The call by Australia’s peak interfaith body to the Government of Iran to respect the human rights of Baha’is has been welcomed by the Australian Baha’i community.
The Australian Partnership of Religious Organisations (APRO) said today that it shared the Australian Government’s deep concern for the seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned in Iran for nearly a year.
The signatories to the statement included Australia’s major Christian ecumenical organisation, the National Council of Churches, and national representatives of the Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, and Sikh communities.
“We welcome the statement by APRO,” said a spokesperson for the Australian Baha’i Community, Natalie Mobini.
“This follows a statement by the Australian Government delegation to the UN Human Rights Council on 17 March expressing deep concern at the discrimination against Baha’is in Iran and calling on Iran to adhere to its international human rights obligations,“ Dr Mobini said.
APRO said the detention of the seven Baha’i leaders without access to lawyers or the laying of formal charges is in clear breach of their rights under international law.
“They must be allowed to communicate with their lawyers and either released or allowed fair and open trial,” APRO said.
“Freedom of religion and belief is a right guaranteed to all people under the International Conventions on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party,” it said.
Charges
In February, an Iranian spokesman said the seven Baha’i leaders would face charges of espionage for Israel, insulting Islam and propaganda against Iran.
Dr Mobini said all the charges are strongly denied by the Baha’i Community.
“It is a fundamental principle of the Bahá’í Faith that its followers strictly refrain from involvement in any partisan political activity and are obedient to the law of the land in which they live,” she said.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in February 2009 that it is “hard to believe that there is any basis to the charges or that they will receive a fair trial.”
On March 12, 2009, Andrew Robb MP told the House of Representatives: “I implore the Iranian Government to stop persecuting the Baha’i people and allow their citizens the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.”
On 25 February 2009, Luke Simpkins MP told the House of Representatives: “This issue is about persecution. It is about the withdrawal of the right to freely practise religion, it is about religious intolerance, and it is about the extreme practice of politics. These Baha’is are on trial for their lives. It should never have come to this.”