Participants in the Capitol Hill reception to honor the seven leaders of the Iranian Baha’i community, entering their fourth year of imprisonment, included: U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, U.S. Representative Michael Grimm, State Department’s Kathleen Fitzpatrick, CSI:Miami star Eva LaRue, Grammy winner KC Porter and more – Replay the livestream!
WASHINGTON—A reception honoring Iran’s seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders drew a crowd of 300 congressional staff members, representatives from human rights groups, media personnel and local community members. Plus more than 550 computers logged on to the live webcast, with countless viewers watching from around the world.
As part of a series of global events, the reception marked the third anniversary of the sweeping arrests of six of the seven members of the Iranian Baha’i community’s former acting leadership group. The seventh member was arrested two month prior, in March 2008. http://news.bahai.org/story/821
Entering their fourth year of incarceration, the five male members are held in Gohardasht Prison under close surveillance, while the two women were transferred early morning on May 3 to a warehouse-like detention center shared by nearly 400 female prisoners with minimal facilities.
Each of the presenters took a different approach, but they all shared a similar message of, “Enough is enough!”
U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (IL) spoke about his legislative efforts to support human rights for the people of Iran, including the resolution he introduced on March 1 (S.Res.80) condemning the religious persecution of the Baha’is in Iran, particularly the unlawful incarceration of the reception’s honorees. He played a video introducing his new Iran Dissidents Awareness Program.http://www.kirk.senate.gov/?p=iranian_dissident_awareness_program
U.S. Representative Michael Grimm (NY-13) said he was familiar with dark places in the world, from his experience as a U.S. Marine and undercover FBI agent, and he endorsed the effectiveness of such awareness-raising events as Thursday evening’s reception in combatting darkness and injustice. As someone who himself has been tested in many stressful situations, he praised the resilience of the Iranian Baha’i community.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights Kathleen Fitzpatrick read a list of Iran’s most egregious human rights violations. Fitzpatrick referred audience members to testimony from the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing held the day before: http://www.humanrights.gov/2011/05/11/human-rights-and-democratic-reform-in-iran/
Grammy-award winning musician KC Porter performed his song titled “Yaran” (the name of the leadership group which means “friends” in Persian), which he wrote after learning the details of the Baha’i leaders’ prison conditions and the overwhelming evidence of their innocence.
Actor Eva LaRue, nominated for an Emmy during her 12 years with All My Children and currently starring in the world’s No. 1 rated TV series, CSI: Miami, shared stories about Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, the two women members of the imprisoned Baha’i leadership group. Ms. LaRue had spoken with Fariba’s mother and identified with Mahvash and Fariba as a daughter, mother and humanitarian.
Iranian-American engineer Iraj Kamalabadi, brother of imprisoned Baha’i leader Fariba Kamalabadi, made his third trip in three months to Washington on behalf of his younger sibling to deliver the closing remarks in the reception program. He had attended Senator Kirk’s May 4th press conference introducing legislation on human rights in Iran.
On April 28, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2011 Annual Report . The report describes – beginning on page 78 – several cases of the “severe” persecution the Baha’i community in Iran faced from April 2010 to March 2011. Iran is one of 14 countries USCIRF recommends that the Secretary of State name “countries of particular concern” or CPCs.
QUICK FACTS:
Watch the event: http://www.livestream.com/senkirklivestream/video?clipId=pla_ea9607a5-2c6a-4ad5-bf44-ad087af1e1fb&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb .
Speakers included : U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, U.S. Representative Michael Grimm, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Iraj Kamalabadi, brother of imprisoned Baha’i in Iran, CSI:Miami star Eva LaRue
Musicians were: Grammy-award winner KC Porter, Badi and Momo Loudiyi
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BahaiUS
Twitter: @BahaiUS
Religion Newswriter’s Association on the Baha’is:http://www.religionlink.com/tip_090211.php
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