Laurie Ferguson (Reid, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

In the very week that the IAEA has exposed the realities of more highly enriched uranium in Iran—and I stress the IAEA, not the United States administration—we deal with another aspect of the Iranian regime. I join with other speakers in expressing concern about oppression of religious minorities in the country. The main focus, because of their activity in Australia, is the situation for the Baha’is. In my electorate, the Holroyd Group is extremely active in raising these issues and, more broadly, in supporting a number of United Nations conventions. Similarly, the Mandaeans have been closely associated with me regarding a significant number of refugee claims over the years. That situation, as one of the earlier speakers noted, is probably less exposed than it should be because of the closure of alternative media in the country. There was a bit of a widening out under President Khatami, but more recently various measures have been used to restrict any alternative views in the country. It stems back to the realities of the revolution, when they attempted to establish a theocratic state. When you start with that premise and that decision, there is a large probability that you will end up where we are.

The forms of repression in the country are very diverse, not only on the religion front. A 16-year-old girl was executed this year for having sexual intercourse. Whether it was because the judge lied about her age is not really the question at hand. If she was 18 or 19 it would still be serious, but it was particularly driven home because of her age.

The situation regarding the Baha’is is that which is most driven home. This year Dhabihu’llah Mahrami died after 10 years of incarceration in the city of Yazd. He had been forced to undertake hard labour for that period after his death sentence was overcome by international pressure, and very big questions have been asked about his death, allegedly around Israeli spying claims, which I think have very little substance. As well as this, on a broader front, human rights have been assaulted. Baha’is, as other speakers have indicated, are restricted in their work rights and refused entry to university. There has been evidence in the last year or so of increased surveillance of the community, and they are not recognised as a religion in the state. Amnesty International have been highly critical. They know that 66 Baha’is have been arrested since the beginning of 2005, and those numbers continue to rise. But these issues are not only with regard to the Baha’is. The Mandaeans, as we said, are also subject to great harassment. There is loss of property, discrimination and persecution for people converting to these religions. It is also the ethnic minorities.

The Kurdish Democratic Party, which attempted to accomplish change through democratic means rather than through armed insurrection, have had the misfortune of trying to negotiate with the Iranian authorities. On two occasions in Europe—once in Vienna and once in West Germany; not in Iran—when they sought negotiations with the Iranian authorities, they were gunned down. So that is the kind of credibility that this regime has.

I have very close contact with Turkic peoples, and on Saturday night, along with the Attorney-General, I attended the Turkish National Day celebrations. Amongst the minorities represented there were the Turkmen from Iran, who number many millions. Earlier this year, in the city of Shiraz, demonstrations involving an estimated one million people were severely repressed by the government. There was bashing of demonstrators and attempts to put down any proposition to have a local say with regard to language used in schools or in the media. There has been no consultation about getting a local governor who might have some connections with this very significant minority group. So it is a very diverse front of discrimination and victimisation of minorities.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Religion or Belief, Asma Jahangir, said in March that she had received a copy of a letter—and I alluded to this earlier—from the chairman of the command headquarters of the armed forces in Iran asking for increased surveillance of the minority group. Human Rights Watch has talked about the arrest of people for teaching English to underprivileged children. Baha’is who were teaching English and other subjects to people in Shiraz have been arrested and jailed.(Time expired)

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