Yemen's Baha’is: Tragedy of a Religious Group Under the Houthi Rule

Ever since the Houthi militia secured control of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and most Northern areas in late 2014, plunging the country into a state of deep turmoil, the religious and ideological minorities have been at the mercy of an escalatory wave of repression and persecution. Among the minorities, the Baha’is have been a main target of the Houthi policies. 

Baha'is, who constitute a small fraction of the religious fabric in Yemen, have been subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment, including arbitrary arrests, looting of their properties, and fabricated accusations of spying for foreign countries, especially Israel. International and UN reports have documented these violations with great concern, and consider them part of a systemic campaign aimed to eliminate Baha’i presence in Yemen.

This crackdown reached its peak with the issuing of death sentences against some followers of the Baha'i faith. This has stirred widespread condemnation by human rights organizations across the world.  

These verdicts, which are considered a clear violation of all international customs and laws, are part of a bigger strategy seeking to subjugate and terrorize minorities to push them into leaving the country or abandoning their beliefs.

Despite the growing international pressure against the Houthis to release Baha'i detainees and stop these violations, the situation remains dangerous. Releasing some detainees recently has been only a tactical move, according to some Baha’is. This comes at a time in which the Houthis have imposed firm restrictions on free movement and religious expression.

In light of these circumstances, the fate of the Baha'is in Yemen remains precarious amid concerns about their continued religious persecution and liquidation by the Houthis under the cover of “revolutionary legitimacy”.1

The Baha’i faith is a monotheistic religion that was established in the 19th Century by Bahaullah (1817-1892) in Iran. It believes in the unity of God, major religions, and humanity. Baha’is believe that the major religions came from one divine source and complete each other in an ongoing holy message.

Dr Nader Al-Sakkaf, Head of the Office of the Public Affairs of the Baha’is in Yemen (A Yemeni Baha’i human rights association), said the persecution against Baha’is is not new in Yemen. It was preceded by individual cases of discrimination and arrests during the era of the former regime, led by Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Al-Sakkaf told ’South24 Center‘: “Persecution of Baha’is happened earlier too. However, now it is characterized by the transformation toward systemic and supported persecution by the Houthi militia. This has made targeting Baha’is part of their policies to tighten control over areas under their jurisdiction.”

The Houthi militias launched a series of arrest campaigns against Baha’is since 2014, with the latest in May 2023 when they detained about 17 persons, including five women. Thirteen of the 17 detained individuals were released over the past 15 months. After more than one year of detention without charges or judicial verdicts, the Houthis released the last four Baha’i detainees in August 2024. They include Abdul Elah Al Boni, Muhammad Bashir, Ibrahim Juail, and Hassan Thabet, according to a report by the Baha’i International Community. The release of the four Baha’is coincided with celebration of the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief on August 22.

So far, several international bodies have denounced the Houthi practices against Baha’is, and called on them to immediately release detainees. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights indicated that the released Baháʼis had to sign pledges not to communicate with other Baháʼis and to refrain from engaging in any Bahá’i activities.

In its report, published in May this year, the OHCHR added that the Houthis also stipulated that the Baha’is can not leave their hometowns without permission and that some Baha’is also faced severe pressure to recant their religious beliefs.

In this regard, Al-Sakkaf said: “The Houthis still enforce systematic persecution against thousands of Baha’is, even after freeing the detainees. They do so by tightening their means of livelihood and not allowing them for free gathering and practicing of their beliefs which is a right guaranteed by the international law as well as the freedom of religions and beliefs.”

Al-Sakkaf said that the Houthis exiled six Yemeni Baha’is outside Yemen in 2020 in an unprecedented move. This is in addition to forcing some Baha’is to leave Yemen against their will.

Walid Ayash, Secretary General of the National Council for Minorities in Yemen, is considered one of the most prominent activists in boosting the culture of coexistence in the country. He was exiled by the Houthi militia on July 30, 2020, along with some Baha’i detainees. They were directly deported from prison to outside Yemen without allowing them to bid farewell to their families. 

Ayash told ’South24 Center‘ that he was subjected to terrible physical and psychological torture during his nearly four-year detention in Houthi camps in Sanaa.

He added: “I was kept in solitary confinement for two years. I was not allowed to speak, write, or read any books except for their books which are full of hatred and hostility. They denied me any contact with my family. I was blindfolded during investigations. I was brutally beaten by using heinous means while denying me the right to contact a lawyer.”

The Houthis did not only torture Ayash, they also incited other prisoners to beat him. One day, they put him in a cell full of prisoners and closed the door. He was beaten severely till losing consciousness and remained bedridden for a long time.

He continued: “The psychological torture was expanded to include my family members who experienced terrible fear and anxiety. They did not know anything about me for two years until I was allowed to contact them. They faced a heinous smear campaign and underwent a very difficult life during my absence.”

