June 12 marks International Shia Day, a day dedicated to recognizing hardships Shia Muslims as a minority group face.

Shia Muslims, including Zaydis, Ismailis, and Twelvers make up half of the world Muslim population. Yet, despite their vast existence, they have one of the highest rates of discrimination and violent targeting worldwide.

Shia Muslims are subjected to discrimination, imprisonment, and even execution for practicing their beliefs by not just terror groups, but also by governments who have systematized anti-Shiism within their domestic and foreign policies.

Violence against Shia Muslims does not differentiate victims by age, gender, location, or socioeconomic status. In 2020, sentiments of Shia Muslims led to the massacre of newborns pregnant women in Kabul, Afghanistan, leaving a scene so horrific that Médecins Sans Frontières’ head of programs in Afghanistan, Frederic Bonnot said, “It’s shocking. We know this area has suffered attacks in the past, but no one could believe they would attack a maternity ward. They came to kill the mothers.”

The year 2020 showed the world that agents of Anti-Shiism not only ostracize Shia Muslim existence, they also disfavor humanitarian actions post-violence. This was most recently seen in the death of 19-year-old Aya Hachem and the stark withdrawal of donations to help her family after she was identified as Shia Muslim.

In 2019, an approximate 3,540 incidents of imprisonment, denaturalization, injury, loss of life, life-sentences, kidnapping, denial of services, arrests, and property damage targeting Shia Muslims were reported by Shia Rights Watch. The organization noted that this number is just the tip of the iceberg as the majority of Anti-Shia violence is not reported in fear of persecution.

Not only do people not report violence, they actively withhold their religious identity.

This International Shia Day, Shia Rights Watch calls on all individuals to stand proud in support of individual rights to exist. We all have the right to express our identities without the fear of being targeted. The right to Be is regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status, and 2020 is the year to stand up for our brothers and sisters in humanity.

No longer can discrimination be justified. No longer can Anti-Shiism be vindicated. We will stand together.

We challenge you to open your hearts and see that even though the world seems to grow darker, there still exist 612 reasons to flare brightly against it, together.

• Tweeting with the hashtag #IntShiaDay
• Like and share us on Facebook and Twitter
• Learn more about International Shia Day by visiting the website here

We invite you to prioritize your humanitarian values and encourage international collaborations that would increase peaceful coexistence and promote the rights of minorities all over the world.

Together we can save lives.

To shine a familiar light upon the injustices committed against Shia minority throughout the globe, we’d love for you to come visit us in the National Park this Shia Rights Day, June 12th at noon as we share a way to continue to look towards the sun. Sunglasses will be given out alongside a poem or two to allow you to see through the eyes of two cultures separated by a world of difference, but brought together through a universal experience.

As our climate grows ever more hostile and the tension in the air becomes nearly palpable, we must find reasons to stand in solidarity through our similarities rather than continue to clash opposed on the basis of difference. The Shia Rights Watch and its constituents acknowledge this and carry it in their hearts as they look towards the horizon of a brighter tomorrow, a vision we now invite all to share.

We challenge you to open your hearts and see that even though the world seems to grow darker, there still exist 612 reasons to flare brightly against it, together.

• Tweeting with the hashtag #IntShiaDay
• Like and share us on Facebook and Twitter
• Learn more about International Shia Day by visiting the website here

We invite you to prioritize your humanitarian values and encourage international collaborations that would increase peaceful coexistence and promote the rights of minorities all over the world.

Together we can save lives.

As the world feels even more unstable for many, including Shia, fear for future raises too. However these hard times transforms ordinary people to strong advocates who use their voice to stand up for others. Shia Rights Watch volunteers, advocates and staff are proud to be part of such transformation as we invite more people to join our cause to defend Shia on International Shia Day.

This year, Shia Rights Watch (SRW) is launching a five-step campaign themed “Plant the Seeds of Humanity.” Please join us in our campaign to spread awareness and tolerance towards minority groups around the world.

These five steps are designed to teach, encourage and help you take action against anti-Shiism. Five steps Info-graphs can be accessed through www.InternationalShiaDay.com and social media.

2017 campaign includes a five-step process towards achieving awareness and tolerance. As the countdown to International Shia Day begins, SRW will be releasing one step each day. We encourage you to get involved and follow our progress as we work towards a global understanding and awareness about Shia Muslims. Ways to get involved with the campaign include:

• Tweeting with the hashtag #612ShiaDay
• Like and share us on Facebook and Twitter
• Learn more about International Shia Day by visiting the website here

We invite you to prioritize your humanitarian values and encourage international collaborations that would increase peaceful coexistence and promote the rights of minorities all over the world.

Together we can save lives.

This year International Shia day is to honor Nigerian Shia Muslims.  

In December 2015, Nigerian security forces violently stripped the existing Shia community of their basic right to practice their belief system. As it was reported and investigated by Shia Rights Watch and all other human rights NGOs, local forces attacked Shia Muslims during a 48 hour window.  The military crackdown of the local Shia religious center left not only the center in ruins, but also lead to the injury and death of more than 400 men, women and children. Local activist report the death of over 1000 people in the next 48 hours and stated many more disappeared since the attack.  Atrocious dehumanization of the Nigerian army did not cease with the life of those killed, but was furthered as the bodies of those slain were taken and disposed of in a mass grave, some of which was discovered months later.  Families of the deceased were not given the opportunity to see their loved ones, bury them or even know where their graves were located. Families remain grieved by the knowledge that their loved ones were not buried according to their Islamic laws of burial.   During the same attack, Shia scholars such as Sheikh Zakzaky, whose three sons were killed in clashes between the army and pilgrims in a religious procession in 2013, were arrested.  The army also detained more than 200 of his followers after the clashes of 2015.

Moreover, residents of the city say bulldozers demolished leaders’ residences, a Shia shrine, a prayer hall, clinic, and cemetery. Witnesses also reported that the soldiers broke down the door of a room where people were receiving medical treatment, killed everyone in the room and then set some of the bodies on fire.

The 2015 International Day of Shia Rights was the first annual Shia Rights Day hosted by Shia Rights Watch. The campaign had three different parts, one strictly local, one national, and one global so that it could reach people from all over the world. The rose for a rose campaign was local and consisted of several volunteers handing out 550 roses for two days near the Farragut North and DuPont Circle metro stops in Washington, D.C. Each rose was symbolic of one of the 550 imprisoned Bahraini Shia youth. Although roses were only given locally, many people tweeted it or shared their roses on other internet platforms making the campaign known to a much wider audience than just the people who received the roses. The legislative campaign, which was national called for people to contact their local congressmen or congresswomen to show their support for legislation dealing with religious minority freedom and rights. There was no way to tell how successful the legislative campaign was. Finally, the social media campaign in which people across the world were encouraged to discuss human and religious rights for minorities via the hashtag #612ShiaDay reached across the globe gaining internet traction even in the Middle East. The hashtag became viral during this period. Each part of the campaign helped to ensure that people across the globe could take part in International Shia Day in some way, shape or form.

The 2015 International Day for Shia Rights had three different campaigns…

• 1. Social Media Campaign: Using the hashtag #612ShiaDay participants were encouraged to reach out and engage in a discussion regarding minority rights and human rights violations around the world.

• 2. ‘Rose for a Rose Campaign’: Over the course of two days volunteers handed out 1100 roses, 550 each day, as a metaphorical representation of the 550 imprisoned youth in Bahrain.