Informed sources in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, confirmed to the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) that the implementation of the death sentence against human rights defender Fatima Saleh Al-Arwali is not imminent, contrary to recent reports. The information that was recently published in local newspapers and social media websites is incorrect and does not represent the truth regarding her case. These sources added that Al-Arwali has two levels of litigation, the first before the Court of Appeal and the second before the Supreme Court, and all of this will take a long time.

Prominent human rights lawyer Abdulmajeed Sabra, who is defending her, announced that the initial death sentence issued against her has not yet been ratified, and confirmed that the reports that set next month as the date for her execution are incorrect.

Al-Awali faces the death penalty based on arbitrary charges made apparently in retaliation for her human rights work, including defending women’s and children’s rights.

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 of the charges made against her, in a trial in which her lawyer was not allowed to present his case and defend her. She is expected to appeal this initial ruling soon.

GCHR reviewed the list of accusations included in the indictment and brought against her by the Specialised Criminal Prosecution, which included an allegation that she “recruited herself to work with Emirati intelligence officers… and agreed with them to provide them with information and coordinates for the locations of the army, the popular committees, military manufacturing sites, and missile platforms in the Al-Jawf and Al-Bayda Governorates,” also in addition to their locations in Ma’rib Governorate, “in exchange for receiving a monthly salary in Emirati dirhams.” She was also accused of publicly “impersonating another woman” and “hiding her real name because she was wanted by the authorities.”

Al-Arwali, the 35-year-old 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. She was arrested by the Security and Intelligence Service, which has detained her in its prison since then and isolated her from the outside world, including her family.

On 22 August 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention wrote to the Houthi authorities to protest the “enforced disappearance, and detention without charge of human rights defender Ms. Fatima Saleh Al-Arwali in apparent retaliation for her promotion and protection of human rights.”

Recommendations GCHR urges the de facto government in Sanaa, the Houthi group, to release human rights defender Fatima Al-Arwali immediately and unconditionally, drop all charges against her, and allow her to contact her family and her lawyer while she remains in prison.

Once again, GCHR calls on international mechanisms, including those of the United Nations, as well as the European Union and governments with influence in Yemen, to call on the authorities in Yemen, including the Houthis, to:

1. End the use of the death penalty against human rights defenders and journalists; and
2. Free all those imprisoned on arbitrary charges.