The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has documented numerous human rights violations in Yemen over the past two months, carried out by the Houthi group, including arbitrary arrests of citizens celebrating the anniversary of Yemen’s National Day, as well as continued violations of the civil and human rights of human rights activists, journalists and lawyers, and repeated travel bans on the team of the Mwatana Organisation for Human Rights.

Citizens celebrating the National Day arbitrarily arrested

Armed groups affiliated with the Houthi group, the de facto government, carried out arbitrary arrests of citizens celebrating the anniversary of the country’s National Day (the main photo above), which falls on 26 September, the day on which the Republic of Yemen was declared in 1962.

Hundreds of citizens celebrated the National Day on 25 and 26 of September 2024, in the streets and public squares of the cities of the capital Sana’a, Taiz, Ibb, Hajjah, Hodeidah, Amran, Al-Bayda, and many other areas, raising the Yemeni flag. This was followed by Houthi armed groups suppressing these celebrations, most of which were spontaneous, and the celebrants were subjected to verbal or physical assaults with rifle butts. A campaign of arbitrary arrests was carried out that included dozens of innocent citizens, among them a number of children, in addition to a group of journalists and lawyers. Most of them were later released without any charges being brought against them.

Journalist Mohammed Al-Sahbani detained

On 02 October 2024, journalist Mohammed Al-Sahbani announced on his Facebook page that he had been released from Al-Saleh Prison in Taiz after spending 12 days in arbitrary detention with a large group of citizens living in this city. The only reason for their arrest was their celebration of the National Day.

Journalist Fouad Al-Nahari released after a month in detention

On 23 October 2024, journalist Fouad Al-Nahari wrote on his Facebook page: “After a long absence, I am back to you! After an unjust and arbitrary detention that extended from 20 September to 20 October 2024, (32 days) – four of which were in a dark solitary confinement cell – I was detained without guilt or crime, in the Criminal Investigation Prison in Dhamar Governorate. “

Al-Nahari is the head of the Abjad Center for Strategic Studies and was arrested by the Security and Intelligence Service in Dhamar City after its members raided his home on charges of calling for and preparing to celebrate Yemen’s National Day.

Journalist Abdo Masoud Al-Madan arrested

On 23 September 2024, Houthi security forces arrested journalist Abdo Masoud Al-Madan, who works for Al-Thawra newspaper, from his home in Sana’a due to his posts on his Facebook page that supported the celebration of Yemen’s National Day. He was transferred to a hospital in Sana’a to receive treatment, after his health deteriorated due to a stroke due to the poor conditions of detention.

He was visited in his hospital by the youth football team, where he previously worked as a media coordinator for the team. He is also deputy director of the sports section at Al-Thawra newspaper. He was released on 02 October 2024.

TV producer Sahar Al-Khawlani arrested

On 10 October 2024, Houthi security forces arrested TV producer Sahar Al-Khawlani, 36, from her home and took her to an unknown location. The arrest, according to reliable local sources, was due to her continuous criticism on social media, including her X account, of the Houthi group, her opposition to corruption, and her calls for reform, especially her criticism before her arrest of policies related to imposing exorbitant tuition fees on students, and not including master’s students, of whom she is one, in the decision to reduce fees by 30%. These fees are being imposed at a time when the de facto authorities have not paid the salaries of government employees.

Al-Khawlani previously worked as a broadcaster and producer of children’s programmes for Saba TV, and currently works for Yemen TV. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in media from Sana’a University in 2010, and is seeking to obtain a master’s degree in media from the same university.

She has used her social media accounts extensively and courageously, including her Facebook account and her X account through her audio recordings and writings, to defend her rights and the rights of her children to a free and dignified life, as well as to combat corruption and present many humanitarian cases of citizens in need of care.

On 27 August 2024, she posted a recording on all her accounts in which she said that the reason for her continuous demands is that free education is a right for everyone.

She mentioned in previous recordings that she received threats, and the last thing she posted was on 09 September 2024, where she said in a tweet, “Cutting teachers’ salaries affected the quality of education… Who is responsible for what happened other than the supervisors and corrupt officials who taught their children in private schools.” She is also among those who wrote about their celebration of the National Day.

