Aden (Al-Ittihad)
The Yemeni government announced that the death sentences issued against hundreds of abductees in the Houthi group’s prisons are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, noting that 340 detainees died under torture.
Majed Fadayel, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Rights and spokesman for the government team negotiating the file of prisoners and detainees, indicated in a message internally and externally that the death sentences recently issued by the Houthi group against 45 detainees in its prisons in the occupied capital, Sanaa, represent a dangerous escalation and continuation of the violations and crimes it is committing. community.
Fadhail stressed that the Houthis are politicizing the judiciary and using it as a tool of intimidation, seeking to get rid of opponents, whether they are politicians, activists, or ordinary citizens.
He stressed that these provisions are considered a crime against humanity and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and are not based on any legal basis and are used as a means to settle political scores and get rid of opponents.
Last Saturday, a court affiliated with the Houthi group in Sanaa issued a death sentence for 45 people on charges of spying with the Arab coalition.
A member of the defendants’ defense team said that the Specialized Criminal Court of First Instance in Sana’a issued “a death sentence against 45 people, in the criminal case pending before the court No. (25) of the year 1445 AH, in which 49 people are accused.”
He added that among those who were sentenced to death were 16 people who were tried in absentia by the court, while 4 others were sentenced to prison, explaining that those kidnapped in connection with the case were subjected to the most severe types of physical and moral torture, and remained forcibly hidden in solitary confinement cells for nine full months, deprived of visits and contact. .
He stated that the Houthis did not guarantee them the right to a fair trial, nor did they enable lawyers to review the case file to defend them, indicating that the group is exploiting this court to achieve political gains at the expense of humanitarian issues.
During the past years, the Houthi group issued death sentences to hundreds of its opponents on charges of collaborating with what it calls “aggression,” using the judiciary as a tool for political revenge, according to human rights organizations.
In another context, a UN report hinted at the emergence of indicators indicating the imminent exhaustion of dollar reserves in Houthi-controlled areas, against the backdrop of their decision to prevent the disbursement of remittances coming to those areas in dollars, and in parallel with the economic reform measures implemented by the Central Bank in Aden.
In its report, the World Food Program confirmed a noticeable decline in foreign exchange reserves and a decline in remittance flows in areas under the group’s control.
The report stated that the disruption of oil exports by the Houthis led to the loss of nearly two billion dollars in legitimate government revenues, and also led to the deterioration of the economic situation in the liberated areas.
According to the report, although the Houthis imposed a forced exchange rate in the areas they control, the ban on the central bank branch controlled by the group from receiving foreign transfers in dollars “raised potential concerns about a decline in foreign exchange reserves there.”
In a related context, the World Food Program confirmed that the provision of general food aid is still suspended in Houthi-controlled areas, which has led to a significant increase in acute food deprivation and a noticeable decrease in the consumption of basic nutrients among previous beneficiaries.
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