The Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights » Uncategorized

“Can You Solve This” builds steam in the wake of EU condemnation of Iran

Suzan — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:06:57 +0000

6 September 2011: In a clear statement, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton unequivocally condemned the Iranian regime for it’s persistent persecution of the Baha’i minority in Iran, specifically mentioning the crackdown on the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education and the arrest of its leaders earlier this summer.

Such statements only highlight the importance of grassroots campaigns that continue to speak out about the plight of minorities in Iran. The “Can You Solve This?” campaign has sent over 1,700 letters to top European leaders, including Secretary-General of the UN, Ban-Ki Moon, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, and German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Guido Westerwelle. Tireless campaign activists and media attention from Mashable and more have helped bring the message of the denial of education in Iran to thousands more. “Can You Solve This?” is gearing up to launch globally, after having successfully stickered and QR coded many German cities. With the coordinated global efforts of grassroots activists around the world, Catherine Ashton won’t be the only top official to speak out against the persecution of the Baha’i community and the global problem of the denial of education that we can all help solve.

To bring the campaign to your city, or to find events happening locally, email us at hello@can-you-solve-this.org.

Berlin and Hamburg Can Solve This!

Suzan — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:42 +0000

The denial of access to education in Iran is a problem, a global problem. Iran thinks it can dictate who is allowed to educated themselves, who is allowed to advance in society, who is allowed to achieve their dreams. And who is not. Not only are Baha’is excluded from higher education simply for their beliefs, but so are political dissidents, musicians and artists, bloggers, and many others. Some of the best and the brightest youth of Iran are forced to either emigrate or forgo higher education; it is all of Iran that will suffer the loss of such potential.

The “Can You Solve This” campaign launched in Berlin and Hamburg over the weekend. Volunteers distributed thousands of postcards, stickers, and even street graffiti to get people to stop and find out what they need to solve. The QR code scans to the can-you-solve-this website where they can watch the video in German or English and are encouraged to send letters to UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, and German Ministor for Foreign Affairs Dr Guido Westerwelle.

QR codes, big and small, have been spread throughout the two cities, and there are plans to launch in cities around the world.

Campaign in action: a passer by scans one of the postcards that links to the site.

The reaction… an education about the denial of education.

The campaign has already reached thousands; besides online pages, postcards, and stickers, volunteers were able to get their message to hundreds of people enjoying a summer concert.

Help spread the word. The campaign video is available in both English and German. Together we can solve this.

Iranian State Attacks Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education

Suzan — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 10:16:41 +0000

A Bahá’í World News Service report describes the latest wave of a concentrated effort to restrict the Bahá’í Faith. Iranian officials have raided 30 Bahá’í homes and arrested up to 16 leaders of the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) and accused them of “spreading the faith of a misled group … and setting a trap for the citizens.” Since then, nine have been reportedly released.

Considering Iran does not permit followers of the Bahá’í faith into their university programs, the BIHE is one of the main tools of self-preservation and advancement for the Bahai’i community in Iran. The arrests echo similar raids that occurred in the late 1990s, where 36 Bahá’í educators were arrested, although most of them were shortly released. Bahá’í students are regularly denied from access to higher education, and even younger Bahá’í students are harassed and persecuted because of their faith. BIHE has served as an invaluable resource for the advancement of Baha’is by providing them with access to higher education, mostly through online classes. The physical headquarters of the BIHE had been housed in the homes of a few faculty and professors, but was shut down by the Iranian authorities in 2000.

As far as is known, these Bahá’í leaders have been arrested for nothing other than their faith, as further evidence of the extensive persecution of religious minorities in Iran. However, by targeting the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education, the Iranian state is also denying the Baha’i community a fundamental right to development and denying them a crucial part of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Considering the demand for an educated population in a globalised community, and the difficulty even Iranians of the majority have obtaining employment, this further obstacle in the path of Bahá’í education is an effective means of keeping the community marginalized and suffocating it even without the use of traditional violence.

7 Baha’i leaders to appear before court next week

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:56:16 +0000

As Iran celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, and marks Islamic Revolution Victory Day, Tehran’s deputy prosecutor announced that the 7 Baha’i leaders arrested last year will be tried for “espionage for Israel”, among other things. Their case will appear before court next week.

Iran will soon try seven members of the banned Bahai religion on charges including “espionage for Israel,” the ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

“The charges against seven defendants in the case of the illegal Bahai group were examined … and the case will be sent to the revolutionary court next week,” deputy Tehran prosecutor Hassan Haddad was quoted as saying.

Haddad said the charges included “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic republic.”

Iran and Israel are arch-enemies, and Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the Jewish state to be wiped off the map.

In late January, judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi said Iran had arrested six adherents of the Bahai faith on the same charges.

Earlier last month, the Fars news agency said the ex-secretary of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi’s office was detained for links with an organisation of the Bahai faith, adding that the ex-staffer was a Bahai herself.

Haddad did not say if the seven being charged were the same as those arrested in January.

Video of the destruction of cemetery in Ghaemshahr

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:44:41 +0000

Human Rights Activists in Iran has posted a video of the recent destruction of a Baha’i cemetery in the Iranian town of Ghaemshahr.

According to an earlier report, the Baha’i community of Ghaemshahr were demanded to cease using the cemetery at Darzikola by the Ministry of Intelligence last May. The

Update on Noor and Hana

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:00:37 +0000

About a month ago, we learned the story of Nour and Hana – two Baha’i children in Egypt denied access to education because they lacked electronic birth certificates. To date, Egyptian citizens are only capable of listing three religions (Judaism, Christianity or Islam) under the “Religion” field in official documents, thus leaving the Baha’i community without access to basic civil rights.

Now, Al Masry Al Youm reports that the private school allowed the two girls to be enrolled, following intervention by the Egyptian Initiaitive for Personal Rights and the National Council for Human Rights.

After negotiations, the school administration decided to enroll Nour again in the school and to admit Hana to the kindergarten, provided that they study one of the two recognized religions. This was accepted by their father. The school stipulated that the father brings the electronic certificates before mid-December.

Although el-Gamal deserves appreciation for his intervention to save those two innocent children’s future, the problem is still unsolved, not only because the two children could be dismissed in a few weeks’ time, but also because the problem concerns several other Egyptian Bahais. Indeed, administrative bodies insist on not giving them any official documents recognizing their religion.

These organs offer them to write one of the three recognized religions in the religion space in their documents, otherwise they will have no official documents. The bodies had taken official documents away from them that recognized their religion.

The gross error made by governmental organs is that they deal with the issue of Bahaism as a religious issue and adopts their views and take their decisions on the basis of statements and opinions by Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh and the Islamic Research Academy regarding Islam’s stance on Bahaism.

As far as the State is concerned, this is a civil and constitutional, rather than religious, affair

While this is a small victory, it remains a marked improvement and a significant step forward. The case had generated a lot of outrage and sparked important debates and served to remind us that by speaking out and taking action, we can make a difference.