There is no word to describe the disgraceful treatment that Baha'is in Iran are subjected to. Iranian Baha'is are first Humans, then Iranians and after that Baha'is. Therefore, there can not be any logical reason for depriving Baha'is of their most basic human and civil rights in Iran, and anywhere else for matter, on account of their beliefs. The fact that Baha'i faith/religion/ideology is not recognised by the Iranian Constitution is simply a perversion of the first order; the reference in this Constitution to "People of Book" is an oxymoron, as "People" cannot be “of Book”, any book! People are born with inalienable rights as human beings, not as "People" with some "Book" in their pockets! And these "Books" are not just some books, I hasten to add. In general, one comes to accept the authority of a book, if at all, after having read its contents and contemplated about them. With the "Divine Books" the natural order of things is wholly reversed: Generally, people come to adhere to a religion far in advance of having ever read the relevant Book, to whose contents they so proudly profess to adhere; some even remain to adhere to their professed religion without ever having read their "Book", or even in spite of it.

From the legal perspective, Iran’s Constitution (or better, its specific interpretation whereby Baha’is are not afforded their full human and civil rights) is in direct contravention of both the word and the of spirit of Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Iran is a signatory. Article 18 of this Declaration consists of the following four items:

(1).Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.

(2).No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.

(3).Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

(4).The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.

For further details, the interested may consult to following site:

http://www.hrweb.org/legal/undocs.html#UDHR

As regards the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” and an exhaustive list of the countries formally adopting the terms of this Declaration, the reader may consult the following article of the English Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights

Is that not shameful that an ancient country that is Iran, the cradle of the modern civilisation, does not tolerate some groups of people on account of their specific beliefs?

BF.

CORRECTIONS:

On the sixth line from above of my first Comment on this page,

"for matter"

should be

"for that matter".

On the fourth line from above of the second paragraph,

"the of spirit"

should be

"of the spirit".

BF.