news - Sub-Commission debates question of violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms

news - Sub-Commission debates question of violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms: "DIANE ALA'I, of Baha'i International Community, said that the situation of the Baha'is in the Iran had deteriorated. Early this year, persecution against members of this community had intensified. The worst violence occurred in the city of Yazd, where men equipped with batons and communication devices attacked three Baha'i homes in January. A wave of arrests and imprisonments had followed, and most of the prisoners were arbitrarily detained without any charge being filed against them. The Baha'is were not the only people suffering from recurrent human rights violations in Iran, but they were systematically targeted and relentlessly pressured, for only one reason: they would not give up their faith. The situation of human rights in Iran had been absent from the agenda of the Commission for the past three years, and during that time human rights violations against the Bahai's had gradually increased. The Community therefore called upon the Experts of the Sub-Commission to join with civil society in expressing grave concern about the situation in Iran."

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ALEXANDRA POMEON O'NEIL, of International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, said the League was concerned about the recrudescence of human rights violations, the situation of the Bahai minority and flawed presidential elections in Iran. On 19 July, two boys were publicly hanged in Mashhad, after receiving 228 whips each. Ayaz Marhoni was 18 and Mohamoud Asgari was a minor. They were probably sentenced to death for their sexual orientation.
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