For the fourth day in a row, dozens of detainees in the central prison in Sanaa continued their hunger strike. They are protesting their detention, torture, and humiliation by Houthi militias.
Houthis, according to the relatives of detainees, responded to the hunger strike by stepping up its exemplary punishment of the prisoners. The group also handed over the body of Omar Abdullah Al-Samae, a detainee, to his family which was visiting to check up on his health after spending over two years in Houthi prisons.
The Houthis are accused of killing Al-Samae in prison.
In a document, detainees in the Houthi-run central prison announced that they are carrying out an open hunger strike until the militia responded to their demands.
Their demands include unconditional release, rehabilitation, and compensation for all the damages they suffered after years of kidnapping and illegal detention.
According to informed sources, detainees in the Houthi prison have been on hunger strike for days. Their strike is driven by maltreatment, repression and torture practiced by Houthi jailers against them.
Prisoners are accusing the Houthi justice system, which is headed by Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, of unjustly detaining them. The same claim is being leveled by the inmates against Houthi courts and prosecution.
The prisoners, who have been detained for several years, demanded that human rights and humanitarian organizations investigate their cases and grievances.
They urged intervention to end the Houthi injustice as their continued detention by militias “constitutes a clear violation of the law, the constitution, customs, and human values.”
Local reports documented the recent injury of at least six detainees in the central prison in the Yemeni city of Dhamar. The prisoners were beaten by Houthi gunmen.
Media reported that Houthi militiamen suddenly raided the central prison in Dhamar and began assaulting inmates based on allegations that a detainee had slipped a phone into the penitentiary.
