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HRW slams Houthis for arbitrary detention of civilians

November 17, 2016 at 2:13 pm

Human Rights Watch has condemned the Houthi rebels for their arbitrary detention of opposition activists this morning.

The rights group documented two deaths and 11 cases of alleged forms of ill-treatment by the Houthi militia forces. They also documented the abuse of a child.

“The authorities should free those wrongfully held immediately, end detention without access to lawyers or family members, and prosecute officials responsible for mistreatment,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

Since the Houthi rebels took over Yemen’s capital city Sana’a in 2014, HRW has recorded the arbitrary or abusive detention of at least 61 people. However, figures from local rights organisations are much higher.

Yemen, which is the Arab world’s poorest country, has been hit by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthi group overran capital Sana’a and other parts of the country.

Yemen has been locked in a bitter battle between Houthi rebels allied with forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh and government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, along with local tribes and resistance forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition.