The Bay Area event will take place on Wednesday, August 12, at 8 PM, at the Herbst Theater (http://www.sfwmpac.org/herbst/ht_index.html) in San Francisco. The keynote speakers will be Dr. Farhad Sabetan, of the UN’s Baha’i International Community and Dr. Abbas Milani. Dr. Abbas Milani is a visiting professor in the department of political science. In addition, Dr. Milani is a research fellow and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution. His expertise is U.S./Iran relations, Iranian cultural, political, and security issues.
The Baha’i Faith is the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran, with about 300,000 adherents. Ever since its inception in that country in the mid 1800’s, the Baha’is have been severely persecuted. Since the revolution in 1979, hundreds of Baha’is have been executed or “disappeared,” others have been imprisoned, sometimes for years, without access to any kind of due process. Thousands have had their possessions confiscated, pensions and employment denied, and prohibited access to higher education. Even in grade schools, Baha’i children are singled out for scorn, ridicule, and punishment by their teachers, who encourage other students to do the same. Baha’i properties have been confiscated, even Baha’i cemeteries have been desecrated.
All official Baha’i institutions have been disbanded by the government. About a year ago, seven Baha’is working as an ad-hoc group to serve the Baha’i community were arrested. They remain in prison, again with no access to attorneys or any due process, facing baseless and even bizarre charges ranging from apostasy to espionage to “corrupting the public morals.” Some of the charges bring a penalty of death. Their case is being handled by the law offices of Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, but they have not been allowed to meet with their clients.
Some links about the Iranian Baha’is:http://www.bahai.org/dir/worldwide/persecutionhttp://news.bahai.org/ http://iran.bahai.us/http://www.iranpresswatch.org…
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/02/06/iran.bah…
http://middle-east-analysis.blogspot.com/2008/07/mona-bahai-martyr.html
