-Arz, or “spreading corruption on earth,” a charge that carries the death sentence. This same charge was used against Baha’i leaders immediately following the Islamic Revolution as justification for their executions.

Alireza Jamshidi, the Judiciary’s spokesperson, announced on 17 February 2009 that a court hearing for the group would be arranged within a week, but no hearing has been announced or held.

“These charges are extremely serious and the Iranian government should account for such accusations with verifiable evidence, or release the detainees” Rhodes said.

Members of the Baha’i Faith in Iran number approximately 300,000, making them the largest non-Muslim religious minority group. In recent years the persecution of Baha’is has intensified to include cemetery desecration, arbitrary detention, home raids, property confiscation, work expulsion and denial of basic civil rights. Iranian Baha’i youth continue to be denied the right to higher education, and any university found to have a Baha’i student is ordered to expel them. Baha’i professionals are denied government jobs and face discrimination from private businesses because of their faith. Harassment also occurs from ordinary citizens, for example the cars and homes of Baha’is reportedly being vandalized. Even those who come to their defense are targeted. Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi has come under fire for taking up the case of the seven Baha’i leaders.

There are currently at least 40 Baha’is in detention throughout Iran. In the month of April alone, arrests were reported in six cities.

Baha’is released on bail have been ordered to pay exorbitant amounts. Aziz Samandari and Jinous Sobhani, a former secretary at the Defenders of Human Rights Center, were released on 11 March on bail of 700 million Rials (approximately $73,000). Didar Raoufi, Payam Aghsani and Nima Haghar were released on the same day and ordered to pay the same amount. Shahrokh Taef was released six days later on 17 March 2009 having paid the same amount in bail.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran calls on the government of Iran to comply with international human and civil rights standards and account for the detentions of all Baha’is in Iran. The Campaign urges Iranian leaders to investigate all discriminatory crimes against Baha’is and to allow Baha’i youth the opportunity to attend university.

“The continued persecution of the Baha’i community in Iran degrades all of the people of Iran,” Rhodes said. “The arbitrary detention and targeting of members of any single community should not be tolerated in any country, including Iran.”

The government has intensified its attacks on the members of the Baha’i Faith during the past year. There are currently at least 30 Baha’is in detention throughout the country. The Baha’is, numbering inside Iran at about 300,000, are a religious minority that is not recognized under Iranian law. For the past 30 years they have been targets of official discrimination, and about 200 members have been executed or murdered since the 1979 revolution.

On 11 February 2009, a Judiciary official identified as Judge Haddad, said that the trial of seven leaders of the Baha’i community will take place soon, according to the Iranian Students News Agency. The report quoted Haddad as saying the charges against the Baha’is include “spying for Israel, insulting the sacred, and propaganda against the system.” The seven Baha’i leaders have been in detention since March 2008,, without access to legal council. Their lawyer, Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate, told the Campaign that she has not yet been provided any details about their indictment and prosecution. She said she expected to receive their file in the coming week before their trail is held.

Officials escalated their attacks on the Baha’i Faith in what appeared to be a public relations ploy to influence the outcome of the case ahead of the trial. On 15 February 2009, Iran’s Attorney General, Ayatollah Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi, in a letter to Intelligence Minister Mohsen Ejei, said that the Baha’i Faith “in all its levels is illegal and unofficial. Their dependence on Israel and their enmity with Islam and the Islamic government is certain and their danger to national security is documented,” the semi-official Fars News agency reported.

The report by Fars News concluded by interpreting the letter as a license “to decisively confront the elements of [this] organization, until its utter destruction is achieved.”

The Campaign called on the Iranian Judiciary to hold the upcoming trial according to international fair trail standards and to guarantee the rights of the accused in an open and transparent environment.

“The charges leveled against the leading Baha’is are very serious. All indications, from their detention to their upcoming prosecution, suggest that the charges are unfounded and politically motivated,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign’s spokesperson. “The prosecution will have no credibility if it fails to provide evidence publicly to prove these charges, and if no proper defense is possible. Under such circumstances, the trial will be no more than a witch hunt,” he added.

The Iranian government has consistently accused the Baha’i Faith of being an instrument of the Israeli government but has never provided any evidence to support the charge. Official propaganda has always pointed to the presence of the Baha’i World Center in Haifa, Israel. However, the establishment of the Center dates back to the Ottoman Empire in 1868, when founders of the Faith were exiled there.

