71. Additional Information Related to the Death of Dhabíḥu’lláh Maḥramí

71

**Additional Information Related to the Death of **Dhabíḥu’lláh Maḥramí

20 December 2005

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

71.1 Further to our letter dated 20 December 2005, the Universal House of Justice has asked us to convey to you the additional information related to the death, at age 59, of Dhabíḥu’lláh Maḥramí in his prison cell in Yazd on Thursday, 15 December 2005.

71.2 Mr. Maḥramí was arrested in Yazd in late 1995. During the ten years of his wrongful incarceration for his beliefs, Mr. Maḥramí received death threats on a number of occasions and was forced to perform arduous physical labour. He had no known health concerns, and the cause of his death is not known. The House of Justice has communicated a request to selected National Spiritual Assemblies to take steps, through their offices of external affairs, to bring this distressing news to the immediate attention of their contacts in government and national media. The Office of Public Information of the Bahá’í International Community is also posting a news-related report on the Bahá’í World News Service Web site.

71.3 Mr. Maḥramí’s funeral was held on Friday, 16 December. He is survived by his aged mother; his wife, Mrs. Náhíd Baygí; his four children; and his grandchildren. It is particularly poignant that on the very day that Mr. Maḥramí’s body was being laid to rest, a resolution on the human rights situation in Iran was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. The House of Justice is warmly grateful for the diligent, tireless efforts of the staff of the Bahá’í International Community’s United Nations Office in New York and Geneva, as well as the devoted services of the National Spiritual Assemblies and their representatives who are engaged, at the request of the House of Justice, in undertakings in defence of the Bahá’ís in the Cradle of the Faith. The excellence of their work is reflected in the Resolution’s substantive references to the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran.

71.4 In addition to expressing the General Assembly’s serious concern at “the continuing discrimination, and other human rights violations against persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities”, including the Bahá’ís, the Resolution notes explicitly “the escalation and increased frequency of discrimination and other human rights violations against the Bahá’í[s], including cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, the denial of freedom of religion or of publicly carrying out communal affairs, the disregard of property rights, the destruction of sites of religious importance, the suspension of social, educational and community-related activities and the denial of access to higher education, employment, pensions, adequate housing and other benefits”. The Resolution calls upon the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran not only to eliminate “all forms of discrimination based on religious, ethnic or linguistic grounds, and other human rights violations against persons belonging to minorities, including Arabs, Kurds, Baluchi, Christians, Jews, Sunni Muslims and the Bahá’í[s]” but also to “implement the 1996 report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on religious intolerance, which recommended ways the Islamic Republic of Iran could emancipate the Bahá’í community.” Although you are not being requested to take action with your government at this time, a copy of the Resolution is enclosed for your assistance in the event that your comments are sought either on it or on Mr. Maḥramí’s death.

71.5 During these fate-laden days, in the face of the continuing machinations of those opposed to the Cause in the land of its birth, the action taken on behalf of the staunch, dearly loved believers in Iran surely alleviates their suffering and gives reassurance to their hearts. May the further knowledge that they are ever in the prayers of the friends throughout the world bring them constant consolation; may great victories won in their name bring them boundless joy.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat