Yemen: Houthis Commit 18,000 Human Rights Violations in 6 Months

Yemeni policemen stand guard outside the central prison in Sanaa (AFP)
Yemeni policemen stand guard outside the central prison in Sanaa (AFP)
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Yemen: Houthis Commit 18,000 Human Rights Violations in 6 Months

Yemeni policemen stand guard outside the central prison in Sanaa (AFP)
Yemeni policemen stand guard outside the central prison in Sanaa (AFP)

Houthis' violations of human rights had escalated this year in Sanaa and other areas under their control, confirmed security and human rights sources in Sanaa.

They said militias committed about 18,000 violations over the past six months, basing their information on reports from state facilities.

The violations varied between killings, kidnappings, house raids, confiscation of properties, and arbitrary arrests at the checkpoints deployed in streets and roads between the provinces.

Human rights organizations expressed their deep concern over the Houthi escalation against civilians and innocent people, especially women and children.

They asserted that such actions oppose human rights and constitute a flagrant violation of international conventions and laws, as well as the customs and traditions of the Yemeni society.

Sam Organization for Rights and Liberties issued last week a report documenting violations of arbitrary detention and psychological and physical torture of women in Yemen.

The organization said Houthis had formed a women's security apparatus, tasked with breaking into homes, arresting, and luring women in order to gather information.

President of SAM Organization Tawfiq al-Humaidi indicated that while women hold a special status in Yemen, they lost that with Houthis’ control over Sanaa and other cities and are being subjected to gross violations of human rights, norms, and values.

The report pointed out that women detentions included deserted places - used for interrogation and psychological torture, homes of citizens who were forced to leave, and police departments controlled by Houthis.

Female detainees were subjected to severe torture and cruel treatment, prompting them to try to commit suicide.

The report contained testimonies of victims, their relatives, and eyewitnesses who have spoken of serious violations in Houthi militias prisons, including police and military prisons.

The coup militias fabricate charges and evidence such as pictures and videos during the abduction period in secret prisons before being transferred to public prisons for torture and extortion.

Yemen’s Organization for Combating Human Trafficking (YOCHT) asserted that 120 women from Sanaa were arrested, most of which were detained in the criminal investigation facilities in Sanaa. The organization based its accusations on reports it received from within the Yemeni capital.

The actual number of Houthi violations against women in their areas of control is much more than the declared figures because most Yemeni families refrain from reporting any violation so that they are not slandered, according to the head of The Association of Yemeni Abductee Mothers Amat al-Salam al-Haj.

Haj told Asharq Al-Awsat that the number of kidnappings and imprisonment of women and children escalated this year, accusing Houthis of systematically and physically torturing women, defaming many of them, and accusing them of unethical charges contrary to Yemeni custom and traditions.

Houthi militias arrested hundreds through its secret security force, known as “preventative security”, including leaders of the Popular Congress Party and a number of figures affiliated with the group in Sanaa, Dhamar, and Ibb on charges of “treason and treachery”, according to human rights sources.

The sources added that militias are raiding homes of activists, lawyers and journalists for not attending or reporting their events, celebrations and rallies. The group even arrested a number of officers and police officials in Sanaa.



Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to suppress small militant units that have continued to hit troops with mortar fire, the military said on Friday.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had killed around 100 Palestinian fighters since Israeli troops began their latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continued as pressure mounted for a deal to halt the fighting.

It said seven small units that had been firing mortars at the troops were hit in an air strike, while further south, in Rafah, four fighters were also killed in air strikes.

The Islamic Jihad armed wing said it fired rockets toward the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza. No casualties were reported, the Israeli ambulance service said.

The continued fighting, more than nine months since the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack, underlined the difficulty the IDF has had in eliminating fighters who have reverted to a form of guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the coastal strip.

A Telegram channel operated by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, said fighters had been waging fierce battles with Israeli troops east of Khan Younis with machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.

Medics said at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Khan Younis.

US PRESSURE

US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a proposed ceasefire deal as soon as possible.

However there has been no clear sign of movement in talks to end the fighting and bring home some 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements from Israel and Hamas appear to indicate that serious differences remain between the two sides.

Local residents contacted by messenger app, said Israeli tanks had pushed into three towns to the east of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Zanna and Al-Karara and blew up several houses in some residential districts.

The military said air force jets hit around 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads from which rockets were fired into Beersheba in southern Israel.

Even while the fighting continued around Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, in the northern part of the enclave, Israeli tanks pushed into the Tel Al-Hawa suburb west of Gaza city, residents said.

A Hamas Telegram channel said fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Al-Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.

Medics said two Palestinians were also killed in an air strike in western Gaza city.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from armed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or taken prisoner, out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.