Bahai Library Online

Legal / government documents

  1. Manuchehr Derakhshani, trans. 1867 Petition from Bahá'ís in Shushtar, Iran, to the U.S. Congress, An (2006). A petition sent by Bahá'ís in Persia in 1867 to the US Consulate general, seeking assistance in getting Bahá'u'lláh released from imposed exile. Includes introduction, prepared on behalf of the US NSA.
  2. Activities in Iran in the 1960s: Documents from the US government (1964). State Dept., CIA, and Defense documents regarding activities in Iran in the 1960s.
  3. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Alleged Pro-German activities: Edward C. Getsinger, Case #317323 (1918). Forty pages of FBI files investigating Edward C. Getsinger and possible Bahá'í opposition to the war, or alleged pro-German sentiment. Includes Edward and Lua Getsinger's passport applications.
  4. Case on Conscientious Objection, A (1972). In 1972, a Bahá'í — previously convicted of failing to submit to induction (the draft) — was acquitted on appeal.
  5. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Amnesty International et al. Cases of Dhabihu'llah Mahrami and Musa Talibi, The (1998). In June 1994 and January 1996, two Bahá'ís in Iran were arrested and later sentenced to death for the crime of apostasy from Islam. These 9 documents and articles are about their case.
  6. W. Smith Murray. Consideration of the Bahá'í religion, its Tenets, the Character of its Followers, and the Possibility of its Spread, A (1925). Lengthy report back to the US State Department by Murray, who was then in charge of the U.S. Consulate in Tihran, on the Bahá'ís in the Middle East, the "Imbrie affair," the character of the Bahá'ís, and the possibility of the Faith's spread in Persia.
  7. Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Crimes Against Humanity: The Islamic Republic's Attacks on the Bahá'ís (2008).
  8. Christopher Buck. Criminalizing the Bahá'í Religion (2009). The opposite of freedom of religion is the banning of religion; the Bahá'í community in Iran being a case in point; the pattern of oppression.
  9. Ralph D. Wagner, comp. Green Acre Bahá'í Institute vs. Town of Eliot, Maine (1954). Two court decisions regarding the tax exempt status of the Green Acre Bahá'í School, 1954 and 1963, and notes from a 1997 follow-up.
  10. In re Petition for Naturalization of Parviz Meghnot (1965). In 1965 naturalization was granted to a Bahá'í applicant, overruling a decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service that belief in world government compromised his loyalty to the United States.
  11. Federal Bureau of Investigation. In re. Bahá'í Temple Unity (Alleged German Religious Propaganda): Alfred S. Lunt, Case #304495 (1918). Seven pages of FBI files investigating Alfred S. Lunt and Mirian Sevasly and possible Bahá'í opposition to the war.
  12. Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin. Kirk, Durbin Introduce Resolution Condemning Iran's Continued Persecution of Bahá'í Minority (2013). In recognition of the five-year anniversary of imprisonment of Bahá'í leaders in Iran, senators meet with their family members and friends and introduce a joint resolution calling attention to this persecution.
  13. Permanent Mandates Commission. Minutes of the Fourteenth Session, 1928 (1928). Petition to the League of Nations from the Spiritual Assembly of Baghdad regarding confiscation of property.
  14. Permanent Mandates Commission. Minutes of the Nineteenth Session, 1930 (1930). Half-page summary of the current status of "The Bahai Case," stating that no action has yet been taken.
  15. Permanent Mandates Commission. Minutes of the Sixteenth Session, 1929 (1929). Petition from the Bahai Spiritual Assembly of Baghdad regarding the confiscation of property; measures taken after the Council's decision.
  16. Permanent Mandates Commission. Minutes of the Twentieth Session, 1931 June (1931). Two-page discussion of the status of "The Bahai Case" regarding confiscation of property in Iraq, possible resolutions, and setting up a "special Committee to consider the views expressed by the Bahai community in respect of certain houses in Baghdad."
  17. Permanent Mandates Commission. Minutes of the Twenty-first Session, 1931 October (1931). Report that the League of Nations commission "not yet succeeded in obtaining redress for the Bahai community in respect of the miscarriage of justice of which it was the victim."
  18. Permanent Mandates Commission. Minutes of the Twenty-fourth Session, 1933 (1933). Report on the "Bahai Case" on the confiscation of houses in Baghdad, stating that "that nothing had as yet been done" though the Iraqi government proposed converting the property into a public space.
  19. Permanent Mandates Commission. Minutes of the Twenty-second Session, 1932 (1932). On the confiscation of Bahá'u'lláh's house in Baghdad, "the redress of the miscarriage of justice from which the Bahai Community has been the victim has not been carried into effect" because "no measure had yet been taken by the Iraqi Government."
