GENEVA—15 July 2025—The Baha'i International Community (BIC) welcomes a new report by the Associated Press (AP) highlighting ongoing and systematic repression of Baha'is in Qatar, as well as Egypt and Yemen, and the baseless trial of prominent Qatari Baha’i Remy Rowhani. The AP’s findings highlight grave examples of discrimination against Baha’is in Qatar and Egypt and the urgent need for international attention.

Initial tracking of the AP news report – which exposes decades-long discrimination against the human rights of long-established Baha’i communities in these countries – shows a potential online reach of more than 700 million people.

The report details how Baha'i communities in Qatar and Egypt, each of which have been rooted in their respective societies for generations, face discrimination, forced deportations and denial of civil rights in Qatar, denial of marriage licenses or burial grounds in Egypt, and a range of other abuses.

“Concerns over the human rights of Baha’is across Egypt, Qatar and Yemen have come to greater and greater prominence in recent years,” said Dr. Saba Haddad, BIC Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. “We are glad that the Associated Press has joined a growing rank of news organizations and human rights groups that are raising these issues in the Arab Region and to the international community. Now is the time to keep the human rights of the Baha’is in Egypt, Qatar, and Yemen, at centre stage.”

The Associated Press report also centres on the case of Remy Rowhani, a prominent Qatari Baha’i, who was detained earlier this year and who now faces a baseless show trial on false charges because of his beliefs.

Mr. Rowhani was detained on 28 April 2025 on unfounded charges relating to the Qatari Baha’i community’s X social media account—which was created five years ago, publishing messages celebrating Qatari public holidays and quotes from Baha’i writings—and his detention has been extended several times. His trial will resume in August and he faces a jail term of up to three years and/or a fine of almost US $30,000.

Noora Rowhani, Mr. Rowhani’s daughter, who lives in Australia, told the AP that she asks herself every day why the Qatari government had targeted her father.

“A country that brands itself as a leader on the world stage, hosting global conferences and sporting events, cannot justify the quiet targeting of its citizens … just because they belong to a different faith,” Ms. Rowhani said.

In May, the international advocacy group Human Rights Watch detailed the Qatari government’s longstanding and ongoing campaign of discriminatory treatment against the Baha’i community, adding that this had created an “environment of fear” among Baha’is in the country. Two senior international human rights lawyers at Doughty Street Chambers in London, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws LT KC and Steven Powles KC, issued a June statement saying that the charges against Remy Rowhani “highlight the lengths to which the authorities in Qatar are prepared to go to erase the Baha’is from their country,” adding that “such action is contrary to all of Qatar’s international legal obligations.”

The AP report comes also as the Egyptian government, at a recent session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, rejected concerns and recommendations regarding violations of freedom of religion or belief. Six UN special rapporteurs had earlier also issued a joint and unprecedented allegation letter to the Egyptian government in April 2025 to express serious concern over a persistent pattern of discrimination against the Bahaʼi community in Egypt. 

Key Findings from the Associated Press report:

• In Qatar, leading Baha'i community figure Remy Rowhani has been detained since April and is currently on trial, accused of “promoting the ideology of a deviant sect.” His case underscores the risks faced by Baha'is in the region.
• In Egypt, Baha'is are denied basic civil documents and face restrictions on marriage, education, and burial rights.
• In Yemen, over 100 Baha'is have been imprisoned under false accusations by the Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran.

Dr. Hadded also affirmed that the Egyptian and Qatari Baha’i communities, despite discrimination and denials, will continue to press for their rights even as they remain active in their societies. “We don’t have any political stance, we don’t interfere with politics, we don’t have a Baha’i country. It’s truly about tolerance and acceptance,” Dr. Haddad told the AP. The Baha’is were the “measure of tolerance—for any government, any country,” she added.

For more information

• Bani Dugal, Principal Representative, New York, [email protected],  +19143293020 (English)
• Dr. Saba Haddad, Representative, Geneva, [email protected], +41783082219 (English & Arabic)