In an open letter The International Religious Freedom round table requests signatures on a letter addressed to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to support the religious prisoners of conscience in Iran.
The full text of the letter and the means of signing the letter can be seen below:
Dear IRF Roundtable Participants,
Please see below from Baha’is of the United States and International Organization to Preserve Human Rights regarding a multi-faith letter in support of religious prisoners of conscience in Iran:
“As you are aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a particularly dangerous situation for prisoners. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where Baha’i, Christian, Gonabadi Sufis, and other religious prisoners languish in Iranian jails in crowded conditions.
“We are deeply worried about the safety of these prisoners and ask you to join us by signing the attached letter to Secretary Pompeo to call on the Iranian government to release all religious prisoners of conscience and to reach out to U.S. allies to express their concern making it clear that detaining such innocent individuals during a pandemic demonstrates a particularly reckless disregard for human rights and human life for which Iran’s government should be held accountable.
CALL FOR SIGNATURES
- “View and read the updated multi-faith letter
- Please email Hamid Ghargozloo if your organization would like to sign on or if you will sign as an individual (with title and organization for identification purposes only), or both.
- The deadline for signatures is the close of business on Wednesday, July 1st, 2020.
TO INFORM YOUR DECISION
- “The recent disturbing rise of violent acts against religious minorities in Iran — the internal exiles and transfers of Gonabadi Sufis to COVID-19 infested wards of prisons, the burning of a Christian cemetery, setting fire to Mordechai’s shrine and widespread negative propaganda against Jews, arrests and sentencings of Baha’is in different cities, smear campaigns against Sunni Sufis, to name a few — are not random acts outside of the government’s control.
- Combined with the recent statements by Ali Khamenei announcing the “Final Solution” and the promise of a free Palestine soon, these acts paint a very disturbing picture and hint at Khamenei’s possible plans for the survival of his regime and its succession by his son Mojtaba Khamenei (whose inner circle includes individuals such as brothers Hossein and Mehdi Taeb, Ali Fallahian, and many more who are responsible for the bulk of the executions of political prisoners and the murders of political dissidents over the past 40 years).
- In order to achieve this goal, some believe that Khamenei needs to accomplish two tasks: (1) establish an ironclad rule where the slightest dissent is dealt with swiftly and violently, and (2) a widespread asymmetrical regional war to provide and guarantee the time he and his regime need to obtain an atomic bomb.”