{"id":2451,"date":"2021-03-12T11:54:24","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T11:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/?page_id=2451"},"modified":"2021-04-29T22:06:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T22:06:59","slug":"ivel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/ivel\/","title":{"rendered":"Ivel"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text]\n\t<link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/wp-content\/plugins\/jquery-vertical-accordion-menu\/skin.php?widget_id=s1&amp;skin=grey\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"screen\"  \/><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(document).ready(function($) {\r\n\t\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"#dc_jqaccordion_widget-s1-item\").dcAccordion({\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\teventType: \"hover\",\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\thoverDelay: 150,\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tmenuClose: false,\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tautoClose: true,\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsaveState: false,\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tautoExpand: true,\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclassExpand: \"current-menu-item\",\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclassDisable: \"\",\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tshowCount: false,\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdisableLink: true,\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tcookie: \"dc_jqaccordion_widget-s1-item\",\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tspeed: \"fast\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t});\r\n\t\t\t\t});\r\n\t\t\t<\/script><div class=\"dcjq-accordion\" id=\"dc_jqaccordion_widget-s1-item\"><div class=\"menu-ext-affairs-container\"><ul id=\"menu-ext-affairs\" class=\"sidebar-menu\"><li id=\"menu-item-850\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-850\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/media-information\/\">Media Information<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-961\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page current_page_parent menu-item-961\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/media-releases\/\">Media Releases<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-960\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-960\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/media-information\/bahais-in-iran\/\">Situation of Baha&#8217;is in Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-2672\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-2672\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/situation-of-bahais-in-qatar\/\">Situation of Baha&#8217;is in Qatar<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text]\n<h1 style=\"color: #009999; line-height: 44px; margin: 0px auto 20px!important; font-size: 38px!important;\">Land confiscation and mass displacement of Baha\u2019is in Ivel, Iran<\/h1>\n<div id=\"attachment_2480\" style=\"width: 332px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2480\" class=\"wp-image-2480 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ivel-map-b5d5d208.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"322\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ivel-map-b5d5d208.png 322w, https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ivel-map-b5d5d208-300x213.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2480\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ivel is a remote village in the province of Mazandaran in northern Iran, about 90 kilometers from the city of Sari.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><br \/>\nIn late 2020, two Iranian courts issued orders that declared ownership of lands by 27 Baha&#8217;is in the village of Ivel (pron. ee-VELL) to be illegal. The court documents indicate that the confiscation of their land is due to their religious beliefs. These decisions followed decades of persecution against the Baha&#8217;is of Ivel, hard-working and low-income agricultural workers with no other assets and means of earning a livelihood but their homes and agricultural land.<\/p>\n<p>The land seizures take place within the context of recent escalating raids on Baha&#8217;i-owned homes and businesses in Iran. On 22 November 2020, over a hundred government agents raided the shops and homes of dozens of Baha&#8217;is in seven cities, and demanded that they hand over their property deeds.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Background<\/strong><br \/>\nIn its earliest days, Ivel was the summer residence for sheep farmers from the surrounding region of Mazandaran. There have been Baha\u2019is in the remote village for more than a century and a half. At one time Baha\u2019is comprised about half of Ivel&#8217;s total population.<\/p>\n<p>From its inception, the Baha\u2019i community promoted social, economic and cultural developments in Ivel. In addition to the role they played in the area&#8217;s agriculture, they established a school at which local children, regardless of their religion, were educated. The Baha\u2019is also built a bath house for use by the villagers, which included modifications to the local reservoir and the introduction of modernisations to improve the facility&#8217;s levels of hygiene.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<strong>A History of Persecution Through Expulsion and Displacement<\/strong><br \/>\nDespite the constructive role Baha\u2019is have played in their community, they have experienced a series of persecutions largely characterised by mass expulsion and displacement, and the demolition, bulldozing and confiscation of their properties. In 1941, for example, lives were imperiled when gangs roused local citizens to attack the Baha\u2019is. Baha\u2019is were arrested, severely beaten and subjected to extortion; their houses and belongings were plundered. Finally, they were banished to a village seven kilometres away. When the situation eased some months later, the Baha\u2019is returned to their ancestral homes and farms.<\/p>\n<p>Another incident occurred in June 1983. The Baha\u2019is were forced out of their homes and transported by bus to the nearest major city, Sari. When they arrived, the authorities made them go back. Returning to Ivel, more than 130 of them were imprisoned and held captive in a mosque for three days without any food or water.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, most of the Baha\u2019i homes have remained unoccupied, their residents having fled incidents of violence or as a result of official displacement.