The US Department of State has demanded that the Iran-backed Houthi militias cease their violations against the Yemeni people and release detainees held in their jails immediately.
A Department spokesman told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Yemen has a real opportunity for peace, and we hope to see further progress soon. Unfortunately, the Houthis continue to pursue their offensive in Marib—with devastating humanitarian consequences—rather than choosing peace.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he added: “We continue to advocate for the release of unjustly detained individuals, regardless of where they are from or who is holding them.”
“Exercising human rights, including freedom of expression and freedom of religion should never be criminalized,” he stressed.
Asked about the detention of Yemeni Jew Levi Marhavi and the forced displacement of Jewish families in Yemen, he replied: “We continue to advocate for his release. We have raised his case repeatedly at the UN Security Council and the former Secretary of State released a statement calling for his immediate release.”
He also urged the release of US citizen Abdulbari al-Kotf, who has been held hostage since 2018. “We continue to advocate for his immediate and unconditional release. On April 12, we announced a reward for anyone who provides information that leads to his release,” he added.
“We also deplore the arrest of Intisar Hamadi and call for the Houthis to release her immediately.”
Separately, Jason Guberman, executive director of the American Sephardi Federation, said the Houthi hearts “are filled with hatred.”
“After cursing and persecuting Jews for years, sieg-heiling Houthis are now ethnically ‘cleansing’ Yemen of its ancient Jewish community,” he said in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat.
“The Iranian regime-backed Houthis are exploiting international sympathy while perpetuating Yemen’s humanitarian crisis and perpetrating mass atrocities, such as bombing mosques during prayer and burning hundreds of African migrants alive,” Guberman said.
“During Passover, the Houthis expelled almost all of Yemen’s last Jews to Egypt,” he revealed.
“These Jews loved Yemen and had no desire to leave, but Houthis practice the antisemitism they preach. The plight of Yemen’s Jews is too often overlooked and ignored. Those who claim to stand for marginalized peoples, human rights, and claim ‘Yemen can’t wait’ have failed to act,” he lamented.
Moreover, he said: “The American Sephardi Federation, as the representative of Sephardic Jewish communities (including Yemenites), launched the #FreeLevi campaign to advocate for the immediate release of Levi Salem Musa Marhabi and to mobilize people to oppose the Houthi ideology.”
Marhabi is a Yemeni Jew who was arrested for allegedly helping a Jewish family escape persecution. He has been tortured for years and is now partially paralyzed, said Guberman, urging the Biden administration to act immediately to ensure his release.
“The US Department of State has called for Levi Marhabi’s release, but that is not enough,” he continued.
“When Natan Sharansky was illegally imprisoned by the Soviet Union, the US Government made it a policy to press at every meeting, no matter the subject, for his release. Similarly, Marhabi should be mentioned at the beginning of every meeting with the Houthis, as well as at the negotiations with the Iranian regime, which is providing the Houthis with ‘quite significant and lethal’ support, according to US Special Envoy Lenderking,” he remarked.
In its most recent report, Amnesty International accused the Houthis of “using arbitrarily detained prisoners as chess pieces in political negotiations.”
The report, “Released and Exiled: Torture, unfair trials and forcible exile of Yemenis under Houthi rule” highlighted the plight of detainees, which include some journalists and political opponents, who were released as part of political deals.
In March, the Yemeni government documented 21,000 violations committed by the Houthis in Sanaa, including murder and torture, forced disappearance, looting, displacement and violations against women and children.
