مصغرات 4
Unjust sentences issued based on the mood of the authorities in force and according to trials that lack the minimum standards and principles of a fair trial, are merely a tool for suppression and persecution. Ansar Allah should stop using this tool.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" hover_type="none" link="" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="left top" background_repeat="no-repeat" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" dimension_margin="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_text]
Authorities of Ansar Allah (Houthis) must rescind the death sentence issued by the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) against Hamid Kamal Muhammad Haydara (53 years) and immediately and unconditionally release him, said Mwatana for Human Rights in a statement released today. On Tuesday morning, January 2, 2018, a verdict of death sentence was issued against Haydara; the confiscation of his property and assets; and the closure of the Baha’i forums in Yemen.
Radhya al-Mutawakel, Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights Said: “Unjust sentences issued based on the mood of the authorities in force and according to trials that lack the minimum standards and principles of a fair trial, such as the one issued against Hamid Haydara, are merely a tool for suppression and persecution, and Ansar Allah (Houthis) should stop using this tool”.
Haydara was arrested on December 3, 2013 at Total Petroleum Company, where he was employed, in the town of Balhaf, Shabwa Governorate. The legal proceedings in his case have been flawed since the first moment of his arrest, including being forcibly disappeared for nine months, excessive pre-trial detention, torture and ill-treatment, not being able to communicate with a lawyer during investigations and undue delays in his trial.
According to court documents, Haydara has been charged with offences including “endeavoring on behalf of a foreign state…. to spread the religion of Baha’ism in the Republic of Yemen and inciting the Yemenis to embrace the aforementioned religion and leave the religion of Islam” with the purpose to “infringe upon Yemen’s independence and its territorial integrity”; and forging documents including passports and ID cards for himself and his family by providing false personal information and using these documents “for buying lands and start up commercial enterprises with the intention of recruiting a large number of Baha’is to settle within the territory of the Republic of Yemen, in implementation of the instructions of the Universal House of Justice in Israel”.
Prosecution of an individual, even if for a recognizable criminal offence, violates the principle of non-discrimination if it is selective on the basis of, or largely motivated by, an individual’s national or social origin or religious beliefs. Moreover, any case where someone is detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression and of their conscientiously held beliefs, as set out in Articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Yemen is a party, is arbitrary detention in violation of international law, and, in such a case, the individual should be immediately released.
In a joint letter addressed by Mwatana for Human Rights and Amnesty International in March 2017 to Sana’a-based officials after scrutinizing the case file and information, including some prosecution and defense documents, and records of the interrogation sessions, the two organizations have concluded that Haydara is a prisoner of conscience who is being held and tried on account of his conscientiously held beliefs and peaceful activities as a believer in Baha’i religion.
Article 6 (2) of the ICCPR states that “in countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes.” The Human Rights Committee has stated that “the expression ‘most serious crimes’ must be read restrictively to mean that the death penalty should be a quite exceptional measure”. The UN Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty, adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council in 1984, recommend that “capital punishment may be imposed only for the most serious crimes, it being understood that their scope should not go beyond intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences”, and in this regard, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions has clarified that “death penalty may never be mandatory and may be imposed only for those crimes that involve intentional killing”. This is confirmed in the Human Rights Committee’s current draft of an updated general comment on the right to life, which states that the term “the most serious crimes” must be read restrictively and appertain to crimes of extreme gravity such as those involving premeditated murder. The charges brought against Hamid Haydara, for which he was sentenced to death do not meet the requirements of these standards.
Al-Mutawakel said: “Ansar Allah group (Houthis) should desist of the use of methods and tricks that had been used against the group’s supporters in the past, including the harsh judicial decisions resulting from improper procedures violating the law and the principles of fair trial”.
On August 11, 2016, the Houthis arrested 65 with a majority of Baha’i minority followers in Sana’a, of men, women and children, for civilian activities exercised by them. Later in 2017, Houthis also conducted campaigns of detentions against Baha’is in different times. Six Baha’is remain detained and forcibly disappeared in the jails of Houthis in Sana’a.
Baha’i minority followers in Yemen, both of Yemeni citizens and those of other nationalities who have been legally resident in Yemen for decades, have been arrested and subjected to different styles of harassment and intimidation, not only by Ansar Allah (Houthis), but also by the authorities of the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the Arab Coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. These campaigns have prompted dozens of the Baha’i minority followers to flee to other countries.
On Wednesday, January 11, 2017, the authorities of Aden International Airport arrested Hishmatullah Ali Mohammed Thabet (75 years) and his son-in-law, Nadim al-Saqqaf (43 years); both are followers of the Baha’i religion. The authorities kept them forcibly disappeared without charge or communicating with a lawyer until September 5, 2017, when they were released ahead of the 36th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
On September 29, 2017, the Human Rights Council, in article 7 of its resolution No. 36/31 on Yemen, urged all parties to immediately release all Baha’is detained for their religious beliefs.
[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
