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Search for tag "Yemen"

from the chronology

date event locations tags see also
1844 (In the year) A senior cleric, a convert to the new faith of the Báb, arrived in Yemen through the then internationally renowned Al-Mokha port. [Arab News 20/11/2020] Yemen
1953 Dec Adíb Baghdádí arrived in Hadhramaut and was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh. [BW13:452] Hadhramaut; Yemen Knights of Bahaullah
1954 Feb Husayn Halabi arrived in Hadhramaut and was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh. [BW13:452] Hadhramaut; Yemen Knights of Bahaullah
1984 Ridván The National Spiritual Assembly of Yemen (North) was formed. [BW19:524] Yemen National Spiritual Assembly, formation
1990 22 May The nations of Northern Yemen and Marxist Southern Yemen united to become the Republic of Yemen with Ali Abdullah Saleh, a former a conservative military leader, as President. Saleh had served as President of North Yemen for 12 years until then.
  • Ali Salim al-Beidh, a Soviet-trained southern army commander, was chosen as Vice President. Mr. Beidh, had ruled Southern Yemen when it was a Marxist state. A unification of the two countries' political and economic systems was to take place over 30 months. In that time, a unified parliament was formed and a unity constitution was agreed upon, however, tensions between North and South continued with sporadic fighting.
    		• Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    1993 (In the year) Vice President Ali Salim Al-Beidh quit Saleh’s government and returns to Aden in southern Yemen and said he would not return to the government until his grievances had been addressed. These included northern violence against his Yemeni Socialist Party, as well as the economic marginalization of the south. Negotiations to end the political deadlock dragged on into 1994. The government of Prime Minister Haydar Abu Bakr Al-Attas, the former PDRY Prime Minister, became ineffective due to political infighting. Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    1994 27 Apr Civil war (The War of Secession of 1994, May to early July) erupted in Yemen and ends in a victory for Saleh within three months. A major tank battle erupted in Amran, near San'a. Both sides accused the other of first aggression.
  • On 4 May, the southern air force bombed San'a and other areas in the north; the northern air force responded by bombing Aden.
  • President Saleh declared a 30-day state of emergency, and foreign nationals began evacuating the country.
  • Vice President al-Beidh was officially dismissed.
  • South Yemen fired Scud missiles into San'a, killing dozens of civilians.
  • Prime Minister Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas was dismissed on May 10 after appealing for outside forces to help end the war.
  • Southern leaders seceded and declared the Democratic Republic of Yemen (DRY) on 21 May 1994. No international government recognized the DRY.
  • In mid-May, northern forces began a push toward Aden. The key city of Ataq, which allowed access to the country's oil fields. It was seized on May 24.
  • The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 924 calling for an end to the fighting and a cease-fire. A cease-fire was called on 6 June, but lasted only six hours; concurrent talks to end the fighting in Cairo collapsed as well.
  • The north entered Aden on 4 July. Supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad greatly assisted military operations against the secessionists and Aden was captured on 7 July 1994. Most resistance quickly collapsed and top southern military and political leaders fled into exile.
  • Almost all of the actual fighting in the 1994 civil war occurred in the southern part of the country, despite air and missile attacks against cities and major installations in the north. Southerners sought support from neighbouring states and may have received military assistance from Saudi Arabia and Oman, which felt threatened by a united Yemen. The United States repeatedly called for a cease-fire and a return to the negotiating table. Various attempts, including by a UN special envoy and Russia, were unsuccessful to effect a cease-fire.
  • President Saleh now had control over all of Yemen. A general amnesty was declared, except for 16 southern figures accused of misappropriation of official funds.
  • YSP (Yemen Socialist Party) leaders within Yemen reorganized following the civil war and elected a new politburo in July 1994. However, much of its influence had been destroyed in the war.
    		• Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    1994 May An accord between northern and southern leaders of Yemen was signed in Amman but this could not stop the civil war. During these tensions, both the northern and southern armies–which had never integrated–gathered on their respective frontiers. Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    1994 1 Oct President Ali Abdallah Saleh was elected by Parliament to a 5-year term. However, he remained in office until 2012. Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    1997 27 Apr In the second parliamentary election in Yemen the GPC won a majority of the seats, Iṣlāḥ finished second, and the YSP (Yemen Socialist Party) virtually committed political suicide by boycotting the elections. Given its sizable majority, the GPC chose to rule alone, thereby making Iṣlāḥ the major opposition party in parliament. In late 1994 the plural executive had been abolished and President Ṣāliḥ reelected to a five-year term by parliament. Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    1999 Sep September 1999 President Ṣāliḥ was again returned to office, this time in the country’s first direct presidential elections and for a term lengthened to seven years. He had run virtually unopposed, as the YSP candidate was unable to secure the minimum number of votes necessary in the GPC-dominated parliament to stand in the election. Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    2008 20 Jun Four Bahá'ís were arrested in Sana'a on the accusation of proselytizing. The three Bahá’is of Iranian origin who were arrested are Mr. Zia'u'llah Pourahmari, Mr. Keyvan Qadari, and Mr. Mr. Behrooz Rohani . A fourth Bahá’i, Mr. Sayfi Ibrahim Sayfi, was also arrested and faced the possibility of deportation to Iraq.
