I wanted to have a place where Baha'is could post news and events ...

Sadly though I'm beginning this thread with the passing of a dear Baha'i and one who is well known in the Association of Baha'i Studies:


Philosopher and mathematician Dr. William Hatcher, a
well-known Bahá'í scholar and author, passed away on Sunday,
November 27, 2005.

According to information posted in the Planet Bahá'í Forum, Dr.
Hatcher died suddenly in Toronto, Ontario at the home of Gordon
Naylor. He had been staying with the Naylors while preparing to
teach a course on his book, Love, Power and Justice at the time.

The Universal House of Justice sent the following message on
hearing of Dr. Hatcher's passing:

"We were deeply grieved to learn of the passing of William
Hatcher. The Bahá'í world has lost one of its brightest minds,
one of its most prolific pens. He will long be remembered for his
stalwart faith, forceful exposition, and penetrating insights which
characterized well-nigh half a century of ceaseless services
marked by his wide travels as a teacher of the Faith and lecturer,
his pioneering to Russia and Switzerland, his membership on
the National Spiritual Assemblies of Canada, Russia and
Switzerland, and his vital role in the founding of the Association
for Bahá'í Studies in North America. We extend our loving
sympathy to his beloved wife, Judith, their dear children, and
other members of his family and assure them of our prayers in
the Holy Shrines for the progress of his illumined soul in the
spiritual worlds beyond."

Dr. Hatcher is survived by his wife Judith, their three children,
and nine grandchildren.

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

UN CALLS ON IRAN TO STOP PERSECUTION OF BAHA'IS

UNITED NATIONS, 17 December 2005 (BWNS) --

For the 18th
time since
1985, the United Nations General Assembly has passed a
resolution
expressing "serious concern" over the human rights situation in
Iran, also
making specific mention of the ongoing persecution of the Baha'i
community
there.

The resolution, which had been put forward by Canada and
co-sponsored
by 46 countries including Australia, the European Union, and the
United
States, passed by a vote of 75 to 50 on 16 December 2005.

Among other things, it called on Iran to "eliminate, in law or in
practice, all forms of discrimination based on religious, ethnic or
linguistic grounds, and other human rights violations against
minorities,
including Arabs, Kurds, Baluchi, Christians, Jews, Sunni
Muslims and the
Baha'i...."

The resolution quite specifically takes note of the upsurge in
persecution against Iran's 300,000-member Baha'i community,
noting the
"escalation and increased frequency of discrimination and other
human rights
violations against the Baha'i, including cases of arbitrary arrest
and
detention, the denial of freedom of religion or of publicly carrying
out
communal affairs, the disregard of property rights, the
destruction of
sites of religious importance, the suspension of social,
educational
and community-related activities and the denial of access to
higher
education, employment, pensions, adequate housing and other
benefits...."

The resolution also encourages various agencies of the United
Nations
Commission on Human Rights to continue to work to improve
the human
rights situation in Iran, and at the same time it calls on the
government
of Iran to cooperate with these agencies.

Ms. Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the Baha'i
International
Community to the United Nations, said the worldwide Baha'i
community is
thankful for the support of the international community in
expressing
its concern about human rights in Iran.

"It has been a year when human rights violations against Baha'i
and
other groups in Iran have strikingly worsened, and the scrutiny
and
support of the international community remains virtually the only
tool for
the protection of innocent people in Iran," said Ms. Dugal.

"For Baha'is, who are persecuted solely for their religious
beliefs, it
has been a very difficult year in Iran," said Ms. Dugal.

"At least 59 Baha'is have been subject to various forms of
arbitrary
arrests, detention and imprisonment, and Baha'i young people
have once
again been denied the chance to attend college and university."

Ms. Dugal said that although the majority of those Baha'is who
have
been arrested were released, nine remained in prison as of late
October.

As well, said Ms. Dugal, "Baha'is face a wide and growing range
of
severely oppressive measures, including continued restrictions
on religious
assembly, the confiscation and destruction of holy sites, the
denial of
admission to Baha'i students into university, and various
economic
restrictions."

"Not only do the revolving door arrests and imprisonments seek
to
intimidate the Baha'i community, but the stringent economic and
educational
restrictions are part of Iran's stated policy clearly aimed at
eliminating Iran's Baha'i community as a viable entity in society,"
said Ms.
Dugal.