<\/p>\n<p>Ivel Baha\u2019is have resided nearby and return to the village only in the summer to plant and harvest their crops and tend to their properties. This required written permission from the police and the court. Baha\u2019is were regularly harassed during their short stays.<\/p>\n<p>In 2007, six of their houses were torched. In 2010, homes belonging to some 50 Baha\u2019i families were demolished and burned. At the time, reports indicated that 90 percent of Baha\u2019i-owned homes had been demolished. The demolitions were part of a long-running campaign to expel Baha\u2019is from the region. The intention of this campaign has been for the Baha\u2019is to never return to Ivel and to take over their lands.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2483\" style=\"width: 1038px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2483\" class=\"wp-image-2483 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ivel-arson-5e728099.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1028\" height=\"210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ivel-arson-5e728099.jpg 1028w, https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ivel-arson-5e728099-300x61.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ivel-arson-5e728099-1024x209.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ivel-arson-5e728099-768x157.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1028px) 100vw, 1028px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2483\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Homes of Bah\u00e1&#8217;\u00eds from Ivel set on fire by unknown arsonists in May 2007.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Baha\u2019is have pursued legal remedies for more than three decades, to no avail. Numerous complaints were filed with authorities at all levels but, in general, they were met with indifference. In every case, knowledge of the demolitions or the motive behind them was denied by local government officials. In some cases, the verdicts have been in favour of the Baha\u2019is. However, authorities claimed that there was little they could do to implement the decisions in the face of the opposition Baha\u2019is face from local residents.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<strong>New Government Directive<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In March 2021, the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fidh.org\/en\/region\/asia\/iran\/iran-leaked-document-reveals-plans-to-intensify-suppression-of-baha\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">revealed<\/a> an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fidh.org\/IMG\/pdf\/doc-eng.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">official Iranian directive<\/a> which calls for \u201cstrict controls\u201d on the Bah\u00e1\u2019\u00eds in the nearby city of Sari. It calls on authorities to introduce measures to \u201cidentify Bah\u00e1\u2019\u00ed students\u201d in order to \u201cbring them to Islam\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Dated 21 September 2020, the directive calls for a \u201cdetailed plan\u201d to ensure that the Bah\u00e1\u2019\u00ed community is \u201crigorously controlled\u201d, including their \u201cpublic and private meetings\u201d as well as \u201ctheir other activities\u201d. The document was issued by the Commission on Ethnicities, Sects and Religions in Sari, which operates under the aegis of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, a body chaired by Iran\u2019s president and responsible for security matters.<\/p>\n<p>Local and provincial police, the head of Sari\u2019s Intelligence Department, the commander of the local Basij paramilitary force, the head of Education, the Industry, Mining and Trade and the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism departments, and school and university officials, were all issued the directive.<\/p>\n<p>The organizations which released the letter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fidh.org\/IMG\/pdf\/doc-eng.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">note that<\/a> the confiscation of Bah\u00e1\u2019\u00ed properties in Ivel, which falls under the administration of the city of Sari, may have been in response to this directive.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<strong>Property confiscation as a feature of religious persecution<\/strong><br \/>\nThese developments are the latest in a pattern of property confiscations since Iran\u2019s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Since that time hundreds of private and business properties belonging to Baha\u2019is have been arbitrarily confiscated, including homes and farms.<\/p>\n<p>On 22 November 2020, over a hundred government agents raided the shops and homes of dozens of Baha\u2019is across Iran and demanded that they hand over their property deeds. The simultaneous raids were staged in at least seven cities around the country and came just hours into a 15-day national lockdown imposed to slow coronavirus infections in the country.<\/p>\n<p>The belongings that were taken included smartphones, computers and tablets, books, including Baha\u2019i texts, and other items. Several of the raided homes belonged to Baha\u2019is who had previously been targeted by the authorities. The Baha\u2019is were also ordered to report to Iran\u2019s Bureau of Investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The raids took place in the capital Tehran, as well as Karaj, Isfahan, Mashhad, Kerman, Shahin-Shahr and Baharestan. Witnesses reported that the agents ignored all the government\u2019s own health protocols while at the homes of the Baha\u2019is.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian Baha\u2019i Community is concerned that, if unchecked, the unjust property confiscations in Ivel could be replicated in other parts of the country as the latest phase in a plan by the authorities to gradually strangulate the entire Baha\u2019i community.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<strong>Voices of support from Australian farmers<\/strong><br \/>\nIn response to the confiscation of land owned by Baha&#8217;i families from Ivel, a short film was released expressing the concern of Australian farmers. It voices the support of Australian farmers towards the human rights of the Baha&#8217;i community in Iran and in particular the property rights of Baha&#8217;i farmers from Ivel.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QzR1tCXgtqo\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text] Land confiscation and mass displacement of Baha\u2019is in Ivel, Iran Overview In late 2020, two Iranian courts issued orders that declared ownership of lands by 27 Baha&#8217;is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2451","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.2 - 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