Shaaban Bilal (Aden, Cairo)
The head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, confirmed that the terrorist “Houthi” militia has thwarted the people’s hopes for achieving peace and stability, the continuation and expansion of the truce, and the payment of the salaries of the oppressed in the areas under their control through repression and looting.
Al-Alimi explained, in a tweet on his Twitter account, yesterday, his country’s need for peace and security, stressing that the Presidential Council and the government will work “tirelessly to meet the humanitarian needs of Yemenis.”
He also stressed that the Council and the government will strive together to achieve the needs of the Yemeni people, in accordance with their stated pledges, despite all the challenges facing legitimacy.
Last week, the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, expressed his regret for not renewing the truce in the country, stressing that this would lead to great risks.
This came after the failure of international efforts to extend the previous UN armistice, which expired on the second of October.
On August 2, the United Nations announced that the Yemeni parties had agreed to extend the armistice for two additional months, according to the same conditions, from August 2 to October 2, 2022.
This extension came after a previous UN armistice that took effect last April (2022) on all fighting fronts in Yemen for a period of two months. Governorates to improve the freedom of movement of people inside Yemen, and to facilitate the entry of 18 ships carrying fuel to the ports of Hodeidah in western Yemen within two months, in addition to allowing two flights to and from Sanaa International Airport per week.
Despite this, the Houthi militia obstructed the extension of that truce for the third time, imposing unacceptable conditions, while continuing its terrorist violations against the Yemeni people.
The violations committed by the Houthi militia were not limited to bombing and attempts to break into new areas, but also included inhumane practices by kidnapping, torturing and killing tens of thousands of Yemenis opposed to their sectarian ideology, and transforming schools, hospitals and government headquarters into detention centers and terrorizing civilians, which amount to “war crimes.” And it calls for international accountability, according to experts and political analysts.
Human rights reports have documented thousands of cases of physical and psychological torture in militia prisons, the latest of which documented more than 17,000 torture cases, including 587 children and 150 women, in addition to the killing of 15 journalists and photographers during the 7 years of the Houthi coup.
Yemeni political analyst Abdul Karim al-Ansi considered that terrorist militias practice all kinds of torture, and have turned more than 2,500 schools into prisons and weapons depots, stressing that this is sufficient evidence of the type of major violations by the Houthis.
In statements to Al-Ittihad, Al-Ansi explained that the Houthi militias are committing violations amounting to “war crimes” through torture and interrogation, especially against journalists and opposition activists, pointing to the need to take an international position on these violations.
According to experts and human rights reports, Houthi violations include intimidation, arbitrary detention, harassment, threats to the families of the kidnapped, and verbal and physical abuse.
Since its coup against the state and waging war on Yemeni cities, thousands of different segments of society have suffered from “Houthi” torture in prisons, while many have died under torture.
According to the testimonies of those released, the torture consisted of violent beatings with sticks, batons, whips and electric wires, and pricking with sharp objects up to stabbing.
In turn, the Yemeni political analyst Mahmoud Al-Taher considered that the Houthi militias no longer believe in peace and are not aware of human rights, so they practice the most heinous crimes against the kidnappers and detainees in their prisons, without deterrence or international reactions to these practices.
In statements to Al-Ittihad, Al-Taher revealed that the Houthi militia has established many prisons and arrests thousands of civilians who reject its extremist ideology.
Al-Taher stressed that the terrorist militias are escalating their hostile actions and violations against Yemenis as long as they do not see any reactions or international pressures being exerted on them.
The crimes of torture reaffirm the malicious face of the Houthi militia, which relies on its terrorism and repressive practices to strengthen its influence in various regions.
These practices are not limited to young people and children, but also extended to women detainees, through physical torture, beatings with sticks and wires, electric shocks, stopping breathing by suffocation, humiliation, verbal torture, humiliation, slapping, and forcing confessions to charges that were not committed. Saudi law professor Dr. Aseel al-Juaid stressed that al-Houthi does not know the law and does not abide by international human rights conventions, so it is natural for there to be heinous violations inside their prisons.
Al-Juaid made it clear in statements to Al-Ittihad that what the leaders of the coup militia do not realize is that these are “crimes against humanity” and will pursue them for a long time even after the end of the war, and there will be no statute of limitations.
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