For more
information,
visit
http://www.bahaiworldnews.org.

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

WRONGLY IMPRISONED BAHA'I DIES IN IRANIAN JAIL

NEW YORK, 19 December 2005 (BWNS) -- A Baha'i who has been wrongly
jailed in Iran for 10 years died in his prison cell of unknown causes on
Thursday, 15 December 2005, the Baha'i International Community has
learned.

Mr. Dhabihu'llah Mahrami, 59, was held in a government prison in Yazd
under harsh physical conditions at the time of his death.

His death comes amidst ominous signs that a new wave of persecutions
has begun. This year so far, at least 59 Baha'is have been arrested,
detained or imprisoned, a figure up sharply from the last several years.

Arrested in 1995 in Yazd on charges of apostasy, Mr. Mahrami was
initially sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to life
imprisonment after an international outcry and widespread media attention.

"The worldwide Baha'i community mourns deeply the passing of Mr.
Mahrami, who was unjustly held for a decade on trumped-up charges that
manifestly violated his right to freedom of religion and belief," said Bani
Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International
Community to the United Nations.

"While the cause of his death is not known, Mr. Mahrami had no known
health concerns," said Ms. Dugal.

"We also know that Mr. Mahrami was forced to perform arduous physical
labor and that he had received death threats on a number of occasions.

"In this light, there should be no doubt that the Iranian authorities
bear manifest responsibility for the death of this innocent man, whose
only crime was his belief in the Baha'i Faith," said Ms. Dugal.

"In our mourning, we nevertheless hope that Mr. Mahrami's unexplained
passing will not go unnoticed by the world at large and, indeed, that
his case might become a cause for further action towards the emancipation
of the Baha'i community of Iran as a whole," said Ms. Dugal.

Born in 1946, Mr. Mahrami served in the civil service but at the time
of his arrest was making a living installing of venetian blinds, having
been summarily fired from his job like thousands of other Baha'is in
the years following the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Although Iranian officials have asserted that Mr. Mahrami was guilty of
spying for Israel, court records clearly indicate that he was tried and
sentenced solely on charge of being an "apostate," a crime which is
punishable by death under traditional Islamic law.

Although Mr. Mahrami was a lifelong Baha'i, the apostasy charge
apparently came about because a civil service colleague, in an effort to
prevent Mr. Mahrami from losing his job, submitted to a newspaper an article
stating that he had converted to Islam.

When it later became clear to Iranian authorities that Mr. Mahrami
remained a member of the Baha'i community, they arrested him and charged
him with apostasy for allegedly converting from Islam to the Baha'i
Faith. On 2 January 1996, he was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary
Court, a conviction that was later upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court.

The death sentence against Mr. Mahrami stirred an international outcry.
The European Parliament, for example, passed a resolution on human
rights abuses in Iran, making reference to Mr. Mahrami's case. The
governments of Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom,
and the United States also registered objections.

There was also significant media coverage of the case, in Le Monde and
Libration in France, as well as reports by the BBC, Reuters and Agence
France Presse.

Although the authorities did not publicly bow to international pressure
calling for Mr. Mahrami's release, in December 1999 they took the
occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad to declare
an amnesty and commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.

Since 1978, more than 200 Iranian Baha'i have been killed, hundreds
more have been imprisoned, and thousands have been deprived of jobs,
pensions and education as part of a widespread and systemic religious
persecution by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

As of October, Mr. Mahrami was one of nine Baha'is being held in
Iranian prisons. However, all of the others had been arrested in 2005.

Mr. Mahrami is survived by his aged mother, his wife, his four
children, and his grandchildren.

Mr. Mahrami's funeral was held on Friday, 16 December 2005, the same
day that the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution
expressing "serious concern" over the human rights situation in Iran, making
specific mention of the ongoing persecution of the Baha?i community
there. (See http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=413 .)


For more information,
visit
http://www.bahaiworldnews.org.

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE NEEDED TO COUNTER TERRORISM

GROESBEEK, Netherlands, 9 January 2006 (BWNS) --

The challenges that
terrorism throws at governments can only be countered by global
governance deeply grounded in unity, a keynote speaker told the European Baha'i
Conference on Law.

Dr. Wendi Momen said that the challenges to the law that terrorism
poses are not only in the area of balancing safety with human liberty but
in the creation of new law to fit a new system of governance that is
better adapted to the present globalized word.

