Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
And thank you to our witnesses, Professor Akhavan and Susanne Tamás, who have enlightened us on many occasions in the past. We're very grateful for your expertise here at the committee.
I also wanted to acknowledge the fact that MP John Weston is here as well, who facilitated the visit of Shirin Ebadi to our committee the last time. I want to commend him for that.
I want to remind you, Chair, that about a year ago, on May 15, 2012, we had a take note debate on human rights in Iran. Many of my colleagues here at the table spoke that evening. That evening, I simply described to the House the individual personalities involved in the imprisonment of the leadership of the Bahá'í.
I want to begin my questioning the same way. The Iranian Political Prisoner Global Advocacy Project, which MP Cotler and Senator Kirk ought to be commended for leading, has provided members of Parliament with a biography of one of Ahmadinejad’s recent victims. Here I'd like to spotlight the story of Navid Khanjani, a Bahá'í student and civil activist. He's been sentenced to 12 years of brutal imprisonment in Iran. Navid has already faced intense interrogation in Tehran's Evin prison and was forced to record video testimony against himself under duress. Navid's is the longest sentence ever given to a human rights activist in Iran for propaganda against the regime and acting against national security. His crimes? Wanting to go to university. Those of the Bahá'í faith are banned from universities in Iran. He founded the Bahá'í educational rights committee, being a member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters and of human rights activists.
Now that I've talked about Navid Khanjani being imprisoned in Iran, I'd like to pose my first question to Susanne Tamás.
Ms. Tamás, persecution is rampant in Iran. Zoroastrians, Christians, Hindus, minority Muslims, and Jews all face persecution. Could you explain to the committee what is unique about the Bahá'í community and the persecution it faces compared to the persecution that other minorities face?