Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

GENEVA (AFP) — Human rights groups on Sunday challenged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to eliminate severe discrimination in Iran, ahead of his arrival at a UN conference against racism and intolerance in Geneva. A number of references were made to the persecution of the Baha’i community in Iran.

The United States told the United Nations on March 12, 2009, that “some Muslim countries were using the concept of religious defamation to justify curbs on freedom of speech and civil dissent.” During Thursday’s debate, Canada and the Czech Republic, speaking on behalf of the European Union, stressed the need to protect religious minorities, including [...]

NEW YORK, February 15, 2009 ( BWNS) -  International reaction to news that Iran may soon put on trial seven Baha’i leaders for espionage and other charges came swiftly last week as governments, parliamentary leaders and human rights organizations expressed strong criticism of any such trial. Many called for the immediate release of the Baha’is.

GENEVA, 30 January (BWNS) – The destruction earlier this month of a cemetery in Iran used for the mass burial of hundreds killed in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution in 1979 is an outrageous violation of human dignity, the Baha’i International Community said today. At least 15 Baha’is were among those buried at the [...]

The Baha’i World News Service has put out a statement about the arrest of six Baha’is in Iran: GENEVA, 15 January (BWNS) – At least six Baha’is were arrested in Iran yesterday, including a woman who worked at human rights organizations connected with Nobel prize winner Shirin Ebadi.

GENEVA,  December 23, 2008 (BWNS)- The Baha’i International Community today expressed grave concern over the closing by the Iranian government of Shirin Ebadi’s Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran and called for its reopening.

UNITED NATIONS, 18 December 2008 (BWNS) – The United Nations General Assembly today adopted a resolution expressing “deep concern at serious human rights violations” in Iran.

Washington, 23 November (Iran VNC)—Iran on Friday failed to prevent a vote in the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee on a Canada-sponsored resolution denouncing the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Western nations claimed a success on Friday when a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning human rights violations in Iran passed through a key committee more easily than in the past.

United Nations, November 21, 2008 (BWNS) – The Baha’i International Community praised the United Nations General Assembly today  for rejecting the  “no-action motion” on human rights in Iran.

NEW YORK, October 3, 2008 (BWNS) — As the new academic year got under way, young Baha’is in Iran again found the door to higher education closed.

NEW YORK, August 27 2008 (BWNS) — Three Baha’is currently imprisoned in Yemen are facing the possibility of imminent deportation to Iran, where Baha’is are intensely persecuted and they would likely face imprisonment or torture.

NEW YORK, August 12 2008 (BWNS) — Fraudulent claims in the Iranian news media about seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders and the efforts of Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and others to defend them represent an effort by the government to prevent Baha’is from having adequate legal representation – and also to stir up “irrational [...]

NEW YORK, August 3 2008 (BWNS) — The Baha’i International Community categorically rejects statements by an Iranian prosecutor that seven Baha’is detained in Tehran have “confessed” to operating an “illegal” organization with ties to Israel and other countries.

NEW YORK,  July 28 2008 (BWNS) — Acts of arson targeting homes and vehicles are the latest violent tactics directed against the Baha’is of Iran.

Six Nobel Peace Prize laureates have issued a statement calling on the Iranian government to immediately free seven prominent Iranian Baha’is imprisoned in Tehran.

NEW YORK April 5, 2007 Baha’i students in primary and secondary schools throughout Iran are increasingly being harassed, vilified, and held up to abuse, according to recent reports from inside the country.

UNITED NATIONS November 22, 2006 (BWNS) A committee of the United Nations General Assembly yesterday passed a resolution expressing “serious concern” over the human rights situation in Iran, including the escalation of violations against Iranian Baha’is.