Over the past few years an increasing number of activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens have been arbitrarily detained, sentenced, and even executed. The domestic unrest has been used as a pretext by the Iranian government to commit human rights abuses. Bahá’ís, Iran’s largest religious minority, have come under increased targeting. Seven Bahá’í leaders have been unlawfully detained since May 2008. Since the 1979 Revolution, over 200 Bahá’ís have been executed. Thousands more have been arrested, dismissed from their jobs, or had their possessions and homes confiscated. Bahá’í youth are barred from higher education. Bahá’ís cannot hold government jobs.
The emancipation of the Bahá’ís is also about the emancipation of Iran.
It is about emancipation from hatred, ignorance, and violence.
Please join us for an evening co-sponsored by Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Human Rights and the Bahá’ís of NYC in commemoration of the second year anniversary of the imprisonment of the seven Bahá’í leaders.
Featured Guest Speakers:
Rudi Bakhtiar
Former CNN & Fox News Anchor, Current Communications Director for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
Bani Dugal
Principal Representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations.
Roxana Saberi
Iranian-American Journalist who was recently released from Evin prison where she was prison mates with Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, two of the seven Bahá’í leaders.
Sarah Leah Whitson
Director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division.
Featuring a special presentation by Oscar-nominated Shohreh Aghdashloo and actor, playwright Houshang Touzie, Anthony Azizi (Actor, Lost, 24, Flash Forward), Manoochehr Vahman (Classical Persian Violinist) and an ensemble cast directed by Shidan Majidi (Director, Miss Saigon).
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This event is free & open to the public
Please invite your friends!
