The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has documented many human rights violations in Yemen during the past two months carried out by all parties to the conflict, including the arrests of over 60 staff working for the United Nations and NGOs, as well as the ongoing detention of human rights defenders and citizens in violations of their rights.

UN and civil society organisations targeted

On 15 August 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, tweeted the following, “Deeply disturbed by the continued detention of UN and NGO staff in Yemen and the raids on the OHCHR offices in Sana’a this month. Our @UNHumanRights colleagues in Yemen work under the most difficult circumstances to promote and protect human rights for all, and this vital work must be respected.”

On 31 May 2024, and in the following days, security forces affiliated with the de facto government in the capital Sana’a, the Houthi group, arrested dozens of Yemeni nationals working for the UN and a number of local NGOs. These arrests were arbitrary and carried out without any judicial warrant.

On 03 August 2024, Houthi gunmen stormed the OHCHR office in Sana’a. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, strongly condemned the raid, saying in a statement published on the OHCHR’s website that, “Entering a UN office without permission and seizing documents and property by force are wholly inconsistent with the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.” The statement stressed that the armed intruders must “leave the building immediately and return all assets and property.”

The statement added, “On 06 and 07 June, the de facto authorities detained 13 UN staff, including six employees of the UN Human Rights Office, in addition to over 50 NGO workers and an embassy staff member. Two other UN Human Rights staff had already been detained since November 2021 and August 2023 respectively. They are all being held incommunicado.”

On 19 August 2024, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, declared in a statement published on the UN website that, “The Houthis handed the office back to the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen today.”

Local informed sources confirmed to GCHR that 33 people have been arrested and  detained have been documented up to the date of writing this appeal, while the total unofficial number of detainees is believed to have reached 70.

These sources added that the detainees are being held incommunicado in a secret prison affiliated with the Security and Intelligence Service. Since their arrest, they have not been allowed to communicate with their families or lawyers, which can be considered to be acts of deliberate enforced disappearance carried out by the authorities in Sana’a.

Recent reports indicate that no specific charges have been brought against them so far, but observers fear, as has happened repeatedly in previous cases, that they will be charged on allegations of espionage due to the nature of their work, which often requires working with some Western institutions and individuals.

Some civil society activists who spoke to GCHR linked these arrests to the decision issued by the Central Bank, which is under the control of the internationally-recognised government, on 30 May 2024, to stop dealing with six major banks operating in areas controlled by the Houthis, after these banks refused to move their headquarters from Sana’a to Aden, which is controlled by the Southern Transitional Council.

Other civil society activists confirmed that the arrests form a common pattern, and constitute systematic and ongoing repression followed by the Houthi group,designed to completely eliminate civil society, and to completely control all aspects of life, including relief, education and health issues.

Some families of the detainees are still reluctant to publish the names of their family members, hoping that they will be released through direct efforts they are making with some leaders of the Houthi group. GCHR has a documented a list of the names of a number of detainees, but will not publish it, sharing the hope with their families that they will be released soon.

GCHR urges the United Nations, and governments with influence in Yemen, to make greater genuine efforts to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees and to compensate them for all damages they have suffered as a result of this arbitrary targeting.

Retired journalist Abdulkader Al-Saqqaf arrested

On 21 November 2021, 74-year-old citizen Abdulqader Al-Saqqaf, a former journalist and United States Embassy employee, was arrested while he was in his car with his wife near his home in Sana’a by a group of armed men affiliated with the Houthi group. On the same day, an armed group of 14 people, including two women police officers, raided Manwala, confiscating electronic devices, including computers and cameras, in addition to personal documents such as passports. His family was unable to see him regularly and he was only allowed to make a few phone calls during his years of detention.

Al-Saqqaf worked for Aden TV as a cameraman and production coordinator from January 1983 to April 1990, then moved to work for Sana’a TV as a news and programs coordinator and a translator of news from and to English, until April 1994. He then moved to work at the US Embassy in Sana’a as a cultural and media attaché. Then in January 1998, he was appointed as a political affairs specialist until his retirement in September 2014.

On 10 June 2024, the Houthi group broadcast video clips of a group of Yemeni citizens working as UN employees, claiming that they had obtained confessions from them about spying in Yemen. Among these recordings was this video shared by the Yemeni police account affiliated with the Houthi group of what it called the alleged confessions of “the spy Abdulqader Al-Saqqaf”, in which he spoke about the nature of his work at the US embassy during that period.

