Houthis Continue Violations in Yemen: 161,000 Crimes Against Civilians Over 11 Years
Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
Yemen is witnessing one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern times, as the Houthi group continues systematic violations against civilians since seizing the capital, Sana’a, in September 2014.
The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms, in a recent report presented during the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, revealed the documentation of 160,955 violations from September 2014 until the first half of 2025.
According to the report, 21,946 civilians were killed and 33,456 others injured, in addition to the assassination of 189 tribal leaders and prominent social figures — excluding military casualties.
Thousands of civilians have faced the dangers of landmines planted by the militias across nine Yemeni provinces. The network recorded 3,769 deaths and 3,189 injuries, some of whom suffered permanent disabilities.
As part of its organized crackdown, the Houthis abducted 21,731 civilians, including 2,678 cases of enforced disappearance, while nearly 2,000 people were subjected to brutal torture in the group’s secret prisons.
The report highlighted the existence of 778 prisons in Houthi-controlled areas, including 273 secret sites established specifically for detaining opponents, along with 4,560 documented violations against religious minorities and their mosques.
Civilian facilities were not spared destruction, with 1,231 documented bombings targeting public and private properties, in addition to 56,287 cases of violations against private property, farms, and commercial establishments.
In the health sector, rights groups documented 4,121 violations against medical facilities and workers, while journalists faced 575 abuses, including arrests and bans from working.
Mohammed Al-Omda, head of the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms, stated that these violations represent a systematic policy aimed at silencing opposing voices and distorting facts before the international community.
Speaking in Geneva, Al-Omda stressed that Yemenis are facing two major threats: indiscriminate shelling on one hand, and the security chaos caused by the militias on the other, with prisons turned into sites of torture and humiliation.
The human rights official called for intensifying international efforts to pressure the Houthi group to halt its violations, emphasizing the importance of documenting crimes and holding perpetrators accountable to achieve justice for the victims.
