HRW report exposes Iran's ‘Boot on my neck’ policy against Bahai's

Iranian oppression of Baha’is amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution, a report released this week by Human Rights Watch found.

The 49-page report, titled “‘The Boot on My Neck’: Iranian Authorities’ Crime of Persecution Against Baha’is in Iran,” highlights Iranian authorities’ systematic violation of the fundamental rights of Baha’i community members. Human Rights Watch discovered a range of discriminatory laws and policies targeting Baha’is, including arbitrary arrests and imprisonments, property confiscations, limitations on education and employment, and even denial of dignified burial.

“More than 40 years of systematic persecution of Iran’s Baha’is is a crime against humanity and should be judged as such,” Clarisa Nieva, director of the public affairs office at the Baha’i community of Spain, told The Media Line.

Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, told The Media Line that Iranian authorities have violated the Baha’is’ rights for decades. Anti-Baha’i measures are “directed by the state’s most senior officials and the Islamic Republic’s ideology and enshrined in the government’s laws and policies,” he said.

Baha’is are the largest non-Muslim minority in Iran, with a community size estimated at 300,000 members. Established in Iran during the mid-1800s, the Baha’i faith presents itself as a new revelation and a continuation of monotheistic and other religious traditions that preceded it.

“Human Rights Watch has found that the cumulative impact of authorities’ decadeslong systematic repression of Baha’is amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution,” Page said. He noted that the abuses impact every aspect of their lives, including education, employment, marriage, and even death, as authorities repeatedly demolish Baha’i graves.

In 1991, the Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council, an institution headed by Iran’s president, issued a memo that shaped Iranian state policy toward Baha’is. The memo called for “marginalizing them politically, socially, and economically,” purely because of their faith, Page said.

Page added that Baha’is are denied religious freedom in Iran. They are prohibited from establishing any official institutions and cannot freely hold prayers, even in private.

Baha’is are also subject to arbitrary arrests and jail sentences, Page said. The community’s economic opportunities have been severely restricted, with Iranian authorities’ closing some Baha’i business and confiscating lands belonging to Baha’is.

Since the creation of the Baha’i faith, Baha’is have lived throughout Iran’s cities, towns, and villages, Nieva said. She noted that Baha’is are committed citizens of their native country and constantly attempt to contribute to its development as an aspect of their faith.

After the Islamic revolution

Many Baha’is left Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Nieva said, “either because their lives were in danger, because their relatives had already been imprisoned and executed, or because living conditions were simply unsustainable. Since Baha’i institutions have been banned in Iran since the Islamic Revolution, no data is available regarding the rate of Baha’i immigration.

Page stressed the importance of looking at the recent report in the context of the ongoing protest movement in Iran following the 2022 death of Mahsa Jina Amini, who died after being arrested for improperly wearing the hijab.

“Human Rights Watch is releasing this report in a context where Iranian authorities have been brutally repressing dissent, especially after the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom nationwide protests demanding fundamental change,” he said. “There is a serious concern that Iranian authorities will escalate their persecution and repression against Baha’is in Iran, blaming them as a scapegoat for their failures as a corrupt, autocratic government.”

Nieva urged the international community to act on the imminent danger facing the Baha’i community in Iran. She applauded UN resolutions condemning Iran and called on the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran to be renewed.

She also urged UN member countries and their governments to declare their support for the Baha’i community and to support holding Iran accountable in accordance with international law, including through investigation and prosecution in international courts.

“The mandate of the United Nations Independent Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran should also be renewed and ensure that it has adequate resources to document serious international violations and crimes against Baha’s,” Nieva added.