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Houthis to Limit Judicial Education to Group's Followers

Houthi fighters in Yemen's capital Sanaa on December 9, 2020. (AFP)
Houthi fighters in Yemen's capital Sanaa on December 9, 2020. (AFP)
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Houthis to Limit Judicial Education to Group's Followers

Houthi fighters in Yemen's capital Sanaa on December 9, 2020. (AFP)
Houthi fighters in Yemen's capital Sanaa on December 9, 2020. (AFP)

The Houthis seek to privatize the Judiciary Council Higher Institute in Sanaa and limit the education to the group's supporters and members.

Local activists circulated documents issued by the Houthis, which included new conditions for applying to the Institute.

Judicial sources in Sanaa described these conditions as racially discriminatory and incapacitating to prevent all those wishing to get judicial studies from joining the Institute, limiting it to the group's supporters and members.

The documents included new conditions for applying to study at the Institute.

Applicants should be from a family with an active role in the war and confronting the legitimate government and the Arab coalition supporting it. They must have enrolled in the Houthi cultural and intellectual courses and participated in the fighting.

The Houthis also set conditions for new applicants wishing to study at the Department of Higher Specialized Studies and Diploma in Criminal Sciences that they pay for all study and training expenses if accepted.

The conditions were met with widespread student and societal rejection for violating the law stipulating free education and training at the Institute.

Applicants must also write a summary of their "jihadists history," asserting their readiness to join the fronts when summoned by the field commanders.

- Raids and threats

The application must also include the student's attestation to the information provided by the governor, the security and intelligence directors, the mobilization representative, and the general supervisor.

Several students who passed the entrance exams and have scientific and academic qualifications expressed dissatisfaction with these conditions, accusing the group of turning the institution into a profit-making organization.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the students explained that the Houthi terms aim to deprive them of the same status as their former colleagues, adding that the Institute's authority seeks to exclude them from limiting education to their followers.

- Unqualified students

In 2018, the Yemeni government announced that it would not recognize the results of the Judiciary Council Higher Institute under Houthi control and transferred the Institute to the interim capital, Aden.

The legitimate authorities began facilitating students' enrollment and education.

The Houthi militia pushed large numbers of its members and the sons of its leaders to study at the Institute after it successively dispensed with the services of thousands of officers and workers in the Ministry of Interior and Intelligence.

Informed sources in Sanaa confirmed that many of the new members of the Judiciary Institute failed the admission tests, accusing the militias of recruiting unqualified students, in violation of the law, as part of their plan to control the judiciary.

The Houthi militia faced criticism, pressure, and protests by Yemeni students, activists, and lawyers against the backdrop of enrolling hundreds of its members yearly who lack the necessary qualifications.

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Mikati Instructs Lebanon’s Institutions to Cooperate with HTS

 Activists carry Lebanese and Syrian flags, along with pictures of journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated by the former Syrian regime, during a demonstration in Beirut (EPA).
 Activists carry Lebanese and Syrian flags, along with pictures of journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated by the former Syrian regime, during a demonstration in Beirut (EPA).
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Mikati Instructs Lebanon’s Institutions to Cooperate with HTS

 Activists carry Lebanese and Syrian flags, along with pictures of journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated by the former Syrian regime, during a demonstration in Beirut (EPA).
 Activists carry Lebanese and Syrian flags, along with pictures of journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated by the former Syrian regime, during a demonstration in Beirut (EPA).

Communication channels have been opened between the Lebanese state and the Syrian Interim Government. Diplomats conveyed a message from HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa to Lebanese officials, stating that the new Syrian government has no issues with the Lebanese state.
HTS said that its problem lingers with Hezbollah, which supported the Assad regime in its attacks on the Syrian people, occupied Syrian territories, and displaced its residents.
A source close to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati indicated that the prime minister received the Syrian message “very positively” and began working toward establishing stable relations with Syria. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the source disclosed that Mikati had instructed all official institutions to collaborate with HTS, which now oversees security in Syrian territories, and to coordinate on mutual security matters between the two nations.
The first tangible result of this cooperation was a meeting held on Wednesday between a delegation from HTS and the Lebanese General Security agency at the latter’s office near the Masnaa border crossing in the Bekaa Valley. The talks resulted in agreements on coordination frameworks to ensure security on both sides of the border.
The source explained that Mikati’s primary focus is on organizing and securing the borders. Recently, he received reports from the Lebanese Army indicating that Syrian authorities had closed 80% of the illegal crossings previously used by smugglers. The source described this as a reassuring development.
In a sign of reconciliation, the source close to Mikati noted that Turkish and Qatari envoys delivered a message confirming that the new Syrian government does not intend to revisit the conflicts of the Syrian war or seek revenge against Bashar al-Assad’s allies, including Hezbollah. The message stressed that Syria has no plans to retaliate against Hezbollah for its actions during the war, such as detaining Syrian opposition figures in Lebanon, provided that Hezbollah withdraws from Syria and ceases all military and security activities there.
Further reflecting this shift, a security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that HTS had previously facilitated the safe transfer of dozens of Hezbollah fighters and their families from Syria to Lebanon without harming or targeting them.
Despite these developments, there has yet to be any official communication between the Lebanese government and Ahmed Al-Sharaa, the transitional leader of Syria, even though two weeks have passed since the fall of the Assad regime.
Former Lebanese minister Rashid Derbas commented that Mikati had recently made an exploratory visit to Ankara to understand how the situation in Syria is unfolding. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Derbas stated that the armed factions now responsible for security in Syria face a major test of their ability to maintain stability until a new political authority is established through free and fair elections reflecting the will of the Syrian people. He noted that the Syrian Army no longer has a presence on the ground.
Derbas added that while Syrian statements about relations with Lebanon have been positive, Lebanon must remain cautious and alert to the possibility of chaos erupting in Syria and spilling over into its borders.