Support of 10 Female Political Prisoners for Baha'i Citizens: We Stand by Them to End Their Double Suffering

Ten female political prisoners in Evin prison issued a statement declaring that their political views do not prevent them from supporting their "Baha'i compatriots" and that they stand by them until the end of the "double suffering" imposed on this group of Iranian citizens. This statement was signed by Mahbubeh Rezaei, Hasti Amiri, Samaneh Asghari, Sakineh Parvaneh, Maryam Yahyavi, Nahid Taghavi, Narges Mohammadi, Anisha Asadollahi, Sepideh Ghaleian, and Golrokh Iraei, and published on the Instagram account attributed to Narges Mohammadi on Tuesday, June 18. The statement emphasizes that "our Baha'i compatriots have been deprived of all social rights for decades of tyranny" and that "in the 1980s, with the catastrophic elimination of political opponents and dissidents, nearly 300 of them were made to disappear, went missing, or were executed by the government," while "thousands were also deprived of the most basic social rights and were driven out of their homes." The signatories described the execution of 10 Baha'i women in the 1980s as "one of the most shocking narratives" from the Baha'i community, stating that "they were taken together to the place of execution and were executed in front of others in turn." They noted: "The last of them was a teenager under 18 years old (considered a child under international treaties) who was studying and teaching young children before her arrest. A teenager whose only conflict with the system was a belief that had no manifestation in her social life." The ten political prisoners stated in their declaration: "With years of imprisonment and cohabitation with Baha'i women and observing the pressures and deprivations imposed on them and their families due to differing beliefs, and hearing their narratives from the past to the present and comparing it with what has always been imposed on dissidents, we realize that our story is indeed one." They emphasized: "We, who have always been excluded from various social and political arenas due to differing political or ideological views, and some of us have been deprived of the right to life. The deprivation of the right to life and the denial of social, civil, and citizenship rights, followed by the confiscation or destruction of Baha'i properties, has been occurring for a long time and has become a routine for the repressive system." The signatories also referred to "the narrative of a mother in a village in northern Iran who, with a suffering face and a bent back while working on agricultural land, was attacked by destroyers and tried to prevent the agents from destroying her orchard and home" as "a great sorrow," adding: "A mother who lost her child in the Iran-Iraq war and now, due to her beliefs, has had her land, her home, and the land that was the source of her livelihood and the result of a lifetime of work destroyed or denied to her." These political prisoners pointed out that "years of living with Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi and other Baha'i citizens in prison have taught us a lot" and that "besides what has been imposed on them and their families due to years of imprisonment, depriving society of their presence and teachings is a great suffering." They stated: "Our silence in the face of this double oppression of a group in society, whose very existence as Baha'i citizens has been criminalized, has made these crimes low-cost for the regime and paved the way for their repetition and intensification." The political prisoners also emphasized that "the contradiction in our political views or beliefs has not been, is not, and will not be an obstacle to supporting the right" and that "just as we have stood against repression with political and ideological contradictions and turned the streets of Iran into a platform for demanding rights, we are now together" and "we stand by our Baha'i compatriots to end the double suffering imposed on them." Baha'i citizens have faced widespread deprivation since the 1979 revolution, including dismissal from government jobs, confiscation of property, closure of businesses, denial of education, and destruction of cemeteries. According to last year's annual report by the International Religious Freedom Commission, repression, violence, discrimination, and social stigmatization by the Iranian government against Baha'i citizens have intensified. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has also expressed concern over the increasing pressure on religious minorities in Iran and the Islamic Republic's campaign to arrest Baha'is.