Working as a local attaché at foreign embassies is a well-known job all over the world, and it is within the usual work contexts for foreign missions to seek the help of local experts who can provide them with the necessary general information about the country and its geopolitical nature, which is not considered espionage as a matter of course. GCHR calls on the de facto government in Sana’a, the Houthi group, to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Abdulqader Al-Saqqaf and all other citizens accused of spying, and to compensate them for the hardships they have faced.

Woman human rights defender Fatima Al-Arwali’s case heads to Supreme Court

In July 2024, imprisoned woman human rights defender Fatima Saleh Al-Arwali was brought before the Specialised Criminal Prosecution in Sanaa, where she again stated that she did not want to appeal the death sentence handed down to her in December 2023.

Informed local sources confirmed to GCHR that, following these developments, the case file will be referred to the Public Prosecution office, which will in turn refer it to the Supreme Court, which will re-evaluate the initial ruling.

On 05 December 2023, the Specialised Criminal Court of First Instance in Sana’a issued a discretionary death penalty (Ta’zir) against Al-Arwali after convicting her based on arbitrary charges made apparently in retaliation for her human rights work, including defending women’s and children’s rights.

Al-Arwali, the head of the Al-Habitat Organisation for Human Rights Development, was arrested on 14 August 2022 at Al-Hawban checkpoint while she was traveling from Sana’a to the city of Aden For more information on the details of her case, see here.

GCHR calls on the de facto government in Sana’a, the Houthi group, to immediately and unconditionally release woman human rights defender Fatima Saleh Al-Arwali, as she is being targeted for her peaceful and legitimate human rights work.

Ongoing targeting of Judge Abdulwahab Qatran

On 30 July 2024, retired Judge Abdulwahab Qatran posted the following on his Facebook account, “We returned after being forcibly absent for seven months… Today I went early to the Criminal Prosecution office to take the electronic items seized that include personal devices. As they looted all my phones and the phones of my family members, both good and damaged devices, and the computers… I was surprised that the Security and Intelligence Service had not sent them to the Criminal Prosecution office yet… I waited a whole month in vain and they did not return anything they looted from my house… All my electronic accounts, my pages on Facebook and Twitter, and all my SIMs associated with them remain with them, and all my notebooks, diaries, and the passwords written down are still with them, and they refuse to give them to me so that I cannot access any of my accounts. Today, after a long effort, hardship, and suffering, I was able to retrieve only this account… Our silence has been prolonged, and we must defend our dignity and strive to obtain our rights.”

On 12 June 2024, Judge Qatran was released, and the case against him was closed. He was arrested on 02 January 2024 by Houthi forces in apparent retaliation for his social media posts.

GCHR urges the de facto government in Sana’a, the Houthi group, to return immediately the personal belongings of Judge Abdulwahab Qatran as soon as possible and to stop targeting him.

Sentence against journalist Nabil Al-Sadawi increased

On 18 August 2024, the Specialised Criminal Appeal Court in Sana’a decided to increase the initial prison sentence issued against journalist Nabil Mohammed Al-Sadawi and make it nine years instead of eight years.

On 21 September 2023, Al-Sadawi had completed his sentence, but the Houthi group continued to detain him.

On 22 February 2022, he was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of committing various crimes, including allegedly working for Saudi Arabia. His trial fell short of international minimum standards for fair trial and due process and he was denied access to a lawyer.

Reliable local reports confirmed that during his imprisonment he was subjected to many serious violations, including ill-treatment, and being forced by security personnel to confess to fabricated charges that he did not commit.

Once again, GCHR calls on the de facto government in Sana’a to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Nabil Mohammed Al-Sadawi, who should not have been imprisoned in the first place as he merely carried out his journalistic work with all professionalism.

Journalist Fahmi Al-Alimi arrested

On the morning of 18 July 2024, the Security Belt Forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council arrested journalist Fahmi Ahmed Al-Alimi after he left his home in the city of Aden, where contact with him was completely lost, according to information announced by his family, who confirmed that he was being detained in a building affiliated with the forces. On 22 July 2024, these forces released him without any charges against him, after a large solidarity campaign by his colleagues and civil society organisations, including the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, which issued a statement condemning his arrest and demanding his immediate release, along with the punishment of those involved in the arrest.

Recommendations

GCHR urges all parties to the conflict in Yemen to:

1. Immediately release all those who have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, or tried on fabricated charges;
2. Respect public freedoms, including freedom of the press and the right to peaceful assembly; and
3. Ensure that human rights defenders, including journalists, bloggers, academics, and internet activists, are able to carry out their legitimate work and express themselves freely without fear of reprisal and in a manner free from all restrictions, including judicial harassment.