Tag Archives: #Yemen

HOUTHIS CONDEMN 30 DETRACTORS TO DEATH: NEW EVIDENCE POINTS TO TORTURE OF DETAINEES

HOUTHIS CONDEMN 30 DETRACTORS TO DEATH

NEW EVIDENCE POINTS TO TORTURE OF DETAINEES

On July 12, the United Nations Office of the High Counselor on Human Rights demanded the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen rescind their death sentence against 30 political prisoners, citing credible allegations of torture and ill-treatment. Several prominent world leaders and organizations have made similar requests. The Yemen Government continues to demand their immediate release.

  1. UN Human Rights Council – “Deeply Alarmed”

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says it is “deeply alarmed” at death penalty sentences handed down to 30 men, asking the Houthi’s to dismiss the politically-motived charges. “At no point were they given a proper chance to present a defense, the arrests took place without a warrant, and they were held without being brought to court for several months or up to a year” [1]

  1. Amnesty International – “Mockery of Justice”

According to Amnesty International Middle East Director of Research Lynn Maalouf: “This trial was a mockery of justice and only confirms how the judiciary, is turning into a tool of repression. Today, thirty individuals, and all of their loved ones, are bracing for what is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and handed down following such flagrantly unfair trials. We call on the Houthi authorities to quash these unjust convictions and brutal sentences and release the 30 men immediately.”[2]

  1. Member of Canadian Parliament – “Houthis Must Drop Charges”

Member of Canadian Parliament David Anderson tweeted on July 9: “Once again, I call on the Houthi authorities in #Yemen to immediately drop all charges against Yemeni Baha’i, Hamed bin Haydara, who is appealing his death sentence ahead of his court hearing today. #YemeniBahais” [3]

  1. Reuters – “Torture and Lack of Access to Medical Care”

Reporting from Geneva, a July 12 story in Reuters stated: “Detainees include Youssef al-Bawab, a linguistics professor and political figure who was held in detention amid allegations of torture and lack of access to legal counsel and medical care.”[4]

  1. USCIRF – “Egregious Violation of Justice”

On July 1, The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom called on the Houthis to release Hamid bin Haidaricase, whose case “is an egregious violation of justice based on the Houthis’ intolerance of religious minorities in Yemen.” [5]

[1] https://twitter.com/UNGeneva/status/1149703215388270592

[2] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/07/yemen-huthi-run-court-sentences-30-political-opposition-figures-to-death-following-sham-trial/

[3] https://twitter.com/DavidAndersonSK/status/1148571735945633792

[4] https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-yemen-security-un/u-n-urges-yemen-houthi-court-to-review-30-death-sentences-idUKKCN1U7199

[5] https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/press-releases-statements/uscirf-calls-houthi-court-in-yemen-overturn-death-sentence

JUNE 28, 2019

Press Release:  On the Resolutions Introduced in The House and Senate Condemning the Houthi Extremists in Yemen by Representative Will Hurd and Senator Tom Cotton.

 

The Embassy of Yemen supports the concurrent resolutions introduced in the House and Senate by Representative Will Hurd (R-TX-23) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) condemning the Houthi extremists in Yemen for their human rights violations, violence against Yemeni civilians and ties to Iran.

“For years, the Houthis and their Iranian backers have violated international human rights law and committed war crimes with the goal of spreading their violent, hateful, anti-Semitic ideology,” said Dr. Ahmed Awad BinMubarak, Ambassador of Yemen to the United States. “We welcome these congressional resolutions, which recognize Houthis as an international threat and the bad actors that they truly are. In order to reach a peaceful, political solution in Yemen, the United States must remain fully engaged in Yemen, and apply maximum diplomatic, political and economic pressure on the Houthis to bring them to the negotiating table. We urge all members of Congress to pass these resolutions and to support the government of Yemen as it seeks to restore peace and stability to the country.”

The Houthis have committed thousands of atrocities since they began the conflict in 2014. They have littered the country with more than a million landmines that have maimed and murdered innocent men, women and children. They have recruited thousands of children into their military ranks through coercion and bribery, tearing families apart and deeply harming an entire generation of youth. They have diverted critical humanitarian aid and food supplies from the mouths and homes of the needy, exploiting aid supplies on such an extreme scale that the World Food Programme has suspended aid in many Houthi-controlled areas.

Further, Iran has played a major and nefarious role in this conflict by illegally providing weapons, munitions, military training, drone technology and ballistic missile capabilities to the Houthi militias. Recently, Iran has escalated its aggressive posturing in the region by attacking foreign oil tankers and even US drones. In light of these grave threats and affronts to stability and peace in the region, we urge the US Congress to pass these resolutions and condemn Iran for its malign activity in Yemen and the broader Gulf region. We cannot allow the Iranian regime to continue down the warpath it currently treads, or to use Yemen as a platform and the Houthis as a proxy for its violent revolution.