Letter from Two Thousand Baha'is and Human Rights Activists to Rouhani: 'Conditions for Baha'is to Continue Their Education Should Be Provided'

More than two thousand Baha'is inside and outside Iran, along with several human rights activists and some former student activists, have written a letter to Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic, demanding the creation of conditions for Baha'i citizens to continue their education in Iran. According to the Baha'i News website, the signatories of this letter, published on November 20, pointed out that the prohibition of Baha'i citizens from entering universities is labeled as 'file deficiency' and stated that this prohibition occurs 'due to personal religious belief and a series of oppressions imposed on the Baha'i community in Iran.' In recent years, UN special rapporteurs on human rights, along with the European Union, the United States, and several international human rights organizations, have criticized the ongoing discrimination and violation of the rights of Baha'i citizens in Iran. The U.S. Department of State reported on August 20 in its annual report on religious freedoms worldwide, citing the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, that 82 Baha'is are imprisoned in Iran. According to the European Baha'i community, about 300,000 Baha'is live in Iran. However, the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran do not recognize the Baha'i faith as a religion. The prohibition from studying at universities, exclusion from a wide range of jobs, dismissal from the public sector, and the imposition of multiple restrictions in the private sector are among the limitations faced by Baha'i citizens in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to Baha'i News, the signatories of the letter addressed to Hassan Rouhani stated that the right to education is 'one of the fundamental rights of citizenship'; a right that they claim has been violated over the years and 'has challenged our shared dream with you to build a prosperous Iran and has ridiculed the verses of freedom one by one.' They also pointed out that the efforts of Baha'i youth to enter universities and pursue education have even become 'synonymous with long-term imprisonment.' The signatories of this letter considered such actions 'contrary to the principles of the Holy Islamic Sharia and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran' and to human rights covenants and global declarations, asking: 'Despite such divine and legal standards, it may not be easy for us and perhaps future generations to understand why, in an era when the enjoyment of citizenship rights is praised, such actions are taken?' Among the signatories of the letter are Mehrangiz Kar, Mahnaz Parakand, Reza Alijani, Ali Asghar Ramazani, and Mohammad Nourizad. Previously, some religious intellectuals in Iran have criticized the 'oppression' against Baha'is, and some academics and intellectuals have expressed 'shame' over the government's treatment of them, while civic groups have also formed to pursue some of the discriminations against them. These comments and actions have also faced strong reactions from the judiciary and security apparatus. Earlier, the global Baha'i community based in Geneva, Switzerland, announced on November 8 that more than a hundred shops owned by Baha'is across Iran, including in the cities of Sari, Qaem Shahr, and Bandar Abbas, have been sealed by Iranian authorities. According to this community's website, the sealing of Baha'i-owned shops occurred because their owners did not work on two holidays of the Baha'i faith, namely November 3 and 4. Reports about the sealing of the businesses of several Baha'is in Iran had been published before. In this context, human rights organizations: Europe should ask Iran to annul the sentences of 32 Baha'is. The U.S. once again called for the release of seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders in Iran. '54 foreign merchants and economists' protested against the closure of Baha'i businesses. Reports of 'beatings' and 'torture' of detained Baha'is in Golestan. 24 Baha'is in Golestan province were sentenced to 193 years in prison.