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date | event | tags | firsts | |
1985 (In the year) | The persecution of the Bahá'ís of Iran continued throughout the year. [BW19:177–226]
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Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Bahá'í International Community; Human Rights; Iran | ||
1985 (In the year) | A regional office of the Bahá'í International Community affiliated with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) was established in Bangkok. [BW19:161–2] | Bahá'í International Community; Social and economic development; Bangkok, Thailand; Thailand | ||
1985 (In the year) | To support the United Nations International Youth Year Bahá'í communities undertook a variety of activities. [BW19:301–10] | United Nations; International Youth Year; - Worldwide | ||
1985 (In the year) | Annemarie Krüger, who began travelling to Moldavia to teach the Bahá'í Faith in 1974, was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh by the Universal House of Justice, although she never lived in the country. [Candle9 28 July, 2008] | - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Travel Teaching; Moldova | ||
1985 (In the year) | The publication of Bahá'í Focus on Human Rights by Philp Hainsworth. It has been described as the first attempt at an analytic approach by an individual believer to the question of human rights. It was published in London by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust. [Collins p86, 7.1117] | Bahá'í Focus on Human Rights; Philip Hainsworth; London, England; United Kingdom | ||
1985 23 Jan | The plans of the Universal House of Justice for the International Year of Peace were outlined to national spiritual assemblies. [AHW31–4; VV86; Messs63-86p420] | International Year of Peace; Universal House of Justice; Peace; - Worldwide | ||
1985 6 Feb | The passing of Claire Gung (b. 3 November, 1904, Gladbeck, Ruhrgebeit, Germany, d. Kampala, Uganda). She was buried in The National Bahá'í Cemetery of Uganda. [BW19p653-657]
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In Memoriam; - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Claire Gung; Auntie Claire; Eyneddin Alai; Tahirih Alai; Ken Christian; Roberta Christian; Rhodesia; Zimbabwe; Uganda; Tanzania | ||
1985 23 Feb | Forty–one Bahá'ís from various parts of Egypt were arrested, charged with offences against laws introduced in 1960 banning activities of Bahá'í institutions. [BW19:41, 283]
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Persecution, Egypt; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Bans; - Persecution; Egypt | ||
1985 7 March | The passing of Continental Board of Counsellor Lloyd Gardner. [Mess63-68p660]
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In Memoriam | ||
1985 5 – 8 Apr | An International Youth Conference to support the United Nations International Youth Year was held in Bophuthatswana, attended by 198 people. [BW19:300] | Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Youth; - Conferences, International; Youth; International Youth Year; Bophuthatswana, South Africa; South Africa; - Africa | ||
1985 Ridván | The National Spiritual Assembly of Ciskei was formed with its seat in Mdantsane. [BW19:62]
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National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Mdantsane, South Africa | first NSA Ciskei | |
1985 Ridván | The National Spiritual Assembly of the Cook Islands was formed with its seat in Rarotonga. It was formerly in a union with Tonga and so this left the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of Tonga with its seat in The National Spiritual Assembly of Tonga and the Cook Islands was formed with its seat in Nuku'alofa. [BW15:275]. [BW19:62, 168]
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National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Rarotonga, Cook Islands; Cook Islands; Nukualofa, Tonga; Tonga | first NSA Cook Islands; first NSA Tonga | |
1985 Ridván | The National Spiritual Assembly of Mali was formed with its seat in Bamako. [BW19:62, 147]
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National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Bamako, Mali; Mali | first NSA Mali | |
1985 Ridván | The National Spiritual Assembly of the Ivory Coast and Mali was formed in 1977 when Upper Volta formed an independent assembly. Now that Mali had formed its own assembly led the way for the formation of the independent National Spiritual Assembly of the Ivory Coast. [BW19:62, 147]
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National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Cote d'Ivoire | ||
1985 Ridván | The National Spiritual Assembly of the Western Caroline Islands was formed with its seat in Colonia, Yap. [BW19:62, 168]
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National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Colonia, Caroline Islands | first NSA Western Caroline Islands | |
1985 Ridván | The National Spiritual Assembly of the Eastern Caroline Islands was formed with its seat in Pohnpei. [BW19:168] | National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Pohnpei, Caroline Islands | first NSA Eastern Caroline Islands | |
1985 Ridván | The National Spiritual Assembly of Mozambique was formed with its seat in Maputo. [BW19:62, 147]
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National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Maputo, Mozambique; Mozambique | first NSA Mozambique | |
