In an October 16 statement, the commission said that some of the Baha’i prisoners could be deported to Iran, where, according to the commission, the Iranian government has imprisoned and tortured followers of the Baha’i faith. The Christian prisoners, who are converts from Islam, could face the death penalty in Yemen if charged with apostasy.
The commission said the arrests indicate growing government sanctioned intolerance towards religious minorities. According to the religious freedom group’s report, the Baha’is and Christians were detained for sharing their faith with others.
“It is very troubling that conditions for religious minorities in Yemen appear to have recently deteriorated,” said Felice D. Gaer, the commission’s chairperson. She said the arrests were likely to violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Yemen is a party.
In June 2008, security officials raided several private homes in the capital city of Sana’a and arrested six Yemeni Baha’is. Two of them, who are Yemeni nationals, have since been released. Of the four individuals still in prison, three are Iranian nationals and one is of Iraqi origin. Three of those in prison have lived in Yemen for at least 25 years.
The country is a signatory of the UN Convention against Torture, of which Article 3 bans the deportation of a person to a country where he or she is likely to be tortured. If deported to Iran, the Baha’is face possible punishments ranging from execution to severe repression.
The independent US government-backed commission said that some of the
Christians in Yemen were arrested for “promoting Christianity and distributing the Bible”, although the authorities have not filed any formal charges. The Yemeni government prohibits conversion from Islam, and proselytizing Muslims is a crime punishable by death.
Out of a population of about 20 million people in Yemen, about half are
Sunni Muslims and slightly less than half are Shi’a Muslims. Other religious populations include nearly 3,000 Christians, 200 Baha’is, 500 Jews, and fewer than 100 Hindus.
