As the war rages on in Yemen, the noose around the Baha’is tightens. In the most severe repression of their religious freedoms, a Houthi controlled court in Sana’a tried to unjustly uphold the death sentence against the Yemeni Baha’i national Hamed bin Haidara. The court had sentenced him to death and ordered the confiscation of his money and the closure and confiscation of funds belonging to Baha’i forums. During the appeal, the prosecution in Sana’a submitted a note in response to Hamed’s petition and asked the Appeals Division on the 17th of September to uphold the ruling of the Court to deport anyone belonging to the Baha’i religion in Yemen and the banning of entry of any of them into the country.
At the hearing held on the 1st of October, and before the defense could respond to the prosecutor’s memorandum, the court decided to withhold Hamed’s and the Baha’i forum’s funds. A dangerous and concerning indication came when the court assigned a judicial guard to the funds, which indicated to the existence of a precedent intention to uphold the initial sentence.
These unfair judicial procedures confirm the oppression of freedoms under the control of the Houthi group in Yemen, which seeks to suppress all religious offenders and confiscate their funds. This in turn will eliminate any opportunity for diversity in the country.
The exploitation of the judiciary system in order to achieve special interests is extremely dangerous. It does not only waste the rights of others, but also establishes future deviations that threaten social security and shared peace. Attempting to confiscate Baha’i money may also be the work of a group of corruption lobbies that have found a fertile environment for growth under the rule of the Houthi militant group, which seeks to acquire the funds and properties of the Baha’is, at the expense of innocent Yemeni citizens.
This trial draws to mind the inquisitions of the Middle Ages as well as what the Iranian regime is doing, especially when it comes to suppressing Baha’is, where they are being tried, executed, expelled, abused and had their funds confiscated.
We at INSAF Center call upon the Houthi group to review its policy and to not use the judiciary system as a tool to suppress members of society outside their group. We also call upon them to respect the choices of others when it comes to their faith, to release Baha’i detainees, and to realize that they are Yemeni citizens, and according to the Constitution and the law, no person can be exiled from their land under any pretext. As for the international community, we call upon them to exert pressure on the Houthi group for the immediate release of all innocent Baha’i detainees that have been unfairly imprisoned, as it has previously freed fighters from its adversaries.
