Baha’is Currently Imprisoned in Iran

Baha’is throughout Iran are routinely arrested and interrogated by government officials. This list is only the published and known names of those arrested.

Baha’i Leaders Remain Unjustly Detained After One Year

(14 May 2009) Seven Baha’i leaders detained in Evin prison, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm, should be immediately and unconditionally released, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. Six members of the group were arrested one year ago today; Mahvash Sabet was arrested on 5 March 2008.

“The illegal and unjust detention of these seven Baha’i leaders, which again shows a policy of oppressing a religious minority, must be brought to an end,” said Aaron Rhodes, spokesperson for the Campaign.

Baha’i Community in Peril

(17 February 2009) Attacks on the Baha’i community in Iran have reached alarming levels, including semi-official calls for its “utter destruction,” the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The Campaign called on the Iranian government to immediately cease its increasingly violent threats against the members of the Baha’i Faith, and to release members of the Baha’i Faith who are being held without charge. The Campaign also called on the international community to strongly condemn the Iranian government’s escalating persecution of the Baha’i religious minority.

The government has intensified its attacks on the members of the Baha’i Faith during the past year. There are currently at least 30 Baha’is in detention throughout the country.

Aziz Samandari

was arrested the morning of 14 January 2009 in his home in Tehran by Intelligence Ministry officials. He is being held incommunicado in Evin Prison.

Raids and Arrests of Baha’is Reach Critical Levels

(22 January 2009) – The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran expressed grave concern for the situation of Iran’s largest religious minority group today. Members of the Baha’i Faith have been targeted with alarming frequency in recent months with 36 Baha’is currently under arrest in Iranian prisons.

“The continued targeting of members of the Baha’i community is indicative of the larger goal of suppressing individual human rights by the Iranian government. All Baha’is detained and arrested, have committed no crime whatsoever,” said Hadi Ghaemi, Campaign spokesperson.

Release Baha’is Detained in Mazandaran

(12 December 2008) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran expressed serious concern today about the recent detentions of three Baha’is in the province of Mazandaran and called on Iranian authorities to account for them.

Detainees Denied Basic Rights

(6 August 2008) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran strongly condemned violations of due process in judicial proceedings against several Baha’is, doctors and students who have been held in incommunicadodetention for months and recently charged with security crimes. The Campaign also expressed its serious concerns for the immediate health and safety of detainees.

On 2 August 2008, the deputy general prosecutor of Tehran, Hasan Hadad, told the Iranian Students News Agency that the detained students, two physicians, and seven Baha’i leaders are held in relation to security charges. He accused the seven Baha’i detainees of “connections with Israel,” the two AIDS physicians of “recruiting individuals to attend conferences abroad with the aim of overthrowing the system,” and the two student leaders of “communications with counter-revolutionary groups abroad.”

Entire Baha’i Leadership in Iran Detained Without Charge

(16 May 2008) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran is calling on Iranian judicial authorities to account, in terms of Iranian and international law, for the detention on 14 May 2008 of six leading members of the Baha’i Faith, who have been taken to Evin prison.