Rights groups call on Houthis to stop persecution of Bahai in Yemen
▶ Since taking control of Sanaa, Iran-backed rebels have singled out this religious minority
Rights groups spoke out after a Houthi-controlled Yemen court prosecuted 24 Bahai, accusing them of atheism and spying for Israel and the United States.
The Specialised Criminal Court in Sanaa began proceedings on Saturday against members of the religious minority, including nine women, Bahai spokesman in Sanaa, Abdullah Al Oulofy, said.
The religion originated in Iran in the 19th century and advocates universal peace under one God. There are six million Bahai worldwide, 2,000 of whom are in Yemen.
Since the Houthis seized Yemen’s capital in 2014, the rebels have persecuted the Bahai.
“We have been living in our country for thousands of years. While more than four presidents ruled it, no one discriminated [against] us or caused any trouble for us,” Mr Al Oulofy said. “We were practising our own beliefs freely and we had our own headquarters and foundations under the time of the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.”
In 2016, six Bahai, including activist Waleed Ayash, were detained. “We still don’t know about their whereabouts,” Mr Al Oulofy said.
Bahai leader Hamed Haydara was sentenced to death in January by the Sanaa court on unsubstantiated charges of communicating with Israel.
In March, Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al Houthi urged the rebels to attack the Bahai, calling them “a devilish plant sowed by Israel”.
Mr Al Oulofy said: “The situation of the Bahai minority in Sanaa has been aggravated this year. Families of the minority have been prosecuted and the prosecutions began to include the Bahai women.”
One Bahai follower told The
National the community was keeping a low profile.
“All types of discrimination are being practised against us. They chase us wherever we go and they place spies to keep eyes on our moves.”
Many Bahai families left Yemen and hundreds of others fled Sanaa to the south.
Amnesty International called for an end to the prosecutions.
“Houthi authorities must end their persecution of the Bahai community and respect their right to freedom of religion – a right that is enshrined in Yemen’s constitution and international law,” Amnesty’s Yemen researcher Rasha Mohamed said.
The United States expressed concern about the harassment and detention of Bahai.
In March, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: “The Houthis have targeted the Bahai community in inflammatory speech along with a wave of detentions, ‘court summons’ and punishment without a fair or transparent legal process.”