andatory
Power had recognized that the Baha'is had suffered an injustice and, ever
since the award made by the High Court, the High Commissioner had been
considering what means could be found to remove, either by an executive
act or otherwise, the unjust effects of that decision." Moreover, it has
been acknowledged by the accredited representative that the Baha'is had
been in bonafide occupancy of the property, that they had expended on it
sums that exceeded the value of the site itself, and were thus, in
accordance with the provision in the still operative Turkish Law, entitled
to purchase the site. Allusion has also been made in the course of the
deliberations of the members of the Commission to the fact that the action
of the _Sh_i'ah community with respect to Baha'u'llah's sacred house
constituted a breach of the Constitution and the Organic Law of 'Iraq
which, according to the testimony of the British accredited
representative, expressly provided for the unfettered freedom of
conscience. A question from one of the members had even elicited from the
representative of the British Government the reply assuring the Commission
that the Mandatory Power actually possessed means of exercising pressure
on the authorities in order, if necessary, to insure that so fundamental
an article in the Constitution would be respected. Furthermore, the
opinion has been strongly expressed that the matter had assumed an
"importance which exceeded that of the individual case of the Baha'is,"
inasmuch as "the judgment of the High Court was suspected of having been
inspired by political prejudice," with the consequent impression on the
Commission that "from a moral point of view, conditions in 'Iraq were not
improving; that religious passions still ran high and that peace had not
yet been brought about between the various religious communities." It has
even been proposed to supplement the report submitted to the Council with
the observation that, in the opinion of the Commission, "a country in
which the Sovereign and the highest law courts are capable of so flagrant
a denial of justice would probably not be considered to be eligible to
become a Member of the League of Nations." The minutes of the Commission's
meeting further indicate that the contents of the letter addressed by the
Prime Minister of 'Iraq to the British representative in Ba_gh_dad and
which accompanied the text of the petition of the Baha'is do not in the
opinion of the Commi