"While the terrorist fires are burning, states and governments around
the world are struggling with 19th century legal frameworks and notions
of state sovereignty that prevent them from turning on the water hose
-- this has to change, and quickly," Dr. Momen said.

Dr. Momen, who holds a doctorate in international relations from the
London School of Economics, is an editor and author, and the former chair
of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United
Kingdom.

Dr. Momen was delivering the Dr. Aziz Navidi Memorial Lecture, which is
named after a prominent Baha'i lawyer renowned for his courage and
skill in the area of human rights.

The conference, held 1-4 December 2005, attracted participants from
seven countries and was organized by the Law Association of the Tahirih
Institute, an educational institute of the Dutch Baha'i community.

In her address, Dr Momen said new responses are needed at the
international level that enable, and even require, governments to work together,
the strengthening of international bonds, and steps towards an
international federal government.

Among other papers delivered at the conference were: "Consultation in a
Multilateral Setting," by Joachim Monkelbaan; "Human Cloning -- Current
Legal and Ethical Considerations seen from a Baha'i perspective," by
Tinia Tober; "The Ethical Consciousness," by Eltjo Poort; "Some Thoughts
on the Future of Crime and Punishment implied in the Baha'i Writings,"
by Shirin Milani-Ansinger.

Other presentations were made by Dr. Nicola Towfigh, Dr. Frank Dignum,
and Dr. Virginia Dignum.

Workshop topics included "The denial of the right to education for
Baha'is in Iran," "Freedom of Speech," and "Jury versus Judge."


For more information,
visit
http://www.bahaiworldnews.org.

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

EGYPT HEARING HIGHLIGHTS ID CARD DISCRIMINATION FOR BAHA'IS

CAIRO, 23 August 2006 (BWNS) --

The Egyptian government's controversial
policy that requires citizens to list their religion on national
identification cards, while also limiting the choice to one of just
three
official religions, was the focus of a major symposium here in
August.

The event drew considerable attention to the plight of the Baha'is
in
Egypt, who endure discrimination under the policy. It forces them to
either lie about their religion and illegally falsify their
religious
affiliation -- or go without ID cards, which are necessary to access
virtually all rights of citizenship here.

Held on 8 August 2006 by National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), a
state-funded, advisory body to the government on human rights
issues, the
symposium heard testimony from a wide variety of civil society
groups,
official governmental agencies and ministries, as well as the Baha'i
community of Egypt.

"Baha'is face a daily struggle now," said Dr. Basma Moussa, the
Baha'i
representative, explaining that without valid ID cards Baha'is
cannot
register for school, attend university, address questions on
military
service, apply for jobs, process banking transactions, or properly
receive salaries.

Dr. Moussa said both international agreements and Egyptian law,
however, guarantee freedom of religion or belief, and that the
administrative
issues surrounding the ID card limitations could easily be solved by
adopting alternatives, such as leaving the section blank or simply
allowing a fourth choice of "other" in the religion identification
field.

Some 160 people were present at the symposium, representing not only
some 57 civil society and non-governmental organizations, but also
prominent thinkers and various representatives from the government,
including
the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of External Affairs, the
Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, and the Egyptian
Parliament. Eighty participants presented testimony.

The event was introduced by former UN Secretary General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali, who is currently president of the NCHR, and it drew
wide
publicity in Egyptian news media.

"The purpose of the event was basically to put the issue on the
agenda,
and in this sense it was successful," said Hossam Bahgat, director
of
the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an independent
Egyptian human rights organization. "It is a highly symbolic
gesture, and a
positive development."

In April, the issue of religious affiliation on identification cards
became the focus of increasing controversy when an administrative
court
ruled that Baha'is should also be allowed to state their religion on
government documents.

Fundamentalist Islamic groups decried the April ruling, while human
rights organizations praised it. The Supreme Administrative Court is
now
set to hold a hearing on the government's appeal of the Baha'i case
in
September.

At present, government policy allows only the listing of Islam,
Christianity and Judaism, the three officially recognized religions,
on ID
cards and other documents.

The NCHR symposium sought to address this limitation -- and it was
also
marked by an airing of all sides of the issue. Representatives of
fundamentalist Islamic groups urged the government to keep its
current
policy, saying "public order" might be adversely affected if other
religions
were allowed to be listed or the listing was abolished entirely.

