Entrance Exam 2021: Increase in the number of Baha'i students deprived of education
HRANA News Agency – The identities of three more Baha’i citizens participating in this year’s national entrance exam, who were found to have “file deficiencies” on the Iranian Examinations Organization website, were verified by HRANA in the cities of Birjand and Kerman.
According to HRANA News Agency, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, a number of Baha'i citizens who had participated in the national entrance exam were presented with a message on the Sanjesh Organization's website that said "file is incomplete" and were denied access to education because they were Baha'is.
The identities of three other Baha'i citizens, Fares Hamdi Hesari and Malika Mallaki, residents of Birjand, and Babak Yakani, resident of Kerman, have been confirmed by HRANA.
Including these individuals, the number of Baha'i citizens participating in the 2014 national entrance exam who have been denied access to education due to various reasons, including "incomplete application," has now reached 6.
Previously, the identities of “Hana Mofaqqi and Hiva Badiei, residents of Karaj, and Behzad Barati, resident of Mashhad,” had been confirmed by HRANA.
This year, after entering personal information on the Sanjesh website, Baha'i citizens are redirected to a page that only informs them of "inadequate file information" without mentioning their names or other details.
The option of a deficiency in the case file is a common tactic that has been used mainly since 2006 in these cases to deprive Baha'i citizens from continuing their education.
Despite the explicit text of the law, according to a secret resolution of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution of Iran, Baha'is are not only denied employment in government positions, but are also denied university education.
Every year, there are numerous reports of Baha'i citizens being denied access to Iranian universities, even those who are about to graduate.
The UN human rights rapporteurs on Iran have repeatedly protested anti-Baha'i sentiments throughout the Iranian government, particularly the denial of Baha'i students the right to education, and have considered it a clear example of the Iranian government's disregard for human rights treaties.
Baha'i citizens in Iran are deprived of freedoms related to religious beliefs. This systematic deprivation occurs despite the fact that, according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of religion and to change their religion with conviction, as well as the freedom to manifest it, either individually or in community with others and in public or in private.
It is worth noting that, according to unofficial sources, there are more than three hundred thousand Baha'is in Iran, but the Iranian constitution only recognizes the religions of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism and does not recognize the Baha'i religion. For this reason, the rights of Baha'is in Iran have been systematically violated over the past years.
Source: HRANA
