Eminent speakers call for adherence to human rights

The Honourable Justice Thomas Gray of the Supreme Court of South Australia

Also attending were academic staff and students of the Baha’i Higher Education Institute (BIHE), an organisation founded to educate young Baha’is banned by the Iranian Government from universities because of their religion.

The event, held at the Mercury Theatre, included the screening of the documentary Education Under Fire, which tells the story of BIHE. It was followed by speeches and a panel discussion.

A similar event will be held at the Australian National University, Canberra, on 15 August, and at Murdoch University, Perth, on 23 August.

In Adelaide, the keynote speaker, Justice Thomas Gray of the Supreme Court of South Australia, spoke about the role of education in relation to the prosperity and progress of individuals. Justice Gray also drew attention to Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognises that everyone has the right to education.

Associate Professor Hubertus Jersmann of the University of Adelaide’s Medical School addressed the gathering on the need for advocacy to assist those Baha’is deprived of tertiary education in Iran.

The panel discussion included contributions by:

• Ms Samaneh Hasanli, who described her master's research on access to higher education for students in Iran
• Associate Professor Riaz Emailzadeh of the Carnegie Mellon University Australia, who was expelled from Shiraz University for being a Baha’i
• Mr Zia Ziaei, an online BIHE lecturer, who spoke about solutions found to the challenges of studying online 
• Mrs Afsaneh Varzaly, a Stanford University graduate and aeronautical engineer, who outlined the Baha’i view on the importance of education
• Professor David Chittleborough of the University of Adelaide, who explained how academics can help raise awareness of the denial of education for Baha’is in Iran.

The Adelaide event followed a similar one in Sydney in April which was opened by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Technology Sydney, Professor Shirley Alexander.

BIHE, in which some Australian professors are involved via the Internet, was in the news throughout the world last year when Iranian authorities arrested and jailed its professors and administrators, including close relatives of Australian Baha’is.

The peak tertiary body in Australia, Universities Australia, wrote to UNESCO expressing its concern about the situation. Australian professors and academics sent an open letter to the embassy of Iran, calling for the release of those jailed.

The Australian Federation of Graduate Women wrote to the Iranian Ambassador raising concern that his Government would “punish those whose only offence is to wish to educate their fellow Iranians”. The Law Society of New South Wales expressed its concern to the Iranian Ambassador in October last year.

View more photos from the event.