Additional Name(s): Levi Salem Musa Marhabi, Libby Salem Marhaby, ليبي سالم مرحبي

Gender: Male

Current Location: Sanaa, Yemen

Perpetrator: Houthis

Religion or Belief: Jewish

Reports of Torture: Yes

Reports of Medical Neglect: Yes

Sentence: 3 Years, 6 Months' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: March//2016

Date of Sentencing: March/13/2018

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Religious Identity

Nature of Charges: Unknown

Libi Marhabi

Extra Bio Info:

Libi Marhabi is imprisoned for his religious identity. 

In March 2016, Houthi forces arrested Marhabi for allegedly smuggling a Torah out of Yemen.

On March 13, 2018, authorities sentenced Marhabi to three years and six months' imprisonment.

In 2019, a Houthi appeals court ordered Marhabi's release, but security forces refused despite releasing his non-Jewish co-defendants. U.S. then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also called for Marhabi's immediate release in November 2020.

Houthi prison authorities have tortured and mistreated Marhabi. They have blocked communication with his family members, beat him, denied him food, administered electric shocks, and subjected him to hours-long interrogations. The torture he experienced caused all his teeth to fall out. Inhumane prison conditions have also worsened his kidney and lung conditions. After the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel, Houthi authorities transferred Marhabi to a more dangerous ward with extremist prisoners who threatened him; after a ten-day hunger strike, authorities placed him in solitary confinement.

Publicly Available Information:

Sep 22

WHEN:

Sep 22nd 10:30am - Sep 22nd 12:00pm

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Strategies for Religious Freedom in Fragile States

Wednesday, September 22, 2021
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Virtual Hearing

Hearing Transcript

Hearing Summary

Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a virtual hearing on how the U.S. government can promote and help protect religious freedom in fragile states.

In recent years, the U.S. government has begun revising its approach to addressing violence and conflict prevention in fragile contexts.  In 2018 the U.S. government published the Stabilization Assistance Review (SAR). The Global Fragility Act was passed and signed into law with strong bipartisan support in 2019. These developments, which require long-term planning and organizational discipline across U.S. foreign policy interagency processes, present a starting point to discuss how religious freedom can advance U.S. stabilization efforts and how U.S. policy in fragile states can better support individuals whose rights to freedom of thought, conscience, and worship are under threat.

Countries with fragile contexts, such as Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen present uniquely challenging landscapes for U.S. government officials to promote and protect religious freedom. When governments lack control over their territory or the support of their populations, common tools like diplomacy or sanctions often prove ineffective in promoting the fundamental rights of freedom of religion or belief.

This hearing will explore the intersection of religious freedom and fragility, the tools that the U.S. government has to promote freedom of religion or belief abroad, the role that religious leaders and communities can play in strengthening stabilization efforts, and how the U.S. government can better promote and help protect religious freedom in fragile states.

Opening Remarks

Panel

  • Elie Al Hindy, Ph.D, Executive Director, Adyan Foundation for Diversity, Solidarity and Human Dignity
    Written Testimony
  • Corrine Graff, Senior Advisor on Conflict Prevention and Fragility, U.S. Institute of Peace
    Written Testimony
  • James Patton, President and CEO of International Center for Religion and Diplomacy
    Written Testimony
  • Ebrahim Moosa, Professor in Islamic Thought & Muslim Societies, University of Notre Dame
    Written Testimony

 

Witnesses’ Bios

 

This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should register online and can email [email protected] for any questions or to schedule an interview. The video recording of the hearing will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please contact Nina Ullom at [email protected] or (202) 322-0232.

Sep 2, 2021

For the past two years, USCIRF has recommended that India be designated a Country of Particular of Concern (CPC) by the State Department due the government’s promotion of Hindu nationalist policies resulting in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. One such policy is the 2019 passage of the discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)—a fast track to citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan residing in India—which led to nationwide protests against the CAA in early 2020 and spurred state and nonstate violence, largely targeting Muslims.

Today, USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza joins us to discuss a report on India that will be issued in the coming weeks by the Political Conflict, Gender and People’s Rights Initiative, Center for Race and Gender, at the University of California, Berkeley. The report, called “BREAKING WORLDS: Religion, Law and Citizenship in Majoritarian India: The Story of Assam,” is authored by a team of researchers led by Dr. Angana Chatterji. The report is a case study of the Indian government’s attempt to alter the basis of Indian citizenship through the pilot implementation of the CAA and accompanying National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the northeastern state of Assam.

Read more of USCIRF’s reporting on India here.

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