Two Bahais from Karaj, the brothers Saman and Eshkan Nadiyyeh-ye Azani ( سامان بادیه‌ای آرنی و اشکان بادیه‌ای آرنی ), have been in detention in Karaj for about two weeks. It is reported that they were tried today (November 30.)It is not known where they are being held. Eshkan was able to contact their family after about 7 days in detention, but there has been no word from Saman. Saman was arrested previously, about 4 years ago, and has been free on bail.

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Hungarian Folk Singer, Ms. Márta Sebestyen [see IMDb and "The English Patient"] Read Full Story

“Prominent Hungarians for Human Rights in Iran” is a project to show solidarity to people in Iran who because of their beliefs, political views, journalistic integrity, defense of the rights of women and championing of human rights are being persecuted. The Project is motivated by a firm conviction that human rights violations are always unacceptable. By bringing to light human rights abuses by the Iranian government to its own people, we strive to create a situation where these crimes receive sustained international attention and cannot be concealed.

This project gives voice to the imprisoned lawyers, artists, members of different religions, women, human rights activists, political prisoners, and anyone who strives to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Read Full Story

[chrr.biz, 15 Nov 2012] A day after undergoing surgery for internal bleeding and a cyst in the abdomen, the health condition of Foad Khanjani (فواد خانجانی) is a cause for grave concern. On the night following his surgery, the officers from Rajai Shahr prison who were responsible for guarding him in the hospital shackled him hand and foot throughout the night and subjected him to religious insults, with the result that his blood pressure rose and his condition deteriorated. Read Full Story

Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday 24 October. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

[BWNS, 31 Oct 2012]

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations expert on human rights in Iran has told the General Assembly that he is “deeply troubled” by the situation in the country, describing a “climate of fear” where journalists, human rights defenders and minorities face wrongful arrest and imprisonment with little hope of legal due process.

Ahmed Shaheed reiterated his call for the immediate release of all “prisoners of conscience” in Iran, highlighting the current incarceration of more than 40 journalists and some 30 human rights defenders. Read Full Story

In late June 2012, a professor at Georgia State University (USA), offered to have his public relations class write articles for Education Under Fire. At the beginning of July, his students began a series of interviews with various individuals associated with the BIHE and Education Under Fire. Here is the first…

[PCED, 17 Oct. 2012] In an update and correction of the previous report of the arrest of Shahnam Jadhbani ( شهنام جذبانی ) and his wife Shohreh Samimi ( شهره صمیمی ) in Minudasht, Golestan Province, and Navid Mu`allemi and his wife Kamelya Bidelyan ( نوید معلمی و کاملیا بیدلیان ) in the provincial capital, Gorgan, PCED reports that these four were in fact arrested in Minudasht, and adds the names of those arrested in simultaneous raids on Bahai homes in Gorgan. The arrests, by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence, were made without a judicial warrant. Bahai homes homes were searched, with the seizure of computers, books and family photo albums. The names of those arrested in Gorgan are given as Parivash Shoja`i, Bhenam Hosseini, Nazi Tahqiqi, Houshmand Dehqan, Farhad Fahenadzh, Fahrnaz Tabayanian and his wife Fahrmand Sana’i, Shayda Qodousi, Shiva Rouhani, Mitra Nouri, Hana Aqiqiyan, Kamal Kashani, Puna Sana’i, Soudabeh Mehdinezhad and Mariyam Dehqan ( پریوش شجاعی(فنائیان)، بهنام حسنی، نازی تحقیقی(خلخی)، هوشمند دهقان، فرهاد فهندژ، فرحناز تبیانیان و همسرش فرهمند سنایی، شیدا قدوسی، شیوا روحانی(موهبتی)، میترا نوری(موهبتی)،هنا عقیقیان، کمال کاشانی، پونه سنایی، سودابه مهدی نژاد و مریم دهقان. ). Agents also raided the home of Rufiya Pakzadan and Maral Roushani ( روفیا پاکزادان و مارال روشنی ) and seized some of their personal effects, but did not arrest them as they were not home. There were also raids on other Bahai homes, including those of Siamak Sadri, Foad Fahandezh and Katarin Sana’i ( سیامک صدری،فواد فهندژ و کاترین سنایی ), in which some belongings were confiscated. In some of the raids, the agents’ behaviour was violent, with insults and beatings and even damage to the house. The reasons for the arrests, and the whereabouts of those arrested, are still unknown. Read Full Story

[hra-news.org] Iranian Baha’i, Shahnaz Ranjbar Oladi, was summoned by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and detained by a court warrant.

