Unfortunately, not much information is currently available regarding the detainees, but we will be sure to keep you updated as soon as we learn more. What we do know for sure is: the Iranian government is unlikely to petition for their release.
Update: The Associated Press has a more extensive report, a copy of which can be found here:
Mansour Hayel, vice president of the Omar al-Gawi Political Forum that advocates for human rights and civil liberties in Yemen, blamed the arrests on the growing influence of extremist Muslim groups in Yemen.
Read the full report here.
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Marco Oliveira
19 August, 2008
Concerning Religious Freedom in Yemen you may want to read this report by the US State Department:
International Religious Freedom Report 2007 – Yemen
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90224.htm
Admin
19 August, 2008
Thanks for the link, Marco.
While trying to find out more about the Baha’i community in Yemen, we found a 1993 report which stated the presence of 20-30 “underground Baha’is” in northern Yemen. By 1999, the US Department of State’s annual report on religious freedom stated that there were”no longer credible reports of a Baha’i community in northern Yemen”
While browsing through Yemeni websites, we noticed many expressed their distrust of the Baha’i presence in Yemen, and exasperation at the growing numbers (we have been told it is due to Baha’is escaping from persecution in nearby Oman). Some have even went as far as accusing the Baha’i minority of being responsible for a large number of negative reports that are emerging about Yemen.