This year the UN is launching a year-long campaign to bring attention to the 50th anniversary of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which were adopted in December 1966.
On December 10th, the Irish Bahá’í Community is joining the initiative in order to bring attention to the plight of the many children whose parents have been imprisoned for their beliefs or religion in Iran.
Behind the stories of these arrests is the human suffering of the families involved.
Consider for example the story of a 6 year old boy named Bashir from the city of Karaj. His mother and father received 4 and 5 year jail sentences for teaching Baha’i youth in Iran who are deprived of access to higher education. Bashir’s mother, Azita, went to prison in October, now his father, Payman, is waiting for the moment when the authorities decide to summon him to prison, simultaneously ending family life for his small son.
“…the child has the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.” (Article 7, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child)
Once Azita went to prison her son Bashir joined the tragic ranks of the voiceless children, offspring of the more than 800 prisoners of conscience in Iran who have been similarly unjustly deprived of one or both parents. These human rights defenders, journalists, Baha’is, Christians, Sufis and the like, are in prison simply because of their religion or belief.
In common with many of their fellow prisoners of conscience, Bashir’s parents are motivated by a desire to make Iran a safe and happy place for all its citizens – including their own children. As world renowned human rights defender, Nasrin Sotoudeh, put it in a letter from prison to her own young daughter,
“My dearest daughter, you were my main motivation for pursuing children’s rights. I thought then and still believe that all my efforts in the area of children’s rights will benefit no one more than my own children.”
Both common decency and international law condemn depriving any child of the care of her or his parents for so-called crimes such as teaching college courses.
https://www.bic.org/news/imprisonment-both-parents-child-their-promotion-higher-