Erased in the shadows: The persecution of Iran’s Baha’is

Source: www.genocidewatch.com

Erased in the Shadows: The Targeted Persecution of Iran’s Baha’is

Genocide Watch Report

September 2024

By Sabrina Nelson

Introduction

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, The Islamic Republic of Iran has had a theocratic form of government. Religious and political authority are intertwined, with religious leaders exercising supreme political authority. Shi’a Islam is the basis of the State’s theology and ideology. Religious minorities, including Baha’is, Sunni Muslims, Mandeans, Yaresanis (Kaka’i), Christians, Gonabadi Dervishes, and Jews are subject to discrimination and persecution, including arbitrary detention and torture.

The Baha’is are Iran’s most persecuted religious minority. Baha’is are subjected to severe repression. Baha’i holy sites and institutions have been closed. Baha’i property is confiscated. Baha’is are arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned. Baha’is are banned from many forms of employment. They have no rights to public higher education. 

Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution

Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, an Islamic Republic with a theocratic form of government replaced the monarchy of Mohammad Pahlavi. The Islamic Republic redefined the relationship between Religion and State in Iran. Shi’a Islam became the basis of all aspects of Iranian life and politics. As stipulated by Iran’s Constitution, “All civil, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria”. Shi’a Islam became the State’s official religion, ideology and political identity.

Political authority is held by clerics. The Supreme Leader is the Grand Ayatollah, who is considered the representative of God. The Constitution designates the Supreme Leader to oversee all branches of government, the judiciary, government run media, and public universities. The judiciary is placed under the “exclusive control” of clerics to ensure that legal codes are in accord with Islamic law. The Supreme Leader has ultimate authority over security agencies.

Following the 1979 Revolution, laws were passed to “re-Islamize” Iran and consolidate the supremacy and legitimacy of the Islamic Republic. The State became the arbiter of whether street names, clothes, movies, and daily conversations are Islamic or un-Islamic, thus imposing a pervasive code of conduct and way of life. The lives of both Muslims and non-Muslims are dictated by Islamic values, rules, and laws.

Who are the Baha’is?

The Baha’i faith was founded in 1863 by Baháʼu’lláh, who claimed to be the prophet predicted by the Bab.

The Baha’i faith teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Baháʼís desire to establish a unified world order that ensures the prosperity of all nations, races, creeds, and classes. Baha’is reject racism, sexism, and nationalism.

Baha’is believe in progressive manifestations of a single God. The Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab, and Baháʼu’lláh are the most recent of these Manifestations of God. Baha’i teachings diverge from mainstream Shi’a doctrines because they claim there are prophets after Muhammad.

The Baha’i faith has been persecuted since its founding. The Bab was executed and Baháʼu’lláh was imprisoned for heresy by the Ottoman Empire. Since the emergence of the Baha’i faith, Baha’is have been considered heretics and enemies of the state.

Baha’is became special targets of state persecution after establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

Their emphasis on religious tolerance is considered a threat to the stability and supremacy of the Islamic Republic.

Baha’is face greater discrimination than other religious minorities, including Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians, Iran’s Constitution does not recognize the Baha’i faith as a religion. Baha’is are therefore deprived of the rights to freedom of worship guaranteed by the Constitution of Iran. 

During the first years of the Islamic Republic, more than 200 Baha’is were executed. Hundreds more were tortured and imprisoned simply for being Baha’i.

These religious murders, which violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and other international laws have gone unpunished and uninvestigated by the Iranian criminal justice system. Other unrecognized religious minorities, such as the Yarsanis, have also been subject to discrimination. But it is the Baha’is who have been particularly targeted by Iranian authorities.

Faith Under Fire: The Systematic Persecution of Baha’is

Since 1979, the lives of Iranian Baha’is have been severely restricted by state policies and laws that repress adherents of the Baha’i faith. These have included the closure of Baha’i holy sites and institutions, the denial of the right of Baha’is to higher education, and imposition of regulations prohibiting employment of Baha’is. Persecution of Baha’is is systematic and institutionalized. Iranian authorities have adopted a strategy of oppression to eliminate the Baha’i religion.

A silent genocide

Persecution of Baha’is in Iran has been called “ideological genocide” by Dr. Friedrich W. Affolter. For 150 years, Iranian institutions have attempted to eliminate the Baha’i faith.

