The Iran-backed Houthi militias in Sanaa resorted on Saturday to all forms of oppression to suppress a protest against poor living standards in the Yemeni capital.
The rally was called for by activists and staged amid heavy Houthi security presence.
Sanaa residents told Reuters dozens were arrested on Saturday, including 16 female students.
The students were released at the end of the day after signing a pledge not to take part in demonstrations again, one of them said, asking not to be identified for fear of retribution. She said female Houthi supporters “attacked us with electric shock batons and clubs, supported by armed men”.
“They beat me until I fell to the ground and I received an electric shock in the back when I stood up again. I wasn’t able to move when they took me to the police station,” she said.
Saturday’s protest was yet another sign of the people’s mounting frustration with the Houthis’ oppressive and sectarian rule.
The Houthis had dispatched their members to the streets in an attempt to prevent the protesters from holding their rally.
Social media activists documented the Houthis’ oppressive tactics against the demonstrators. They showed footage of Houthi attacks against dozens of students at Sanaa University. They also said that more than 50 students were arrested and taken to a police station.
The poor living conditions in Sanaa is blamed on the militias’ corruption and looting of state institutions. This has led to the deterioration of the currency and spike in consumer goods prices.
Prior to the protest, the Houthis had launched a social media campaign warning the people against staging their demonstration.
Female activists in Sanaa were singled out and they were the victims of insults by Houthi leaderships, as shown in footage published by activists on social media.
The league of mothers of kidnapped Yemenis condemned these insults, saying they go against Yemeni norms and traditions that put women in high standing.
It demanded the unconditional release of all detainees and that the Yemenis speak up against the Houthis’ insults.
"Yemen society is conservative and we did not believe that the Houthis would arrest women, as it is a shame in Yemeni traditions and taboos, but they did,” said Ahmed, an anti-Houthi activist whose name has been changed for security reasons.
He confirmed to AFP that not only Houthi women but also fighters participated in beating the women, then took them to al-Gudairi police station in an armed vehicle.
"The Houthi fighters transported the women to the police station, then on to an unknown location and took their mobiles so we cannot contact them", Ahmed said.
Prior to its 2014 coup against legitimate forces, the Houthis had claimed to support protests against corruption and high prices in Yemen, saying that it was the right of all Yemenis.
Ever since their coup, however, the militias now view protests as a threat to their sectarian existence.
On Thursday, a militia leader said that protests against poor living conditions should take the shape of fighting on the battlefield, not demonstrations against the Houthis on the streets of Sanaa.
His suggestion was met by ridicule among the Yemenis, who blame the militias’ poor management of institutions for the current state of affairs in the country.