  • The Bahá’is had been persecuted on account of their faith prior to the armed conflict under the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. [BWNS651]
    		• Sanaa; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Arrests; Persecution; BWNS
    2011 (In the year) Hundreds were killed in a crackdown on mass protests that called for fall of President Saleh and an end to corruption and repression and accountability for human rights violations. The longtime authoritarian president, Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to resign and signed a power-transfer deal to hand over power to his deputy Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. The new president Hadi struggled to deal with a variety of problems, including attacks by al-Qaeda, a separatist movement in the south, the continuing loyalty of many military officers to Mr Saleh, as well as corruption, unemployment and food insecurity. Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    2012 Feb Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi was elected as president initiating a two-year transitional period. However, government forces continued to commit human rights violations, including unlawful killings and enforced disappearances, against supporters of secession in south and a conflict with the Huthi armed group in north was renewed. Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    2013 3 Dec Mr. Hamed Kamal Muhammad bin Haydara (sometimes referred to in the media as "Hamed Merza Kamali Serostani ") was snatched by security forces from his workplace, at Balhaf gas terminal in the southern province of Shabwa in south Yemen. It was suggested that he was arrested on the orders of Mr. Khaled al-Mawari, the Chief Prosecutor who was involved in the unwarranted arrest and detention of another member of the Yemeni Bahá'í community. [Arab News 20 November 2020]
  • The family of Hamed bin Haydara had lived in Socotra since 1945, when his father arrived on the Yemeni island from Iran as a doctor under British colonial rule and was granted Yemeni citizenship.
  • The National security Office raided his home and seized laptops and documents. Reports indicated that he has been tortured (beaten and electrocuted).
  • According to Bahá'í estimates, there were about 2,000 Bahá'ís in Yemen [BIC website, Reuters]
    		• Sanaa; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Arrests; Persecution
    2014 21 Sep The Houthi movement, which championed Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority and had fought a series of rebellions against Mr Saleh during his tenure as president in the previous decade, took advantage of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's weakness by taking control of their northern heartland of Saada province and neighbouring areas overthrowing the internationally-recognised government. By February 2015 the group had dissolved parliament and announced plans for a transitional government.
  • See the essay Allies of Convenience or Birds of a Feather? by Oved Lobel for a discussion of Iran and the Houthis.
    		• Sanaa; Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    2014 3 Oct Hamed bin Haydara had been held at an undisclosed location since his arrest by National Security Forces on the 3rd of December, 2013. During this time he was held in prolonged solitary confinement, severely tortured and electrocuted, and forced to sign documents while blindfolded. In September of 2014 NGOs discovered where he was being detained so the National Security was forced to relocate him to the Criminal Investigation Detention Centre in the Central Prison in Sana'a. [Defending Bahá'í Rights facebook page] Sanaa; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Arrests; Persecution; Hamed bin Haydara
    2015 18 Jan The first trial hearing of Hamed bin Haydara was held. Legal and human rights NGOs witnessed tampering and interference on the part of the prosecution. The prosecutor, Rajeh Zayed, threatened to detain and execute Bahá'ís. More were arrested. [Defending Bahá'í Rights Facebook page] Sanaa; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Court cases; Persecution; Court cases; Hamed bin Haydara
    2105 Feb In Yemen, Houthis appointed a presidential council to replace President Hadi who fled to Aden. Sanaa; Yemen; Aden Adbrabbuh Mansour Hadi; Yemen, Recent history
    2015 Mar Clashes escalated between pro and anti-Huthis allied with security forces loyal to Mr Saleh, who was thought to have backed his erstwhile enemies in a bid to regain power. Southerners took to arms and formed resistance to further advance their cause for independence by fighting in order to defend their territory from northern control and a coup of the legitimate government. President Hadi was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia in March. He appealed to Gulf and Arab states to intervene militarily.
  • A Saudi Arabian-led military coalition of Arab states backed by the United States launched air strikes against the Huthi armed group positions in Sana’a and Sa’da with ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh in support of Hadi's government.
  • The Islamic State carried out its first major attacks in Yemen, two suicide bombings targeting Shia mosques in Sana'a in which 137 people were killed. Houthi rebels started to advance towards southern Yemen and it was at that point that President Hadi fled to Aden. The Saudi-led coalition of Gulf Arab states launched air strikes against Houthi targets and imposed a naval blockade on Aden.
