In an unprecedented move, Iranian intellectuals, writers and activists have signed an open letter in which they apologize for the century and a half of silence on the persecution of Iranian Baha’is. In the name of goodness and beauty, and in the name of humanity and liberty! As Iranian human beings, we are ashamed for [...]

We are pleased to announce that today, the challenge launched by a lawyer against the January 29 ruling has been rejected! For 5 years, Raouf Hindi has fought for the right to obtain birth certificates for his twins teenaged twins Imad and Nancy, but despite the landmark ruling last year, implementation was stalled by the [...]

The Baha’i population in Turkey numbers at approximately 10,000. Like their counterparts in most countries in the region, Turkish Baha’is cannot state their religious affiliation in identity cards as the Baha’i Faith is not listed as one of the options. In 2006, a ruling permitted citizens to either leave the religion field blank, or change [...]

On the 29th of January, the Cairo Administrative Court issued a verdict allowing Baha’is to list a “-” under the religion field in identification papers, or leave it blank. The ruling has yet to be implemented, but now and in a separate court ruling issued yesterday, a university student was allowed to obtain identification papers. [...]

The following article is a translation of a report published by Copts United In an unprecedented move that represents a positive development in the dealing of the Ministry of Religious Endowments with Egypt’s Baha’i community, Sheikh Salim Abdul Jaleel – the under-secretary for religious advocacy, gave the following response to a query on the Ministry’s [...]

In May 2006, Iranian authorities detained 54 Baha’is in the city of Shiraz, and all but one were subsequently accused of “offenses related to state security”. The Baha’is were volunteering for a community project that offered classes to underprivileged youth (with the permission of the Islamic Council of Shiraz) – an act so subversive that [...]

Between the many distressing stories that are reported on the Baha’i minority in Muslim-majority countries, a few emerge to remind us that our vision for an open, tolerant society where diversity is welcomed and respected can be achieved. One such story is the recent appointment of a Baha’i citizen to the Bahrain Human Rights Watch [...]