Free and Equal in Dignity and Rights

This week the Islamic Republic of Iran gave the British Museum a two month deadline to lend them the Cyrus cylinder, an artifact discovered in the ruins of Babylon in 1879, and widely believed to be the first human rights document.

Following his conquest of Babylon, Cyrus the Great, Shāhanshāh of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, had a clay cylinder made which was then placed in the foundations of a major temple. The text on the cylinder declares that slavery was abolished and most interestingly that all citizens were free to practice their religious beliefs freely. Now this cylinder was made in 539 BC!

I mean, wow, that is something that is more than 500 years older than Christ and nearly 2,500 years older than the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is a pretty significant artifact and rightly so is seen as being extremely important, a replica of it is kept at the UN headquarters in New York.

Anyway the British Museum is reluctant to lend the cylinder due to the trouble following the violently disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June. They say that they are monitoring the situation and will lend the cylinder when they feel it will be safe. Many people argue that the British Museum should not have many of its artifacts and should give them back, ok that’s fine I don’t want to get drawn in to that argument. Though in this case, the cylinder would belong to Iraq, seeing as it was found in Babylon, which just so happens to be in Iraq.

So Iran has threatened to break all ties with the British Museium if they don’t get thier loan of it. The British Museium have not said they won’t lend it, just that the time isn’t right now, and considering the breakdown in diplomatic relations between the two countires and not all that surprised, seeing as us Brits were blamed for fermenting violence in the election.

But I have to ask, why are the Iranian government so desperate for an artifact which establishes the right of people to practice religious beliefs freely?

It can’t have escaped your notice, but I am a Bahá’í, and the Bahá’í  faith is heavily persecuted in Iran. When the Islamic revolution took place in 1979, the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran were spirited away and never seen again. In 1981 eight of the nine members of the NSA were arrested and executed, finally in 1983 the Islamic Republic banned all administrative and community activities of the Bahá’í community.

Since then an informal body of seven friends know as the Yaran, have looked after the needs of the Bahá’í community, however in May 2008, the authorities of the Islamic Republic arrested the Yaran, and in February 2009, they were charged with espionage. They have been kept in the notorious Elvin prison for over a year now, their lawyers have had their offices raided, one has even disappeared. Several trial dates have been set and postponed; the latest trial date is the 18th October, this Sunday.

These arrests have caused outrage throughout the world with the governments of many nations, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, USA, Germany, the Netherlands etc. condemning the arrests and calling for a fair trial for the Yaran. Earlier this year, a group of British comedians, including Russell Brand, Omid Djalili, Jimmy Carr and Sean Lock, wrote an open letter in the Times stating their solidarity with the Yaran and calling for a fair trial. American actor Rainn Wilson, also a Bahá’í, wrote a commentary for CNN earlier this year calling for the Islamic Republic to allow Bahá’ís in Iran to practice their religion freely and for the release of the Yaran. Cherie Blair, a Queens Counsel and the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, wrote an open letter in the Times urging the Iranian government to give the Yaran a fair trial and allow independent observers access to ensure this happens.

So what’s my point, well simple my point is that 2,500 years ago the Persian Empire recognised the right of individuals to freely practice their religious beliefs, yet today the successor of that empire, the Islamic Republic of Iran, fails to recognise that same right.

God Bless

Michael