The Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on April 1 that the Iranian authorities’ persecution of the Bahai minority since the Islamic revolution of 1979 constitutes a crime against humanity.
The Bahai, Iran’s largest non-Muslim minority, faced repression including arbitrary arrest, property confiscation, restrictions on school and job opportunities, and even the right to a dignified burial.
HRW argued that this fell within the scope of the International Criminal Court whose statute defines persecution as the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law on national, religious or ethnic grounds.
Human Rights Watch was founded in 1978 as “Helsinki Watch.” It investigates and reports on abuses happening in all corners of the world.
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