A Houthi court upholds a death sentence for 3 abductees, and the Prisoners’ Commission calls on the international community to intervene

On Sunday, a Houthi court issued a ruling upholding the execution of three kidnapped people from Al Mahwit Governorate, northwest of Sanaa, amid widespread human rights condemnations of the Houthi rulings against the kidnapped people in its prisons for years.

The National Authority for Prisoners and Abductees condemned, in a statement, the support of the Specialized Criminal Appeals Division, which is under the control of the Houthis, the death sentence issued against three of the abductees who have been in its prisons for eight years.

The statement said that the Houthi militia issued a ruling upholding a death sentence against three of the kidnapped people: “Ismail Abu Al-Ghaith, Saghir Farea, and Abdul-Aziz Al-Aqili.”

The Commission confirmed that the abductees were arrested by the Houthi militia in October 2015, as part of a kidnapping campaign targeting its political opponents. Pointing out that the trials that were conducted were sham, lacking the most basic standards of justice and integrity, and that all the procedures followed were legally invalid.

The statement explained that the kidnappers were subjected to forced detention that lasted five years and five months, deprived of the rights of defense and subjected to psychological and physical torture.

The Commission condemned "the shedding of blood in the name of the judiciary," warning that the continued human rights violations by the Houthi militia threaten peace efforts in Yemen.

The Commission called on the international community to take urgent action to pressure the Houthi militia to stop implementing and canceling the execution decisions, calling for the immediate release of all political kidnappers in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2216, and to compensate the victims for the damages they suffered.