1985 | Number of countries and territories where the Faith has been established: 355 Number of National Spiritual Assemblies: 148 Number of Local Spiritual Assemblies: 29,664 Indigenous tribes, races and ethnic groups represented in the Faith: 2,112 [from a pamphlet, The Bahá'í Faith and its World Community published by the NSA of Canada] |
Statistics | ||
1985 30 Apr - 1 May | The first annual conference of the Association for Bahá'í Studies, Brazil, took place in Saõ Paulo. [BW19:358] | Bahá'í Studies, Associations for; Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Bahá'í studies; - First conferences; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Brazil; Latin America | first annual conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, Brazil | |
1985 May | The Office of Public Information was established at the Bahá'í World Centre. [BBD38; BW19:58–9; VV54]
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Office of Public Information; Haifa, Israel; - Bahá'í World Centre | ||
1985 7 May | The court hearings open on the cases of the Bahá'ís arrested in Egypt in February on charges of disregarding the 1960 ban on Bahá'í activity. [BW,9:285]
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Persecution, Egypt; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Bans; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Court cases; Egypt | ||
1985 Jul | Three Bahá'í youths in Mentawai were imprisoned for having married according to Bahá'í law. [BW19:42] | Persecution, Indonesia; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human Rights; Mentawai Islands; Indonesia | ||
1985 2 Jul | In his report to the UN Human Rights Commission, the special rapporteur on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide Benjamin Whitaker, used the term genocide in connection with the treatment of Bahá'ís by the Islamic Republic. It is believed that it was the first time the word had been applied to this situation in an official context. This assertion, although it was in an official UN report, was not pursued by the United Nations.
Resolution 96 of the UN General Assembly, of December 11, 1946, titled "The Crime of Genocide," describes genocide as the "denial of the right of existence of entire human groups, as homicide is the denial of the right to live of individual human beings." In an article in IranWire of 15 November 2023, author Faramaz Dakar asks, "Is the Islamic Republic Committing a Silent Genocide Against the Bahá'ís?". Q. What groups are the victims of genocide? A. Victims of the crime of genocide fall into four specific groups: ethnic, national, religious and racial. This means that, for example, a political group cannot be considered a victim of genocide based on its legal definition. What is relevant in genocide is the annihilation of a group or a community as a unit and even as a whole. Q. What specific actions constitute genocide? A. Behaviors that constitute the crime of genocide fall into five groups: (1) killing the members of the group; (2) inflicting physical harm that can gradually lead to the loss of life or impose permanent and extensive suffering on a person's life; (3) imposing conditions with the intent of annihilating the target group, such as starvation or cutting access to water, or depriving the members of the group of the means of survival such as seizing and confiscating their residences and businesses which ultimately makes it impossible for them to live that an environment; (4) creating conditions that prevent birth and childbearing or lead to the sterilization of people, and make the birth of a new generation of that religious, ethnic, racial or national group impossible; (5) the forced removal of the children of the target group. Iran is a signatory to the Convention Against Genocide therefore the the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for the systematic persecution of the Baha'is. There is no sign that this government has ever had any intention of doing so and Iranian laws do not address the crime of genocide in any form. [IranWire 15 November 2023 |
Genocide | ||
1985 3 – 7 Jul | An International Youth Conference to support the United Nations International Youth Year was held in Columbus, Ohio, United States attended by more than 3,200 youth from 42 nations. [BW19:300] | Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Youth; - Conferences, International; Youth; International Youth Year; Columbus, OH; Ohio, USA; USA; North America | ||
1985 4 Jul | The publication of the compilation entitled "The Law of Huququ'lláh". [Messages63-86p670, Compilation of CompilationsVol 1 p489] | Huququllah, Basic timeline; Huqúqu'lláh; - Compilations; * Publications; - Bahá'í World Centre | ||
1985 15 – 26 Jul | Ten representatives of the Bahá'í International Community attended the third World Conference on Women to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women and Forum '85 in Nairobi. [BW19:147–8, 412; VV28–9]
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Bahá'í International Community; United Nations; Women; Nairobi, Kenya; Kenya | ||
1985 21 Jul | Prior to this time, some national communities elected their delegates to the National Conventions on the basis of areas that had Local Spiritual Assemblies, while in other larger national communities, delegates were elected on the basis of electoral units in which all adult believers had the vote. From this time forward, all were to use the Electoral Unit system. There would be no change in the number of delegates elected to attend the National Convention.
