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Persecution of the Baha'i Community

Iranian Baha'i students shut out of vocational education

Iranian Baha'is seeking to enter Iran's technical and vocational institutes have been effectively barred from admission for the coming academic year, since the application to sit for the entrance examinations leaves them with no option but to deny their faith, which Baha'is refuse to be coerced into doing.

The Baha'i International Community learned recently that the 2007 form for the entrance examination for undergraduate courses under the technical and vocational education system indicates that only one box may be marked for religion.

Attacks on Iranian Baha'is, from the elderly to young schoolchildren, continue unabated

Reports and documents filtering out of Iran over the last six months indicate a widespread and calculated effort by the government to maintain and gradually intensify the persecution of Iranian Baha'is.

The evidence tells of continued efforts by the government to identify and monitor Baha'is; further incidents of abuse and discrimination directed at Baha'i students and children; stepped-up efforts to deprive Baha'is of their livelihood; and ongoing attacks on the Baha'i Faith in the official news media.

Confidential Iran memo exposes policy to deny Baha'i students university education

The Baha'i International Community has received a copy of a confidential 2006 letter from Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology instructing Iranian universities to expel any student who is discovered to be a Baha'i.

The letter refutes recent statements by Iranian officials, who say Baha'i students in Iran face no discrimination - despite the fact that more than half of the Baha'i university students enrolled last autumn were gradually expelled over the course of the 2006-2007 academic year.

Baha'i schoolchildren in Iran increasingly harassed and abused by school authorities

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.

During a 30-day period from mid-January to mid-February, some 150 incidents of insults, mistreatment, and even physical violence by school authorities against Baha'i students were reported as occurring in at least 10 Iranian cities.

Official character of Baha'i expulsions in Iranian university revealed

The Baha'i International Community has obtained a document that appears to confirm double-dealing by Iran in its policy towards Baha'i students seeking higher education.

The document, a 2 November 2006 letter from the headquarters of Payame Noor University to its regional branches, states that it is government policy that Baha'i students "cannot enroll" in Iranian universities and that if they are already enrolled, "they should be expelled."

"This document provides proof of Iran's duplicitous behavior regarding Iranian Baha'i students," said Bani Dugal, the Baha'i International Community's principal representative to the United Nations.

Iranian Baha'is face continuing discrimination in higher education

A growing number of Baha'is admitted to Iranian universities this year have been expelled, powerful evidence that Baha'i students in Iran still face severe discrimination and limited access to higher education.

After more than 25 years during which Iranian Baha'is were outright banned from attending public and private universities in Iran, some 178 Baha'i students were admitted last fall to various schools around the country after the government changed its policies and removed religious identification from entrance examination papers.

Iranian Baha'is facing another "cycle of repression," says report

The Iranian government appears to be laying the foundation for a new cycle of persecution against Iranian Baha'is, said a human rights organization specializing on Iran.

The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) said in a report released last week that recent events in Iran, especially when viewed through the long history of religious persecution against Iranian Baha'is, is cause for alarm.

UN General Assembly approves resolution expressing concern on human rights in Iran

The United Nations General Assembly yesterday adopted a resolution expressing "serious concern" over the human rights situation in Iran, including the escalation of violations against Iranian Baha'is.

The resolution, which had been initially approved on 21 November by a committee of the Assembly, passed on 19 December 2006 by a vote of 72 to 50, with 55 abstentions.

UN expresses "serious concern" over human rights in Iran, including the situation of Baha'is

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.

The resolution passed the Assembly's Third Committee by a vote of 70 to 48 on 21 November 2006. It will now go to the General Assembly plenary for vote, in December. The Third Committee considers human rights issues for the Assembly.

Romeo Dallaire, expert on genocide, expresses concern for Baha'i community in Iran

Romeo Dallaire, a Canadian senator and retired general who commanded the UN peacekeeping mission to Rwanda at the height of the genocide there, has issued a statement saying that the international community should be prepared to act to protect Iranian Baha'is from possible atrocities.

"In Iran, as in other areas like Darfur where evil is at work, the international community must be ready to act before civilians are harmed," said General Dallaire, in a statement issued on 26 September 2006.

"Although punishing evil-doers after the fact is critical, it is a sadly insufficient international response to ethnic cleansing or other crimes against humanity," he said.

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