According to HRANA reporters (The Human Rights Activists News Agency), A Baha’i citizen, residing in Qa’em-Shahr (a city in north of Iran) by the name of Shahnaz Ranjbar Oladi was summoned to the intelligence office end of September. Read Full Story

[variety.com 11 Oct. 2012] By RICHARD KUIPERS

[al-monitor.com, 10 Oct. 2012] Here is an excerpt from an interview with Colette Naufal, the founder and director of the Beirut International Film Festival (BIFF), about The Gardner. You can see the entire interview here: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/beirut-film-festival-interview.html

Editor

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Al-Monitor: The Gardner, a controversial film by famed Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf who is now living in exile in France film tells the story of his visit to Isr…

Naufal: It is about the Baha’i religion. How it was born. You see, it was born in Iran about 150 years ago.

Al-Monitor: And now its headquarters is in Isr…

Naufal: Is in Israel. I think they were thrown out of Iran at a certain stage. And then he talks about how religions, the three religions — Christianity, Islam and Judaism — interact and how they are basically peaceful religions. They don’t teach people who to go to school and commit suicide to kill others. And then he talks about what a peaceful religion Baha’i is. I don’t know why he based it on Baha’i, but it is a beautiful movie … beautiful. Read Full Story

[Iranian.com, 12 Oct. 2012] Education prohibited in the “Holy Land”

The Gardener
(Documentary – Iran)
The Gardener
(Documentary – Iran)
By RICHARD KUIPERS

A Makhmalbaf Film House production.
(International sales: M-Line Distribution, Seoul.) Produced by Makhmalbaf Film House. Directed, written by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
With: Maysam Makhmalbaf, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Ririva Eona Mabi, Paula Asadi, Guillaume Nyagatare, Tjireya Tjitendero Juzgado, Ian David Huang, Bal Kumari Gurung. (Farsi, English dialogue)

Exiled Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf and his son Maysam debate the personal and political roles of religion in entertaining docu “The Gardener.” Taking their cameras into the magnificent gardens of the Baha’i Faith’s headquarters in Haifa and Akka, Israel, father and son gather testimony from followers of the peace-promoting denomination and combine it with their own reflections to produce a stimulating and highly accessible cinematic conversation. Although theatrical exposure will be limited following the pic’s world premiere at Busan, the docu looks certain to enjoy a long fest life, and is a perfect fit for niche broadcast outlets. Read Full Story

It seems like the Bahai’s of Egypt share persecution with the Baha’is of Iran. Below is an English translation of an article from Persian (http://www.radiofarda.com/content/f3_bahais_egypt/24712130.html) by Dr. Wahied Wahdat-Hagh.

Editor

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In an article in the journal Cairo Review of Global Affairs, a publication of the American University in Cairo, published on 22 August 2012, Dwight Bashir, the Director [TN: this is incorrect, he is Deputy Director] of the research section at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom warned about the situation of the Bahá’ís of Egypt.
He writes that the myths that exist about the Baha’is are wrong, including that Bahá’ís endanger Egypt’s national security.

According to a report from the official website of the Baha’is of Egypt, today Baha’is enjoy none of the rights of citizenship in their own country. They are still discriminated against with respect to admission to schools and universities. Read Full Story

Dr. Grigorij Mesežnikov, president of the Institute for Public Affairs – pictured left – is interviewed at a press conference, held in Bratislava, 17 September 2012, which launched an open letter from 84 Slovak academics calling for an end to the persecution of Baha'i educators and students in Iran.

[BWNS, 18 Sep 2012] BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — More than 80 leading academics are calling upon the Iranian government to end its persecution of Baha’i educators and students.

The Slovak Republic’s former Prime Minister, Professor Iveta Radičová, and a former Education Minister, Professor Ján Pišút, are among the 84 prominent figures to sign an open letter, launched at a press conference here on Monday. Read Full Story

[http://www.educationunderfire.com]  Please sign the Friends of BIHE Open Letter organized by Fall Campaign of Education Under Fire.

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oin hands with thousands of members of academic, civic, religious and human rights communities in showing your support for the oppressed in Iran.

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Source: http://www.educationunderfire.com/openletter/?utm_source=Salsa+Import+5%2F14%2F12&utm_campaign=5b66368b11-Fall_2012_Campaign_Launch_Newsletter8_28_2012&utm_medium=email

Pictured, from left: Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Heiner Bielefeldt, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. UN Photos/Jean-Marc Ferre and Paulo Filgueiras.

