"'Abdu'l-Baha had expressed His wish regarding where He should be buried," explains Mr. Amanat, a distinguished Iranian-Canadian architect. "He had said to an early believer that if something should happen to Him and He should pass away, 'Abdu'l-Baha wanted to be buried under the sands between Haifa and Akka, which He described as the pathway trodden by the loved ones and the pilgrims." [BWNS1353]

The Special Rapporteur's letter also discussed the restrictions on the construction of a Bahá'í cemetery on land that was granted by the Municipality of Doha. This cemetery has been an ongoing issue since 2009, when authorities broke into the cemetery, exhumed the remains, and relocated them on the instructions of the Doha Municipality. This caused many families emotional stress and has led to the inability to identify some remains. Later that year, the Minister of the Municipality did eventually apologize and stated that new land would be allocated. In 2010 and 2015 new locations were identified and budgets were allocated, however despite regular follow up from the Bahá'í community, there has been no construction and no progress made.

Additionally, the Allegation Letter addressed the difficulties the Bahá'í community faces in upholding their personal legal status. Qatari authorities do not recognize Bahá'í documents like marriage licenses, divorces, or inheritance papers unless they have been attested to or obtained abroad. This requires extensive and expensive travel that delays and complicates legal obligations. An attempt has been made by the Bahá'í community to have the Ministry of Justice accept and authenticate Bahá'í documents, however the Minister has not decided on the matter.

The government of Qatar did not respond to the Special Rapporteur's letter. [ Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain website]

• Plenary session recordings of past sessions are available for free streaming and downloading on the ABS Vimeo page.
• Photos.

• He enrolled in the Faith in 1960 while a resident of Saskatoon. [CBN No 124 May 1960 p6]
• He served as an Auxiliary Board member and then as a Continental Counsellor followed by a decade as a member of the International Teaching Centre and upon returning to Canada, served on the National Spiritual Assembly. [BWNS1323; Wikipedia.]
• As an accomplished artist, he was known as "Otto Rogers". He taught at the University of Saskatchewan (1959-1988) after receiving his MA in Fine Art from the University of Wisconsin. Mr Rogers helped sustain the Emma Lake Workshops, a meeting place for some of North America's leading artists including Barnett Newman, Jules Olitski and Mr Rogers himself. His work was held in more than 30 public collections including: the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
• His website.
• His works at the Oeno Gallery in Prince Edward County.
• Canadian Art.
• Video The Artist In Us Interview—Painter Otto Rogers.
• A talk by Otto Rogers entitled Artist's Studio.
• The Canadian Encylopedia.
• The National Gallery of Canada.

His publications:

• Otto Donald Rogers.
• The 27th Hasan M. Balyuzi Memorial Lecture The Artist and the Grammarian.

A publications about his work.

• "Otto Donald Rogers" by the Buchslen Mowat Gallery.
• See a trailer for a video called Approach to a Sacred Space made by 9starmedia.

• Bani Dugal: "The Equality of Women and Men: Divine Imperative for an Age of Transition."
• Hugh Locke: "Half the Sky, Half the Land: The Role of Women Farmers in Transforming Agriculture,"
• Payam Akhavan: "Equality and Justice, Global Perspectives" and "Countering War, Hate, and Violence Assembly."
• Emily Wright: "Making Interreligious Chaplaincy Education Meaningfully Inclusive" and "A New Cup of Grace—A Ukulele Opera
• Hooshmand Badee: "Interfaith Peacemaking Perspectives from Across the World."
• Nader Saiedi: Presenting the new documentary film The Gate: Dawn of the Bahá'í Faith.
• Paul Hanley: "Man of the Trees: Richard St. Barbe Baker, the First Global Environmentalist."
• JoAnn Borovicka: "Amazing Faiths! An Interactive Workshop on Interfaith Dialogue."
• Robert Atkinson: "New Thoughts in Interfaith Spirituality."
• Robert Stockman: "The Characteristics of Bahá'í Interfaith Dialogue."
• Candace Hill: "From Shiraz to Chicago: Bahá'í Women of the East and the West"
• Edward Price: "The Divine Curriculum: Understanding the Báb, Divine Educator for the Modern Era."
• Sovaida Maani Ewing: "Achieving World Peace: Bahá'í and Catholic Teachings."
• Jean Muza: "Bahá'í Civic Engagement: How to Maneuver in America's Divisive Political Landscape."
• Robert Atkinson: "The Golden Rule as the Basis for a Global Justice System: An Interfaith Perspective with a Call to Action."
• Edward Price: "The Divine Curriculum Concept as a Framework for Interfaith Inclusion and Love." [CBN-Preparation; CBN-Inclusion; CBN-Films]

During the conference the Hindu Swami Agnivesh said that instead of spending trillions of dollars on the war system, the peoples of the world need to unite and create a world parliament based on an Earth Constitution. He said that "without a world government, we cannot solve our major world problems." [History News Network 13 Feb 2022]

Richard St. Barbe Baker was an inspirational visionary and pioneering environmentalist who is credited with saving and planting billions of trees. He saved lives, too, through his ceaseless global campaign to raise the alarm about deforestation and desertification and by finding effective, culturally sensitive ways for people to contribute to a more peaceful and greener world. He was also an Edwardian eccentric whose obsession with trees caused him to neglect his family; the devout son of an evangelical preacher who became a New Age hero; an unapologetic colonial officer fired for defending indigenous Africans; a forester who rarely had a steady income; a failed entrepreneur and inventor; a proud soldier and peace activist; a brilliant writer, speaker, and raconteur who made wild claims about the effectiveness of his conservation efforts. His encounters with historical figures like FDR, Nehru, and George Bernard Shaw are eye-popping, as were his accomplishments.