Among the concerns expressed by Islamic groups was a fear that any
change would affect various issues relating to marriage, divorce,
and
inheritance, which are governed by each religious community here.

Other groups, including representatives of the Coptic Christians and
various national human rights organizations, urged a change in the
policy, saying the current policy is at odds with international law -
- and
moral conscience -- relating to the freedom of religion or belief.

Dr. Gamal el-Banna, an Islamic thinker and scholar, said for example
that "the case of religious belief is a personal matter, which has
no
connection to public order, and that no one should interfere with it.

"We should be examining the standards of ignorance and prejudice, as
well as the publications that darken our lives," he said, according
to
published accounts. "Omitting religion from ID cards would neither
lead
to progress nor regress."

Dr. Boutros-Ghali, in an opening statement, noted that "the three
major
religions represent less than 50 percent of world religions, but
other
religions account for 51 percent of recognized religions."

"In the upcoming years Egypt will face further conflicts in
religious
relations, and newer religions will require recognition as they
appear,
so we should either approve and recognize all religions or eliminate
religious classification from ID cards," said Dr. Boutros-Ghali,
according to published accounts.

The recent introduction of a computerized card system that locks out
any religious identification other than the three officially
recognized
religions has made the problem worse for Baha'is, who were
previously
able to find clerks who might at least leave the religion field
blank in
old style paper ID cards.

Not only are Baha'is prohibited by their beliefs from lying, but it
is
a crime to provide false information on any official document here.
Thus, unable to morally or legally list one of the three recognized
religions, Baha'is are now prevented from obtaining new cards, and
they are
as a community gradually being deprived of nearly all the rights of
citizenship.

In her presentation of the Baha'i view, Dr. Moussa, an assistant
professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Cairo University,
read six
pages of testimony before the Council.

Her testimony focused on the degree to which international law and
the
Egyptian constitution uphold the right to freedom of religion or
belief. In particular, she said, Articles 40 and 46 of the Egyptian
constitution both grant the freedom of religious practice and
belief, as well as
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which
Egypt
has signed.

In view of these laws, Dr. Moussa said, "it is obvious that limiting
the religions on the ID card to the three [official religions]
interferes
with the freedom of those who believe in religions other than those.

"In these cases, it is as if you are forcing a religion on the ID
card
holder, which is counter to what the law and the constitution state,
and it goes against international human rights."

Dr. Moussa also said there have been cases in other official
documents,
such as birth and death certificates, where Baha'is have been
identified as Baha'is -- or where the field has simply been left
blank. "These
alternatives prove to us that it can be done."

She added that in other countries where Muslims are not in the
majority, "they expect, and rightfully so, that their rights will be
fully
provided for. This, and no more, is what Baha'is are asking for."

"We are asking that, on official papers, you either list 'Baha'i,'
or
'other,' or a 'dash' -- or just leave it blank," said Dr.
Moussa. "This
is actually all that we have asked of governmental agencies over the
last few years."


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--
For more information,
visit
http://www.bahaiworldnews.org.

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

A new report on religious liberty in Iran was released in September 2006 from the United States Department of State "International Religious Freedom" has been released and can found at

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71421.htm

It details persecution and deprivation of the rights of Iranian citizens and among these details the repression of the Baha'i Faith and persecution of Baha'is in that country. The Report enumerates and supports what has been reported previously but has I think some further detail so I am posting this link above for anyone who wants to read more and below is an excerpt of recent persecutions:
Between August 2005 and May 2006, eighty-seven Baha'is were arrested (but only eighty-six were detained). At the end of the period covered by this report, two remained in prison. Most of the others were never formally charged but they were only released after posting bail. For some, bail was deeds of property worth approximately $11,000; others were released in exchange for personal guarantees or work licenses. Some were not allowed to resume working for six months after their detention. There were also reports of attacks on Baha'is by unidentified assailants.

In the first week of August 2005, fourteen Baha'is were arrested from several cities, including Tehran. They were held in incommunicado detention, and there was concern from several sources that they were at risk of torture or ill treatment. During the rest of August and during September, nine more Baha'is were arrested in various cities. On September 17 and 19, three were released on bail. On September 5, four Baha'is were sentenced to ten months of imprisonment for opposition to the government. On the same day, the homes of nine Baha'is were searched in Yazd, and books, computers, tapes, videos, and CDs were confiscated.


