FURTHER TO OUR MESSAGE OF 10 MAY REGARDING TORTURE BEING INFLICTED BAHA'IS IRAN WE SEND FOLLOWING SUMMARY OVERALL SITUATION THAT COUNTRY FROM MOST RECENT INFORMATION PROVIDED BY RELIABLE SOURCES.
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION MORE THAN 300 RESIDENCES OF BAHA'IS HAVE BEEN PLUNDERED OR SET ON FIRE.
SOME 170 BAHA'IS, MOST OF THEM PROMINENT MEMBERS OF THE BAHA'I COMMUNITY, HAVE BEEN KILLED BY A VARIETY OF METHODS, BUT PRINCIPALLY THROUGH EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUADS AND BY HANGING.
IN URBAN AREAS PROPERTIES BELONGING TO SEVERAL HUNDRED FAMILIES HAVE BEEN SEIZED, WHILE IN RURAL AREAS MANY ORCHARDS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED AND FARMS AND ARABLE LANDS CONFISCATED. PETITIONS TO THE AUTHORITIES FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES HAVE BEEN IGNORED.
THE MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS FORMALLY INSTRUCTED INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONS NOT TO PAY THEIR BAHA'I STAFF.
MORE THAN 10,000 BAHA'IS EMPLOYED IN GOVERNMENT OFFICES OR IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR HAVE BEEN SUMMARILY DISCHARGED, THEIR RIGHTS TO PENSIONS AND OTHER EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS REVOKED. DEMANDS WERE MADE OF A NUMBER OF THEM TO REFUND THE SALARIES THEY HAD RECEIVED FOR THE DURATION OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT.
BAHA'I STUDENTS HAVE BEEN DISMISSED FROM ALL UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING.
IN MOST CITIES AND PROVINCES, BAHA'I CHILDREN HAVE BEEN DENIED ENTRY TO SCHOOLS AND THEREFORE HAVE NO ACCESS TO BASIC EDUCATION.
SOME 700 BAHA'IS, INCLUDING MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN, ARE BEING HELD IN VARIOUS PRISONS THROUGHOUT IRAN.
FOR MORE THAN NINE MONTHS VISITS TO 40 BAHA'I PRISONERS HAVE BEEN STRICTLY PROHIBITED BY THE AUTHORITIES. THEIR FATE IS THEREFORE UNKNOWN.
IN EVIN AND GAWHAR-DASHT PRISONS A NUMBER OF BAHA'I PRISONERS ARE UNDERGOING RELENTLESS TORTURE IN AN EFFORT ON THE PART OF THE AUTHORITIES TO FORCE THEM TO ADMIT TO FALSE CHARGES OF ENGAGING IN ESPIONAGE AND ACTING AGAINST THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN. FOR A PERIOD OF MONTHS THEY HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO FLOGGINGS OF ALL PARTS OF THE BODY, PARTICULARLY THE LEGS AND FEET. SOMETIMES UP TO 400 STROKES BY WIRE CABLES HAVE BEEN ADMINISTERED TO ONE PRISONER, THEN HE OR SHE HAS BEEN MADE TO WALK. FINDING THIS IMPOSSIBLE, THE UNFORTUNATE PRISONER HAS BEEN FORCED TO CRAWL ON HANDS AND KNEES BACK TO A DARK CELL. IN MASHHAD AND YAZD BAHA'I PRISONERS ARE REGULARLY WHIPPED ON THE HEAD AND FACE WITH THICK PLASTIC TUBES, SIMILAR PROCEDURES ARE USED TO A LESSER DEGREE IN OTHER PRISONS. A NUMBER OF THESE VICTIMS OF TORTURE HAVE LOST THEIR SIGHT AND HEARING, OTHERS THEIR MENTAL COMPETENCE. THE BODIES OF FOUR PRISONERS SUBJECTED TO SUCH TREATMENT WERE SEEN BEFORE BEING, BURIED IN UNKNOWN GRAVES. IT IS THEREFORE FEARED THAT OTHER PRISONERS WHOSE BODIES HAVE BEEN SIMILARLY BURIED WITHOUT THEIR FAMILIES BEING NOTIFIED SUFFERED THE SAME FATE.
BAHA'IS ARE UNSAFE IN THEIR OWN HOMES, WHICH ARE ENTERED AT WILL, DAY OR NIGHT, BY REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS, WHO HARASS THE INHABITANTS BY INSULTING, THREATENING AND BEATING THEM. WHEN THE REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS INVADE A HOME WITH THE INTENTION OF ARRESTING A PARTICULAR BAHA'I, IF THAT PERSON HAPPENS TO BE ABSENT, THEIR PRACTICE IS TO SEIZE AS HOSTAGES OTHER MEMBERS OF THE HOUSEHOLD, EVEN CHILDREN, AND TO RANSACK THE PLACE, CONFISCATING WHATEVER THEY PLEASE.
WHENEVER THE HEAD OR SOME OTHER IMPORTANT MEMBER OF THE FAMILY HAS BEEN KILLED, AND OFTEN WHEN SUCH A PERSON HAS BEEN IMPRISONED, THOSE REMAINING BEHIND HAVE BEEN FORCED FROM THEIR HOMES AND NOT PERMITTED TO TAKE ANY BELONGINGS, EVEN IN THE DEAD OF WINTER. THE VICTIMS OF SUCH TREATMENT HAVE NO RECOURSE TO JUSTICE SINCE THEIR PETITIONS TO THE AUTHORITIES ARE IGNORED. BAHA'I FAMILIES IN ISFAHAN, MASHHAD, TIHRAN, URUMIYYIH AND YAZD IN PARTICULAR ARE AFFECTED BY THESE CONDITIONS. ...
FOLLOWING INFORMATION JUST RECEIVED: EXECUTION FOUR MORE COURAGEOUS BRETHREN IRAN
TABRIZ, 5 MAY - MR JALAL PAYRAVI, IMPRISONED 22 OCTOBER 1981 MR MAQSUD 'ALIZADIH, IMPRISONED 27 JANUARY 1982
TIHRAN, 15 MAY - MR 'ALI-MUHAMMAD ZAMANI, 45 YEARS OLD MR JAHANGIR HIDAYATI, 61 YEAR OLD CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER, MEMBER NOW DISSOLVED NATIONAL ASSEMBLY KIDNAPPED JUNE 1983
BOTH TORTURED DURING IMPRISONMENT
IN ADDITION, MR ASADU'LLAH KAMIL-MUQADDAM DIED IN PRISON 2 MAY, CIRCUMSTANCES UNKNOWN.
FRIENDS IRAN FEEL SITUATION DANGEROUS GREAT NUMBER OTHER BAHA'I PRISONERS. ...
UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)