The films can be downloaded using the link below:
Nurturing younger generations
Exploring the empowerment of junior youth
Communities learning to advance together

She was considered the "Mother of Persian Textbooks" [Iran Wire 10 April 2013]

Part 1: Baha'u'llah's arrival in the Holy Land [BWNS 1281]

Part 2: Out of exile, a light to the world [BWNS 1282]

Part 3: Out of exile, a light to the world [BWNS1284]

On 29 August 2018, Sotoudeh began a hunger strike to protest her detention and government harassment of her family and friends.

On 11 March 2019 Nasrin Sotoudeh was sentenced in two different trials to 38.5 years in prison and 148 lashes and was denied access to a copy of the verdict against her. She was only permitted to see the text of the sentence and to note the charges of which she was convicted. One of the charges against her was "membership in an illegal group", referring to her membership of Legam, a campaign to abolish the death penalty in Iran. According to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, and given the high number of charges against her, only the most severe punishment will be enforced. However, given the high number of charges against her, it is unclear how much of the sentence she will have to serve. [Front Line Defenders]

On 27 July 2020, her husband, Reza Khandan, reported that his wife's bank accounts had been blocked by the Tehran Prosecutor's Office. Reza Khandan believed this to be the beginning of the seizure of the family's assets.

On 10 August 2020, Nasrin Sotoudeh began a hunger strike to protest the continued imprisonment of human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience in Iran. In a letter outlining her reasons, she highlighted that COVID-19 has only served to exacerbate the already poor conditions for prisoners in Iran. In September she was hospitalised after her physical condition worsened following weeks of hunger strike. Her strike ended in late September after 46 days.

On October 20, Sotoudeh was transferred from Evin Prison in Tehran to Qarchak, a women's prison outside the city that has been blacklisted under United Nations human rights sanctions.

7 November 2020. Sotoudeh was temporarily released from prison after concerns mounted over her deteriorating health. Her temporary release came weeks after she was moved to intensive care in a hospital in Tehran following a lengthy hunger strike. [Al Jazeera]

2 December 2020: Nasrin Sotoudeh was returned to Qarchak prison despite the fact that medical experts recommended the extension of her medical leave for a further two weeks. [Al Jazeera]

Queen's University conferred an honorary doctorate of Law. Accepting it on her behalf was Irwin Cotler, Sotoudeh's international legal counsel and former Minister of Justice of Canada. [Queen's Gazeette 23 January 2021]

The BIC prepared a statement for the Commission calling for a profound shift in thinking. Referring to the Commission's aim of "eradicating poverty to achieve sustainable development for all," the statement explains that it "is not simply a matter of expanding access to material resources, challenging as that can be. Rather, it is an endeavor of structural and social transformation on scales never attempted before. And the magnitude of that work calls for new ways of understanding individual human beings and society as a whole."

The statement, Towards a Just Economic Order: Conceptual Foundations and Moral Prerequisites was made available on the BIC website.

Although most of the documents on this website are related to the decades following the Islamic revolution in 1979, there are many that date back a long time prior to the revolution. They cover a wide range of persecutions, including systematic discrimination, arrest and imprisonment, execution, economic oppression, exclusion from education, acts of destruction and violence, and incitement to hatred. Over time, the archive will contain thousands of documents, mostly text documents, but also audio and visual records, many of which were being made publicly available for the first time.

One can subscribe to receive an email with weekly updates.

On the 9th of May 2023 the Universal House of Justice wrote to all National Assemblies announcing that this resource had been made available. iiiii

1. India 2,011,510
2. USA 543,635
3. Kenya 448,148
4. Vietnam 412,130
5. Democratic Republic of the Congo 299,890
6. Philippines 291,573
7. Iran 266,194
8. Zambia 255,578
9. South Africa 252,843
10. Bolivia 228,280

    ["Truth of Life" channel on YouTube]

"...he poured out his life in uninterrupted service to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, as a teacher, pioneer, and member of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Germany (1963-1969) and Finland (1977-1980), the Continental Board of Counsellors in Europe, (1980-1988) the International Teaching Centre (1988-2003) and, ultimately, of the Universal House of Justice (2003-2008)." [BWNS1228]

• See BWNS1047 for information on the reforestation project in the vicinity of the Temple.