State persecution grew worse following the establishment of the Islamic Republic. The Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council adopted a program to block progress of Iranian Baha’is. The 1991 Secret Memorandum, signed by Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, noted that “the state’s dealings with the Baha’is must be such that their progress and development are blocked.” The Secret Memorandum’s recommendations included expulsion of Baha’is from universities, denying them employment, and prohibiting them from positions of influence.

A document including the minutes of a confidential meeting held on September 21, 2020 by the Commission on Ethnicities, Sects and Religions was recently leaked, revealing the plan by government officials to intensify the repression of Baha’is and non-recognized religious minorities in Iran. The minutes revealed the intention to increase the control of the Baha’i community’s activities and to instruct education officials to identify Baha’i students to “bring them back to Islam”. The minutes show the intention of Iran’s State institutions to increase control of the Baha’i community’s activities and consolidate the supremacy of Shi’a Islam.

Denial of Rights and Freedoms

In 2020, new rules required persons applying for national identity cards to identify their religion as Muslim, Christian, Jew, or Zoroastrian. The application eliminated the “Other” category which Baha’is could choose before the rules change. The only way for Baha’is to obtain national ID cards or to be granted citizenship by the Islamic Republic is if they change their religious identification and reject their Baha’i faith. The National Identity Card is required for many daily transactions. Since Baha’is cannot renew their IDs, they have been effectively denied their rights as Iranian citizens. Without national ID cards, Baha’is cannot exercise many civil rights as citizens.

This new rule violates several articles of Iran’s Constitution, including Article 41 which establishes that “Iranian citizenship is the indisputable right of every Iranian, and the government cannot withdraw citizenship from any Iranian unless he himself requests it or acquires the citizenship of another country.”

 According to a Center for Human Rights in Iran report, the only way members of the Baha’i community can enroll in universities is to renounce their faith and convert to Islam.  Many Baha’is have reported their children’s expulsion from school after enduring bullying and beatings for being Baha’i. Denial of access to education of the Baha’i religious minority is a violation of Article 30 of the Iranian Constitution which states, “The Government is bound to make available, free of charge, educational facilities for all up to the close of the secondary stage, and to expand free facilities for higher education up to the limits of the country’s own capacity.”

The Baha’i community created an educational institute, the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), to provide Baha’is with higher education. But these efforts were unsuccessful because Iranian authorities persecuted instructors at the BIHE until many resigned. The government would not accept or recognize degrees obtained from the BIHE.

Human Rights Watch published a report, “The Boot on My Neck” in April 2024, detailing the many ways that Baha’is are persecuted in Iran, especially by convictions in Iranian courts for simply practicing their faith in prayer sessions and religious study groups.

The International Response to the Persecution of the Baha’is

The United Nations General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council, and many UN member states have condemned Iran’s persecution of Baha’is. A UN General Assembly Resolution in 2019 passed by a vote of 84 to 30. But 66 states abstained. Iranian authorities have tried to justify their arrests and convictions of Baha’is by falsely claiming that Baha’is are engaged in espionage on behalf of Israel.  

Despite international condemnation of Iran’s persecution, Baha’is are still subject to severe discrimination. Only a few human rights organizations have officially characterized the systematic persecution of Baha’is in Iran as constituting genocide. Most human rights organizations characterize the persecution as constituting crimes against humanity.

IV-          Assessment of the Situation Based on the Ten Stages of Genocide 

Genocide Watch contends that many of the stages of genocide are already present in Iran’s persecution of Baha’is. Genocide Watch believes that Iran’s persecution is already genocidal in its intent and its effects.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1948, “genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.” 

a)     Killing members of the group;

b)    Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

c)     Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

d)    Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

e)     Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

As history has shown us time and time again, genocides do not happen overnight. Genocides develop in progressive and predictable processes that can be prevented if caught on time. To help identify and understand the processes leading to genocide, Dr. Gregory Stanton, the Founding President of Genocide Watch, created the Ten Stages of Genocide. The stages may occur simultaneously. They do not follow a linear order. This framework helps us understand the logic of genocide to perceive its early signs and take proactive and preventive measures to prevent it.

1.       Classification: Dividing people into “us versus them” based on ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality. Examples: Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda; Laws for Racial Purity in Nazi Germany; 1982 law stripping Rohingya of citizenship in Myanmar.