  20. Ralph D. Wagner, comp. Mostofi vs. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1996 (1996). A "Bahá'í" immigration case, in which an Iranian immigrant sought asylum by falsely claiming affiliation with the Bahá'í Faith.
  21. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States vs. New Mexico Covenant-Breakers (1966). Documents from the lawsuit by the NSA vs. the New Mexico covenant-breaker group "The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States of America Under the Hereditary Guardianship, Inc." for their use of Bahá'í names and titles.
  22. Ministerio de la Presidencia, relaciones con las cortes y memoria democratica. Orden PCM/1065/2023, de 18 de septiembre, por la que se declara el notorio arraigo de la Comunidad Bahá'í de España, a los efectos previstos en la Ley Orgánica 7/1980, de 5 de julio, de Libertad Religiosa (2023). La Comunidad Bahá'í de España solicitó una "declaración de raíces notorias". La Subdirección General de Libertad Religiosa examinó la documentación, concluyendo que los bahá'ís reúnen todos los requisitos necesarios para obtener la declaración.
  23. Petition from the Persian Reformers (1867). A petition sent by Bahá'ís in Baghdad and Shushtar, Iran, in 1867 to the US Consulate general, seeking assistance in getting Bahá'u'lláh released from imposed exile.
  24. Ralph D. Wagner, comp. Recognition of Bahá'í Marriage and Holidays in American State Law (1998). List of sample legal statutes and proceedings from various states, followed by specific legal counsel of the State of Oklahoma regarding recognition of Bahá'í holy days.
  25. United States Department of State. Ralph D. Wagner, comp. References to the Bahá'í Faith in the U.S. State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (1991). Excerpts from the State Department's annual compilation of Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on discrimination against the Bahá'í Faith and persecution of its adherents in twenty countries.
  26. Dalia Maleck. Report on Citizenship Law: Egypt (2021). Section on the Bahá'í minority and statelessness, and al-Azhar's fatwa denouncing Egyptian Bahá'ís as apostates.
  27. W. Smith Murray. Report to the U.S. Secretary of State (1924). A report to the US Secretary of State by W. Smith Murray, who was in charge of the U.S. Consulate in Tihran, on report of the murder of Vice Consel Robert Imbrie in Tihran.
  28. Ralph D. Wagner, comp. Sarhangzadeh vs. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1996 (1996). A "Bahá'í" immigration case, in which an Iranian immigrant sought asylum by falsely claiming affiliation with the Bahá'í Faith.
  29. Seizure of the Ishqabad Temple: Horace Holley Interview with State Department Officials (1939). Brief report of an interview with the secretary of the US National Spiritual Assembly on whether and why the Soviet government had appropriated the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Ashkhabad.
  30. Ralph D. Wagner, comp. Sobhani vs. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1994 (1994). A "Bahá'í" immigration case, in which an Iranian immigrant sought asylum by falsely claiming affiliation with the Bahá'í Faith.
  31. Christopher Buck. Trial of The Yaran ("Friends in Iran"): Six Essays (2009). Six essays by Buck from a legal perspective about the extended imprisonment of seven Bahá'í leaders in Tehran.
  32. Christopher Buck. Trial of the Yaran under Iranian Criminal Procedure: “The Justice of God” or Procedural Injustice?, The: Iranian Islam, not the Yaran, on trial in the court of international opinion (2010). Two essays about legal issues associated with the 2009-2010 trial of the Yaran, the former informal group of leaders of the Bahá'í community of Iran.
  33. UK Government debates and publications on the Bahá'í Faith (1993). Collection of documents and links to many more documents published at parliament.uk containing any mention of the Faith in UK government debates, actions, and publications, mostly regarding persecutions in Iran.
  34. United States National Spiritual Assembly vs. Mirza Ahmad Sohrab (1941). In 1941 the National Spiritual Assembly unsuccessfully sued Covenant Breaker Mirza Ahmad Sohrab for his use of the word "Bahá'í." This is the court's conclusions.
  35. United States Department of State. United States Policies in Support of Religious Freedom: Focus on Christians (1997). The US Department of State report "United States Policies in Support of Religious Freedom: Focus on Christians" includes a few brief mentions of Bahá'ís in Iran; the relevant passages are excerpted here.
  36. WIPO Domain Name Dispute: Case D2001-1302, "bahaiwomen.com" (2001). A legal ruling finding, on behalf of the Bahá'ís, that unauthorized use of the domain bahaiwomen.com is a trademark infringement. Followed by a newspaper article from Newsbytes, "Bahá'í Organization Bests Speculator In Domain Dispute."
  37. WIPO Domain Name Dispute: Case D2005-0214, "uhj.net" (2005). A legal ruling finding, against the Bahá'ís, that covenant breakers are allowed to use the domain uhj.net.
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