Sufis under attack in Iran

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

I just got this email from a Sufi brother, and wanted to share. I am going to try and find a link at Amnesty International and get more information.

Dear friends,
Greetings! I want to pass on to you a distressing message I received
today from the London Sufi Order. The Nematollahi Sufi Order in Qom has
been violently attacked by the Iranian government. The forwarded
message
gives a full account. I will paste to this email a statement from
Amnesty International. We could follow the example of our British
mureeds and write to our members of congress.
Prayers for our brother and sister Sufis under seige would also be a
way
to help, especially those who are being held and tortured into signing
confessions.

*AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL*

*Public Statement*

AI Index: MDE 13/016/2006 (Public)
News Service No: 042
17 February 2006


Iran: urgent investigation required into security forces violence
against Sufi Muslims in Qom


Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to order an
immediate, independent investigation into the violent suppression of an
apparently peaceful demonstration by Nematollahi Sufi Muslims in Qom on
13 February, 2005. Hundreds of demonstrators, including women and
children, were injured when police, and the Hojatieh and Fatemiyon
groups (organized pro-government groups), broke up the protest,
apparently using excessive force, and as many as 1200 are believed to
have been arrested. Most have now been released, but some 200 of those
detained are still being held. Amnesty International is calling for
them
to be released immediately and unconditionally unless they are to face
recognizably criminal charges and to receive fair and prompt trials in
accordance with their rights under international law.

The Nematollahi Sufi, who are also known as dervishes or mystics, are
Shi¹a Muslims, who emphasise the spirituality of their faith. They had
gathered to protest against an order, issued a few days earlier, to
evacuate their place of worship­ known as a Hosseiniye - in the city of
Qom, by February 11. The Hosseiniye is located next to the home of the
Sufi group¹s principal preacher in Qom and was built three years ago,
apparently legally and with the permission of the municipal
authorities.

The Sufi are reported to have begun their protest on 9 February, with
some members inside the place of worship, and others stationed outside,
and they held a mourning and prayer ceremony on 10 February, the day of
the Shi¹a Muslim festival of Ashoura. This was peaceful but the number
of protestors swelled as hundreds of Nematollahi Sufis travelled from
other parts of the country to attend. The demonstrators included many
woman and children offering white flowers and cake to local residents.

Security forces, including anti-riot police, took up positions around
the centre, and at around 3:00 pm on 13 February set a deadline for the
Sufi to evacuate it. Members of the Fatemiyon and Hojatieh groups, also
reportedly surrounded the centre, shouting slogans such as ³death to
Sufis² and ³Sufi-ism is a British plot², and distributed leaflets
alleging that Sufis are enemies of Islam. In response, some of the Sufi
held up photographs of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of
Iran¹s Islamic Republic, and photographs of relatives who were killed
fighting for their country in the Iran-Iraq war, to show that they were
not opposing the government and to emphasise that they are an integral
part of Iranian society.

The security forces then moved in at around 4:00 pm, supported by the
Hojatieh and Fatemiyon groups, attacked the protestors outside the
centre and stormed the building, using tear gas and explosives. They
beat many protestors, some so badly that they required hospital
treatment and, according to some reports, set light to the centre -
eyewitnesses later described the Qom sky as polluted with tear gas,
smoke and fire. Some 1200 protestors are reported to have been detained
and taken away on buses to unknown locations.

With the Sufi place of worship cleared of protestors, the security
forces moved in bulldozers and trucks in the early hours of 14 February
and demolished the building and neighbouring houses, including the home
of the main Sufi preacher.

Most of those arrested are reported to have been released, though they
are said to have been required to sign papers agreeing that that they
will not attend any Sufi gatherings in Qom as a condition of their
release. Some are reported to have been bussed to a sports stadium for
interrogation, including some with serious injuries, and tortured or
ill-treated. Families of these who remain detained ­ said to number
about 200 ­reportedly have been unable to obtain information about
their
whereabouts, legal status, health or conditions.

On 15 February, Qom Governor Abbas Mohtaj confirmed to Jomhouri-ye
Eslami newspaper that 1,000 people had been arrested and 200 injured
but
he accused the Sufi of participating in a foreign plot against the
Iranian stat, claiming ³The arrogant powers are exploiting every
opportunity to create insecurity in our country and (the Sufi¹s) links
to foreign countries are evident.² Another Qom official acknowledged
that police had used tear gas but claimed this was necessary to
disperse
the gathering and that some of the protestors were armed with knives
and
stones. The same official said that the Sufi¹s Hosseiniye was
demolished
because it had been turned illegally from a residential building to a
centre of worship.

Amnesty International is urging the Iranian authorities to initiate an
urgent, impartial and independent investigation into the actions taken
by security forces and paramilitaries against the Nematollahi Sufi in
Qom, and to ensure that any officials or members of paramilitary groups
responsible for violating human rights are held to account and brought
to justice promptly and fairly. The organization is also calling on the
Iranian authorities to ensure that police are fully trained in and at
all times comply with international standards governing policing
activities, including the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement
Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by
Law Enforcement Officials, which requires that ³Law enforcement
officials, in carrying out their duty, shall, as far as possible, apply
non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms.
They may use force and firearms only if other means remain ineffective
or without any promise of achieving the intended result.² Law
enforcement officials should receive adequate training on fundamental
human rights, in particular those protecting the rights to life and to
physical and mental integrity of all individuals, among other rights.

The protest and its repression by the authorities came amid concern
about what appears to be increasing ³demonization² of the Sufi Muslim
group. In September, a religious jurist in Qom, Ayatollah Hossein
Nouri-Hamedani, called for a crackdown on Sufi groups in Qom, labelling
them a ³danger to Islam². Recent weeks had seen hostile articles
published in the Jomhouri-ye Eslami newspaper and the Kayhan newspaper,
warning of their popularity, and people¹s tendency to follow them.

[Lerkfish]

1. do you think Bushco black ops are behind the demonization?

Wouldn't put it past them. What are your thoughts?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Sufis are the most liberal of Muslims

and Sufi orders cross borders. I think what we see here is part of the war within Islam to stifle and even kill the voices of moderation and liberalism. I don't think Bushco has any problem with this; he, like the fundamentalists, want voices of tolerance gone.

[Lerkfish]

4. that's what I was wondering, thanks.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. I agree. ** doesn't like theological liberalism of any flavor

[MADem]

2. I've been to Qom--it is a pretty hardcore town

The mosque there is something else. It is also the birthplace of Ayatullah Khomeini...this doesn't surprise me, unfortunately.

[genie_weenie]

5. I don't see how this could possibly be laid at the feet of BushCo

Iran, especially under the mullahs, has no reason to accept tolerance of other faiths. Zoroastrians the precursor religion that underlines much of Jewish/Christian thought has been subject to terrible oppression and genocide, since the advent of Islam in Iran.