Upon her arrest, a large solidarity campaign was launched from various segments of society using the hashtag: #Sahar_Al_Khawlani

Two writers among those arrested

Among these detainees is the writer, poet, and member of the Yemeni Writers and Authors Union, Abdulwahab Al-Harasi, from Dhamar Governorate, who was arrested on 20 September 2024, and was not released until 21 October 2024. Writer and poet Saad Al-Haimi, another member of the Yemeni Writers and Authors Union,  was also arrested in Sana’a on 25 September 2024.

Lawyers arrested

A number of lawyers, members of the Yemeni Bar Association – Hodeidah branch, have been under arrest since 24 September 2024, due to issuing a statement of solidarity with their forcibly detained colleagues. They are the member of the Bar Association Council and its financial officer, Akram Saeed Al-Mansi, and the members of the General Assembly of the Association, Abdulhakim Jamal Al-Badani, and Mustafa Mohammed Al-Darubi.

Prominent human rights lawyer threatened

On 27 September 2024, prominent human rights lawyer Abdulmajeed Sabra announced on his Facebook page that he had received a threat from an advisor to the Ministry of Interior after he announced on the previous day that he was ready to “defend my fellow detained lawyers and journalists who were arrested for celebrating September 26.”

Several tribal sheikhs arrested for celebrating

Under the title, “Freedom for the intellectual and human being Muammar Abu Hajeb,” Judge Abdulwahab Qatran wrote a post on his Facebook page calling for the release of Sheikh Muammar Abu Hajeb, who was arrested on 23 September 2024, from his home in Sana’a, along with a group of other tribal sheikhs for celebrating the National Day. He described him as one of the “advocates and supporters of the modern civil state, who studied and learned at the universities of the Syrian Arab Republic. He is an encyclopaedic intellectual and an enlightened thinker, and a struggling and honourable human being.”

Pledge Document Imposed on Those Released

On 09 October 2024, Ahmed Saif Hashed, a member of the Yemeni parliament in Sana’a, posted on his Twitter account a tweet that included a picture of the pledge form that the released detainees were forced to sign. This document, which was named by the Security and Intelligence Service as “A special form for rioters on 26 September 2024,” contains all the personal details of the citizens such as their address, phone, and links to all accounts on social media sites, and a pledge stating, “My number will be open 24 hours a day and I can be summoned at any time” and that “I will not cause riots or interfere in politics and that I will commit to attending all events called for by the state.”

Several arbitrary detainees still in prison

Informed local sources confirmed to GCHR that there are many National Day celebrants who have not been released yet, but are still being detained in various Yemeni cities, and some of them are still being held by the Security and Intelligence Service.

Other human rights violations

Media figure Taha Ahmed Al-Maamari sentenced to death in absentia

On 26 September 2024, media figure and owner of Yemen Digital Media and Yemen Live for Artistic and Media Production Taha Ahmed Al-Maamari published an appeal on his Facebook page in which he announced that the Specialised Criminal Court of First Instance in Sana’a had issued, on 24 September 2024, “a death sentence by firing squad against him as a discretionary punishment, and the confiscation of all his movable and real estate property inside and outside the country.”

The appeal also stated: “Things almost went in my favour because there were no real accusations against me. However, after almost three years, I was surprised by the issuance of an indictment against me on 02 January 2024, on fabricated and malicious charges formulated by the Specialised Criminal Prosecution in Sana’a under the direction of the Security and Intelligence Service. These charges included allegations of filming training sites and confrontations in Marib, Taiz and Aden Governorates, and publishing false and malicious news. These charges were attributed to me, my company and other people, totalling 24 people. In fact, it is logically and rationally impossible for me to have committed these actions, as I have not returned to Yemen since 20 March 2015, and also because I reside in Spain.”

The appeal concluded with this plea, “I appeal to your living consciences and your human rights organisations to stand in solidarity with me and condemn all these measures and injustices to which I have been subjected, and to demand the cancellation of all these decisions and the return of my property and rights and compensation for the damages I have suffered.”

