Mr. Chair, thank you for the invitation to testify before the distinguished members of this subcommittee.
As many of you already know, the Bahá'í faith originated in Persia, modern-day Iran. The Bahá'í community is the country's largest non-Muslim religious minority.
Baha'is have been persecuted since the inception of the faith in the mid-nineteenth century. This intensified soon after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. It continues unabated to this day and touches Bahá'ís at every stage of life, from cradle to grave.
Of course, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians also face discrimination, as do Sufi, Sunni, and dissenting Shia Muslims. However, in the case of the Bahá'ís, the goal of the government is the eradication of the community. In fact, this is plainly stated in a 1991 government memorandum signed by the current supreme leader, provisions of which are still very much in effect. In an attempt to conceal its ongoing efforts to destroy the Bahá'í community, the government of Iran has shifted its strategy over the years. While arbitrary arrests and imprisonments continue, the government is also using less blatant tactics such as economic oppression. This means systematic exclusion from economic life, including the denial of access to education and public sector employment, and state-sponsored attacks on private Bahá'í businesses.
Before speaking to this last point, I would like to highlight two other areas of concern: the continued imprisonment of the leadership of the Bahá'ís of Iran, and the increased efforts by the government to incite hatred against Bahá'ís. There are currently some 90 Bahá'ís in prison in Iran; their only crime is their religion. Among them are seven Bahá'ís, two women and five men, who formed an ad hoc group that tended to the spiritual and social needs of the community.
Jailed in 2008 and tried without due process, they were sentenced on spurious charges to the longest jail sentence given to any prisoner of conscience in Iran. May 14th will mark the ninth anniversary of their imprisonment. We hope that our government will take this occasion to join an international outcry that emphasizes the fact that, under Iran's own penal code, the seven are now overdue for conditional release.
Their unjust sentence will be fully served by May 2018. We must ensure that they will not be held beyond this date. Public statements by the government of Canada, a motion by this subcommittee, and statements by individual members of Parliament make a difference.
Turning now to the matter of state-sponsored incitement to hatred, since the beginning of 2014, more than 20,000 items of anti-Bahá'í propaganda have been published or broadcast in official media, through pamphlets and tracts, from pulpits, and at public exhibitions and events. There were more than 11,000 in 2016 alone.
The Iranian Bahá'í community has consistently been denied the use of any means of mass communication to respond to false allegations and misrepresentations. The result has been widespread prejudice. The effect of this can be seen in real and outrageous ways.
A culture of impunity has been created through the demonization of Bahá'ís. In an extreme case, just last September, a Bahá'í was stabbed to death outside his home by two assailants who confessed to killing him for no other reason than his religious beliefs. Another less known but equally insidious aspect of the persecution is apartheid-like economic discrimination. Based on religious grounds, it is institutionalized and state driven. Its objective is to impoverish, isolate, and ultimately drive Bahá'ís out of Iran. Three generations of Bahá'ís have been denied access to post-secondary education. Many have pursued informal studies through a self-help initiative, the Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education. Some have gone on to study abroad, but they are systematically deprived of equal access to many fields of employment.
Furthermore, since the early days of the revolution, Bahá'ís have been completely barred from jobs in the public sector. In the private sector, they are restricted in the type of business they may engage in, on the pretext of their being religiously “unclean”. Employers are pressured not to hire Bahá'ís. Consequently, many if not most Bahá'ís have started their own small enterprises to provide for their families and contribute to their community.
They too have been attacked. Since 2007, more than 1,000 incidents of direct economic persecution have been documented by the Bahá'í International Community. These include but are not limited to revocation of business licences, harassment, imposition of fines, raids, and orders for the destruction of farmland and livestock.
Of late, when Bahá'ís quietly close their shops in observance of Bahá'í holy days, their businesses are sealed off, sometimes indefinitely. It constitutes the most recent in a series of tactics to deny Bahá'ís a decent livelihood. More than 100 Bahá'í-owned businesses were affected this past November; many still remain closed. Unprecedented in scale, it's a cause for deep concern.
These incidents took place in spite of recent statements made by prominent Iranian lawyers and UN special rapporteurs and an urgent request from the Bahá'í International Community to the president of Iran to cease this economic oppression.
In the face of such relentless and systematic persecution, Bahá'ís in Iran continue to appeal to their government using peaceful and legal means. They called for the respect of their fundamental human rights and turned their attention to the contributions they can make to improve the society around them. Despite being denied the rights of citizenship, they seek out ways to work for the common good.
This non-violent response has attracted praise from an ever-growing number of Iranians. Many have risked their own safety to protect their Bahá'í friends and neighbours. Some prominent Iranians, both within and outside Iran, have publicly decried the persecution of the Bahá'ís and have spoken out for their rights.
Widely regarded as a litmus test for the country's broader human rights situation, the Bahá'í question deserves more attention. In this respect, we are grateful and proud to count this subcommittee and many of its members among those who have championed this issue. Rest assured that your actions and public statements make an important contribution to the protection of the Bahá'ís in Iran. They are clearly registered by authorities in Iran, they provide strength to those who suffer injustice, they offer comfort to their loved ones, and they serve as encouragement to those who defend them.
In closing, we hope that our elected representatives and government will use all means available to hold Iranian authorities to account. Over the years, Canadian leadership on the annual United Nations resolution on human rights in Iran and high level public statements under both Liberal and Conservative governments have been vital components of a broad effort to ensure that Iran does not act with complete impunity. These actions must continue so that Iran's latest tactics of oppression do not succeed in their ultimate objective.
Public expressions of concern serve to expose the truth about the Iranian government's human rights abuses. They help to embolden open-minded Iranians to promote a culture of justice, tolerance, and equity.
Criticism of the government's targeted oppression of Bahá'ís can be complemented by a broader engagement to promote the value of inclusion in diverse societies. These approaches are not mutually exclusive.
As Canada pursues diplomatic re-engagement with Iran, we cannot ignore the need for a constructive dialogue on human rights and inclusion. The Bahá'ís in Iran come from every ethnic and religious background, and they present a window into the rich diversity of Iran's society itself.
In our dialogue with Iranian authorities we must call upon the government to take clear and concrete steps to emancipate the Bahá'ís. We remain hopeful that over time, Iranian officials will increasingly find in their hearts the courage to uphold the dignity and equal worth of all human beings. The future of Iran depends on it.
Thank you for your kind consideration. I would be pleased to answer your questions.