Sentenced: 20 years in prison

The seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders whose trial began on 12 January 2010 are,
from left, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Fariba Kamalabadi, Vahid Tizfahm, Mahvash Sa-
bet; Jamaloddin Khanjani, Saeid Rezaie, and Afif Naeimi. They are all members
of a national-level group that, with the government’s knowledge, helped see to
the minimum spiritual needs of Iran’s Baha’i community.

Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, whose

Defenders of Human Rights Center rep-
resented the Baha’i defendants, said she
was “stunned” by the reported 20-year jail
terms.
“I have read their case file page by page (Photo BWNS)The village of Ivel, Mazandaran, has been home to a farming community
and did not find anything proving the ac- for centuries, and Baha’is for over 160 years.
cusations, nor did I find any document
that could prove the claims of the pros- In its earliest days, Ivel was the summer residence for sheep farmers from the
ecutor,” said Mrs. Ebadi in a television surrounding region of Mazandaran. There have been Baha’is in the village for
interview, broadcast on 8 August on the more than a century and a half. Indeed, since the years immediately following
Persian-language service of the BBC. the establishment of their Faith ...All the while, they have lived side by side with
their Muslim neighbors in comparative harmony.
(Right) (Photo BWNS) An
open letter signed by more In June 1983, the Baha’is were forced out of their homes and transported by
than 240 Iranian academics, bus to the nearest major city, Sari. When they arrived, the authorities made
writers, activists and others, them go back. Returning to Ivel, they were locked into a local mosque. More
says “We are ashamed!” of si- than 130 of them – including children and the elderly – were held captive for
lence in the face of persecu- three days without food and water. When pressure to make them recant their
tion of Baha’is in Iran. The let- faith failed, they were allowed to return home. However, that same night,
ter was published in February they were attacked by villagers. A few were taken off by the mob, others
2009. were injured, and more were forced to hide in a nearby forest.
(Right) (Photo BWNS) In Since that time, many of the Ivel Baha’is have resided nearby and return
May 2006, some 54 young to the village only in the summer to plant and harvest their crops and
Baha’is were arrested while tend to their properties. According to Natoli Derakhshan, a Baha’i from
doing volunteer work in an Ivel who was interviewed recently by the Persian-language Radio Farda,
underprivileged area near “Each time or each year when they wanted to go there they had to obtain
Shiraz. The cases of many of permits from the Justice Administration to be allowed to stay in their own
Baha’is are still being adjudi- homes for two or three days.”
cated. These are three of those
who were arrested. In June 2010 bulldozers leveled all the Bahá’í homes.
Local support for the Bahá’í’s
Please write, call, or email your Senators and Representative. troubled There are, however, many villagers in Ivel who are deeply
Suggest that they not underestimate the effect their words can Rooz Online by these developments. In an interview with the
have in making the Iranian authorities aware they cannot who have expressed website, Mr. Derakhshan paid tribute to those
violate basic standards of international human rights unseen of their Baha’i neighbors: dismay and concern at the ill-treatment
by a watchful world. “These days many of our Muslim
folks sat together with us with tearful eyes, and apologized to
Senator Roland W. Burris (202) 224-2854 burris.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm us, and held our hands! We are thankful to them all.”
Senator Richard J. Durbin (202) 224-2152 durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Representative Tim Johnson (217) 403-4690 http://timjohnson.house.gov/ Source: Bahá’í World News Service (BWNS) news.bahai.org