Joining a wave of global events, the Brussels Office of the Baha’i International Community hosted a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the execution of 10 Baha’i women in Shiraz, Iran, featuring remarks from prominent human rights figures, officials and civil society leaders.

The United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Nazila Ghanea, opened the event of more than 50 high-level attendees by speaking of “the power, the gravity, the sadness of 10 women being executed the same night, especially when the majority were under 30, [which] is symbolic and poignant of the suffering of many in Iran and beyond,” linking this historical crime with the persecutions experienced by other religious and belief minorities in Iran.

Anastasia Hartman, EU Advocacy Officer at Open Doors International, said in her remarks, “the story of these 10 Bahai women speaks volumes of how deeply important one's belief or religion is in each person's life, and identity. How closely it is connected to a person's dignity and well-being.”

Personal stories shared at the event showed the resilience and integrity of the 10 women. “I can only bow to the courage of those women", said Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers, “who really didn't want to give up their faith. But I also want to bow to the courage of the women now in Iran who are fighting for their right[s] … And they know that they do that at the risk of their freedom, but also of their lives.”

“They chose to keep their religion, they chose to keep their integrity, to the extreme, to the death penalty, to death. And for us today, we must see it as an example,” added Thierry Valle, president of CAP Liberté de Conscience. 

Manel Msalmi, International Affairs Advisor at the European Parliament, noted that the commemoration of these executions 40 years ago is an occasion to gather and support “Baha’i sisters in Iran and freedom of religion and freedom of speech” more broadly. And Rkia Tiar from Religions for Peace said that, on such an occasion, “we must continue to stand up against injustice, intolerance and hatred.”

But participants at the event noted that the situation remains alarming. “Baha’is and other unrecognized religious groups face discrimination, harassment, arrests, imprisonment, denial of education and employment, torture and confiscation, or demolition of property, among other penalties,” according to Laure Dailloux from Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

Euronews Persian also covered the event and qualified the execution of the 10ten women as “one of the most egregious violations of Baha'i rights in Iran”.