A human rights report: Houthis abduct 324 civilians in 2022

The Houthi militias, Iran’s arm in Yemen, continue their operations of abduction, forced disappearance, torture, ill-treatment, and issuing death sentences against civilians in areas under their control, according to a human rights report.

The “Mothers of the Abducted Association,” a non-governmental organization, issued the seventh annual report titled “Mothers on the Threshold of Justice 4,” and the report indicated that the Houthi group abducted 324 civilians during the past year in Sanaa, Taiz, Al Hudaydah, Dhamar, Ibb, Hajjah, Amran, and Saada, including one woman.

The report documented 544 cases of violations against abducted and forcibly hidden civilians during 2022 in 12 governorates, as reported by the local “Yemen News” website.

The violations varied between arbitrary detention (442 cases), forced disappearance (56 cases), torture and ill-treatment (33 cases), and issuing death sentences (13 cases). The Houthi militias topped the list of violators, with 403 violations, accounting for 74.1% of the total recorded violations against abducted and hidden civilians during the past year.

The report presented several facts and testimonies documented by the association from civilians who were subjected to abduction, forced disappearance, torture, and death sentences by the Houthi group.

The association called on all local and international authorities to pressure for the release of those detained outside the framework of the law and to work on preventing conflicting parties from committing violations against civilians and protecting human rights in various humanitarian and political aspects.

The association emphasized the necessity of holding the perpetrators of violations against abducted, hidden, and arbitrarily detained civilians, whether individuals or entities, accountable and bringing them to fair trial and compensating the victims and redressing their harm.

Regarding torture and ill-treatment, the “Mothers of the Abducted Association” stated that it documented (33 cases) of torture against abducted and detained individuals by the violating parties, including(25 cases of torture by the Houthi group.

In the past year, the Houthi militias acknowledged abducting about 3 thousand civilians, including women, from areas under their control during the past 12 months, on charges of opposing the authorities of the militias and working in favor of the internationally recognized legitimate government.

Over the past eight years of the war, there have been repeated reports by local and international human rights organizations revealing the magnitude of the humanitarian tragedy in the prisons of the Iran-backed group, as they have detained thousands of civilians and warning against their insistence on arresting anyone who disagrees with them or even those suspected of their loyalty, in an ongoing effort to tighten their security grip.

The legitimate government and human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have previously accused the Houthis, who control the capital, Sanaa, of “hostage-taking and committing serious violations against their detainees, including torture.”