Amnesty International calls on the Houthis to cancel the death sentence against activist Al-Arouli and release her

Amnesty International renewed its call on the Houthi militia to cancel the death sentence issued against human rights activist Fatima Al-Arouli and release her immediately.

The organization said in a brief statement, published on its Facebook page on Wednesday: “Two years have passed since the arrest of human rights defender Fatima Al-Arouli by Houthi forces in Taiz, and she is still at risk of execution after the Specialized Criminal Court in Sana’a, under Houthi control, sentenced her to death on December 5, 2023, after a grossly unfair trial.”

The organization added that during her detention, Al-Arouli was subjected to "a series of human rights violations, including enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention, in conditions that violate the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment."

She continued: "The Houthi de facto authorities must quash the conviction and death sentence against Fatima Al-Arouli and ensure that she is retried fairly without resorting to the death penalty, otherwise she must be released immediately and any charges against her must be dropped."

Activist Al-Arouli, who heads a human rights organization and the Arab Women's Leadership Office in Yemen affiliated with the Arab League, was kidnapped by Houthi elements in August 2022 at a checkpoint in areas under their control in Taiz, while she was on her way from Sanaa to the city of Aden. On December 5, 2023, a Houthi court issued a death sentence against her.