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The Climate Ethics Campaign is aiming for 1,000 endorsements of its new climate change statement by November 30th, the day the campaign plans to officially release and circulate the statement on Capitol Hill. A representative of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha‘is of the United States recently endorsed the statement, titled “Statement of Our Nation’s Moral Obligation to Address Climate Change”
“In Iran, authorities continue to repress Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, Jews, Baha’is, Sunnis, Ahmadis, and others who do not share the government’s religious views,” said Secretary Clinton.
UN Secretary General voices concern over human rights abuses in Iran
Baha’i World News Service– The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, has once again expressed strong concern over Iran’s ongoing human rights violations, including its persecution of Iranian Baha’is. In a report issued Thursday, Mr. Ban highlighted his continuing concerns over Iran’s use of torture and the death penalty, its poor treatment of [...]
The Guardian: Legal questions over Iran Baha’i trial
On Saturday, October 9, the British newspaper The Guardian published a letter decrying the lack of due process leading up to the sentencing of seven Iranian Baha’i leaders in August. Rosalyn Higgins QC Former international judge; Linda Lee President, Law Society; Mark Muller QC Chairman, Bar human rights committee co-authored the letter, which called for [...]
Baha’i rights among questions for President Ahmadinejad
On Wednesday, September 22, The Wall Street Journal published an opinion article by Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, recommending more than a dozen questions for journalists to ask Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his U.S. visit this month. The question of Baha’i rights was among them: Why does the Islamic Republic [...]
CNN: Baha'i woman recalls imprisonment in Iran
On Tuesday, August 31, CNN’s Belief Blog published an article about Minoo Vosough, an Iranian Baha’i who was arrested in 1984, at the age of 27, and held in Evin and Gohardasht prisons for 3 months before her release. Seven Iranian Baha’i leaders were transferred from Evin to Gohardasht earlier this month following more than [...]
Roxana Saberi writes on behalf of "Bahai torchbearers"
On Saturday, August 28, The Washington Post published an op-ed article by journalist Roxana Saberi advocating for the release of seven Iranian Baha’i prisoners, two of whom she shared a cell with during her 100-day incarceration in Evin prison last year. In the article, Saberi describes how the two Baha’i women, Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash [...]
Cherie Blair: "Iran is attempting to decapitate its Baha'i community"
On Wednesday, August 25, Cherie Blair, a barrister at Matrix Chambers in London and the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, published an op-ed in The Guardian concerning the recent sentencing of seven Iranian Baha’i leaders each to 20 years in prison. From The Guardian op-ed: The truth behind this sentence is that [...]
Lawyer Shirin Ebadi "stunned" by reported 20-year jail terms for Baha'i leaders
Baha’i World News Service– The harsh prison sentences handed down to seven Iranian Baha’i leaders who are absolutely innocent of any wrongdoing is a judgment against an entire religious community, the Baha’i International Community said today. Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, whose Defenders of Human Rights Center represented the Baha’i defendants, said she was “stunned” by [...]
Foreign Policy blog covers sentencing of Baha'i leaders
On Friday, August 13, Foreign Policy magazine’s “The Cable” blog highlighted last week’s sentencing of seven Iranian Baha’is leaders in an article about Secretary of State Clinton’s recent statements on human rights in Iran. From the Foreign Policy article: Persecution of the estimated 300,000 Baha’is in Iran has existed since the religion’s inception in the [...]
Secretary of State Clinton: "We have not forgotten the Baha’i community in Iran"
On Thursday, August 12, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton issued the following statement concerning the seven Iranian Baha’i leaders who have each been sentenced to 20 years in prison for their religious beliefs. According to new reports, the seven prisoners have been transferred from Evin prison in Tehran to Gohardasht Prison – also [...]
LA Times blog covers sentencing of Iranian Baha'i leaders
Today, August 11, the Los Angeles Times published on its Mideast blog, “Babylon & Beyond,” an article about the 20-year sentence reportedly imposed on seven Baha’is who have already been imprisoned for more than two years in Tehran. From the article: The Bahai leaders have been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison since 2008. The [...]