GENEVA — Two United Nations Special Rapporteurs have expressed their deep concern at the situation of minority religions in Iran.

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, has joined with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, to call for a “thorough and independent review” of “all cases against individuals arrested and prosecuted on charges related to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion and belief.” Read Full Story

by Onlyiran
21-Sep-2012

Every couple of months, a hatemongering individual with very obvious obsessive disorders sign up on Iranian.com with a litany of different user id’s and begins attacking our Baha’i compatriots. From calling them outright and/or implying that they are child molesters to calling them outright and/or implying that they are all criminals, the fifth column, spies, traitors, etc., this lunatic does not leave out an insult to throw at these group of Iranians. Some of these attacks have been directed at specific individuals on IC who use their real names.

But throughout all this barrage of abuse against perhaps the most persecuted group of Iranians, which is shamelessly allowed on IC, our Baha’i friends remain silent, polite and patient.  They never respond in kind to this prolific and perennial abuser.  That, to me, is the ultimate expression of a tolerant culture that we have to aspire toward if we want to have a better Iran in the future.  A nation where people of all religions, races, ethnicities and schools of thought can coexist in peace, without a reactionary, medieval religious dictatorship breaking them apart with prejudice and hate.

So, thank you dear Baha’I friends for showing us the true nature of your peaceful beliefs and your love for the unity of the Iranian nation.  You are an example of tolerance, patience and peace to be followed by the rest of our countrymen and women.

In hopes of a better Iran free of hate.

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source: http://www.iranian.com/main/blog/onlyiran/note-thanks-our-bahai-friends

[frontline, tehran bureau, 14 Sep. 2012]

[ opinion ] Later this month, the United Nations will host Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his final annual visit as president of Iran. His ineligibility for reelection next year due to a term limit means that he will not return in September 2013. His government’s nuclear ambitions have so dominated recent discussion about his country that it has been possible, at times, to overlook how abysmal its human rights record has been. Having grown up with the indignities of the apartheid system in South Africa, I bristle whenever I hear anyone equate a government’s treatment of a portion of its citizenry to apartheid. Usually, the claims are exaggerated. But in Iran today, the government’s treatment of the Baha’i community bears striking similarities. Read Full Story

[OpenDemocracy.net, 9 Sep 2012] by Omid Memarian.

The Iranian president’s forthcoming visit to the United States is an opportunity to highlight the continued repression under his regime, says Omid Memarian.

In late September 2012, the United Nations in New York will host Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his annual visit as president of Iran – the last such occasion, since the election of June 2013 in Iran will see Ahmadinejad’s successor take office. Much attention will, understandably,focus on Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the danger of an armed attack on Iran. But it is important also to register the current conditions inside Iran, including the condition of human rights in the country, an issue that has been relatively neglected since the widepread protests against the declaration of Ahmadinejad’s victory in the election of June 2009. Read Full Story

Three Iranian Baha'is who are denied the opportunity to make a distinctive contribution to their country. Pictured, from left: pianist Pegah Yazdani; judo champion Khashayar Zarei; and chess player Pedram Atoufi.

[BWNS, 6 Sep 2012] NEW YORK — In practically any other country of the world, a teenage chess champion, a national judo standout and a talented pianist would be valued as contributors to their society.

In the example of three young Iranians, however, being members of the Baha’i Faith has meant a ban on competing and performing at the highest levels.

Judoist Khashayar Zarei, chess player Pedram Atoufi, and pianist Pegah Yazdani are all victims of Iran’s systematic policy – spelled out in a government-backed 1991 memorandum – to “block” the progress and development of Baha’is and “deny them any position of influence.” Read Full Story

To: Islamic Republic of Iran

[BWNS 2 Aug 2012]

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States — In a report released Monday, the United States painted a dark picture of religious freedom in Iran, documenting how the government there oppresses the followers of virtually every religious minority in the country, restricting their religious activities, limiting their economic prospects, and imprisoning them when they tell others about their beliefs.

“Government rhetoric and actions created a threatening atmosphere for nearly all non-Shia religious groups, most notably for Baha’is, as well as for Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, Jews, and Shia groups that did not share the government’s official religious views,” said the 2011 annual US Department of State’s report on International Religious Freedom in its section on Iran. Read Full Story