On Apparent Religious Persecution in Yemen: Baha’is imprisoned may face imminent deportation to Iran
By george wesley dannells on Aug 27, 2008 in Baha'i Views
The spotlight is on Yemen. 
Photo: “世界遺産・サナア旧市街（イエメン）Sana’a Old City, UNESCO World Heritage site in YEMEN.” Uploaded on January 7, 2007 by eesti on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic
Should the Baha’is arrested in Yemen without provocation be deported to Iran, they would face the likelihood of imprisionment and even torture. The 7-member leadership of the Baha’is in Iran were arrested earlier this year and are still imprisioned. -gw
“We are gravely concerned about the fate of these three Baha’is, who are being held without charges in a case that is clearly based on religious persecution,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.
“Although the three have lived in Yemen for more than 25 years, they hold Iranian passports and we have come to believe that the Yemeni government may be planning to deport them to Iran, where the government is waging a systematic campaign against Baha’is.
“While calling for their immediate release, our primary concern today is to ask that the Yemeni government resist any impulse to deport these three Baha’is to Iran – or any other country. Deportation to any country for three individuals with well established businesses and families for their religious beliefs would be grossly unjust, but deportation to Iran, where they face the possibility of torture, would be a clear violation of international human rights law,” said Ms. Dugal.
The three Baha’is were arrested in June, apparently in relation to their belief in and practice of the Baha’i Faith, along with a Baha’i of Iraqi origin.
The three Baha’is of Iranian origin who were arrested are Mr. Zia’u'llah Pourahmari, Mr. Keyvan Qadari, and Mr. Behrooz Rohani. A fourth Baha’i, Mr. Sayfi Ibrahim Sayfi, was also arrested and faces the possibility of deportation to Iraq.