  • Over the next six months the conflict spread across Yemen.
  • In the southern part of the country, the United Arab Emirates, which was part of the Saudi-led coalition, set up its own security forces, running virtually a state-within-a-state and fuelling the south's independence movement.
  • The Houthis were dislodged from most of the south, but remained in control of Sana'a and much of the north.
    		• Sanaa; Aden; Yemen Yemen, Recent history; Ali Abdullah Saleh; Islamic State
    2015 Sep President Hadi returned to Aden after Saudi-backed government forces recaptured the port city from Houthi forces. Aden; Yemen Yemen, Recent history; Hadi
    2016 The conflict in Yemen continued to rage throughout the year. UN-sponsored peace talks began in Kuwait in April but broke down in early August. On 8 October, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition killed more than 100 people attending a funeral gathering in Sana’a and injured more than 500 others – one of the largest death tolls in any single incident since the start of the coalition’s bombing campaign. Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    2016 Apr In Yemen th UN-sponsored peace talks began between the government on one side and the Houthis and form President Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) on the other. Yemen Yemen, Recent history; Saleh
    2016 25 Apr Mr. Hamed Bin Haydara, who had been imprisoned without trial since December 2013, was again brought to court for a hearing but the trial was again postponed, this time to 1 August 2017. Reports indicate that he had been sent to solitary confinement in the National Security Prison on the orders of Mr. Rajeh Zayed, the prosecutor who had caused the delays which have kept him in jail for more than three years and who had been largely responsible for the arrest and persecution of Bahá'ís in Yemen. Mr. Rajeh Zayed had stated that he planned to delay Mr. Hamed Bin Haydara’s court hearings and treatment until he “dies in jail.” He was suffering from serious health conditions that required proper medical attention. He stood accused of ‘compromising the independence of the Republic of Yemen’, including spreading the Bahá’í faith in the Republic of Yemen as well as "apostasy" (He has been a Bahá'í from birth.) and “insulting Islam” . [BIC 30 Apr 2017; BWNS1285] Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Court cases; Persecution; Court cases; Human rights
    2016 10 Aug Armed officers, masked in balaclavas from Yemen’s National Security Bureau (NSB) intelligence agency, which worked hand in hand with the armed Houthi authorities, (also knowns as Ansar Allah) stormed a Bahá’í youth educational workshop in Sana’a. The event was part of a nine day, cross country moral and educational program for Bahá’í youth organized by the Bahá'í -run Nida Foundation for Development. Sixty-five people were arrested including 14 women and six people under 18 without an arrest warrant. Half were Bahá'ís and, at the time of this writing, it was believed some fourteen remained in prison, including young mothers. Further arrests were carried out later and within a week all but 10 of those who had been incarcerated had been released.
  • Among those detained are Nadim Tawfiq Al-Sakkaf, (British Council’s country manager in Yemen), his brother Nader Tawfiq Al-Sakkaf and Kaiwan Mohamed Ali Qadri. [UN Human Rights 4 Oct 2016, BWNS1118, publicaffairs.bahai.us, UN Human Rights, Defending Bahá'í Rights facebook page]
    		• Sanaa; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Arrests; Persecution; Youth; BWNS
    2016 Oct An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a crowded funeral in Sana'a killing 140 mourners and injuring another 500. Sanaa; Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    2016. 27 Nov In Yemen, Nadim al-Sakkaf and his brother Nader, who were detained from August 10th, were unexpectedly released from prison in Sana'a. Their release, it was believed, was in no small part due to the relentless advocacy of their wives Ruhiyeh al-Sakkaf and Nafheh al-Sakkaf. Their friend Kaiwan Mohamed Ali Qadri, who was arrested in the same raid, remained in custody. [Religion News Service 20161129]
  • Photos of the four can be found on the same page.
    		• Sanaa; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Arrests; Persecution
    2017 19 Apr Houthi-Saleh political security officers arrested Walid Ayyash, Mahmood Humaid, and Badi'u'llah Sanai, all members of the Bahá'í community, at a checkpoint near the city border of Hudiedah. Sanai was released one week later, but was re-arrested in May. All three remain detained, their whereabouts unknown. [UN News Centre 22 May 2017]
  • In total over 25 Bahá'ís, including many prominent members of the Bahá'í community who assisted with organization of community affairs at the national level were arrested around the time. In October it was reported that eight Bahá'ís were still detained but the place of detention was not known. [BWNS1215]
    		• Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Arrests; Persecution; BWNS
    2017 25 Apr The formation of the human rights organization, "The Yemeni Initiative for Defending Bahá'í Rights". [Facebook page] Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights
    2017 28 Apr Amnesty International sent a Joint Public Statement to the Huthi-Saleh authorities in Yemen calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Hamid Haydara. The document can be downloaded from the Amnesty International site. Yemen Yemen; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights; Amnesty International
    2017 15 May Hundreds of Yemenis gathered in front of the Criminal Prosecution building in the capital city of Sana'a. They were denouncing the arrest of Yemeni citizens of the Bahá'í faith and calling for their release. The demonstrations were not led by the usual human rights crew but by tribal leaders of some of the most influential tribes in the country, prominently that of the Bani Mattar.
