On Friday, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon issued a strong statement expressing concern over Iran’s continued detention of seven leaders of Iran’s Baha’i community (see CNN’s coverage).
“The Baha’is of Canada welcome the statement by Foreign Minister Cannon, and urge the Iranian authorities to respond to mounting international concern over the fate of the Baha’i prisoners,” said Karen McKye, Secretary General of the Baha’is of Canada. “Canada’s Baha’is are gravely concerned about the consequences of a possible trial this Tuesday of the Baha’i prisoners who face fabricated and utterly false charges.”
Minister Cannon’s statement said that “Canada remains deeply concerned by Iran’s ongoing arbitrary detention of seven Baha’i community leaders. It is deplorable that these individuals were detained on the sole basis of their faith and have been denied a fair trial.”
The statement went on to say that “Canada notes that the seven Baha’is – Behrouz Tavakkoli, Saeid Rezaie, Fariba Kamalabadi, Vahid Tizfahm, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naemi and Mahvash Sabet – have been detained since the spring of 2008.
“Furthermore, Iranian officials have recently made statements linking the seven to political unrest. These are unfair accusations, and cause concern for the safety and well being of the seven Baha’is and of all those unjustly detained in Iran. The Iranian government’s unrelenting targeting of the Baha’i and other religious and ethnic minorities, particularly after the country’s June 12 presidential elections, is a troubling trend.
“We once again urge Iran to protect the rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and to live up to its commitments and obligations under domestic and international law.”
A press release from the United Nations Office of the Baha’i International Community this past week noted that: “Recent developments in Iran have raised grave concern about the ultimate fate of the seven Baha’i leaders who are scheduled to go on trial next Tuesday.”
“The Baha’i community in Iran has all too often been subjected to campaigns of vilification and false charges devised to deflect the attention of a disquieted population onto the Baha’is and away from those in power,” said Diane Ala’i, the Baha’i International Community representative to the United Nations in Geneva. “And now, in these days leading to the trial, there are signs that once again the Baha’is are being made scapegoats.”
“Rather than accepting responsibility for the turmoil in the country, the Iranian government seeks to lay the blame on others, including foreign powers, international organizations and media outlets, students, women, and terrorists. Now the Baha’is have been added to this long list of alleged culprits,” she said.
Read the full story at www.news.bahai.org.