Mr. President/Vice-President,

In August of this year, 18 months after being forcibly detained alongside 13 others, the four Yemeni Baha’is who were still being held by the Houthi authorities were finally released.  All of them faced intense, but ultimately unsuccessful, pressure to renounce their faith through forced participation in courses, conducted by the Houthi agents, which were aimed at indoctrinating the imprisoned individuals. These efforts amount to religious persecution.  

This development concludes one shameful episode, one in which armed men from the de facto Houthi authorities detained 17 innocent Baha’is, in a violent raid on a private home. Yet, other such episodes continue, with United Nations staff, as well as members of Civil Society in Yemen remaining detained. Even now, upon their release, the 17 Baha’i individuals all face restrictions in movement, association and are limited in the freedom to practice their religion.

Despite being a community of well-wishers for their country working alongside their fellow citizens to contribute to the development of Yemen, the Baha’i community in the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen continue to be persecuted, and denied the freedom to practice their faith.

A resolution on Yemen will be adopted this Council session. To convey the International community’s disapproval of the Houthis behavior, it must explicitly include a more detailed reference to freedom of religion or belief and mention the rights of the Baha’is by name.