  • What brought the tribes out was the arrest of Sheikh Walid Saleh Ayyash, who has the distinction of being both a prominent tribal figure and one of the 2,000 or so Yemenis who practice the Bahá'í faith. It was Ayyash’s faith that led to his arrest on April 19, as he was driving from the city of Ibb to the port of Hudaydah. Along with another Bahá'í who was in the car, Ayyash was arrested by Houthi forces and transferred to the Hudaydah prison. A statement by the tribal leaders called Ayash “a distinguished personality among the Arab tribes … well-known for his integrity and wisdom, for his love, loyalty and devotion to his country, for his tolerance and respect for the government and the law.”
  • The leaders had previously met with Khalid Al-Mawari, the Houthi government’s Chief of Special Criminal Prosecution. He had promised them that Ayyash would be transferred to Sana'a. When that failed to happen, they organized the demonstration. [TRACKPERSIA 25 Aug 2017]
    		•  Sanaa; Yemen Sheikh Walid Saleh Ayyash; Khalid Al-Mawari; Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights
    2017 Jun - Nov In Yemen an outbreak of cholera killed 2.100 and affected almost 900,000 others. Yemen Yemen, Recent history; cholera
    2017 Sep Arrests of Bahá'ís in Yemen drew international censure which led to a United Nations resolution, titled “Human Rights, Technical Assistance and Capacity-building in Yemen”. It was introduced by Egypt on behalf of the Arab Group and supported by the entire UN Human Rights Council—calling for the immediate release of all Bahá'í detainees. The Council was the principal human rights body at the UN and was composed of 47 members who are elected by the General Assembly based on equitable geographic distribution.
  • At the time of the resolution there were seven Bahá'ís in prison in Yemen, most of whom are held in undisclosed locations and one of which has been detained for nearly four years due to repeatedly postponement court-hearings. Arrest warrants had been issued for over a dozen others, while a number of families had been forced to leave their homes. Developments in Yemen indicated that the authorities’ prosecution of individuals had broadened in scope to be against the Bahá'í community in general and that efforts were being made to turn public opinion against all of the Bahá'ís under the premise that they are secretly plotting to stir unrest in Yemen.
  • The resolution established a Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts tasked with monitoring and reporting on the situation on human rights in Yemen. It was also mandated to carry out a comprehensive examination of all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights in the country. [BIC News 3 October 2017, UN Human Rights Council – 36th Session, Agenda Item 10]
    		• Geneva; Switzerland; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Arrests; Persecution; United Nations; Human Rights
    2017 22 Oct Yemeni security forces raided a Bahá'í gathering in Sana’a opening fire on the small group of people assembled to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh. The attack occurred in the family home of prominent tribal leader Walid Ayyash, who had been abducted in April and whose whereabouts were unknown. The attackers were reportedly in four cars and an armored vehicle which they used to break down the front door of the house. They arrested Mr. Ayyash’s brother, Akram Ayyash.
  • This event proved unequivocally the extent of Iran’s role in the persecution of the Bahá'ís in Yemen, especially in Sana’a, which was under the control of Iranian-backed militias. Similar attacks occurred in Iran during the period of celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of Bahá'úlláh. [BWNS1215]
    		•  Sanaa; Yemen; Iran Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Arrests; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Bahaullah, Birth of; BWNS; Walid Ayyash
    2017 3 Dec Ali Abdullah Saleh, the ousted strongman who once governed Yemen and then conspired with Iranian-backed rebels to claw his way back to power, was killed after a bomb blew up his family’s compound in the capital, Sana'a. After fighting along side the Iran-backed Houthis for two years it appeared that he had switched sides to join the Saudi-led coalition. [New York Times headline Monday, December 4, 2017 10:10 AM EST] Sanaa; Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    2018 Jan Southern Yemeni separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates seized control of Aden. Aden; Yemen Yemen, Recent history
    2018 2 Jan The Specialized Criminal Court of the Houthi militia in Yemen sentenced 52 year-old detainee Hammed bin Haidara to death on the basis of his Bahá'í beliefs, allegedly for collaborating with Israel and forging official documents. His execution was to be a public event. He had been tortured and ill-treated in custody since being incarcerated in December of 2013. The judgment issued by the Houthi-controlled Criminal Court in Sana'a also confiscated the funds of Hammed bin Haidara and shut all Bahá'í centres in the country. The persecution of Bahá'ís in the area controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia reflected the pattern of persecution in Iran.