LA Times blog covers sentencing of Iranian Baha'i leaders
Today, August 11, the Los Angeles Times published on its Mideast blog, “Babylon & Beyond,” an article about the 20-year sentence reportedly imposed on seven Baha’is who have already been imprisoned for more than two years in Tehran. From the article: The Bahai leaders have been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison since 2008. The [...]
U.S. religious freedom commission "condemns 20-year sentence of Baha'is prisoners"
Today, August 11, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom joined the international outcry on behalf of seven Iranian Baha’is recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for their beliefs. From the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom statement: The five Baha’i men and two women had been charged with several baseless and unsubstantiated crimes [...]
Governments speak out for seven Baha'i leaders each sentenced to 20 years in prison for their beliefs
Several statements of international support for seven Iranian Baha’is each recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for their religious beliefs have been issued by the governments of Canada, France, Australia, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, the European Parliament and the European Union. In Canada, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said in a statement issued [...]
Amnesty International condemns sentencing of Iranian Baha'i leaders
On August 10, Amnesty International issued a statement condemning the reported sentencing of seven Iranian Baha’i leaders each to 20 years in prison. News of their sentences followed six brief court appearances, which began on January 12, 2010, after they had been incarcerated without charges for 20 months. The trial ended on June 14. Statement [...]
Human Rights Watch issues statement to "Free Baha'i Leaders"
Today, August 10, Human Rights Watch issued a public statement calling for the release of seven Iranian Baha’i leaders who were reportedly sentenced last Sunday to 20 years in prison for false charges stemming from their religious beliefs. From the Human Rights Watch statement: The Iranian judiciary should set aside any judgments issued in closed [...]
Iranian Baha'i leaders sentenced to 20 years in prison, reports say
Baha’i World News Service– The Baha’i International Community has received reports indicating that seven Iranian Baha’i leaders have each received jail sentences of 20 years. The two women and five men have been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison since they were arrested in 2008 – six of them on May 14 and one of [...]
Detention extended for seven Iranian Baha'i leaders
Baha’i World News Service– The imprisonment of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran has been extended for a further two months, the Baha’i International Community has learned. The trial of the seven concluded on 14 June. No verdict has yet been given. “These innocent Baha’is have now been held for more than two years under a [...]
The Baha'is of Ivel: Undaunted spirit
Baha’i World News Service– Following the demolition of Baha’i homes in the Iranian village of Ivel – reported last week – there is another story that must also be told: that of sympathetic villagers who have commiserated with their Baha’i neighbors over the injustices they have been forced to endure. It is also the story [...]
BBC News: Iran's Baha'i community fear rise in persecution
On Friday, July 2, BBC News covered the recent demolition of 50 Baha’i homes in Ivel, a small village in northern Iran. The report also included a summary of the history of Baha’i persecution in Iran, as well as the inconclusive trial of seven Baha’i leaders who have been imprisoned in Tehran for more than [...]
Houston Chronicle highlights religious freedom, Baha'is of Iran
On Thursday, July 1, the Houston Chronicle’s religion blog “Believe Out Loud” ran a story about a local Baha’i, Enayat Amini, who immigrated from Iran in 2004 after the authorities shut down his business because of his Baha’i beliefs. From the article: Nearly 70 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where religious practices [...]
Radio Farda interviews Baha'i whose home was destroyed in Ivel
On June 28, the Persian-language radio station, Radio Farda, broadcast an interview with Mr. Derakhshan, one of the Baha’is whose property was destroyed in the village of Ivel, Iran. Excerpts from the interview (via Baha’i World News Service) are transcribed below: Mr. Derakhshan: We had heard some rumours about the destruction of the village and [...]
Homes demolished in campaign to drive Baha'is out of Iranian village
Baha’i World News Service– Homes belonging to some 50 Baha’i families in a remote village in northern Iran have been demolished as part of a long-running campaign to expel them from the region. The action occurred in Ivel, Mazandaran, when inhabitants – incited by elements inimical to the Baha’i community – blocked normal access to [...]
Trial of seven Iranian Baha'i leaders appears to have ended
Baha’i World News Service – The trial of seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned for more than two years in Iran seems to have come to a conclusion after three days of successive court hearings. The seven appeared in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on the morning of Saturday, 12 June and returned to [...]
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