Ayash does not rule out that the Houthis have political goals behind these practices, adding that “the Houthis have a strong immunity against international pressure. They often exploit this pressure to impose preconditions for their interest in return for releasing detainees. I believe that they use detainees, especially from the minorities and workers affiliated with international organizations, as hostages. The more the international pressure increases, the higher the Houthi’s demands become.”

The Houthi campaigns against the Baha’is reveal systematic and violent targeting, especially after tens of death sentences against them and the seizure of their assets illegally, according to Nader Al-Sakkaf. He stressed that this kind of hounding by the Houthis has destroyed the livelihood of several Baha’i families and individuals, some of whom were forced to migrate or exiled from Yemen.

According to Al-Sakkaf, the detainees were subjected to strong pressure and unsuccessful attempts to push them to relinquish their Baha’i ideology through forcing them to participate in the so-called “cultural courses”. These are religious courses used by the Houthis to brainwash thousands of persons, including children, teenagers, and the group’s captives after their release.

Journalist Abdulrazaq Al-Azazi, Head of the Ithra initiative (that seeks to promote a culture of tolerance and coexistence among followers of different religions) believes that the Houthis commit these violations against Baha’is and the followers of other religions and sects because they do not want the presence of any forces opposing them, especially the religious ones. They look at them as being a threat to their influence, their expansion, and audience.

Al-Azazi told ’South24 Center‘: “Another point is that the Houthis consider Baha’is and others, including journalists, rights activists, and lawyers, to be infidels and Western tools to fight Islam. The Leader of Houthi militia outrightly announced this opinion in one of his speeches before being removed from their accounts”, according to him.

Yemeni lawyer and human rights activist Tawfiq Al-Hamidi said the Houthis seek to use Baha’is as a political blackmailing card, benefiting from the sensitivity related to the minorities file. He told ’South24 Center‘ that what complicates the situation is the weak political will of the international community, coupled with other factors such as fear of reprisals, unwillingness to lose neutrality, and protecting interests.”

The Houthis have repeatedly used articles form the Yemeni Law to pass many of their religious practices, besides the explanations related to Islamic religious texts. They exploit serious loopholes in the Yemeni law which aid in oppressing and persecuting minorities and women, according to human rights activists.

In this regard, lawyer Al-Hamidi said that the contrasting religious and legislative explanations as well as the prejudgments based on jurisprudential opinions have affected laws, includes in issuing of verdicts related to apostasy and criminalizing the conversion to religions other than Islam. As a result, the militias exploit these opinions for launching unfair campaigns against religious minorities.

Al-Hamidi added that the legislative explanations and application of laws against certain groups enhances the negative prejudgments which increases the persecution of minorities. He indicated that the jurisprudential studies and the media play an important role in aggravating these violations.

The fate of Baha’is in Yemen stirs great concern, especially considering that large parts of North Yemen are under the control of the Houthi militia. Despite releasing the last Baha’i held in the Houthi prisons, there are still concerns regarding the persistence of these violations against them. These include death threats if they practice any Baha’i activities, according to Walid Ayash.

Al-Sakkaf warned that the Houthi policy toward Baha’is is based on systematic persecution which may reach the level of religious cleansing or “silent extermination”. He added that “the Houthis rely on a radical ideology that doesn’t accept religious diversity. This makes it hard to predict that they will stop persecuting Baha’is. There are thousands of Baha’is who are harmed in different ways due to the Houthi practices.”

Al-Sakkaf believes that although releasing the Baha’i detainees is a positive move, it does not necessarily mean the end of their persecution. He stressed that the Houthis need to stop their repression against the Baha’is as well as other minorities and religious sects, in addition to freeing all innocent prisoners who have been arbitrarily detained.

For his part, lawyer Al-Hamidi indicated that releasing the last four Baha’is detained by the Houthis doesn’t mean that the group has stopped violations against the followers of this faith. According to him, the Houthis may resume their violations in the future if they feel less pressure on them, making it difficult to predict their behavior.

Al-Hamidi added: “We have recently seen a large and systemic detention campaign against workers in embassies and those involved in humanitarian activities without any respect or appreciation of their work. It is remarkable that the Houthi campaign against them is based on their work before the Houthis took power. This reveals that the general situation will not witness any tangible political transformations.” 

Finally, the situation of the Baha’is in Yemen remains a prime example of the violations against religious minorities, especially by religious groups such as the Houthis, the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and ISIS, in the country which has been torn by war for about 10 years.

In general, religious diversity in Yemen has witnessed cruel phases like what happened to Yemen’s Jews, based in Sanaa, Amran, and other governorates, over the past decades as they were deported to Israel. The accurate current situation of the Jewish minority isn’t known. Additionally, the Christian minority, based in Aden in South Yemen, has faced persecution after the Yemeni unity in 1990. Its peak was seen in 2015 when extremists, influenced by Jihadi ideas, bombed a historical church, and committed a massacre in a nursing home.