  • The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) estimated that the number of Bahá'ís in Yemen was about 2,000 people in several Yemeni provinces. [Al Arabiya English 3 January, 2018, BIC 5 January, 2018, Amnesty International 28 April, 2017, Defending Bahá'í Rights facebook page]
  • "The Yemini Initiative for Defending Bahá'í Rights", a activist group launched in April of 2017, gained tens of thousands of followers. Prominent media groups in the Arab world have publicized the case. In addition to Mr bin Haidara there were six other Bahá'ís in prison in Sana'a. [BWNS1232]
    		• Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Other; Persecution, Court cases; Court cases; Human rights; BWNS
    2018 23 Mar Sayyid Abdul-Malik Badreddin Al-Houthi, the Secretary-General of Yemen’s Shia political party Ansar Allah, accused the Bahá'ís of seeking to create disunity among Muslims. In a televised speech broadcast to a wide audience within and outside of Yemen, he vehemently vilified and denounced the Bahá'í Faith, further intensifying the ongoing persecution of the Bahá'ís in that country. It was reported that the Houthis had also launched a social media campaign against Bahá'ís. "The Yemeni Initiative for Defending Bahá'í Rights", a human rights organization, said in a Facebook post that Al-Houthi’s incitement coincided with incitements against Ahmadis, Christians, intellectuals, scientists, and activists, as well as “a number of Islamic doctrines.” [Conatus News 28 March, 2018]
  • See BIC News.
    		• Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights; Sayyid Abdul-Malik Badreddin Al-Houthi,
    2018 1 Apr The launch of a fierce campaign of hatred against members of the Bahá'í Faith, as well as other against peaceful religious minorities was proclaimed by Houthi activist Ahmad Ayed Ahmed in a public Tweet. The campaign coincided with the threats made by the leader of Ansaruallah, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, against the Bahá'ís, Ahmadis, Christians and a number of Islamic sects during his Friday speech on the occasion of Rajab Friday. This marked a clear call for a sectarian war against minorities and specifically the Bahá'í’s and parallelled the already ongoing systematic attack against Bahá'ís including arbitrary arrests, persecution, and torture. This indicated a new stage in Houthi persecution, until this time they had exercised a degree of “political dissimulation” to conceal their direct involvement, however, since al-Houthi’s public speech, Houthis were openly spearheading as well as escalating the systematic persecution of Bahá'ís. [Iran Press Watch 1 April, 2018] Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights
    2018 15 Sep Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi authorities held a court hearing that targeted some 20 or 24 Bahá'ís, most in absentia, with a string of baseless charges which included espionage and apostasy. The charges were primarily made against individuals who held administrative roles in the Bahá'í community but extended to other Yemeni Bahá'ís including a teenage girl. In a subsequent hearing on September 29, the judge asked the prosecutor to publish the names of the accused in a newspaper and ordered their properties frozen. The judge in the case was Abdu Ismail Hassan Rajeh, the same judge who presided over Mr. Haydara's in January of 2018.
  • Subsequently the governments of Australia, Canada, and Germany issued a joint statement calling for the immediate release of all Bahá'í prisoners. [Global Affairs Canada Joint Statement on the Bahá'ís in Yemen; BWNS1285]
    		• Sanaa; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Other; Persecution, Court cases; Court cases; Human rights; BWNS
    2018 29 Sep In the second court hearing presided over by judge Abdu Ismail Hassan Rajeh, three additional Bahá'ís were sentenced to death. Five of the indicted Bahá'ís were in attendance at the court where the judge requested the prosecutor to publish the names of 19 others indicted in a newspaper, further endangering the lives of the Yemeni Bahá'í community. The judge also ordered that all of the properties belonging to the Bahá'ís indicted be frozen until the court verdict was issued. He furthermore objected to a request by the lawyer for the five to be released on bail and deferred any such decision to the next hearing to be held in a month and ten days.
  • The actions undertaken by the Houthis were condemned in two recent United Nations resolutions, one of which called for the immediate release of all Bahá'ís detained in Yemen due to their religious beliefs and to cease any harassment they are subjected to. [Iran Press Watch 4 October, 2018]
    		• Sanaa; Yemen United Nations; Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights
    2018. 11 Oct Abdullah Al Olofi, member of the Bahá'í community in Yemen, was on his way to the market in Sana’a when suddenly he was surrounded by armed soldiers in a pick-up truck. He was blindfolded and taken away. [Counterpunch 9 November, 2018] Sanaa; Yemen Abdullah Al Olofi; Persecution, Yemen
    2019. 08 Jan Imprisoned Bahá'í Hamed bin Haydara, 55, who had been sentenced to death, appeared in court in Sana'a for an unexpected hearing. Mr Haydara had been in Houthi detention in central Sana'a since December 2013. UN human rights representatives called for the rebels to overturn his death sentence.
