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Persecution of the Baha'i Community

Four top UN human rights experts call for immediate release of seven imprisoned Iranian Baha'i leaders

Four high-level United Nations human rights experts today called on Iran to immediately release the seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders.

In a press release issued on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the arrest of the seven, the four experts emphasized that the seven are held solely because of their religious beliefs, that their continued imprisonment is unjust and wrongful, and that Iran's treatment of religious minorities violates international law.

“Five Years Too Many” campaign aims to free seven imprisoned Iran Baha’i leaders

To mark the five year anniversary of the wrongful imprisonment of the seven Iranian Baha’i leaders, the Baha’i International Community is today launching a campaign to call for their immediate release – and to draw attention to the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran.

“On 14 May, the seven innocent Baha’i leaders will have been behind bars for five full years, unjustly imprisoned solely because of their religious beliefs,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

"We are asking people of good will around the world to raise their voices in an effort to win their freedom and the freedom of other innocent prisoners of conscience in Iran,” she said.

Five Years Too Many

We are launching an international campaign to seek the immediate release of the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders – and all other prisoners of conscience in Iran. We hope people of good conscience around the world will raise their voices in support of this call and urge the Iranian Government to live up to its international human rights obligations.

As visitors will see, we have numerous documents on this Website that explain the unjust and wrongful manner in which the seven were arrested, tried and imprisoned.

UN vote highlights human rights violations in Iran

The United Nations Human Rights Council today voted by an overwhelming margin for a continuing investigation into human rights violations in Iran.

"For years, the Iranian government has made excuses or blamed others in the face of mounting documentation that it severely represses its citizens in gross violation of international law – but the wide margin of today's vote confirms that the world is not buying its justifications," said Diane Ala'i, the Baha'i International Community's representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief discusses new report on violence against Baha'is in Iran

The cradle-to-grave attacks against Baha'is in Iran represent one of the broadest and most obvious cases of state-sponsored religious persecution in the world, said Heiner Bielefeldt, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. Speaking on 6 March 2013 in Geneva at a side event during the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council, Dr. Bielefeldt discussed the release of a new report by the Baha'i International Community, which documents rising violence against Iranian Baha'is and the utter impunity enjoyed by attackers.

Violent attacks against members of the Baha'i community in Iran

The Baha'i International Community made a statement on the situation of the Baha'is in Iran at the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council. "...Yet another gross violation:  impunity systematically covers Iranian officials and plainclothes agents who attack Bahá'ís," the statement said. "We are not aware of a single instance where even one of the perpetrators was prosecuted – much less convicted or imprisoned.  Bahá’ís cannot hope to obtain protection and justice from the authorities who incite hatred against them and a judicial system that treats them as enemies of the State." To read the statement click here.

Violations against minority religious communities in Iran

The Baha'i International Community made a statement on the situation of the Baha'is in Iran at the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council. The statement said that "the number of Baha'is in prison [in Iran] has doubled in the past two years, remaining over 100 throughout 2012." It also pointed out that the the violations of human rights in Iran extends to more than just the Baha'is.  It thus asked the Council to "call upon Iran to fulfill its obligations under international law."

Increasing violence against Iranian Baha'is engineered by government

In a report released today, the Baha'i International Community documents hundreds of incidents of torture, physical assault, arson, vandalism, cemetery desecration and the abuse of schoolchildren directed against the Iranian Baha'i community since 2005 - all carried out with utter impunity.

New report on human rights violations in Iran to be launched on 6 March

A new special report from the Baha'i International Community, “Violence with Impunity: Acts of aggression against Iran’s Baha'i community,” will be released on 6 March 2013, at a side event to the 22nd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The report documents rising incidents of violence against Iranian Baha'is and the degree to which perpetrators, whether government officials or unidentified attackers, have so far enjoyed complete impunity from prosecution.

UN decries Iran's "serious ongoing and recurring" human rights violations

The UN General Assembly today expressed “deep concern” over Iran’s “serious ongoing and recurring” human rights violations, decrying abuses that include torture, an increase in executions, widespread restrictions on freedom of expression, and discrimination against minorities, including members of the Baha'i Faith.

By a vote of 86 to 32 with 65 abstentions, the General Assembly called upon Iran to stop such violations, to release prisoners of conscience, and to open its doors to international human rights monitors.

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