Barran Press
A protest in Marib governorate on Monday, August 5th, 2024, called on both the UN Special Envoy to Yemen and the internationally recognized Yemeni government to actively work towards the cancellation of death sentences issued by the Houthis against dozens of detainees held in the group's prisons in Sana'a.
The demonstration, organized by families of detainees from Sana'a, also urged the UN envoy and the government to work for the immediate release of the detainees and their rehabilitation, including "compensation for the harm inflicted upon them due to abduction, enforced disappearance, and torture."
A statement issued by the protest called on the Attorney General in the temporarily declared capital of Aden to stop the Houthis' manipulation of the judiciary, highlighting that the Houthi group continues to issue death sentences against hundreds of detainees in their prisons in Sana'a.
The statement deemed the Houthi death sentences politically motivated and illegitimate, as they were issued by a rebellious group that has overthrown the republic.
Protesters held pictures of the detainees and banners demanding the immediate release of all detainees and an end to the Houthis' manipulation of the judiciary.
A recent report by the human rights organization "Rights Radar" revealed that "the judicial authorities affiliated with the Houthi group have issued over 641 sentences of imprisonment and execution since their control of Sana'a in September 2014 until July this year."
According to the organization, these sentences included "630 men, 10 women, and one child, 579 of whom were sentenced to death, including 6 women and one child, while 62, including 4 women, were sentenced to imprisonment."
"Rights Radar" stated that "the issuance of such decisions raises genuine concern for the lives and safety of detainees and prisoners held by the Houthi group, as they are the sole controlling entity of the judicial system, putting the lives of detainees at real risk."
The international organization deemed "the continuation of the Houthi group in issuing such referrals and the resulting decisions and judgments confirms one fact: the Houthis' use of the judiciary and prosecution offices as tools for political liquidation and moral suppression of their opponents and against anyone who refuses to engage in their specific political and ideological activities."