Recent Stories
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Seven Baha'i educators currently serving prison terms are (top row, left to right): Mahmoud Badavam, Ramin Zibaie, Riaz Sobhani, Farhad Sedghi; (bottom row, left to right) Noushin Khadem, Kamran Mortezaie, and Kamran Rahimian. Subject: Persecution of the Baha'i Community
Geneva—31 May 2012—The Baha'i International Community has joined with 16 other non-governmental organizations to call upon the government of Iran to urgently address the state of higher education in the country. A joint statement addressed to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is the latest in a growing number of protests around the world at Iran's abuses of the right to education.
"The right to education for all persons without discrimination is explicitly guaranteed under international instruments, which Iran has accepted or to which it is party," they write. "It is also guaranteed under Iran's... Read more . . . |
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Subject: Social and Sustainable Development
New York—17 May 2012—As part of its contribution to this year’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Baha'i International Community created a photo essay highlighting the diversity and contributions of indigenous peoples to the betterment of our world. This initiative sought to give voice to the attendees of the Forum and, through their words, to promote understanding and a spirit of solidarity among all nations and peoples. The photo essay features individuals representing the Pinuyumayan (Taiwan, Province of China), the Maasai (... Read more . . . |
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On 18 September 2011, tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil – an example of the activities taken by ordinary people around the world in defense of the Baha'is of Iran and the principle of religious freedom. Subject: Persecution of the Baha'i Community
Geneva—14 May 2012—Iran's former Baha'i leaders begin their fifth year in prison today amid an intensification of the persecution of their co-religionists. The seven prisoners each face the bleak prospect of 16 more years in jail for crimes they did not commit. Next week also marks the first anniversary of raids on homes of Baha'is associated with an informal initiative offering higher education to community members barred from university. Nine educators later received harsh prison sentences.
In its message, the Universal House of Justice noted how the intensifying cruelty towards the Iranian Baha'i community is now... Read more . . . |
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Ms. Alicia Zareey delivers the Bahá'í International Community’s oral statement to the Commission. Subject: Social and Sustainable Development
New York—3 May 2012—The 45th Session of the UN Commission on Population and Development (23-27 April) focused on the priority theme of “Adolescents and Youth.” Baha'i delegates to the Commission shared the perspectives and experiences of the Baha'i community in promotion approaches to education that help young people to become protagonists of their development and agents of positive change in their communities. The Baha'i International Community’s statement to the Commission addressed the concepts of education in service of... Read more . . . |
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Youth and Adolescents: Educating the Protagonists of Social Change Subject: Social and Sustainable Development
New York—27 April 2012—Preparing the world's young people for the future will require new directions in education that emphasize their role as global citizens.
That was among the ideas presented here at a panel discussion, sponsored by the Baha'i International Community, as a side event to the United Nations Commission on Population and Development, 23-27 April.
Titled "Youth and Adolescents: Educating the Protagonists of Social Change," the panel sought to address the main theme of this year's Commission.
Young people should be taught "the concept of fundamental human rights, and the concepts of tolerance, peace... Read more . . . |
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Sydney's famous opera house in Australia provides the backdrop for a mobile billboard depicting Iran's seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders, on Sunday 1 April. Subject: Persecution of the Baha'i Community
New York—3 April 2012—The plight of Iran's seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders has been capturing the public's attention in 12 of the world's major cities, where a day of action marked the combined total of 10,000 days that the seven have so far spent in prison.
In an initiative coordinated by human rights organization United4Iran, the image of the seven was widely displayed on Sunday 1 April – on mobile billboards, buses, bicycles, a canal boat, and T-shirts.
The billboard image of the Baha'i leaders was a mosaic of smaller photographs of hundreds of people currently jailed in Iran... Read more . . . |
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The seven Baha'i prisoners – photographed several months before their arrest. Subject: Persecution of the Baha'i Community
New York—29 March 2012—Sunday 1 April marks 10,000 days that Iran's seven former Baha'i leaders have spent in prison between them – a period throughout which they have been deprived of the rights accorded to prisoners under Iran's own laws and regulations.
Prior to their arrests in 2008, the seven were members of an ad hoc national-level group which attended to the spiritual and social needs of Iran's Baha'i community. They are Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm. Ms. Sabet was detained on 5 March 2008. Her six colleagues were... Read more . . . |
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International Symposium on Religion, Spirituality, and Education for Human Flourishing Subject: Social and Sustainable Development
Marrakech, Morocco—27 March 2012—What is spirituality? How can religious education encourage it? And what role do both religion and spirituality play in fostering human well-being?
Those were among the questions considered by educators, academics and theologians from the world's religions – including the Baha'i Faith – at the "International Symposium on Religion, Spirituality, and Education for Human Flourishing," held here 24-26 February.
The event – co-convened by the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace (GHFP) and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations – encouraged discussion about how young people can be... Read more . . . |
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Subject: Persecution of the Baha'i Community
Geneva—14 March 2012—The Baha’i International Community made a statement on the situation of the Baha'is in Iran at the 19th session of the Human Right Council. The statement cited the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Iran, stating that “The report [of the Rapporteur]…makes it clear that Bahá'ís have no rights in that country. The government subjects them to arbitrary detention, violence, and prolonged solitary confinement…courageous Muslim lawyers are... Read more . . . |
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Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran Subject: Persecution of the Baha'i Community
Geneva—14 March 2012—The United Nations investigator into human rights in Iran has sharply criticized the country's system of justice and human rights record.
UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed told a meeting of the Human Rights Council here that he had received testimony from more than 141 witnesses which highlighted "multifarious and systematic deficits in the Government's capacity to ensure respect for human rights."
And in his formal written report to the Council, Dr. Shaheed focused to an... Read more . . . |
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