Defense of the Bahá'í Community

Overview

Destroyed Bahá'í Cemetery near Najafabad, Iran

Within the context of its human rights work, the Bahá'í International Community (BIC) has worked to protect the rights of the persecuted Bahá'í communities in Iran and Egypt. Throughout the history of the Bahá'í Faith, the Bahá'ís of Iran have suffered persecution by those who viewed the religion as heretical to Islam; they have systematically been denied access to education and employment and have not been able to openly practice their religion. In Egypt, Bahá'ís have been denied their identity cards which have effectively rendered them “non-citizens.”

International pressure has greatly helped to protect these Bahá'í communities from being eradicated. The BIC has sought to inform sympathetic member states and UN agencies about the ongoing persecution of Bahá'ís and has worked for the continued passage of General Assembly resolutions condemning the human rights abuses in Iran and Egypt. The Community continues to work for the restoration of the basic human rights of the Egyptian and Iranian Bahá'ís and, ultimately, for their right to exist as a peaceful, law-abiding religious community.

Recent developments and press releases.
Situation of the Bahá'ís in Iran Background Document / Status Update
Situation of the Bahá'ís in Egypt More...

Highlights of Recent Activities

BIC made a statement on the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran, in the context of the general debate on Human Rights situations (Human Rights Council, 7^th session).
BIC posed a question to the Independent Expert on Minority Issues about the government's denial of ID documents to Egyptian Baha'is (Human Rights Council, 7th session).
BIC issued a press release about the imprisonment of 54 Iranian Bahá'ís falsely charged with spreading ‘anti-regime propaganda’ (6 February 2008).
BIC issued a press release about a Cairo court ruling upholding the arguments of Bahá'ís who have sought to restore their full citizenship rights (29 January 2008).
BIC made a statement on the situation of the Bahá'ís in Egypt at the 6^th session of the Human Rights Council.
BIC made oral statements at the 4^th session of the Human Rights Council - one regarding the situation of the Bahá'í minority in Egypt and another regarding the persecution of the Bahá'í community in Iran.

Background Documents and Resources

BIC documents

"The Bahá'í Question" (top) and "Closed Doors" (bottom)

UN documents

Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living (Miloon Kothari). Addendum. Mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran (2005) (Click Here)
Civil and Political Rights, Including the Question of Freedom of Expression. Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression. (Ambeyi Ligabo). Addendum. Mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran. (2004) (Click Here)
Civil and Political Rights, Including the Question of Torture and Detention. Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Addendum. Visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran. (2003) (Click Here)
Committee on the Rights of the Child. Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 44 of the Convention. Concluding observations: The Islamic Republic of Iran. (2005) (Click Here)
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. (Click Here)

Human Rights Committee General Comment No. 22: The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. (Click Here)

Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 9 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Islamic Republic of Iran. (2003) (Click Here)
Final Report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights (Reynaldo Galindo Pohl). (Click Here) (1993[1])

Resolution 61/176 adopted by the General Assembly. Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. (Click Here) (2007[2])

Key reports of UN Special Rapporteurs

Promotion and Protection of all Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Including the Rights to Development (Asma Jahangir). (Click Here) (2007[1])

Civil and Political Rights, Including the Question of Religious Intolerance (Asma Jahangir). (Click Here) (2006[2])

Civil and Political Rights, Including Religious Intolerance (Abdelfattah Amor). (Click Here) (1999[3])

Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (Abdelfattah Amor). (Click Here) (1995[4])

Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living (Miloon Kothari). Addendum. Mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran. (Click Here) (2005[5])

Civil and Political Rights, Including the Question of Freedom of Expression. Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression. (Ambeyi Ligabo). Addendum. Mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran. (Click Here) (2004[6])

Civil and Political Rights, Including the Question of Torture and Detention. Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Addendum. Visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran. (Click Here)(2003[7])

Committee on the Rights of the Child. Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 44 of the Convention. Concluding observations: The Islamic Republic of Iran. (Click Here) (2005[8])

Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 9 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Islamic Republic of Iran. (Click Here) (2003[9])

Official Documents from Iran

Iranian Central Security memo banning Bahá'ís from universities.

Memo regarding “Banning of the education of Bahá’ís in universities” from the Director General of the Central Security Office of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr. Asghar Zarei (2006).

Letter regarding “the Bahá'í question” from the Secretary of the Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Seyyed Mohammad Golpaygani (25 February 1991).

Persian original
English translation
(Adobe files available here)

FIDH (Fédération Internationale des Droits de l'Homme)

Petition to ‘Let the Bahá'ís Study!’ (2005).
Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran. Report to the 63rd Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. (2003)

Human Rights Watch

Iran: Allow Baha’i Students Access to Higher Education. Government Discriminates against 800 Students on Basis of Faith. (Click Here)

Minorities Rights Group International

US Commission on International Religious Freedom

US State Department Human Rights Reports

2006 Report on Human Rights practices - Iran
2006 Report on Human Rights practices - Egypt
2005 Report on Human Rights practices - Iran
2005 Report on Human Rights practices - Egypt

[1] E/CN.4/1993/41 - 28 January 1993

[2] A/RES/61/176 – 1 March 2007

[3] E/CN.4/1999/58 - 11 January 1999

[4] E/CN.4/1996/95 – 15 December 1995

[5] E/CN.4/2006/41/Add.2 – 21 March 2006

[6] E/CN.4/2004/62/ADD.2 – 12 January 2004

[7] E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.2 - 27 June 2003

[8] CRC/C/15/Add.254 – 31 March 2005

[9] CERD/C/63/CO/6 - 10 December 2003

Sections

Personal tools

Defense of the Bahá'í Community