  • In addition to Mr Haydara, five other Bahá'ís were held by the rebels in Sana'a, two of whom had been hidden since last April, They were Waleed Ayyash, 51, and Wael Al Al Ariki, 41, a human-rights activist, Sheikh Akram Ayyas, 37, had been in Houthi detention since October 2017, Badea Senai, 66, who was an urban planning adviser for the government, had been in prison since May 2017 and Qwan Mohammad Qadri, 45, who was arrested by the Houthis in August 2016. He is of Iranian descent and was an employee of the British Council in Yemen.
  • Under a prisoner exchange deal agreed at UN-led peace talks in Sweden in December, the government had repeatedly requested the release of all Bahá'í detainees held by the Houthi rebels. Each side submitted 8,000 names of Yemeni people they believe to be detained, dead or missing for the other side to locate and release as a confidence-building measure but the Iran-backed rebels have not responded to the government's request on the Bahá'í detainees. [The National 13JAN2019]
    		•  Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights; Persecution, Court cases; Hamed bin Haydara
    2019. 2 Feb Hamed Bin Hayadara, who was facing a death sentence, appeared in a Sana’a court where he was charged with "foreign espionage" and "abandonment of religion". The judge adjourned the session until 12 March. He was among the six Bahá'ís detained in Sana'a. [SBSWorldNews] Sanaa; Yemen Hamed Bin Haydara; Persecution, Court cases; Persecution, Yemen
    2019. 10 Sep In the 42nd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council, the International Bahá'í Community presented an Oral Statement addressing the High Commissioner report on Yemen.
  • See as well the BIC's statement to the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council on the 20th of March, 2019.
    		•  New York, NY; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; BIC; Bahai International Community
    2019. 17 Sep The prosecutor in Mr. Haydara’s appeal not only restated its support of the lower court decision to execute Mr. Haydara but also called to “immediately deport… all who are considered Bahá'ís” and to “ban their entry” into Yemen, significantly escalating the scope of the judicial prosecution far beyond the mandate of the appeal. In its written statement, the prosecution further requested the court to adopt any additional measures to discourage Bahá'í beliefs and their expression in the country. At a court hearing on 1 October 2019, the judge called for the listing of the assets of Mr. Haydara and of the Bahá'í National Assembly in advance of their seizure. [BIC News 10 October, 2019] Sanaa; Yemen Hamed Bin Haydara; Persecution, Court cases; Persecution, Yemen
    2019. 26 Sep By a resolution of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations the international community condemned the Houthi persecution of Bahá'ís on the basis of their religion or belief. This resolution passed just two weeks after the prosecutors in a Houthi-controlled appeals court in Sana’a, Yemen who defended a previous death sentence of a Bahá'í on the basis of his beliefs, argued for the expulsion of all Bahá'ís from the country and the confiscation of their properties. [BIC News 30 September, 2019] Sanaa; Yemen Hamed Bin Haydara; Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Court cases; United Nations; Human Rights Council
    2020. 25 Feb A hearing on the case of 24 Yemeni Bahá'ís took place in Sana’a. The presiding judge, Mujahed al-Amdi, mocked the defence lawyer when he protested at being denied access to his clients. The judge later relented yet made access to the Bahá'ís contingent on officers being present during any meeting, in violation of their rights. Judge al-Amdi also tried during the hearing to replace the defence lawyer with a lawyer of the Judge’s own choosing.

    Five Baha’is, who had been detained since 2017 and were among the 24 being tried, were present during the court hearing. The Bahá'ís later, for the first time since their original detention, were allowed to meet with their lawyer outside the courtroom. Six officers supervised the meeting as per Judge al-Amdi’s decree. The lawyer continued to be denied access to the documents presented to the court by the prosecution. [BIC 28 February 2020; BIC 23 February 2020]

    		 Sanaa; Yemen Persecution, Yemen
    2020. 22 Mar Houthi-controlled Court of Appeal upheld the preliminary ruling that ordered the execution of Hamed bin Haydara. He was not allowed to attend the trial nor was he allowed to have anyone defend him. The court ruling also ordered that his properties, as well as those of the Bahá'í institutions in the country, be confiscated. [Republican Yeman dated 22 March 2020]
  • In January 2018, Mr. Haydara was sentenced to public execution. Eighteen court hearings have been held since then, and the last one was scheduled to have taken place on March 31, before being brought forward unexpectedly to the 22nd of March. This hearing took place after more than six years of unjustified detention, false and unfounded allegations, and harsh and degrading treatment of Mr. Haydara.
