Mr. President,

The release last month of six innocent Yemeni Bahá’ís from a Sana’a prison should have been a moment of relief. But it was coloured by injustice when the Houthi authorities made the release conditional on the Bahá’ís leaving the country.

The first of these six was jailed seven years ago and later sentenced to death. The five others were imprisoned in subsequent years. Some were severely tortured and all faced baseless and religiously motivated charges.

Yemen is their home – they had no wish to leave. But the harsh treatment and dangerous environment created in Yemen for all Bahá’ís, where senior Houthi figures have spread hate speech and called for the community to be destroyed, meant that these six had no safe way to remain.

Over 20 Bahá’ís are currently involved in a court case where they face baseless accusations such as espionage. The death sentence against one of the released Bahá’ís has not been revoked – despite the president of the Houthi Supreme Political Council pardoning him in March.

During a recent hearing of this case, the other five Bahá’ís were also branded as “fugitives”  – despite being released by the Houthis themselves – and their bailors were pressured to return them to Yemen to face their original charges.

Bahá’ís are targeted more than any other group – they are a litmus test for human rights in the country. The recognition of the rights of Bahá’ís to worship and practice their faith would also then grant the same freedom to all the people of Yemen.

Esteemed experts, 

How can the Houthis release prisoners, force them to leave the country, and then brand them as fugitives? And how did they respond when pressed on this case of obvious religious persecution?