YEMEN GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS HOUTHI TRIAL OF 100 PERSECUTED BAHAI MINORITY
▶ Iran-backed rebels may be trying to hinder UN prisoner exchange with trial that convicts 24 who may face death
Yemen’s government and community condemned a Houthi trial that convicted 24 members of a persecuted religious minority, who could now face the death penalty.
They were among 131 Bahais, including six prominent members held by the rebels, who were put on trial on charges the group says are false.
The Houthis accelerated the process against the Bahais with a surprise hearing on New Year’s Day.
The rebel group also held an unexpected appeal hearing on Tuesday to discuss the case of Hamed bin Haydara, a prominent Bahai leader, who has been sentenced to death.
“The abrupt hearing was held on Tuesday under pressure from the rebels in Sanaa to hinder the UN prisoner exchange deal,” Abdullah Al Olofi, a Bahai spokesman in Sanaa, told
The National. “It was held without any prior notice for Mr Haydara and his lawyer.”
UN Human rights officials called for the Houthis to overturn
The violence cannot wipe out any movement or minority ABDULLAH AL OLOFI Bahai spokesman in Sanaa
the death sentence handed in January last year to Mr Haydara, who was arrested shortly after the rebel group took over Sanaa.
The Bahai community say he is in poor health.
The internationally recognised government of Yemen included the names of the 131 Bahais on a list presented as part of a prisoner exchange deal agreed to at UN-led talks in Sweden last month, but the Houthis have yet to respond despite approving hundreds of other releases.
Each side submitted 8,000 names of people they believe are detained, dead or missing, for the other side to locate, release or clarify details of.
“The rebels say the Bahais detained are criminals, but such claims are absolutely untrue,” Mr Al Olofi said. “Their cases are based on religious discrimination.”
Violence against the minority group has become more common over the past three years, with the UN and the British government calling for a halt to the persecution.
“The Houthis think that if they execute two or three Bahais then Bahaism will disappear, but that won’t happen,” Mr Al Olofi said. “The violence cannot wipe out any movement or minority.
“We hope that the Houthis listen to the international community. I believe that there are some Houthi leaders who are wise but our problem is with the Houthi groups that are linked to Iran.
“No victory will be achieved unless it be a victory for humanity, not for weapons and rockets. Without social justice, freedom, diversity and paying respect for human rights, the country will not live in peace.”
Yemen’s Ministry of Human Rights has issued several statements urging the international community to stop the militias from abducting or arresting Bahais.
They called instead for the release of members of the group as well as all other detainees, Yemen’s Deputy Human Rights Minister Majed Fadhil told The National.
“The militias have tortured over 1,000 detainees, out of them 131 Bahais, even though Yemen has ratified the International Convention against Torture and the Conviction on the Non-Application of Statutory Limitations to War Crime and Crimes Against Humanity,” Mr Fadhil said.
“The Houthis are an extremist terrorist group that does not believe in co-existence. They threaten social peace and human rights and pay no attention to the calls that are being made against their violations of international laws,” he said.
“We reiterate our call to the international community and the five members of the UN Security Council to exercise their duties, in light of the prisoner exchange agreement, to press for the release of all prisoners and detainees.”
Nearly 2,000 Bahais live in Yemen, with most of them based in Houthi-held Sanaa. Prior to the rebel coup in 2014, the vulnerable community co-existed in peace with other sections of Yemen’s society.
Before the coup, the rebels launched a campaign against the Bahais and accused them of espionage.
The Bahai religion is opposed by Houthi backers in Tehran and while Iran grants freedom of religion to several minorities, it targets the Bahais, who believe in unity among religions and equality between men and women.
The group, seen as the most persecuted religious minority in the world, prides itself on being a universal religion that embraces kindness and peace.