Yemeni Human Rights Ministry: Sanctions on Houthi Prisoners Committee a Step Towards Accountability
Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
The Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights welcomed the United States’ decision to impose sanctions on the Houthi Prisoners Committee and its head, Abdulqader al-Murtadha, due to their involvement in grave human rights abuses in Yemen.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Human Rights stated that those included in the decision are among the biggest violators of human rights, especially the committee’s chairman, who has committed the most heinous crimes and forcibly disappeared thousands of civilians protected under domestic and international humanitarian law over the past ten years.
The statement added that “the ministry has closely followed the file of civilian abductees in Houthi basements over the past years and has prepared reports that accurately documented a large number of cases of torture and systematic enforced disappearance by the Houthi militias, and documented what was done through sitting with a number of those who were released through numerous hearings.”
It indicated that “these reports, which revealed the extent of the crimes committed by the Houthi leader Abdulqader al-Murtadha and his assistants, were reported to many international organizations and embassies.”
The statement affirmed that “this decision represents a step in the right direction towards promoting accountability and prosecuting human rights violators, especially since some of the torture cases have led to death either inside prisons or shortly after their release from prisons.”
The Yemeni Human Rights Ministry renewed “thanks to all countries that listed the Houthis, and in this regard, called on the US and the international community to raise the level of classification of the Houthis as a terrorist group in accordance with the crimes against humanity and war crimes that they systematically and continuously commit against civilians.”
On Monday, the US Treasury Department confirmed that the Houthi Prisoners Committee and its leader, Abdulqader al-Murtadha, have been directly or indirectly involved in grave human rights abuses.
It indicated that according to the United Nations, detainees in Houthi prisons are subjected to torture and other forms of cruel treatment by Houthi elements, including al-Murtadha.