GCHR has previously documented the supplementary indictment issued by the Specialised Criminal Prosecution against Al-Maamari and his colleagues working with him, as well as the confiscation of his companies, home and private property by influential individuals affiliated with the Houthi group.

Journalist and writer Mohammed Dabwan Al-Mayah arrested

On the morning of 20 September 2024, an armed force affiliated with the Houthi group arrested journalist and writer Mohammed Dabwan Al-Mayah from his home in the centre of the Sana’a, and took him to an unknown location. Reliable local reports confirmed that he is being held incommunicado in a prison affiliated with the Security and Intelligence Service. The charges against him have not been disclosed and he has been prevented from communicating with his family or lawyer.

Al-Mayah is known for his harsh criticism of the Houthi group through his writings that he regularly publishes on social media networks, which informed local sources confirmed were the reason for his arrest. In June 2022, he celebrated the publication of a book, which includes his first novel, entitled, “The Little Philosopher”.

Journalist Abad Al-Jaradi files lawsuit after being hacked

In May 2024, Yemeni journalist Abad Al-Jaradi had his mobile phone illegally hacked by influential parties in Yemen, who were able to access and control his personal accounts, in a flagrant violation of his right to privacy.

Digital experts at Access Now were able to restore his Facebook account, as well as other media accounts with more than 200,000 followers.

Al-Jaradi resorted to the Yemeni judiciary to file a lawsuit against the United Yemeni Omani Telecommunications Company (You) which handed over his active number and gave it to the hackers, so that the same thing would not happen again with other Yemeni journalists or citizens.

Al-Jaradi confirmed in a statement to GCHR that “You Company asked him for an official letter to begin investigating the violation of his privacy and the use of his phone number by other people, but the company procrastinated and did not reveal the results of the investigations, which it said it had begun in May 2024, after the number was hacked.” Al-Jaradi also demanded that “the company bear responsibility for this illegal use of his phone, reveal the results of the investigations, identify the perpetrators, and provide an official apology and appropriate compensation so that this does not happen again with the rest of the subscribers.”

Al-Jaradi had previously been arrested twice during his journalistic work, the first time in 2018, and the second in 2022, by the Houthi group.

Head of Human Rights Organisation and her Deputy Prevented from Traveling

On 12 September 2024, prominent human rights defender Radhya Al-Mutawakel, head of the Mwatana Organisation for Human Rights, posted on her Facebook page news that the Security and Intelligence Service at Sana’a International Airport had prevented her and her deputy, prominent human rights defender Abdulrasheed Al-Faqih, from leaving the country on a business trip. The Mwatana Organisation for Human Rights stated in a statement published the following day on its website that the Houthi group had previously “prevented the organisation’s president, her deputy, and three members of the organisation’s team from traveling through Sana’a International Airport on the morning of Saturday, 30 September 2023, also without legal justification.”

Legal amendments to the Judicial Authority Law provoke opposition

On 11 September 2024, the Parliament in Sana’a voted to approve the amendment of some articles of the Judicial Authority Law No. (01) of 1991, despite widespread opposition from legal experts and independent lawyers who indicated that the ratification of the amendment of the articles had been conducted without extensive discussion, as well as the fact that the summoning of the council to the exceptional session during which the amendments were approved was a violation of the Yemeni constitution, which only approves such summoning for major and exceptional matters and not to amend and pass a law.

This amendment also allows the President of the Republic to appoint whomever the President wishes to the judiciary, which means another constitutional violation because Article (149) of the constitution states that, “The Judicial authority is an autonomous authority in its judicial, financial and administrative aspects.”

In addition, the Bar Association condemned in a statement published on its Facebook page the approval of these amendments, which it says will lead to “dividing the national ranks.” The statement added that “the draft amendments constitute a blatant violation of the principles of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.” The association also rejected the stipulation under the amendment to cancel the requirements that judges must hold  “a university degree and a qualification issued by the Judicial Institute for those who ascend the judiciary bench,” and condemned, according to the text of the statement, “the direct targeting of the legal profession.”

Recommendations

Once again, GCHR urges the de facto government in Sana’a, the Houthi group 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.