The Persecution of Baha’is: an Interactive Timeline

Crossposted on BahaiRights.org

For the past 30 years, followers of the Baha’i Faith in Iran have been lynched, falsely imprisoned, vilified and driven out of their homes. Baha’i children have been deprived of their right to an education, adults have been prevented from earning a livelihood and thousands of families had their properties illegally confiscated by the government.

But the Iranian regime would have us believe that it’s the innocent party in these circumstances. It continues to deny that it harbours any intentions to eradicate the Baha’i community, while employing all possible means to slander and denigrate the memories of its victims. And unfortunately, there are many who believe the Iranian government’s narrative and feel the persecution is justified. And just as alarming, there are many who fail to fully grasp the intensity of the injustices wrought against Baha’is.

In order to confront that, we felt that the best strategy would be to allow the actions of the Iranian government to speak for themselves. We made a resolve that the stories of those who have lost their lives and suffered will not be forgotten.

Several months ago, we began creating a timeline that documents violations that have been perpetrated against Baha’is in the past 30 years, from executions, to arrests, expulsions and desecration. Our aim is for the timeline to function as a living record of the atrocities that have been committed, and a reminder of the heavy toll of silence in the face of grave human rights abuses

To browse through the timeline more conveniently, we encourage you to view it in full screen mode. You can also view the timeline in the form of a list, a flipbook or a map.

Get Involved

Although we strove to be as thorough as possible, we are aware that our timeline is not comprehensive. Many incidents are not reported, or are insufficiently documented, and so we ask you to collaborate with us in completing the timeline. Whether you have a personal story that you wish to add, or wish to provide further details on a recorded incident, submit your account to us and we will be sure to update the timeline accordingly.

We were very meticulous in our research, and worked diligently to verify all accounts on the timeline. The following sources were used in our research:

• Reports by Human Rights Activists in Iran
• Omid: a memorial in defence of human rights
• The International Religious Freedom report
• Annual reprts by the Baha’i International Community
• Iran Press Watch

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