I ran across an item in the news this morning. Someone had written a letter to Senator Barbara Boxer about the latest crackdowns and arrests on Bahais in Iran, I suppose asking her for her help. She replied in a letter which I have posted below.
The question in my mind today is how would the issue of human rights in Iran affect any potential negotiations between US and Iran. The Iranian government for the most part denies its extensive and systematic violations of human rights for the past 30 years. Part of the denial is wrapped in the cloak of Sharia laws (Qesas, women’s rights), part of it is presented under Iran’s need for protecting its national security (persecution of journalists, students, and intellectuals), and an important part has been completely covered up and hidden over the past 30 years (gross mistreatment of Bahais and torture, mass executions, and murders of Iran’s political dissidents).
Would human rights be an item of negotiation between Mr. Obama and Iran’s “highest” authority, as he promised during his campaign? What would they say?
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Dear Mr. Bricker:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the treatment of the Bahá’í community in Iran. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your views on this troubling situation.
I share your concern regarding the systematic discrimination faced by the Bahá’í and other religious minorities in Iran. Currently, the activities of the Bahá’í are being monitored by Iran’s hard-line revolutionary guard and secret police.
As you may know, on December 19, 2006, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution expressing “serious concern” over the human rights situation in Iran, with particular emphasis placed on the plight of the Iranian Bahá’í. The resolution calls on Iran to “eliminate in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination based on religious, ethnic or linguistic grounds and other human rights violations” against Iranian minorities, including the Bahá’í.
As a strong advocate of international human rights and religious freedom, I was pleased to see this resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly. Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind should legislation regarding the Iranian Bahá’í come before the Senate in the 110th Congress.
Thank you for writing, and I hope you will continue to be in touch with me about matters of importance to you.
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