On December 19, 2005, the longest imprisoned Baha'i, Zabihullah Mahrami, died in prison of unknown causes. He was arrested in 1995 and convicted of apostasy in 1996. He was forced to engage in hard labor at the penitentiary and regularly received death threats. His family was told he died of a heart attack, but Mahrami was reportedly in good health prior to his death.


On January 15, 2006, three Baha'is from Kermanshah were arrested on charges of "involvement in Baha'i activities and insulting Islam." Their homes and four others were raided the same day and books, documents, and other items were confiscated. On January 16, the Revolutionary Court set property worth more than US$30,000 as collateral for the three Baha'is, and they were released on January 20. On February 5, 2006, three Baha'is from Esfahan were arrested for coordinating Baha'i activities.


On March 18, 2006, Mehran Kawsari was released from jail without bail. He was tried in connection with the November 2004 open letter to then President Khatami that requested the restoration of human rights for the Baha'is and was charged with taking measures against the internal security of the government.


From May 9 to 11 2006, eleven Baha'i homes were raided in Shahinshahr, Najafabad, and Kashan but no arrests were made. On May 19, six Baha'i homes were raided in Shiraz, and notebooks, computers, books, and documents were seized. The homeowners were among the fifty-four Baha'is arrested that day. The individuals were mostly youths engaged in humanitarian service. With permission from the Islamic Council of Shiraz, they were teaching classes to poor children as part of a UNICEF program. On May 24-25, fifty-one out of fifty-four of the detainees were released. As of June 14, the remaining three had been released, initially for collateral payments of $54,600 per person but in the end solely based on personal guarantees.


On June 13 2006, one Baha'i man from Sanandaj was arrested and released on June 29 on unknown terms. There was an unconfirmed report of five more arrests in Shiraz, but no further information is yet available. On June 18, three Baha'is from Hamadan were arrested after government officials confiscated books, computers, and Baha'i documents, but they were released on bail on June 21. No details of the terms of their release were available. On June 21, one Baha'i from Baluchistan province was reportedly abducted, and authorities said they suspected criminal elements were involved. On June 28, one Baha'i was taken into custody and was being held in the Ministry of Information's detention center. This individual was previously arrested and released in August 2005.
___________________________

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

The forms of discrimination and repression of Baha'is in Iran may be less obvious say than outright physical attacks and imprisonment for many... For more Baha'is in Iran the government controls the issueing of workpermits..so you if you are a Baha'i you may not be able to work.. especially in a well paying job.

You are not permitted access to higher education because you must apply under the three or four recognized religions such as Islam, Judaism or Christianity. When Baha'is were denied access to higher education, they organized a system of higher education themselves for Baha'i students but the professors were then jailed and all the materials for education were seized by the government, so this is repression at it's worse.

You cannot work in the civil service. Many Baha'i civil servants were dismissed from their jobs because they were Baha'is and were then charged with paying back for their wages and benefits.

Do not be deceived when someone is released from jail in Iran..
You can be arrested without official cause and rearrested... once released you have to post a bond and provide a property deed worth ten to twenty thousand dollars. Your property can be seized if you are a Baha'i without any legal reason..or with a trrumped up "legal" reason.

The legal system in Iran offers no legal rights or protection to Baha'is, From the recent report from the State Department above:


"The legal system discriminates against religious minorities. In 2004 the Expediency Council approved appending a note to Article 297 of the 1991 Islamic Punishments Act, authorizing collection of equal "blood money" (diyeh) for the death of Muslims and non-Muslims. All women and Baha'i men were excluded from the equalization provisions of the bill. According to law, Baha'i blood is considered Mobah, meaning it can be spilled with impunity. "


Baha'is are charged with spying for Israel. Why? Because the headquarters of the Faith is in Haifa, Israel and communication occurs between the House of Justice and believers ... Baha'is go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land if they can travel and so communications, travel and sending contributions to our Admin istrative Center in Haifa are regarded as spying and collaboration with "Israel".

Baha'i marriage is not recognized in Iran so if a couple are married under Baha'i law they are regarded as being immoral and their children can be removed and placed with Muslim families.

Now this repression has been going on since the Islamic Revolution began over some years so while maybe those arrested are in the hundreds as opposed to thousands the oppression is in less obvious forms ...it is institutional and pervasive in the country and is designed to squeeze and deny access to the benefits of education, jobs and property for thousands and thousands of Baha'is.

- Art

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler