Case No Country Mandate(s) Summary of the allegation transmitted IRN 8/2014 08/05/2014 Iran (Islamic JUA Republic of) Freedom of religion; Iran; Minority issues; Allegations of imminent risk of desecration of an old Bahá’í cemetery in Shiraz, Iran. According to the information received, at the end of April 2014, a land plot in Shiraz, where an old Bahá’í cemetery is located, was turned into a construction site, possibly leading to the destruction of the cemetery. Reportedly, the cemetery is of religious and cultural value for local Bahá’ís, and although it can no longer be used for burials, it remains a site for praying and for paying respect to the memory of the deceased. Numerous requests were made by the local Bahá’í community to spare the parts of the plot of land where the cemetery is located, either through letters or repeated visits to various authorities, to no avail. An administrative order to halt the construction work was issued by the local department on Planning of Town and Public Spaces, but it was ignored and construction work nevertheless began. Concerns are raised at a series of actions by the Iranian authorities, which appear to be motivated by religious discrimination against the Baha’i community through restricting their fundamental human rights to freedom of observance and practice of religion or belief. AZE 3/2014 09/05/2014 Azerbaijan JAL Freedom of expression; Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Human rights defenders; Alleged questioning at the airport and subsequent restriction of movement of two human rights defenders, and ongoing questioning of members of the Azerbaijani Institute for Peace and Democracy (AIPD). According to the information received, Mr. Rauf Mirkadyrov, a journalist working with AIPD, was deported from Turkey on 19 April 2014 and charged with high treason and espionage on 21 April 2014. From 28 to 29 April 2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus, Director of AIPD, and Mr. Arif Yunusov, Head of Conflict Studies of AIPD, were questioned and held at Baku airport, had their passports temporarily confiscated and were prevented from boarding their flight to Doha, Qatar and connecting flight to Brussels, Belgium to attend a human rightsrelated event. After both individuals were released on 29 April 2014, the AIPD was searched, computers and documents were confiscated, and other staff members have since been questioned on a daily basis. No legal grounds have reportedly been provided for any of these actions. Concern is expressed at the harassment of members of AIPD and their families. Ms. Yunus was the subject of an earlier communication sent on 24 August 2011, see A/HRC/19/44, case no. AZE 2/2011. Reply A/HRC/27/72 58 Date Type