[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 99 (Monday, June 16, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5653-S5654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ARREST OF BAHA'I LEADERS

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Madam President, I wish to call attention to the arrest 
of seven Baha'i leaders in Iran earlier this month.
  On May 14, six Iranian Baha'i leaders--Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. 
Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz

[[Page S5654]]

Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, all of Tehran--were arrested and 
reportedly taken to Evin Prison, the same facility where Haleh 
Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson 
Center for Scholars here in Washington, spent 105 days last year.
  In addition, on March 5, another Baha'i leader, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, 
also of Tehran, was summoned to the city of Mashhad by the Ministry of 
Intelligence.
  I am concerned that these arrests signal an escalation of repression 
against the Baha'i community in Iran. These actions do not befit the 
rich heritage of Iranian civilization, and I call upon the leadership 
of the Islamic Republic of Iran to release the seven Baha'i leaders 
promptly and unconditionally.

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