How Can I Help?
[This is of historical interest only; the EDM was very successful.]

Please write to your MP and ask him/her to sign the Early Day Motion No. 418 tabled by Mr David Atkinson, MP on 11 March 1999 which urges Her Majesty's Government to bring to bear all diplomatic and political pressure upon the Government of Iran to allow Bah�'�s unhindered access to use their own educational institute and also to reinstate their right to study at state universities, and to press the Iranian authorities to give guarantees that they will respect the rights of the Bah�'� community of that country to full access to education.

How you phrase your letter to your Member of Parliament is, of course, up to you. However, the way this is presented to MPs can be important, and I would ask you to consider using words very similar to those suggested below. Please enclose the accompanying fact sheet. Your assistance is deeply appreciated. NB There is a school of thought that suggests that some MP's only answer hand written envelopes as they assume anything that is typed is junk mail. On the off-chance this is true you may wish to hand write the envelope.

Specimen letter to your MP

Dear........

Early Day Motion No.418, "BAH�'� INSTITUTE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION"

I am writing to ask you to join your colleagues in the House of Commons in defending the persecuted Bah�'� minority in Iran.

Although not a Bah�'� myself I ask you to please sign Early Day Motion No.418, "BAH�'� INSTITUTE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION", tabled by Mr David Atkinson, MP on 11 March 1999.

The Bah�'�s in Iran have been subjected to persecution for much of their 155-year history. Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, more than 200 Bah�'�s have been murdered or executed because of their religious beliefs and many thousands of other Bah�'�s have suffered arbitrary detention.

In July last year Mr Ruhollah Rowhani was executed in Mashhad, Iran. The Government of Iran have claimed that he was executed for "crimes against national security', but his only "crime" appears to have been his involvement in organising the family gatherings that are the only kind of collective life left to the Bah�'� community in Iran. Six other Bah�'�s in Iran are currently under sentence of death.

More recently the Government of Iran has attempted to close down the Bah�'� Institute for Higher Education, the only means by which young Bah�'�s - who may not attend state-run universities unless they deny their religion - can obtain degree level qualifications.

This is all part of a policy, entitled "The Bah�'� Question", written in 1991 by the Iranian Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council and signed by Iranian Supreme Ruler Ali Khamenei. The enclosed sheet includes some quotations from this document. It is clear that the Government of Iran is attempting to stifle the development of the largest religious minority in Iran (there are around 300,000 Bah�'�s in Iran), perhaps even to bring it to the point of extinction.

I understand the members of the 100-year-old UK Bah�'� community are deeply concerned about the fate of their brethren in Iran. Over the years MPs of all parties have been extremely supportive of the beleaguered Bah�'�s of Iran, and I hope that you will find it possible to sign this Early Day Motion.

I enclose a sheet of background information which I hope you will find helpful.

Yours sincerely,

---------

Fact Sheet

Recent events

� At least 36 faculty members of the Bah�'� Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) arrested throughout Iran - 29 September-3 October 1998

� Two Bah�'�s previously in detention, Mr. Sirus Zabihi-Moghaddam and Mr. Hedayat-Kashefi Najafabadi, sentenced to death - September 1998

� 532 homes raided and looted of property, files, and equipment used for BIHE - widespread looting of personal effects at the same time

� Actions carried out across Iran by Government officers under direction of Ministry of Information, an intelligence agency of the Iranian Government

� Those arrested were asked to sign declaration that BIHE was abolished and that they would no longer be involved with it. They refused to sign.

General background

� More than 200 Bah�'�s killed since 1980 because of their religious beliefs; often accused of fictitious crimes; thousands have suffered arbitrary detention

� Latest killing July 1998, Mr. Ruhollah Rowhani, Mashhad

� Since 1980, Bah�'�s in Iran have had no rights under the constitution of the current regime because of their belief in a religion that post-dates Islam

� Bah�'�s often subject to confiscation of pensions, property and belongings

� Bah�'� cemeteries throughout Iran have been seized and desecrated

� Bah�'� marriage not recognized in Iran

Higher education situation

� Iranian Government has denied Bah�'�s entrance to university since 1980

� BIHE, also known as the "Open University", is an attempt to provide formal higher education for Bah�'�s on private basis

� BIHE in operation since 1987

� Professors, lecturers and administrators are Bah�'� academics fired from university positions after the revolution

Policy of Iranian Government on the Bah�'� community of Iran

� Closure of BIHE is one of the means employed for strangulation of the Bah�'� community under "The Bah�'� Question" policy, written by the Iranian Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council in 1991; signed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Quotations from `The Baha'i Question" document

� "The Government's dealings with them, the Bah�'�s, must be in such a way that their progress and development are blocked."

� "They must be expelled from universities, either in the admission process or during the course of their studies, once it becomes known that they are Bah�'�s."

� "A plan must be devised to confront and destroy their cultural roots outside the country." � "Deny them employment if they identify themselves as Bah�'�s."

� "Deny them any position of influence, such as in the educational sector, etc."

END