Persecution of the Baha'i Community

Overview

Iranian Baha'i Leadership, imprisoned since 14 May 2008

Iranian Baha'i Leadership (click here for profiles), imprisoned since 14 May 2008

The Baha'i Question: Cultural Cleansing in Iran
(English / Spanish)

The Baha'i International Community works to protect the rights of persecuted Baha'i communities. In Iran, where the Faith continues to be viewed as heretical to Islam, Baha'is comprise the largest religious minority. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Baha'is have been systematically denied access to higher education, employment; and have been subjected to summary arrests and detentions. They have never been able to openly practice their religion. Our Office continues to work to defend the rights of Baha'is wherever their freedom to participate and to contribute fully to the life of society is denied.

New Report:Violence with Impunity: Acts of agression against Iran's Baha'i Community
Iran: UPR implementation (January 2013)
Situation of the Baha'is in Iran: Background document (January 2013)
List of Baha'i prisoners in Iran (January 2013)

In Focus

Increasing violence against Iranian Baha'is engineered by government

GENEVA — 15 March 2013 — 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 22^nd 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. more...

Resources

New Report: Violence with Impunity

Baha'i International Community Documents

Recent Activities

Iranian Baha’is face “widespread and entrenched” discrimination says UN Committee: 23 May 2013 (Geneva):
Yesterday the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued a series of pointed recommendations to the Iranian government – recommendations that included a plea for Iran to ensure that all citizens, regardless of religious belief, enjoy full rights without any discrimination.

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Four top UN human rights experts call for immediate release of seven imprisoned Iranian Baha'i leaders: 13 May 2013 (Geneva):
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
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“Five Years Too Many” campaign aims to free seven imprisoned Iran Baha’i leaders: 7 May 2013 (New York):
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,
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Five Years Too Many: 25 April 2013 (New York):
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
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UN vote highlights human rights violations in Iran: 22 March 2013 (Geneva):
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
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