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Last year, the Baha'i International Community issued a report documenting State-sponsored
incitement to religious hatred against members of the Faith in Iran. Incitement is despicable
in and of itself, but even more when it engenders acts of violence that are condoned -- if
not encouraged -- by the government.
For seven years, we have witnessed an upsurge in violent attacks on Iran's Baha'is. Some
families faced the terror of fire-bombing in the middle of the night, or were devastated
to see their shops destroyed by arsonists. Others had their homes, workplaces or vehicles
vandalized: windows broken and walls defaced with hateful graffiti. Dozens of Baha'i cemeteries
were desecrated, damaged, or completely demolished. Hundreds of Baha'i school children were insulted,
humiliated and harassed by teachers and administrators, and hundreds of Baha'i businesses were shut
down by officials.
Moreover, we have documented over 100 cases where government interrogators have subjected
Baha'is to beatings, solitary confinement, and other violations under the mandate of
the Special Rapporteur on torture, or where plainclothes agents have physically assaulted
people who were known to be members of the Baha'i community.
And yet another gross violation: impunity systematically covers Iranian officials and
plainclothes agents who attack Bahá'ís. We are not aware of a single instance where
even one of the perpetrators was prosecuted -- much less convicted or imprisoned. Baha'is
cannot hope to obtain protection and justice from the authorities who incite hatred against
them and a judicial system that treats them as enemies of the State.
We have prepared a new report to present statistics and illustrative cases of officially sanctioned
violent attacks against Baha'is. Entitled Violence with Impunity, the new publication
is being launched at this session of the Council.