UPDATE: (16 March 2009) Aziz Samandari was released from prison on 11 March 2009 on approximately $73,000 bail (700,000,000 Rial).

(5 February 2009) Aziz Samandari was arrested the morning of 14 January 2009 in his home in Tehran by Intelligence Ministry officials. That morning, 12 Baha’i homes were raided and 5 arrests made. Officials confiscated books, materials and photographs related to the Baha’i Faith as well as computers and CDs.

Samandari is being held incommunicado in Evin Prison. His family has only been allowed to meet with the presiding judge and call very briefly. He has not been allowed to visit with a lawyer. Samandari’s only “crime” is belief in the Baha’i Faith.

Samandari’s family has been the target of persecution for years. His father, Mr. Bahman Samandari, was executed in 1993 only a day after he was arrested. The government did not inform his family until weeks later.

Samandari and the other Baha’is arrested on 14 January are among over 30 Baha’is currently in prison in Iran.

UPDATE: (16 March 2009) Jinous Sobhani was released on 11 March 2009 on bail of approximately $73,000 (700,000,000 Rial).

(5 February 2009) Jinous Sobhani, former secretary at the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC) and the Organization for the Defense of Mine Victims, was arrested by security agents on 14 January 2009. Authorities confiscated her address book, telephone and other work materials and took her to Evin Prison.

Both the DHRC and ODMV were established by Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi and Sobhani was an employee there until authorities shut down the DHRC claiming it is an illegal organization. The DHRC was one of the leading human rights organizations in Iran.

Sobhani is also a member of the Baha’i Faith, the largest religious minority group in Iran. She is being held incommunicado along with the other Baha’is arrested on 14 January. She has not been allowed to visit with a lawyer and there are fears she and her fellow prisoners are being tortured.

Specter of Torture and Ill-Treatment Rises High for Baha’is in Prison

(22 January 2009) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran expressed grave concern for the situation of Iran’s largest religious minority group today. Members of the Baha’i Faith have been targeted with alarming frequency in recent months with 36 Baha’is currently under arrest in Iranian prisons.

“The continued targeting of members of the Baha’i community is indicative of the larger goal of suppressing individual human rights by the Iranian government. All Baha’is detained and arrested, have committed no crime whatsoever,” said Hadi Ghaemi, Campaign spokesperson.On the morning of 14 January 2009, Intelligence Ministry officials raided the homes of 12 Baha’is in Tehran. The officials confiscated books, materials, and photographs related to the Baha’i Faith as well as computers and CDs. The agents arrested Shahrokh Taef, Jinous Sobhani, Didar Raoufi, Aziz Samandari and Payam Aghsani. They are currently being held incommunicado in Evin Prison. Their families have met with the presiding judge but have been unable to see their loved ones.

These recent arrests come on the heels of the raid of 20 Baha’i homes in Semnan on 15 December 2008. Another raid of a Baha’i home in Yazd was carried out on 11 December. Three Baha’is were arrested in Ghaemshahr, Mazandaran the week of 18 November 2008, and one of them, Mr. Masou Ataiyan is still in prison. In October, Ziaollah Allahverdi and his wife Sonia Tebyani were arrested in Behshahr, Mazandaran. Other arrests and raids were carried out in August in Mehrian.

Among the many cases of Baha’i arrests, the most important were the arrests of seven members of the Baha’i leadership group who have been in prison for over seven months. The seven members still have no access to legal counsel. They are permitted family visits only twice a month, visits that are never more than a few minutes and always in the presence of prison officials. The five male detainees are incarcerated within the same cell, only 10 meters in area and with no beds. The detention order of all seven members of the leadership group was officially extended for another two months on 26 November 2008.

“The international community should strongly condemn the persecution of minority religious groups in Iran. The government shows no signs of relenting in its targeting and persecution of Baha’is,” Ghaemi said.

Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the targeting of the Baha’i community of Iran escalated to dangerous levels with the members of the national governing body of Baha’is being kidnapped and executed. Many other Baha’is throughout Iran have been executed since and the present situation bears strong resemblance to those cases.

The actions of the Iranian government are in violation of international standards of human rights and religious freedom and the Campaign calls on the Iranian government to cease its persecution campaign against the Baha’i community of Iran.