Bahais urge action on behalf of prisoners

The imprisonment of seven members of the Bahai Faith in Iran has not been forgotten by local Bahais.

Followers of the religion who live in Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Thousand Oaks and Calabasas met on June 25 at Westlake Village City Hall to mark the one-year anniversary of the imprisonment of Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm, who were arrested on May 14, 2008, at their homes in Tehran on charges of espionage. Mahvash Sabet had been arrested on March 5, 2008, in Mashad.

Jan Stevens, an anchor at KFWB News 980 and a Bahai member, opened the meeting with a history of the faith and the religious persecution suffered by its members since its inception in Iran, then known as Persia, in the mid1800s.

"Human rights are human rights no matter where we live," Stevens said.

The Bahai Faith is based on a belief in one God, and all of the world's religions are valued.

"The purpose is to establish the peaceful kingdom of God on earth," Stevens said. Bahai teachings are underscored by the belief in a divine creator, the oneness of humanity, the equality of men and women, and the tenet that "science and religion should go hand in hand," Stevens said.

A quote from Bahai teachings that was presented to the crowd encapsulates the philosophy behind the faith—"The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens."

The Bahai population in Iran is about 300,000, which is said to make it that country's largest minority religion. Since the 1979 revolution in Iran, 20,000 Bahais have been executed for not denouncing their faith or imprisoned in such harsh conditions that they died of starvation or disease, Stevens said.

"They were spirited away in the dark of night and never heard from again," she said of past persecution of Bahais.

The latest spate of arrests is similar. According to Stevens, the charges against the seven were "trumped up," and they have all been denied access to their attorney, Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian rights activist who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. A tentative trial date has been set for July 21, but Stevens said it was unofficial and could be delayed. If the Bahai members are found guilty, the penalty could be death, she said.

The espionage charge stems from the fact that the Bahai World Centre, which was built before the founding of Israel, is in Israel's city of Haifa.

Iraj Kamalabadi, the brother of prisoner Fariba Kamalabadi, spoke to the group about the horrible living conditions his sister and the other Bahai captives have faced in Iran's Evin Prison. For the first four months they were held in solitary confinement in a 4by6foot concrete room. They were given one blanket and were only allowed to wear the clothes they'd been wearing when they were arrested.

During solitary confinement they were interrogated for up to 15 hours per day, fed very little, and denied sleep and sunlight.

"Even the bread they are given is moldy," Kamalabadi said. "It was done on purpose (so they) would die a gradual death. Officials can say they didn't kill them."

When the prisoners were released from solitary confinement they joined the general prison population in conditions that were not much better. Kamalabadi's mother visited his sister and told her son that she couldn't recognize her own daughter.

"She was only bone and skin," he said. Apparently his sister had caught a cold; she was denied any medical treatment, and it turned into pneumonia, Kamalabadi said. Others were denied prescription medications for high blood pressure or cholesterol.

Nancy Roshanian, an Oak Park resident, attended the meeting in Westlake Village to support the release of the seven prisoners. She told the Acorn about her grandfather, Abbas Haddad, who, at the beginning of the 1980 Iranian Revolution, was beaten in his home, had all of his belongings stolen and died within six months.

"Because of our religious beliefs we are persecuted," Roshanian said. "It's gotten worse since the Islamic Revolution came to power.

A call for action

The Bahai community is pushing for action by the U.S. government. They're calling upon the community to write to the U.S. Senate to pass Senate Resolution 71, which "condemns the government of Iran for its statesponsored persecution of the Bahai minority in Iran and the continued violation of the international covenants of human rights."