Houthi militias in Yemen announced a few days ago that dozens of bodies were buried in mass graves in Sanaa. The Iran-backed group claimed that those laid to rest were “unidentified.”
Houthis currently face grave accusations of torturing detainees to death, hiding their bodies for some time and then burying them in mass graves across different Houthi-run governorates.
Public Prosecution in Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis, has launched alongside the International Committee of the Red Cross the first phase of burying 28 unidentified corpses, reported the Houthi version of the official Saba news agency.
While Houthi media did not disclose any other details related to the identity of these bodies, a source close to the group’s ruling department in Sanaa revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that there are three women among the 28 getting buried.
According to the source, who requested anonymity, the unidentified bodies were placed in airtight bags so that none of the parties involved in the burial would recognize them.
Reports prepared by the internationally-recognized government reveal that more than 300 abductees who were forcibly kidnapped by the militias had died under torture.
Activists and local human rights organizations had previously accused the militias of digging mass graves for dozens of civilians who died under torture in their detention centers.
Houthis, however, claim that those buried were unidentified individuals found in hospital mortuaries in several cities under their control.
In 2020, the Iran-backed militia buried 232 bodies out of a total of 715 in graves across Sanaa, Hodeidah, and Dhamar. Houthis also claimed that the corpses were unidentified. The burials took place over three phases.
Irada Organization for Combating Torture and Enforced Disappearance, a human rights NGO, had accused Houthis of torturing detainees to death and hiding their bodies.
In a statement, the organization called for an international investigation into the Houthis’ burial of hundreds of unidentified bodies, blaming the militias for the lives of all those killed.
