24 Sep 2013, 16:57
Representatives from Bahá’í Faith Ireland will appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for a discussion on issues arising for their counterparts in Iran.
24 September 2013
Chairman of the Committee Pat Breen TD says: “The Bahá’í faith was established in 1863 in Iran and that country is home to one of the largest Bahá’í populations in the world. After the 1979 revolution, persecution in Iran dramatically increased when the entire Bahá’í leadership council was arrested and executed. As of September 2012, 111 Bahá’ís were detained in Iran’s prisons and in August 2013, a well-known member of the Iranian Bahá’í community, Ataollah Rezvani was found shot in Southern Iran.
“New President, Hassan Rouhani, pledged during his campaign to improve civil rights for Iranian minorities. The meeting with members of the Bahá’í Faith in Ireland will afford an opportunity for our Committee to assess how this election promise tallies with the current levels of persecution of members of this faith in Iran. We will also be interested in exploring how Ireland can continue to use its influence through bilateral contacts, and at EU and UN levels, to end the longstanding discrimination against Bahá’í members.”
The meeting commences at 3:30 pm tomorrow Wednesday 25 September in Committee Room 1. Committee proceedings can be followed here.
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee Membership
Deputies: Pat Breen (Chair), Eric Byrne, Seán Crowe, Bernard J. Durkan (Vice-Chair), Olivia Mitchell, Gerald Nash, Dan Neville, Maureen O’Sullivan and Brendan Smith
Senators: Deirdre Clune, Mark Daly, Lorraine Higgins, Michael Mullins, David Norris and Jim Walsh