Eman Homaid, chairperson of INSAF Center for Defending Freedoms & Minorities, stated that: “The failure to release the Baha’i detainees, Hamid bin Haydara and the other five along with him since the Houthis announced the release and amnesty of all Baha’is, is cause for concern. Thirty-seven days have passed since then yet they are still in prison. We fear that the parties that fabricated the accusations and slander against the Baha’is and had then unjustly arrested for years because of their faith and issued unfair rulings against them and seized their money and property are behind the obstruction of their release orders and are preventing any steps taken to end their suffering.”
The head of the Houthi High Political Council – Mahdi Al-Mashat – in a televised speech broadcast on Al-Masirah channel on March 25, announced the decision to pardon Hamid bin Haydara and to release him along with all of the Baha’i prisoners without conditions, and directed the competent authorities to work on implementing the decision. Accordingly, people in Yemen and the international community welcomed this decision, and considered it a positive step leading towards an end to the suffering of members of the Baha’i minority in Yemen. However, the competent authorities that are under the control of the Houthis up until the date of this statement, refuse – without any justification – to implement the release of the Baha’is.
Miss Homaid stated that: “The refusal of the competent authorities to implement the release of Hamid bin Haydara along with the five other Baha’i detainees in the Security and Intelligence Services, is a flagrant violation of the rights guaranteed by the Yemeni constitution, and a crime whose penalties are not subject to statute of limitations according to Article 167 of the Penal Code.”
She continued: “The Houthis must respect their promises and decisions, and release the six Baha’is immediately without conditions, and return their money and property seized by prominent Houthi figures, stop the persecution of the Baha’i community in Yemen, respect human rights, and take strict legal measures against the refusal to implement the orders of their highest authorities to release the Baha’is “.
INSAF Center for Defending Freedoms & Minorities