When establishing the electoral unit basis for the election of delegates, a National Spiritual Assembly should divide the territory under its jurisdiction into electoral units, based on the number of adult Bahá'ís in each area, in such a way that each unit will be responsible for electing preferably one delegate only. Given the wide variety of geography in the Bahá'í world, each National Spiritual Assembly was directed to establish the most effective means for the election of the delegates to its National Convention and for providing for an opportunity for consultation among the electors. "It is the hope of the Universal House of Justice that the implementation of [the electoral unit method of electing delegates to the National Convention] will promote Bahá'í solidarity, broaden the basis of representation at National Conventions and that thereby the work of the Faith in each country will be characterized by greater efficiency and enhanced harmony." [21 July 1985] |
Conventions, National; Elections; - Administration; Electoral unit system; - Bahá'í World Centre | ||
1985 6 – 9 Jul | The European Bahá'í Youth Conference was held in Antwerp, Belgium, in July 1985, and was attended by some 1,450 youth from 45 nations. The youth addressed the European Parliament and the Council of Europe in letters which told of their resolve to put into action the International Youth Year themes of 'Participation, Development and Peace'. The youth spoke of programs in which Bahá'ís were supporting the themes, including human rights education and social and economic development projects. [BW19:301]
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Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Youth; - Conferences, International; Youth; International Youth Year; European Union; Antwerp, Belgium; Belgium; - Europe | ||
1985 Aug | An International Youth Conference to support the United Nations International Youth Year was held in New Delhi, India, attended by more than 550 youth from 24 countries. [BW19:300] | Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Youth; - Conferences, International; Youth; International Youth Year; New Delhi, India; India; - Asia | ||
1985 Aug | An International Youth Conference to support the United Nations International Youth Year was held in Molepolole, Botswana, attended by 119 youth from six countries. [BW19:300]
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Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Youth; - Conferences, International; Youth; International Youth Year; Molepolole, Botswana; Botswana; - Africa | ||
1985 1 – 4 Aug | An International Youth Conference to support the United Nations International Youth Year was held in Port Dickson, Malaysia, attended by 1,300 youth from 15 countries, the largest gathering of Bahá'ís ever held in Malaysia. [BW19:301] | Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Youth; - Conferences, International; Youth; International Youth Year; Port Dickson, Malaysia; Malaysia; - Asia | ||
1985 2 – 5 Aug | An International Youth Conference to support the United Nations International Youth Year was held in Lima, Peru, attended by 500 youth from 18 countries and representing four native tribes. [BW19:300]<
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Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Youth; - Conferences, International; - Conferences, International; - Conferences, International; Youth; International Youth Year; Lima, Peru; Peru; Latin America | ||
1985 8 – 11 Aug | An International Youth Conference to support the United Nations International Youth Year was held in Kauai, Hawaii, attended by 300 youth from nine Pacific countries. [BW19:301]
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Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Youth; - Conferences, International; - Conferences, International; Youth; International Youth Year; Kauai, HI; Hawaii, USA; Oceania | ||
1985 9 Aug | The publication of the compilation entitled "Peace" prepared from the Bahá'í writings and the letters of the House of Justice by the Research Department. [Messages63-86p679-680, Compilation of CompilationsVol 2 p151]
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Peace; World peace; - Compilations; * Publications; - Bahá'í World Centre | ||
1985 28 or 31 Aug | Mr Rahmatu'lláh Vujdani, a 57 year old teacher, was executed by firing squad in Bandar 'Abbas. He was an elected member of the Local Spiritual Assembly. [Iranian.com] | Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Bandar Abbas, Iran; Iran | ||
1985 Sep | The first Bahá'í Studies conference in Hawaii took place at the national Bahá'í centre. [BW19:360] | Bahá'í studies; Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Other; - First conferences; Hawaii, USA | first Bahá’í Studies conference in Hawaii | |
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