Houthis accused of torturing, concealing death from family for years
-
Hashim Sheikh
- . December 14, 2022
- . Update: December 14, 2022 6:44 pm
An Iranian-backed Yemeni human rights organisation and the victim’s family claim that the Houthis tortured and killed a prisoner of war before keeping his death secret from his family for years.
Omar Ahmed Al-Samae, a Yemeni government fighter captured from a battlefield in the province of Saada in 2018, allegedly underwent ruthless torture before being killed, according to the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms. Later on, the militia group informed his family that he was being detained.
But when his parents made the trip to Sanaa from Taiz city to visit their son, the Houthis escorted them to the mortuary at 48 Model Hospital where they were shown his body. The family members then noticed blatant indications of torture.
According to a medical report, Al-Samae passed away on November 16, 2020. The rights network asserted that the Houthis nevertheless persisted in requesting money from his family in order to give the impression that he was still alive.
Read | UN and Arab agencies laud Kuwaiti authorities for efforts of consumer protection
The Houthi jail superintendent repeatedly asked the victim’s family for money to pay for Omar’s expenses during this time, the network said in a statement, despite the fact that Omar had passed away two years prior as a result of electric shock torture.
Officials from the Yemeni organisation have demanded the establishment of an international commission to look into claims of abuse and fatalities among Houthi detainees.
The rights organisation recently asserted that since late 2014, the Houthis have executed 147 prisoners in prisons while 282 others have perished in custody as a result of carelessness. Another 98 prisoners were thought to have passed away shortly after leaving Houthi custody.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) cautioned that three Yemeni journalists being held captive by the Houthis could soon pass away after being tortured for weeks in solitary confinement.
The freedom of information group demanded that international mediators help in the release of the trio, who were among four journalists who were sentenced to death by a Houthi-run court two years ago.
Head of RSF’s Middle East desk Jonathan Dagher charged the Houthis with using the reporters as bargaining chips in negotiations. “The Houthis are slowly carrying out their death sentence by torturing these journalists,” he declared.
“We urge the Houthis to abide by their own offer to permit UN representatives to visit these hostages and to urgently permit a medical team to come and examine them. We also urge UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg to take all necessary steps to secure their immediate release.”
