The Australian Baha’i Community has welcomed last week’s resolution by the United Nations General Assembly in which it expressed its “deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations” in Iran.
The resolution, which was co-sponsored by Australia, was approved by a vote of 83 to 35 with 68 abstentions.
It listed specific concerns over the “alarming high frequency” of executions in Iran, its use of torture, widespread restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression, discrimination against women, and the persecution of minorities, including members of the Baha’i Faith.
A spokesperson for the Australian Baha’i Community, Natalie Mobini, expressed gratitude to the Australian Government for taking a firm stand on the issue by co-sponsoring with 45 other countries the resolution which Canada had introduced.
“It is very pleasing to see Australia once again speaking up for the human rights of the people of Iran,” Dr Mobini said.
“It is an undeniable fact that the Government of Iran is the chief violator of the human rights of its citizens including freedom of assembly and religious belief,” she said.
The resolution follows reports by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, in which they expressed alarm at the widespread and ongoing human rights violations in Iran.
In his report, Mr Ban wrote: “Religious minorities such as Baha’is and Christians face violations entrenched in law and in practice.”
Dr Shaheed devoted ten paragraphs to the ongoing persecution of Iranian Baha’is, noting that they face wide-ranging discrimination in education and work, and that more than 100 Baha’is are in prison.
This week’s resolution is the 27th on human rights in Iran approved by the General Assembly annually since 1985.