Yemen: Amnesty slams Houthis for ‘unfair trials’

Amnesty’s latest report today accused the Houthis of “using the judiciary to settle political scores” amid the on-going civil conflict in Yemen.

The investigative research findings reveal that three Yemenis, a woman and two men, were forcibly disappeared, ill-treated and given an unfair trial before being sentenced to the death penalty by the courts.

The defendants were attested by the Houthis on accusation that the lady’s husband is linked to Al-Qaeda.

The Houthis are operating a Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) in the capital Sana’a which decides on terrorism and state security cases. It sentenced Asmaa Al-Omeissy, Saeed Al-Ruwaished and Ahmed Bawazeer to death. A fourth defendant, Asmaa’s father Matir Al-Omeissy, was given a 15-year sentence after being convicted of an “indecent act”.

“They would bring the other two to our room blindfolded and handcuffed and beat them in front of us, making us watch. They would beat them, asking them to confess as they kept denying any wrongdoing. We would remain silent in fear of being shot. … Only God knows the torment we were subjected to,” Matir told Amnesty.

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Yemen’s civil war erupted in September 2014, when the Houthis, alongside forces loyal to the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh, took over the capital Sana’a. Internationally recognised President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was forced to relocate to interim capital Aden, in southern Yemen. Hadi called upon a Saudi-led coalition to military support him against the Houthis, triggering a bombing campaign in March 2015.

“As Yemen’s armed conflict rages on, the grossly unfair trial of Asmaa Al-Omeissy and the three other defendants is part of a wider pattern of the Houthis using the judiciary to settle political scores,” said Rawya Rageh, Amnesty International’s senior crisis advisor.

The trial followed a catalogue of grave violations and crimes under international law, some of which may also amount to war crimes.

“The defendants initially were subjected to enforced disappearance, cut off from the outside world, and secretly moved from one facility to the other. They were held in squalor in pre-trial detention for months, extorted for money, subjected to continuous humiliation and extreme physical abuse, and denied basic rights including legal counsel and family visits,” Rageh continued.

“Sentencing anyone to death after such deeply flawed proceedings is a clear violation of international law. These sentences must be quashed without delay.”

Activists and lawyers in Yemen believe this is the first case whereby a woman has been given a death sentence over a state security case. The charges equate to “aiding a foreign country in a state of war with Yemen”.

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