Baha’i students in Iran have again been prevented from enrolling in universities for the start of the new academic year, a spokesperson for the Australian Baha’i Community, Tessa Scrine, said today.
“The Iranian authorities continue to use devious methods to prevent young Baha’is from obtaining a university education, despite the Government’s obligations under international human rights law,” Ms Scrine said.
“The main method used to stop Baha’is from enrolling is by blocking their examination results and declaring their files incomplete,” Ms Scrine said.
Without complete files, enrolment in all public and most private universities in Iran is impossible, she said.
The few Baha’is who are enrolled in universities are expelled when their religious beliefs become known, she said.
“We are grateful to the Australian university organisations and individual academics who have spoken up in defence of the right of all to access education, irrespective of their religion, and to the Australian Government for its support,” she said.
“We urge other organisations and individuals who care about the right to education to join them.”
Imprisoned
Meanwhile all seven members of the Baha’i national coordinating committee remain in Evin Prison in Tehran.
Their families were able to pay them a brief visit recently for the first time since their arrests but they have had no access to lawyers and no formal charges have been laid.
Those in jail are: Mrs Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr Afif Naeimi, Mr Saeid Rezaie, Mr Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mr Vahid Tizfahm, and Mrs Mahvash Sabet. The first six have been jailed since May, and Mrs Sabet since March 2008.
At least 22 Baha’is are currently imprisoned in Iran because of their religion.
Attacks
Attacks on the 300,000-strong Baha’i community in Iran are pervasive and accelerating.
On 19 September, at a large enclosed outdoor area in Tehran set up for the Friday Islamic noontime prayer, an anti-Baha’i petition was on prominent display for worshippers to sign.
The day was the third Friday of Ramadan, when huge crowds gather because it is one of the few times during the year that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei leads prayers and delivers a sermon.
Officials from the Ministry of Intelligence were on the spot to make sure that people signed the petition on their way in to prayers.
It has been announced that the same petition will be offered for signing in other cities.
Other examples of recent attacks on Baha’is include:
- Interrogations with high-intensity lights and physical mistreatment
- Searches of homes and businesses, confiscation of Baha’i scripture
Visit the Baha’i World News Service for the latest updates on the persecution of Baha’is in Iran.