  • In recent years, the first instance court in Sana'a has not only tried Mr. Haydara but has targeted more than twenty members of the Bahá'í community, including members of the Bahá’í administrative structure. Mr. Haydara was one of six Bahá'ís detained in Yemen for their beliefs at the time of this hearing.
  • The case of Mr. Haydara has received widespread media attention since his detention. See Media Coverage and Statements on the Persecution of the Bahá'ís in Sana'a, Yemen.
  • Bahá’ís have been systematically persecuted since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Iranian state even formulated its own state doctrine in 1991 with the aim of eliminating Bahá'í as a viable community in Iran and abroad. The persecution was exported to Yemen via the influence on the Houthis. [Website of the Bahá’í community in Germany]
  • For further information see BWNS 1303; BWNS 1232; BIC 21 March 2020; BIC 23 March 2020; BWNS 1036.
  • Amnesty International.
    		•  Sanaa; Yemen Hamed bin Haydara; Persecution, Court cases; Persecution, Yemen
    2020. 25 Mar The Houthi authorities announced the intended release of all Bahá'í prisoners in Yemen as well as a pardon for Hamed bin Haydara whose death sentence was upheld by an appeals court in Sana’a just two days prior. The six Bahá'ís that were to be released from custody were the aforementioned Mr. Hamed bin Haydara, as well as Mr. Waleed Ayyash, Mr. Akram Ayyash, Mr. Kayvan Ghaderi, Mr. Badiullah Sanai, and Mr. Wael al-Arieghie.
  • The Bahá'í International Community further advocated for the Houthi authorities to drop charges that were issued in 2018 against over 20 other Bahá'ís, to return seized assets and properties of members of the Bahá'í community, and to allow the functioning of Bahá'í institutions in Yemen. [Asharq Al-Awsat 27 March 2020]
  • The announcement was made In a general television address by Mr. Mahdi al-Mashat, President of the Houthi Supreme Political Council. [BIC 25 March 2020]
  • Notwithstanding the above, the prisoners were not released.
    		• Sanaa; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Court cases; Hamed bin Haydara; Waleed Ayyash; Akram Ayyash; Kayvan Ghaderi; Badiullah Sanai; Wael al-Arieghie; Bahai International Community
    2020. 30 Jul It was announced that Mr. Hamed bin Haydara, Mr. Waleed Ayyash, Mr. Akram Ayyash, Mr. Kayvan Ghaderi, Mr. Badiullah Sanai, and Mr. Wael al-Arieghie, prominent Bahá'ís that had been imprisoned by the Houthi authorities in Sana’a, were released from prison in Sana’a. Their years-long incarceration on charges of espionage and heresy had drawn worldwide condemnation.
  • Following their release, the Bahá'í International Community called for the lifting of all charges against these six individuals and the other Bahá'ís that had been charged, the return of their assets and properties, and the safeguarding of the rights of all Bahá'ís in Yemen to live according to their beliefs without risk of persecution. [BIC News 30 July 2020]
  • The release of the six came four months after the Shiite Houthis announced they had commuted the death sentence of Hamed bin Haydara and ordered his release, as well as that of the other five detainees. The six men were flown out of Yemen to Ethiopia late on Thursday, said bin Haydara’s wife, Alham. It was reported that they were living in “safe” locations in Europe, receiving medication for wounds and diseases that they contracted during their detention inside Houthi prisons. [San Francisco Chronicle 30 July 2020; Arab News 20/11/2020]
  • The six had been detained at various times:
        Mr. Haydara, an engineer, was arrested because of his beliefs at his workplace in December 2013. Following a long court case that lacked due process, he was sentenced to death in 2018. His appeal was rejected in 2020.
        Mr. Ghaderi, a project officer, was arrested in 2016 when a gathering was raided.
        In April 2017, Mr. Waleed Ayyash, a Yemeni tribal leader, was arrested on his way to Hudaydah and was held in an undisclosed location.
        The following month, Mr. Al-Arieghie, a civil rights activist, was abducted by the authorities in Sana’a.
        Mr. Sana’i, a prominent civil engineer in Yemen in his late 60s, was arrested in front of his workplace.
        In October 2017, Mr. Akram Ayyash, a manager of a nonprofit organization, was arrested during a raid by security forces on a Bahá'í celebration.
