2022 University Entrance Exam: Increase in Number of Bahai Students Denied Education
Hrana News Agency – The identities of three additional Bahai citizens who participated in this year’s nationwide university entrance exam and encountered a “file deficiency” error on the Organization for Educational Testing and Evaluation website have been confirmed by Hrana in the cities of Birjand and Kerman.
According to Hrana news agency, the news organ of the Human Rights Activists Association in Iran, a number of Bahai citizens who had participated in the nationwide university entrance exam faced a “file deficiency” message on the Organization for Educational Testing and Evaluation website and were denied continuation of their studies because of their Bahai faith.
The identities of three additional Bahai citizens named “Fares Hamdi Hasari and Malika Malaki, residents of Birjand, and Babak Yekani, resident of Kerman” have been confirmed by Hrana.
With the inclusion of these individuals, the number of Bahai citizens who participated in the 2022 nationwide university entrance exam and have been denied continuation of their studies under various pretexts including “file deficiency” due to their Bahai faith has reached six so far.
Previously, the identities of “Hana Mofeghi and Hiwa Badi’i, residents of Karaj, and Behzad Barati, resident of Mashhad” had been confirmed by Hrana.
This year, after Bahai citizens entered their personal information on the Organization for Educational Testing and Evaluation website, they are directed to a page that, without mentioning their names and details, only informs them of their “file deficiency.”
File deficiency is a common tactic that has been primarily used since 2006 to deny Bahai citizens continuation of their education in such cases.
Despite the explicit text of the law, according to a secret resolution of Iran’s Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, Bahais, in addition to being barred from employment in government institutions, are also denied access to university education.
Every year, numerous reports are published about Bahai citizens being denied continuation of their studies at Iranian universities. This affects even individuals who are on the verge of graduation.
United Nations human rights reporters on Iran’s affairs have repeatedly protested anti-Bahaism throughout the Iranian government’s tenure, particularly the denial of Bahai students’ right to education, describing it as a clear example of the Iranian government’s disregard for human rights treaties.
Bahai citizens in Iran are deprived of freedoms related to religious beliefs. This systematic deprivation occurs despite Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which state that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to change religion or belief, and the freedom to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance, either individually or in community with others, and in public or in private.
It is worth noting that according to unofficial sources in Iran, there are more than three hundred thousand Bahais, but the Iranian Constitution only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism as religions and does not recognize the Bahai faith. For this reason, the rights of Bahais in Iran have been systematically violated over the past years.
Source: Hrana
