Human Rights: Houthis call for respect for Palestinian rights while violating the rights of Yemenis in areas under their control

Human Rights Watch and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies said on Tuesday that Houthi authorities arrested dozens of people in the last week of September 2024 for their peaceful celebration or social media posts about Yemen’s “September 26 Revolution,” the anniversary of the founding of the Yemen Arab Republic in 1962.

The Houthis, who control the Yemeni capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, believe they should instead celebrate September 21, the day they took control of Sanaa. The Houthis have not charged many of the protesters, amounting to arbitrary detention.

In the joint report, the organization and the center called on the Houthis to immediately release all those detained for merely exercising their right to freedom of assembly and expression, as well as all those who remain in arbitrary detention, including dozens of United Nations and civil society employees in Yemen, who were arrested and disappeared during the past four months.

“The suppression of protests and any activities that contradict the Houthis’ beliefs and ideologies is yet another violation in the Houthis’ long record of human rights violations with complete impunity,” said Amna Al-Qallali, research director at the Cairo Institute.

Since approximately September 21, the Houthis have been arresting dozens of people in the governorates of Sana’a, Amran, Dhamar, Ibb, Hodeidah, Al Mahwit, Taiz, Al Bayda, Al Dhale’e, and Hajjah in connection with the protests. These arrests and the ban on all demonstrations are presumably an attempt to prevent mass mobilization that could challenge Houthi authority, the report says.

According to a journalist interviewed by the Cairo Center, at least 209 people were arrested in Amran governorate alone, including children and elderly people, “some over 75 years old.” According to the Association of Mothers of Abductees, “a large number of those detained are children and teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19.”

CIHRS and Human Rights Watch interviewed 11 people, including relatives, lawyers, and people in close contact with some of the detainees, to establish details of the arrests. Human Rights Watch also reviewed three videos circulated on the X platform (formerly Twitter) showing intimidation and threats related to the protests.

In the cases documented by CIHRS and Human Rights Watch, the Houthis have not charged detainees. A man from Ibb who contacted a Houthi official after several of his family members were arrested to ask why they were being held said the official said his detained relatives had disturbed public security and disobeyed directives. But the man believes the Houthis are “making up charges to arrest people.”

In many cases, the Houthis arrested people simply for wearing the Yemeni flag, waving it, or hanging it on their car. A relative of a detainee said that two of his cousins were arrested and that “they weren’t celebrating or doing anything, they were hanging the [Yemeni] flag on their car, and [the Houthis] told them, ‘You are celebrating September 26, not September 21,’ and took them to prison.” The man from Ibb said, “The Houthis threatened anyone who celebrated the revolution or raised Yemeni flags.”

In other cases, the Houthis have arrested people for their online and social media posts commemorating the revolution. A man whose brother was arrested said that he had posted a video celebrating the revolution on September 26, and that five Houthi military vehicles arrived at his brother’s house the next day.

The man described his brother as an activist interested in social issues on social media. The Houthis told his brother they wanted him to delete his YouTube channel and his last post about September 26.

“They took him to the Criminal Investigation Department, and when they started releasing some detainees on September 30, we learned that they had sent him to the Security and Intelligence Department and he has not been released yet,” the detainee’s brother said.

A writer in Sanaa with a large social media following was also arrested after sharing a post about September 26. “The Houthis arrived at his house in several military vehicles, stormed the house, broke the doors, and scared his wife and son,” his friend said. “Then they took him, his devices, his laptop, his phones, and his old cameras, after searching the entire house.”

In both cases, the Houthis did not present an arrest warrant or search warrant, in violation of Yemeni and international law.

Others also reported that the Houthis had threatened and deliberately intimidated them to prevent them from publishing anything related to the September 26 Revolution anniversary. Sana’a-based lawyer Abdul Majeed Sabra said that as soon as he posted on social media that he was providing legal services to lawyers detained in connection with the September 26 anniversary, he received “direct threats” from the Houthis.

He said: “I follow up on the arrests over the phone from the office or home by communicating with some relatives of those we know who are being detained, but not officially. This is because going out and following up with the security services means arrest. They are waiting for any pretext or reason [for arrest].”

[The Houthis] should show the Yemeni people the same respect they demand for the Palestinians, starting with stopping this endless campaign of arbitrary arrests.”