(Jerusalem Post) Benjamin Weinthal - Ahmed Shaheed, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, announced last week in Geneva "that 110 Bahais are currently detained in Iran for exercising their faith, including two women...that 133 Bahais are currently awaiting summonses to serve their sentences, and that another 268 Bahais are reportedly awaiting trial." The UN report noted "members of the Bahai community are reported to continue to be systematically deprived of a range of social and economic rights, including access to higher education." A report issued in March by the Bahai International Community said, "The increase in arrests has been accompanied by a rising tide of violence against Bahais, marked by incidents that include arson attacks, anti-Bahai graffiti, hate speech, the desecration of Bahai cemeteries, and assaults on schoolchildren." There are an estimated 350,000 Bahais in Iran, a peaceful religious community founded in Iran in 1863.
2013-03-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive