Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
The “De Yement Organization for Rights and Development” has documented 382 violations committed by the Houthi group against male and female lawyers in the capital, Sana’a, between January 2023 and December 2025.
The organization released its human rights report today in Marib, titled “Lawyers Under Repression.” The report provides a yearly breakdown of the 382 incidents:
- 2023: 135 cases
- 2024: 88 cases
- 2025: 159 cases
The documented violations cover a wide range of abuses, including:
- 115 cases of physical and verbal assault.
- 82 cases of abduction and arbitrary detention.
- 55 cases of being barred from legal practice or representation.
- 98 cases of threats and incitement.
The report also detailed more severe abuses, such as enforced disappearances, torture, the forced removal of lawyers from courtrooms, and the looting of personal property.
Fahmi Al-Zubairi, the Secretary-General of the organization, stated that targeting lawyers is a direct attack on the pillars of justice and the guarantees of a fair trial. He emphasized that the legal profession serves as the first line of defense for rights and freedoms, and that undermining it directly erodes the rule of law and the prestige of the judiciary. Al-Zubairi characterized the events in Sana’a as a systematic attempt to subjugate the judiciary and intimidate human rights defenders, calling for both national and international action to hold those responsible accountable.
The release event included a human rights symposium featuring three working papers. These papers reviewed the legal framework of the legal profession in Yemen, the specific impact of violations in Houthi-controlled areas, and what participants described as the “tinkering” with lawyer-related laws and the politicization of the judiciary.
Attorney and activist Olfat al-Rifa’i highlighted the report’s primary findings, noting that the documented incidents reveal an organized pattern of harassment, prosecution, and arbitrary arrest aimed at stripping the legal profession of its independence. The symposium concluded by asserting that protecting lawyers is a national necessity, as the collapse of defense guarantees effectively leads to the collapse of justice itself.