2.         Symbolization: Assigning symbols to the classifications to distinguish groups. Example: Jews forced to wear yellow stars during the Holocaust; blue and white scarves for Eastern Zone people deported up river in Cambodia.

3.        Discrimination: A dominant group uses law, custom, and political power to deny the rights of other groups. The powerless group is denied full civil rights; this might include not granting them citizenship. Examples: Nuremberg Laws in Nazi Germany; Apartheid in South Africa; Segregation in the USA.

4.       Dehumanization: One group denies the humanity of the other group, equating them with animals, vermin, insects, or diseases. Examples: Jews were called “vermin” in Nazi Germany; Tutsis were called “cockroaches” in Rwanda.

5.        Organization: Genocide is always organized, often by the state or by militias or special army units. Examples: Formation of death squads or militias like the Einsatzgruppen in Nazi Germany; Janjaweed in Sudan, or Interahamwe in Rwanda. 

6.         Polarization: Extremists drive the groups apart, propaganda is broadcasted by hate groups, and laws may forbid intermarriage or social interaction. Moderates are targeted and intimidated. Targeted groups are disarmed and made powerless to make them incapable of self-defense, ensuring the supremacy and full control of the dominant group. Examples: Nazi newspaper, Völkischer Beobachter ; Radiotélévision Libre des Mille Collines in Rwanda.

7.       Preparation: Plans are made for genocidal killings. Leaders often use euphemisms to cloak their intentions, such as referring to their goals as “ethnic cleansing.”  The populace is indoctrinated and leaders justify genocide as self-defense. Examples: Wannsee Conference in Nazi Germany; distribution of machetes in Rwanda.

8.      Persecution: Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic, racial or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up, properties are expropriated, and victims are deliberately deprived of resources. Example: Ghettos and concentration camps in Nazi Germany; deportations in Armenia and Myanmar.

9.         Extermination: The mass killing legally called “genocide.” It is considered “extermination” by the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. The goal of total genocide is to kill all the members of the targeted group.  But most genocides are genocides “in part.” Examples: Genocides in whole: the Holocaust, Genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda; Genocides in part: genocide of Hutus in Burundi; genocides of Indians and First Nations in the US, Canada, and Australia.

10.          Denial: The perpetrators of the genocide deny that they committed any crimes and often blame what happened on the victims. Perpetrators block investigations of the crimes and continue to govern until driven from power by force. Example: Denial of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish government; Denial of genocide of Indians and African Americans in the USA.

The 10 Stages applied to the Persecution of Baha’is in Iran

Applying the Ten Stages of Genocide to the case of the Baha’is in Iran, Genocide Watch considers Iran to be at Stage 3: Discrimination, Stage 4: Dehumanization, Stage 5: Organization, Stage 8: Persecution, Stage 9: Extermination and Stage 10: Denial.

Stage 3: Discrimination

• Discriminatory policies and laws targeting the Baha’is have subjected Iranian Baha’is to systematic repression, persecution and victimization.
• Such laws have included rules denying national identity cards to Baha’is, depriving them of their rights of citizenship.
• The 1991 Secret Memorandum issued by the Iranian Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council (ISRCC) included recommendations to block the progress and development of the Baha’is. These policies include expelling Baha’is from universities, denying them employment, and prohibiting them from holding positions in government.
• Articles 499 bis and 500 bis of the Penal Code have criminalized freedom of thought and belief and are now used to convict Baha’is for prayer and worship.
• Iranian authorities have used multiple laws to justify the confiscation of Baha’I property.
• Unlike other religious minorities, including Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians, Iran’s Constitution does not recognize Baha’is as persons with rights to practice their religion. They have been deprived of religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution.

Stage 4: Dehumanization

• The Baha’is are not recognized as a religious minority because their faith is not recognized as a legitimate religion. They have been deprived of freedom of religion.
• Baha’is are portrayed as heretics and enemies of the state because their beliefs are contrary to mainstream Shi’a Islamic doctrine.

Stage 5: Organization

• Systematic persecution of Baha’is is organized by Iranian government authorities. This policy is evident in the 1991 Secret Memorandum of the Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council, signed by Supreme Leader of Iran Ruhollah Khomeini. It reveals the intent of the state to discriminate and block the development of Baha’is in Iran.

