[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 21, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1009-E1010]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   BAHA'I LEADERS ARRESTED IN TEHRAN

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                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2008

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I continue to be extremely concerned about 
the treatment of Baha'is in Iran. Recent reports indicate that on May 
14, Iranian intelligence agents forcibly raided the homes and 
subsequently arrested six of seven prominent members of the Baha'i 
leadership in Tehran. The seventh member of the leadership group was 
arrested 2 months ago in Mashhad. They have reportedly been taken to 
the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. Many former prisoners have given 
horrifying accounts of the abuse, torture, and rape that takes place 
inside the prison walls.
  The Baha'is are Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority and have 
faced continuous persecution since the government banned all formal 
Baha'i activity in 1983. Under President

[[Page E1010]]

Ahmadinejad, harassment, attacks and arrests of Baha'is have become 
increasingly common.
  In the early 1980s, 17 Baha'i leaders were arrested and either 
executed, abducted and disappeared in a systematic campaign to 
eliminate Baha'i influence in Iran. I pray that this is not the fate of 
the six arrested this past week.
  Iran continues to break its promises to the international community. 
I call on the international community to follow the lead of the U.S. 
State Department and strongly condemn the unwarranted arrests and 
detention of the Baha'i leadership.

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