From the time of the setting of the sun on October 21st in Kiribati, an island republic in the Central Pacific just west of the International Date Line, until sunset in Hawaii on the 22nd of October, 72 hours later, celebrations were held in thousands of localities throughout the world commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh.

Coverage on the bicentenary website began soon after 8:00 GMT on 20 October and concluded at 4:00 GMT on 23 October documenting some of the thousands of celebrations. [BWNS1201, BWNS1203, BWNS1205, BWNS1206, BWNS1207, BWNS1208, BWNS1209, BWNS1210, BWNS1211, BWNS1221, BWNS1213, BWNS1214, BWNS1216, BWNS1218]

See also the message of 2014 to the Bahá'ís of Iran on the subject of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, prayer, and devotional meetings.

The initiative was launched in June of 2017 at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway in a first-of-its-kind summit of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist religious leaders, climate scientists, rainforest experts and indigenous peoples' representatives from Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Meso-America and Peru.

• The film Changing the World, One Wall at a Time.

Robert Weinberg's detailed research has yielded a fascinating insight into the life of Lady Blomfield, her family and her circle, and into the life of Àbdu'l-Bahá as it touched the lives of the British Bahá'ís. Punctuated by glimpses into London society and the rapidly developing Bahá'í community, Weinberg's book provides compelling grounds for Lady Blomfield's inclusion in the 'galaxy of unforgettable women' who 'became the principal exponents of the Bahá'í message on both sides of the Atlantic'.

Statistical research on documented reports available on the website "House of Anti-Baha'i Documents" shows that after the Iranian Revolution, 158 Baha'is have been executed by firing squads or hanged on court orders. Twelve individuals have lost their lives in prison due after being tortured. Another 16 individuals disappeared after being threatened by members of the religious establishment or government agents, and 39 individuals were killed with the support of religious and political government entities.

Referred to as "the Bristol Commitments", contributions from the various religious groups were presented and discussed at a two-day event, titled "Faith in the Future", in Bristol, UK. The event was co-hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC).

Daniel Perell, a representative of the BIC to the UN, spoke about the transformational power of religion, which can tap human motivation at the deepest levels. [BWNS 1067]

"Báb introduced the calendar and its broad pattern of periods and cycles, months and days. Bahá'u'lláh provided essential clarifications and additions. Aspects were elucidated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and arrangements for its adoption in the West were put in place at the direction of Shoghi Effendi, as described in the volumes of The Bahá'í World. Still, ambiguities surrounding some Islamic and Gregorian dates, as well as difficulties in the correlation of historical observances and astronomical events with explicit statements in the Text, left certain issues unresolved. When responding to questions concerning the calendar, both 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi left these matters to the Universal House of Justice. Of its many features, three required clarification for the calendar's uniform application: the means for the determination of Naw-Rúz, the accommodation of the lunar character of the Twin Holy Birthdays within the solar year, and the fixing of the dates of the Holy Days within the Badí' calendar." [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 10 July, 2014] (notes below extracted from the message)

The Festival of Naw-Rúz: The birthplace of the Abhá Beauty, will be the spot on the earth that will serve as the standard for determining, by means of astronomical computations from reliable sources, the moment of the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere and thereby the day of Naw-Rúz for the Bahá'í world.

The Festivals of the Twin Birthdays: They will now be observed on the first and the second day following the occurrence of the eighth new moon after Naw-Rúz. This will result in the observance of the Twin Birthdays moving, year to year, within the months of Mashíyyat, 'Ilm, and Qudrat of the Badí' calendar, or from mid-October to mid-November according to the Gregorian calendar.

The dates of the Holy Days are: Naw-Rúz, 1 Bahá; the Festival of Riḍván, 13 Jalál to 5 Jamál; the Declaration of the Báb, 8 'Aẓamat; the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, 13 'Aẓamat; the Martyrdom of the Báb, 17 Raḥmat; the Day of the Covenant, 4 Qawl; and the Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 6 Qawl. These dates have been fixed within the solar calendar in accordance with explicit statements of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi. [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 10 July, 2014]

The Specialized Criminal Prosecution of Yemen indicted Mr. Hamid Kamali (also known as Hamed Kamal bin-Haydara) for "compromising the independence of the Republic of Yemen", reportedly in relation to his work for the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'ís based in Israel. Mr. Kamali was also accused of spreading the Bahá'í faith in the Republic of Yemen.

On 8 March 2015, at his first hearing, Mr. Kamali denied all charges against him and his case was adjourned to 4 April 2015, and subsequently to 8 November 2015. At that hearing, the judge allegedly rejected evidence of torture that Mr. Kamali had been subjected to while he was under the jurisdiction of the National Security Agency. However, following the request of his lawyer, Mr. Kamali was released on bail on medical grounds.

On 12 February 2016, Mr. Kamali appeared in a closed hearing where the General Prosecutor pursued the maximum punishment for the charges brought against him, namely execution and asset forfeiture. The next court hearing was set for 3 April 2016. [OHCHR Report]