Houthi gunmen staged a violent raid on a peaceful gathering of Baha’is in Sana’a, Yemen, on May 25th, detaining at least 17 people including five women. Among those affected by the arrests was a toddler, both of whose parents were taken away, and who is now bereft of them without any end in sight.

The raid was caught on video, which quickly went viral. It left Yemeni Baha’is reeling from the latest blow to a severely persecuted religious community—and a week later it only got worse.

A bloodcurdling sermon—filled with disinformation and hate against the Baha’is—was delivered at Friday prayers by the Houthi’s Grand Mufti Shams al-Din Sharaf al-Din. The Baha’i religion spreads, the Grand Mufti said, because of “the generous support of Britain, America and the Jews,” before alleging that the Baha’is are “dangerous and secretly mislead the people and corrupt young men and women.” He also impugned the moral integrity of Baha’is in family and financial matters.

The sermon was a disturbing and fresh example of the de-facto Houthi authorities in Yemen using their platform and power to incite the Yemeni people to acts of violence against the Baha’is. This is not only happening in Yemen, but in Iran which also has a sizable Baha’i population. If left unchecked, the growing persecution of Baha’is may portend a human rights disaster and undermine a fragile peace process underway in Yemen.

Source: EMM/ UN Dispatch