Stage 8: Persecution

• Closure of Baha’i holy sites and institutions
• Property destruction and confiscation
• Arbitrary detention and imprisonment
• Firing from employment
• Hate speech against Baha’is
• Denial of access to higher education
• Security and intelligence bodies control the movements of Baha’is
• Harassment and discrimination against Baha’i children in schools
• Detention of Baha’is for engaging in prayer sessions, study groups, and teaching.

Stage 9: Extermination

• Shortly after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, more than 200 Baha’is were executed.
• Hundreds more have been tortured and imprisoned simply for being Baha’i.
• In 1983, 10 Baha’i women were hanged in the Chowgan Square in Shiraz because they refused to renounce their faith.
• Destruction of Baha’i holy sites is cultural genocide. The intent is to erase the group’s cultural identity, heritage, and existence from Iranian society.

Stage 10: Denial

• Iranian authorities deny that they persecute Baha’is on religious grounds. Instead they accuse Baha’is of treason, including the crime of engaging in espionage for Israel. 

Does the persecution of Iranian Baha’is constitute genocide?

The persecution of Baha’is in Iran does not fit the usual popular understanding of genocide in CPPCG Article 2(a): mass killings of members of the group.

However, the crimes against the Baha’is fit the definition of genocide in CPPCG Article 2(b): “Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.”

The crimes also fit CPPCG Article 2(c): “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

This Special Report demonstrates that genocidal processes against Baha’is in Iran are already underway.

The genocidal processes could get worse. Baha’is may become victims of mass killing. The Islamic Republic executed as many as 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 according to a definitive report by Amnesty International.

In the context of the current war in the Middle East, with Iran launching hundreds of ballistic missiles into Israel, Iranian authorities may look for scapegoats as excuses for their failure to destroy Israel. Baha’is could be accused of spying for Israel and causing Iran’s failure. Like Jews in Nazi Germany, they would be scapegoats close at hand, subject to mass murder.

The treatment of Baha’is by the Iranian state indicates its intent to eliminate the group’s cultural identity, heritage, and existence within Iranian society. The Iranian regime’s goals are to enforce the Ayatollahs’ interpretation of the doctrines of Shi’a Islam and to consolidate the supremacy of the Islamic Republic.

Iran has frequently and openly declared its intent to destroy the nation of Israel. That expressed intent to commit genocide must never be forgotten. The world refused to take seriously Hitler’s declaration of his intent to destroy Jews. World leaders must never make the fatal mistake of ignoring threats to commit genocide again. When Hitler’s plans were ignored, including the early warnings of the Holocaust, appeasement cost millions of lives.

Genocide Watch Recommendations

• The UN, US, NATO, EU, OIC, AU and other regional and international organizations must demand that the Iranian state revoke all policies and laws that target and discriminate against Baha’is. This must include renunciation of the 1991 Secret Memorandum and recognition of Baha’is as a religious minority protected by the Iranian Constitution.
• The US, Canada and the EU should maintain strong sanctions on the Iranian government and military in response to the regime’s support for terrorism. 
• No more Iranian assets should be released to Iran. They should be used for reparations to victims of Iranian supported terrorism. 
• Sanctions should be imposed by the UN, the EU, and the US to provide reparations for Iran’s confiscation of properties owned by Baha’is, and compensation for Iran’s denial of employment and access to education for Baha’is.
• Targeted Magnitsky sanctions should be imposed on all Iranian officials and other persons believed to be implicated in the persecution of Baha’is.
• A broad international coalition including Western, Global South and Islamic countries and NGOs should be built to raise the issue of Iranian persecution of Baha’is in international forums and demand that Iran stop its persecution.
• The UN, EU and the US should engage with Middle Eastern and Islamic countries that have good relations with Iran to advocate for Iranian respect and protection of religious minorities. Examples include Oman and Qatar.
• Humanitarian parole and asylum should be granted to Baha’is fleeing Iran who are seeking refuge.
• Leaders of UN member states, world religions, multinational companies, and human rights organizations should relentlessly and publicly condemn the actions committed by Iranian authorities against Baha’is. Global awareness campaigns should be launched to shed light on the suffering endured by Baha’is and to exert pressure on Iran to stop its persecution of Baha’is.