Prisons.. Houthi projects for terrorism and revenge

The Houthi militia is expanding its punitive tools against Yemenis, and is systematically increasing its violations in the areas it controls, confirming its aggressive approach, which is explained by its criminal behavior that goes beyond fear of possible punishment locally or internationally.

As we examine the projects that have spread under the control of the Houthi militia, we find prisons on the list of those projects that the Houthis have used as tools of repression, terror, punishment and revenge against opponents, opponents and those who oppose their sectarian and racial project. And the cemeteries are also for those who have been recruited into their ranks.

During a decade in which Yemenis have suffered the woes of Houthi torture and have been subjected to brutality and abuse, and have become victims of its wars, its machinery of oppression and aggression, prisons have been one of the most prominent tools of Houthi oppression, whose numbers have increased, their sizes and buildings have expanded, and they are still expanding continuously.

Talking about Houthi prisons can be summed up by saying, “They are places that have been prepared to be a den of crime.” The supervisor who runs them deals with the kidnapped people on sectarian grounds and sees harming and torturing them as a way to get closer to God.

After taking control of the capital Sana'a on September 21, 2014, the Houthi militia was not satisfied with the prisons that existed during the state's time, but rather established several other prisons and converted some of the homes of officials that it took control of after invading Sana'a into prisons as well.

When we talk about Houthi prisons based on experience, because I was one of their victims for more than five years with other colleagues, we will be talking about prisons that are very different from the known prisons in the world that maintain some standards and rights of the prisoner. As for Houthi prisons, we can summarize talking about them by saying, “They are places that have been prepared to be a den of crime.” The supervisor who runs them deals with the kidnapped people based on sectarian principles and sees harming and torturing them as a way to get closer to God.

Therefore, we find that crimes and violations in the prisons of the Houthi group are in a state of continuous permanence. In less than a week, human rights and press reports spoke of more than one crime committed by the Houthi militia in its prisons. A human rights association announced the death of Khaled Mohammed Abu Saeed (40) years old in a prison run by the Houthi militia in Amran Governorate, while the media revealed an incident of a child being raped in one of the Houthi prisons in Al Bayda Governorate.

All these crimes come at a time when the Houthi militia continues its kidnappings of Yemenis. It recently kidnapped fellow journalist Fahd Al-Arhabi in Amran Governorate, a year after his release following a 35-day detention. As for journalist Nabil Al-Saydawi, who has spent more than eight years in Houthi prisons, a Houthi court last week extended his prison term from eight to nine years.

As long as the Houthi group controls parts of Yemen, the prisons in those areas will continue to expand and expand. What the new formation announced by the group a few days ago and called the “Government of Change and Construction” did to expand one of its prisons in Ibb Governorate as the first activity carried out by this Houthi formation confirms the truth of the group and its orientation towards establishing prisons and caring for them as a project whose goal is revenge, terror and punishment.