Rights Organization: Houthis Kidnap Hundreds of Civilians in Systematic Crackdown
Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
The National Authority for Prisoners and Detainees confirmed that the Houthi group has escalated its campaigns of abduction, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance over the past months. These systematic practices, the authority said, reflect a state of confusion and security hysteria within the group’s ranks, pushing it to expand its repression to include civilians, activists, and employees of international organizations.
In a statement, the authority noted that the wide-ranging security campaign launched by the Houthis since May 2025 has followed a recurring pattern of violations. It documented hundreds of cases of abduction and detention, including: 97 civilians in Ibb, 63 in Saada, 40 in Hudaidah, 37 in Taiz, 10 in Raymah, 6 in Sana’a, and one in Amran—all of whom remain in detention to this day.
According to the statement, the arrests targeted leaders of the General People’s Congress Party (Sana’a faction), including the party’s Secretary-General Ghazi Ahmed Ali Mohsen, as well as workers in humanitarian and international organizations, among them employees of the United Nations.
The authority explained that these arrests were accompanied by official and media incitement labeling the detainees as “agents” and “mercenaries,” an attempt by the group to justify and legitimize its repressive practices internally.
It stressed that “the documented figures indicate that the abducted number in the hundreds and remain held in Houthi prisons, which exacerbates an atmosphere of fear, undermines the work of humanitarian organizations in Yemen, and endangers the lives of millions of civilians, in clear violation of international humanitarian law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
The authority warned that the continuation of this policy poses a direct threat to humanitarian work in Yemen. It demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all abductees and arbitrarily detained persons, disclosure of their places of detention, and permission for lawyers and families to visit them.
It also called for an impartial international investigation into these violations and for holding those responsible accountable, urging urgent action by the United Nations and the international community to protect humanitarian workers and ensure the safety of civilians and humanitarian facilities. The authority reaffirmed its commitment to continue documenting cases and gathering evidence to preserve victims’ rights to justice and redress.
