UN resolution denounces human rights abuses against Baha’is in Iran

Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has condemned the Iranian government’s chronic violation of human rights against minorities, including members of the Baha’i Faith, in a resolution that was approved on December 17.

The resolution, introduced by Canada with 43 co-sponsors, adopted by a vote of 84 to 30 with 67 abstentions, voices "serious concern regarding ongoing severe limitations and restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief." 

It calls upon the Iranian government to "release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their membership in or activities on behalf of a recognized or unrecognized minority religious group, including the remaining imprisoned member of the Baha’i leadership."

This UN resolution follows the unanimous passage last week of a resolution by the U.S. House of Representatives, Resolution 274, which condemned the government-sponsored persecution of the Baha’is in Iran.

“Although we are heartened by the efforts of the international community to address the persecution of the Baha’is,” said Mr. Anthony Vance, Director of the U.S. Baha’i Office of Public Affairs, “there are still over 90 Baha’is held in prison on baseless charges, not to mention the economic, educational, and cultural deprivations that block the progress of thousands of Baha’is in Iran every day.”

“Just recently,” he added, “the body of a deceased elderly Baha’i woman was exhumed and left in the desert, days after her burial. Until degradations like this stop, and Baha’is are accepted as full members of society, there is little cause for celebration.”