Prominent Government MP Maxine McKew has become the latest Australian political figure to speak out against the treatment of seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned in Iran.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the arbitrary nature of the arrest of these seven Baha’i members in Iran,” Ms McKew, the member for Bennelong, told the House of Representatives.
“I call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to recognise international standards of human rights and take their place as a responsible member of the international community,” Ms McKew told the Main Committee of the House on 11 February 2010.
Ms McKew is Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. Before becoming an MP, she was one of Australia’s leading journalists.
Ms McKew’s strong statement is in line with similar calls by other MPs and resolutions by the Australian Federal Parliament and State parliaments.
On behalf of the Australian Government, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has issued a series of statements condemning the treatment of the Baha’i leaders and of the Iranian Baha’i community in general.
Relatives
Ms McKew said many members of the Baha’i Faith in this country have friends and relatives in Iran who have suffered.
“They tell terrible stories of having a knock on the door in the middle of the night and then immediate arrest and detention,” she said.
“I have previously met with representatives of a very active group of Baha’is in my electorate of Bennelong and I know that groups all over the country held prayers [on 7 February] in support of the seven detained Baha’is in Iran.”
Ms McKew noted that the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has said that the Iranian Government is using its justice system as an instrument of religious persecution.
“Reports also state that the defendants were formally charged with espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, the establishment of an illegal administration, sending secret documents outside the country, acting against the security of the country and something that is called ‘corruption on earth’. I am advised that the final charge under Islamic law is a crime punishable by the death sentence in Iran.”
“Needless to say, all of these charges have been categorically denied by the defendants,” Ms McKew said.
“It is widely believed that the seven Baha’is were detained on the sole basis of their faith. Prior to their arrest they served as an appointed ad hoc group known as the ‘friends’. Their role was to manage the minimum spiritual and material needs of Iran’s Baha’i community. That was a role that was carried out with the government’s knowledge.”
Last week, at an event at the NSW Parliament House attended by State MPs, faith leaders and Australian relatives of the accused, eminent jurist John Dowd AO QC called for international pressure on Iran to release the Baha’is.
The seven Baha’is have been imprisoned since March and May 2008. The second session of their trial, closed to independent observers and family members, was held before a Revolutionary Court on 7 February. No date has been given for any future session.