Mr. President,

Unfortunately, the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Yemen at the hands of the Houthis continues unabated. There are currently six Bahá’ís who have been arbitrarily imprisoned in Houthi controlled Sana’a, with one of these six facing the death penalty. In addition, 24 members of the Bahá’í community in Yemen, including all of its national leaders, have been indicted. Their court hearings have proceeded with only the judge, the prosecutor, and other court officials present, with the Bahá’ís and their lawyers, in some cases, not even being informed of the hearing.

The Bahá’ís have been erroneously and baselessly accused, under a variety of specious pretexts, of espionage and apostasy, both of which carry the death penalty. Despite the claims of the de facto authorities to the contrary, it is evident that these accusations have been levelled against the Bahá’ís solely because of their religious beliefs.

Mr. President,

Both the report of the Group of Eminent Experts and the resolution on Yemen, adopted at its 39th session, confirmed the spurious nature of the Houthi’s accusations against the Bahá’ís. As a result, a set of recommendations were made, which included the immediate cessation of the persecution of the Bahá’ís on purely religious grounds. This has not occurred. These arbitrary arrests and detentions in Yemen, as well as the proliferation of hate speech and incitement to violence, are of particular concern, not only because they are gross violations of human rights, but also because they are highly reminiscent of the attempts of the Iranian authorities to eradicate the Bahá’ís as a viable entity in their country.

Mr. President,

We call upon the international community to ensure that the Houthis fulfil their obligations to international human rights law, and immediately, and permanently, terminate this campaign of religious persecution.