Baha'i World News Service

A global outpouring of support and concern for the plight of the seven Iranian Baha'i leaders – and for the situation of other prisoners of conscience in Iran – marked worldwide commemorations of the fifth anniversary of the arrest of these Baha'is. Statements calling for the immediate release of the seven came from every continent, issued by government officials, religious leaders, human...

A new video for the House of Worship for the South American continent in Santiago, Chile has recently been made available in English and Spanish. It can be viewed online at the House of Worship's official website. Titled "the Blossoming of a Vibrant Community", the newsreel is the third in an ongoing series of presentations about the...

Yesterday the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued a series of pointed recommendations to the Iranian government – recommendations that included a plea for Iran to ensure that all citizens, regardless of religious belief, enjoy full rights without any discrimination. The Committee specifically referred to the Baha'i community, expressing its concern that Iranian Baha'is...

Four high-level United Nations human rights experts today called on Iran to immediately release the seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders. In a press release issued on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the arrest of the seven, the four experts emphasized that the seven are held solely because of their religious beliefs, that their continued imprisonment is unjust and wrongful, and that Iran's...

Throughout the world people are raising their voices in a global campaign to free the seven imprisoned Iranian Baha'i leaders. The "Five Years Too Many" campaign marks the fifth anniversary of the arrest of the seven and seeks to highlight their entirely unjust and wrongful imprisonment and the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. "Midway through our ten-day campaign we have seen an...

In its annual report on international religious freedom, the United States said religious freedom in Iran has continued to deteriorate over the past year, especially for religious minorities such as Baha'is, as well as for Christians and Sufi Muslims. "The government of Iran continues to engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged detention,...

To mark the five year anniversary of the wrongful imprisonment of the seven Iranian Baha'i leaders, the Baha'i International Community is launching a campaign to call for their immediate release – and to draw attention to the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. "On 14 May, the seven innocent Baha'i leaders will have been behind bars for five full years, unjustly imprisoned solely...

A documentary film about the efforts of Baha'i communities in four locations around the world has been released on the World Wide Web. The film, titled Frontiers of Learning, explores processes of community development under way in thousands of localities worldwide by presenting four case studies from four continents: the northern part of the Bolivar region in Colombia; the city of...

More than 1,000 representatives of the Baha'i world community gathered here, 29 April-2 May, for a unique global event that was infused with joy, reverence and purpose. The eleventh International Baha'i Convention marked the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Convention in 1963 at which the Universal House of Justice – the international governing council of the Baha'i Faith – was first...

The results of the election of the nine members of the Universal House of Justice have been announced. More than 1,500 ballots were cast yesterday for membership of the council that serves as the head of the Baha'i Faith. Those elected for the next five-year term are Paul Lample, Firaydoun Javaheri, Payman Mohajer, Gustavo Correa, Shahriar Razavi, Stephen Birkland, Stephen Hall, Chuungu...

More than 1,000 Baha'is from 157 countries cast their ballots today in the election to choose the nine members of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith. For some three hours, the delegates to the 11th International Baha'i Convention filed one by one across the stage, each dropping a ballot into a simple wooden box. The event was characterized by a...

More than 1,000 delegates representing 157 countries have arrived here to participate in the 11th International Baha'i Convention. A global election process that began with Baha'is in more than 100,000 cities and villages around the world culminates on Monday, when delegates will gather to elect the nine members of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing council of the...

Two members of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith, are leaving after many years of service in the Holy Land. The Universal House of Justice announced in November 2012 that it had permitted Dr. Farzam Arbab and Mr. Kiser Barnes to relinquish their membership, but they will continue serving until the election of the body which is scheduled for...

Breaking the cycle of violence against women will require basic changes at the level of culture, attitudes and beliefs – including a fundamental reconception of prevailing notions of power. These were among the ideas offered to this year's United Nations Commission on the Status of Women by the Baha'i International Community (BIC). Addressing the 57th Commission's main theme of the...

The United Nations Human Rights Council today voted by an overwhelming margin for a continuing investigation into human rights violations in Iran. "For years, the Iranian government has made excuses or blamed others in the face of mounting documentation that it severely represses its citizens in gross violation of international law – but the wide margin of today's vote confirms that the...

The attacks against Baha'is in Iran represent one of the clearest cases of state-sponsored religious persecution in the world, said Heiner Bielefeldt, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. Speaking 6 March 2013 in Geneva at a side event during the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council, Dr. Bielefeldt discussed the release of a new report by the Baha'i International...

Concepts of empowerment that pit one group against another should be discarded in favor of a new vision where social transformation is approached as a collective enterprise in which all people are able to participate. That was among the main themes of a statement issued by the Baha'i International Community...

Mas'ud Khamsi, former Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre, passed away on 5 March in Lima, Peru. The Universal House of Justice sent the following message to all National Spiritual Assemblies on 8 March.

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Our hearts were grieved to learn of the passing of dearly loved, stalwart promoter of the Faith of Baha'u'llah,...

In a report released today, the Baha'i International Community documents hundreds of incidents of torture, physical assault, arson, vandalism, cemetery desecration and the abuse of schoolchildren directed against the Iranian Baha'i community since 2005 – all carried out with utter impunity. "The entire situation puts the Baha'is in an impossible position because they must ask for justice and...

The UN's independent investigator on Iran has called for the immediate release of seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders, asking that Iran "fully honor" its legal commitments to freedom of religion or belief. The plea came last week from Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, in his annual report to the Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva. In a...