An Evening in Support of the Bahá'ís of Iran August 12, 2009

The Bay Area Bahá'ís are sponsoring an evening in support of their co-religionists in Iran. We invite all people of goodwill to join us in showing their support for basic human rights for all people everywhere. We cannot allow innocent people to be oppressed and even killed simply for their beliefs.

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 Bahá'ís 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, Bahá'í children are singled out for scorn, ridicule, and punishment by their teachers, who encourage other students to do the same. Bahá'í properties have been confiscated, even cemeteries have been desecrated.

About a year ‎ago, seven Bahá'ís working as an ad-hoc group to serve their 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 insulting all that is sacred to ‎espionage for the state of Israel to creating "corruption on earth," which could carry a ‎death sentence. Their case is being handled by the law offices of Nobel Peace Prize ‎winner Shirin Ebadi, but the attorneys have not been allowed to
meet with their clients.‎

The Bay Area event will take place on Wednesday, August 12, at 8:00 p.m., at the Herbst Theater (http://www.sfwmpac.org/herbst/ht_index.html) in San Francisco. The keynote speaker will be Mr. Farhad Sabetan, of the United Nation's Bahá'í International Community.

For more information, contact taskforce.event@gmail.com.

Some links about the Iranian Bahá'ís:
http://www.bahai.org/dir/worldwide/persecution
http://news.bahai.org/
http://iran.bahai.us/
http://www.iranpresswatch.org/
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/02/06/iran.bahai.apology/index.html?eref=rss_world
http://middle-east-analysis.blogspot.com/2008/07/mona-bahai-martyr.html
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-hr175/show

Amnesty International is calling for urgent action in this matter.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/066/2009/en/0fa99612-f7ae-45f5-ab49-b94e5d284c37/mde130662009en.pdf