UK women cannot be proud of our government’s continuing silence regarding many human rights violations. Peaceful protest in Iran is meeting increasing violence from government forces. Emadeddin Baghi, a human rights activist working in Iran, was arrested on December 28^th and now has ‘disappeared’. Amnesty International reports (8/01/10) that the government is gunning down protestors in the streets, blocking foreign reporting on human rights violations and locking up rights defenders and journalists.

Like all dictatorships, the Iran regime continues to persecute any who uphold beliefs or views different from its own. This includes violent suppression of all other religious faiths. Many thousands of Iranians living in Iran are members of the Baha’i faith. On January 12^th, seven former members of an informal leadership body of the Iranian Baha’i community face trial in Tehran on charges that could lead to their execution. Despite the authorities failing to produce any concrete evidence of a single crime, they have been detained for the better part of two years in Evin prison. Several stories have appeared in Iranian government-affiliated news media that the Baha’is are fomenting civil unrest throughout the country. Having initially blamed foreign powers for the recent upheavals, the authorities are now also trying to lay the responsibility for the situation on the Baha’is.

The Baha’i International Community is convinced that scrutiny of Iran’s human rights record by the international community has been a crucial factor in staying the hands of those in power there. WAFE has been specifically asked to protest against this violation of human rights. Baha’i women are affected either directly or through repercussions on their lives and families. Please raise the matter with your local MP, wherever you are.