The U.S. Baha’i Office of Public Affairs (OPA) works to protect the rights of Baha’i communities facing persecution, most notably in Iran. Baha’is are allowed to practice their faith freely in most parts of the…
Monthly Archives For May 2014
They Gave up Their Lives Rather than Give up Their Faith
Randolph Dobbs LA Consciousness Examiner June 28, 2013 It’s been 30 years and still the image of their faces, not to mention the news of their execution, captures the imagination of all those who struggle for…
Senior Law Officers in Bangladesh Praise Courageous Symbolic Action for Coexistence
[Bahai World News Service] DHAKA, Bangladesh — Four leading jurists in Bangladesh have commended the action of a prominent Iranian religious leader who has called for coexistence of all religions, including Baha’is. Advocate Md. Abdus Salam Mondal, Deputy…
Iran: Mounting Pressure on Baha’is
[human rights watch] Iran: Mounting Pressure on Baha’is Facing Prison, Cemetery Destruction MAY 20, 2014 (Beirut) – Iranian authorities should ensure that prison sentences against 20 Baha’is unlawfully convicted of national security crimes are overturned.…
The Shame That I Carry With Me
By Masoud Lavasani (1), journalist, living in Turkey I was six or seven years old, walking with my father and mother along the winding alley of the “Imamzadeh Yahya” neighborhood…
Iran’s Bahá’í Leaders Mark Six Years in Jail, Imprisoned for Their Religion
by Ramin Ahmadi theguardian.com, Monday 19 May 2014 07.13 EDT The fate of the Baha’i minority is not theirs alone, they represent all Iranians who do not conform in one way or another, says Ramin…
Iran’s Forgotten Prisoners of Conscience
By ROBERT P. GEORGE AND KATRINA LANTOS SWETT May 19, 2014 1:26 p.m. ET As Iran approaches the anniversary of Hasan Rouhani’s presidential victory, the Islamic Republic’s human-rights record, particularly its treatment of religious minorities,…
Anniversary of the Arrest of Baha’i Leaders Attended by Civil Rights Activists
Published on Wednesday, May 14 , 2014 In May 2009 six of the former Baha’i community leaders (Yaran, or “Friends” of Iran) ˗ Fariba Kamal Abadi, Jamaluddin Khanjani, Afif Naimi , Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakoli…
Mother and Son Arrested in Tehran to Serve Prison Terms
HRANA News Agency – Elham Faramani and her son Shamim Na’imi were arrested in Tehran on May 11 and taken to Evin prison. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), They face…
Plight of Baha’i Leaders Underscores Ongoing Human Rights Violations in Iran
by TheTower.org Staff | 05.15.14 8:11 pm Earlier this week, former State Department official Elliott Abrams wrote about the plight of seven Baha’i leaders who have now been jailed by Iran for six years. At the Council on…
Irwin Cotler: Criminalizing the Baha’i Faith
Irwin Cotler, National Post | May 16, 2014 More from National Post AP Photo/Vahid SalemiDuring his 2013 election campaign, Rouhani explicitly promised to ensure “equality for all citizens without discrimination based on race, gender, or religion.”…
Human Rights Champions in Iran Commemorate Sixth Anniversary of Imprisonment of Baha’i Leaders
15 May 2014 GENEVA — In an unprecedented show of solidarity, influential Iranian personalities, human rights activists, journalists, and a prominent religious leader gathered this week in Tehran to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the imprisonment…
‘To Light a Candle’: A Testimony on Severe Condition of Baha’is in Iran
Omid Memarian , Award Winning Journalist and Iran Analyst There are many topics in Iran which journalists, activists, and artists can not touch on. Amongst these, the devastating quality of life of the of Baha’i religious…
Shifting Sands in Iran Towards Recognition of Minority Faiths
[huffingtonpost] Fiyaz Mughal Director of Faith Matters and the Tell MAMA project Over a month ago, a significant shift took place in Iran regarding the status of minority faiths in the country. Before I go…
Ambassador Bennett Marks Sixth Anniversary of Wrongful Detention of Bahá’í Leaders in Iran
May 14, 2014 – Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom, today issued the following statement: “A year after President Hassan Rouhani’s electoral campaign promises of equal rights for all Iranians, regardless of ethnicity and…
A Tribute to My Brother, Farhad Sedghi: on His Fourth Year of Imprisonment in Iran as a Baha’i.
A tribute to My brother, Farhad Sedghi: On his Fourth year of imprisonment in Iran as a Baha’i. By Nasser Sedghi. This is a tribute to my brother, Farhad Sedghi, on the fourth year…