Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Canberra for moving this motion and for the opportunity to speak about the deteriorating situation that confronts the Baha'i people of Iran, who continue to be subject to terrible persecution. Like the member for Moore before me, I too am fortunate to have many Baha'i practitioners in my electorate of Fremantle, and I also welcome members of the Baha'i community of Canberra to the parliament. It is disappointing that the range and severity of the discriminatory treatment of Baha'is in Iran has worsened since the time I moved a motion on this subject in 2012, and that we find ourselves standing here yet again giving voice to the plight of the Baha'is in their struggle to be accorded fundamental human rights.

At the most recent Universal Periodic Review relating to Iran, held at the Human Rights Council in Geneva at the end of October 2014, Iran's representative stated that Baha'is enjoy all citizenship rights. This is completely contradicted by the evidence and ignores the exclusion of Baha'is from protection under Iran's constitution, which makes plain that the 'human political, economic, social, and cultural rights' afforded to Iranian citizens must be 'in conformity with Islamic criteria.' Despite promises made by the new president, Mr Hassan Rouhani, in relation to improving the observance of basic human rights in Iran, there has been no change in the persecution faced by the Baha'is. In fact, oppression of Baha'is intensified all over the country in 2014—intelligence officials heightened their use of violence during home searches and arrests; coordinated raids were conducted to arrest groups in different localities; and today more than 100 Baha'is remain imprisoned as a direct consequence of their religious beliefs—including the seven Baha'i leaders imprisoned since May 2008.

Officials have implemented discriminatory policies in an increasingly methodical way over the past 18 months, blocking access to higher education, business and trade, in addition to suppressing the social and cultural life for those of the Baha'i faith. Recently, 81 stores belonging to Baha'is were sealed by the authorities in four different localities merely for being closed in observance of Baha'i holy days. All this shows there is a clear intent to isolate, impoverish, and constrain the Baha'i people, with a powerful encouragement for them to leave their own country.

Despite this persecution, and contrary to the Iranian authority's view that the Baha'is are secretly plotting a Zionist overthrow, the Baha'is remain committed to contributing to the peaceful advancement of their homeland by maintaining their faith and refusing to be subjugated. Among these brave people are Mr Danial Owji, who now resides in Western Australia having fled Iran following his persecution for involvement with the Baha'i Institute of Higher Learning. Danial's experience was recorded by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran in a March 2013 report that states:

On May 22, 2011, 15 teachers and administrators of the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) were allegedly arrested. Later that night, Mr. Danial Owji a student and volunteer at the BIHE, while driving was reportedly stopped on his street by plainclothes agents, tasered, handcuffed, blindfolded, put in the trunk of his car, and driven away. Mr. Owji was allegedly taken to an unknown location, that appeared to be a official place of detention, where he was interrogated and physically tortured over the course of four days, including being punched, kicked, suspended from the ceiling by his arms, handcuffed in stress positions, having cigarettes extinguished on his body, and being flogged on his feet. Mr. Owji was held in a bathroom rather than a cell. During his interrogations before his release, Mr. Owji was pressured to sign a document saying he was a participant in the Baha'i university, helped propagate it electronically, cooperated with the Zionist entity, taught classes, would testify against specific professors, and that the administration of school was conducted from the Baha'i facilities in Haifa, Israel in cooperation with the Zionist regime. Mr. Owji was allegedly harassed following his release as he sought legal redress for his mistreatment. When he received a summons from the Revolutionary Court approximately a year after his arrest, Mr. Owji fled the country.

Sadly, there are many more stories like Danial's filling UN reports and the records of organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

This week at the UN Human Rights Council, Iran will be indicating which of the recommendations made during its 2014 UPR it intends to accept. The record of the past four years shows that Iranian authorities have failed to implement the recommendations accepted during its first review.

I urge Iran—a once great nation, as I have previously said in this place; a cradle of civilisation and of culture, and a place with a historical respect for education—to finally abide by its commitment to the International Bill of Human Rights. Iran's Constitution, in Article 23, already recognises that: 'The investigation of individuals' beliefs is forbidden, and no-one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief.' Iran could simply put this article into practice by allowing Baha'is to participate fully in Iranian society.

Ending this long period of discrimination and repression would allow the Iranian government to make progress on the path to a peaceful, principled and tolerant state— (Time expired)

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