  • In September 2018, these five, along with nineteen others, were indicted at a court hearing in Sana’a under baseless charges. [BWNS1443]
  • Diane Ala'i, representative of the Bahá'í International Community, expressed gratitude to the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for their support. [The National]
  • Upon their release they were immediately exiled from the country. [AL Monitor 10 August 2020]
  • Following another court hearing on 22 August 2020 the charges against the six men were not dropped and the prosecution declared the recently released men as “fugitives” despite the fact that their departure from Yemen had been a condition of their release. The prosecution asked the bailors to ensure the compulsory attendance of five of them at the next hearing scheduled for the 12th of September. [BIC News]
    		•  Sanaa; Yemen; Ethiopia Persecution, Yemen; Hamed bin Haydara; Waleed Ayyash; Akram Ayyash; Kayvan Ghaderi; Badiullah Sanai; Wael al-Arieghie; Bahai International Community
    2020. 20 Nov Hamed bin Haydara told Al-Sharea daily newspaper that “The Houthis are applying a policy of silent extermination of our cultural and social heritage. This is a type of systematic religious cleansing crime. The Houthis are applying the same radical ideologies that they learnt in Iran, which deems members of religious minorities heretics. There is no country in the world that has persecuted the Baha'is like Iran and the Houthis. There is a great similarity between persecution against us in Iran and Sana'a, as both use the same methods of persecution, rhetoric, rumors and lies against the Bahá'ís,” he said. Hamed bin Haydara and five others were expelled from Yemen in July.

    Note: Al-Shari 'newspaper is an independent newspaper publishing since 2007 in Sana'a. In 2015 it was forced to stop publishing due to harassment and threats received by the Houthi militia and resumed its daily publication from Aden. [Arab News 20/11/2020; Iran Wire 22NOV20]

    		 Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Hamed bin Haydara
    2021. 21 Feb UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a report on Yemen stating that the country remained the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and aid operation. The crisis was the result of a brutal armed conflict that escalated six years prior. It has killed and injured tens of thousands of civilians, causing immense suffering for the Yemeni people. In 2020, the conflict intensified, the number of frontlines increased from 33 to 49, and 172,000 people were displaced, bringing the number of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) to at least 4 million.

    Yemen was reliant on import for 90% of its food. The situation was exacerbated by the global COVID-19 turndown which led to a sharp drop in remittances – the largest source of foreign currency and a lifeline for many families where 80 per cent of people live below the poverty line. As a result, millions more people could not afford to meet their basic needs. A fuel crisis in the north led to fuel shortages and price hikes. Government capacity to regularly pay salaries and pensions to public employees has been hindered and public services have been degraded. Between April and August 2020, heavy rains and flooding devastated communities, causing deaths and injuries, destroying infrastructure and livelihoods, and increasing the spread of deadly diseases. Tens of thousands of families were affected, many of them already displaced. Other natural hazards posed a threat, including desert locust infestations. The impact of the drivers of the crisis is most visible in the growing risk of famine and severe acute malnutrition, disease outbreaks, conflict casualties, forced displacement and reversal of past development gains. In addition, the conduct of the parties to the conflict had had a profound impact on the aid operation – particularly humanitarian access, aid delivery and data collection. [OCHA Report]

    In July it was reported that a large part of the population had been affected by heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding. Covid-19 continued to ravage the population. (No sports were available form the north of the country where the pandemic was not recognized. 11.3 million children were in need of humanitarian assistance and 20.7 million people were in need. [Reliefweb]

    		Yemen United Nations
    2021. 18 Jun The publication of The Bahá'ís in Yemen: From Obscurity to Persecution and Exile by Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen, Casey Coombs, Abdullah Olofi. Yemen Persecution, Yemen; Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen; Casey Coombs; Abdullah Al Olofi
    2022. 11 Mar The release of the Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Rights of persons belonging to religious or belief minorities in situations of conflict or insecurity at the 49th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The annex of the report said that concerns regarding the Bahá'ís "have persisted and even escalated across several country contexts". Dr Ahmed Shaheed's report illustrated the situations faced by Bahá'ís in Iran and in Yemen where they lack legal recognition and the discrimination as well as in Qatar they have experienced administrative deportations and in Tunisia where the government has refused to recognize the Faith. [Iranwire71448] Geneva Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Qatar; Persecution, Tunisia
    2022. 20 Apr The International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance issued a statement noting “with grave concern the increased pattern of repression and discrimination against members of the Bahá'í community” in some countries around the world. The statement is the first time the Alliance, also known as IRFBA, has made a direct intervention on challenges facing Bahá'í communities as a result of religious prejudice. Specific countries where Bahá'ís are persecuted or discriminated against were not named in the statement but the description of the challenges made it clear that the statement was written in support of the Bahá'í communities in Iran, Qatar and Yemen. [Statement on Bahá'ís] Iran; Yemen; Qatar The International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance; IRFBA; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Yemen; Persecution, Qatar
     
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