A Yemeni human rights organization documented the Iran-backed Houthi militias’ torture of more than 17,000 prisoners since their coup in Yemen in September 2014.
In a report marking International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Yemeni Organization for Prisoners and Abductees said the Houthis tortured to death 178 detainees, including 10 children and three women. It also documented 16 death cases caused by deliberate medical negligence.
The Hodeidah province witnessed the greatest number of these cases with 40, followed by Sanaa with 37, Taiz with 20 and the rest were reported in Houthi-held regions.
The report documented 17,638 cases of physical and mental torture in Houthi prisons, including against 587 children and 150 women, between September 2015 and December 2021.
The Houthi-held capital Sanaa witnessed the greatest number of these cases, with 2,599 victims, the Sanaa governorate witnessed 2,489, al-Bayda saw 1,642, the Ibb governorate witnessed 1,543 cases, and Dhamar 1,541.
The report revealed that the Houthi used several ways to physically and mentally torture detainees, including electric shocks, beatings and the and the so-called “grill method,” which relies on the suspension of the body over a steel tool attached on two wedges for more than 24 hours.
The militias run 639 prisons, 230 of which are public while 298 are secret facilities, said the report.
They also set up 111 new prisons in basements of government institutions, such as military sites, and others located in civilian buildings, such as ministries and public administrations.
It noted 110 torture and detention centers in Sanaa, 91 in Ibb and 78 in Hodeidah, and others in various regions.
The organization revealed that 27 prisoners died after their release from Houthi prisons and documented the forcible disappearance of 2,002 Yemenis, including 125 children 1,861 men and 16 women.
It accused the Houthis of detaining dozens of opposition figures and activists and subjecting them to various methods of torture and abuse.
