Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
The organization “Journalists Without Chains” warned of the escalating grave violations committed by the Houthi militia against universities and educational institutes in the areas under its control, stressing that these practices threaten the future of education in Yemen and undermine academic freedoms.
The organization explained in a statement issued by it that it documented, during the period from October 2024 to January 2025, a series of violations that affected 23 public and private universities, along with 7 educational institutes in a number of governorates, namely: Sana’a, Hodeidah, Ibb, Dhamar, Amran, Sa’ada, Hajjah, and Al-Bayda.
According to what the organization’s team monitored, the militia turned universities and institutes into military and ideological mobilization centers, where it imposed compulsory recruitment on thousands of students within the so-called “Al-Aqsa Flood courses,” which included training on the use of light, medium and heavy weapons, and also included many of them in what is known as the “General Mobilization Forces,” which led to the transformation of educational institutions from environments of science and knowledge to arenas for recruiting fighters.
The organization pointed out that students and faculty members were subjected to increasing pressure to force them to adopt the Houthi ideology, where the militia imposed mandatory lectures and ideological courses, and threatened those who refused with dismissal from study or arrest, which constitutes a flagrant attack on academic and intellectual freedoms.
The statement added that women were not immune to these violations, as the militia forced female students in the targeted universities to undergo military and ideological courses under the supervision of Al-Zaynabiyat(Houthi female forces) elements, which the organization considered a serious violation of women’s rights to education and personal freedom, and an escalation in the militarization of society by exploiting female students in recruitment and ideological mobilization.
The organization also documented cases of academic extortion practiced by the militia, where it linked granting university degrees, academic jobs and student grades to participation in the military and ideological activities it imposes. This led to the dismissal of many faculty members forcibly, and the deprivation of thousands of students of their right to a fair and independent academic education.
The organization stressed that these violations are not new, but they have escalated significantly in recent months, where the Houthi militia exploited the escalation in Gaza and the events in the region to strengthen its mobilization and recruitment within universities, which turned educational institutions into tools of sectarian and military propaganda, where students were forced to participate in political and military events under slogans that support the militia’s agenda.
The organization pointed out that these practices represent a violation of international laws, including Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to education without coercion, and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects freedom of thought and belief, and Article 10 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which guarantees women their educational rights without restrictions, in addition to its violation of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit forcing civilians to participate in armed conflicts.
In the face of these serious violations, “Journalists Without Chains” called on the international community to take urgent measures to confront them, calling on the United Nations and international human rights organizations to document these crimes and hold those responsible accountable. It also called on the Security Council and the International Criminal Court to take legal action against the Houthi leaders involved, and stressed the need to impose strict sanctions to deter the continuation of these practices.
The organization urged local authorities and Yemeni human rights organizations to intensify their efforts to protect the educational process, raise students’ awareness of their rights, and work to resist the militarization of universities and institutes to ensure the right of future generations to a free and safe education.
“Journalists Without Chains” affirmed its continued commitment to monitor and document the violations that students and academics are exposed to in Yemen, and to defend their right to an independent and safe education away from political and military exploitation, stressing that the attack on the right to education represents a crime that cannot be tolerated, calling for serious international action to save the future of education in Yemen.
