Yemen Monitor / Washington / Exclusive:
A recent report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has revealed systematic and flagrant violations committed by the Houthis against religious minorities in areas under their control in Yemen.
The Commission’s annual report, released on Wednesday and reviewed by Yemen Monitor, warns that religious diversity in Houthi-held areas is at risk of complete extinction.
The USCIRF recommended designating the Houthis as an “Entity of Particular Concern” (EPC) for committing severe violations of religious freedom—a designation previously adopted by the U.S. State Department between 2018 and 2023.
According to the report, the Houthis impose severe repression of religious freedom through forced religious indoctrination, state propaganda, and incitement of hatred against religious minorities. These policies have particularly impacted the Baha’i and Ahmadi communities.
The report highlights major violations, including “forced indoctrination,” in which the Houthis have imposed their unilateral interpretation of Shia Islam in schools and detention centers. School curricula have been modified to incorporate Houthi religious ideology.
It added that the Houthis systematically impose their religious ideas on students regardless of their religious identity or personal beliefs. Since 2015, the Houthis have made nearly 500 amendments to Yemen’s school curricula to serve this goal.
The report described how the Baha’i community faced persecution, noting that in 2023, the Houthis raided a Baha’i conference in Sana’a and arrested 17 members. They were later released after being forced to sign statements renouncing their faith.
It further stated that Houthi authorities mistreat detainees from religious minorities in prisons, forcing them to attend religious lessons and indoctrination sessions with Houthi ideology. These minorities are also held alongside violent inmates hostile to them, who are permitted to physically assault them.
The report noted that the Houthis’ recent crackdown on UN employees in northern Yemen, which continued into 2025, was based at least in part on the assumption that these employees were Christians and enemies of Islam. Some UN staff working in these areas were pressured to falsely confess on camera that they were working for Christians and acting as spies.
