Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

4,000 Kidnapped, 13,000 Detained by Yemeni Insurgents | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Relatives sit next to a sick man waiting to be admitted to a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen May 6, 2017. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah


Jeddah – Yemeni Deputy Minister of Human Rights Mohammad Askar described the occupied Yemeni regions as “big prisons” that include free Yemeni prisoners and captives. Askar added that there are “inhumanitarian practices represented in forbidding salaries as well as constructing illegal detention camps whose number has exceeded 300.”

He affirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that there are huge violations of human rights in the unliberated regions that have led to 13,000 Yemeni captives – in an illegal way – also more than 4,000 were kidnapped in addition to raiding houses of dissenters.

Askar pointed out that there are no fair trials in these areas and captives’ households are banned from knowing their fate or visiting them. He expressed shock from states that support Houthi militias and adopt their trainings despite human rights’ violations.

The Yemeni deputy minister revealed that militias are using suppressive and terrorist means to oppress any opposition – he added that militias did not respect the basic human rights since it practiced terrorism on citizens, confiscated opinions, suppressed press freedom and worked on mobilizing 10,000 children although Yemen signed an agreement before which prevents children mobilization.

In a related matter, the Yemeni Association of Abductees’ Mothers demanded in a statement issued on Wednesday a quick release of the kidnapped by Houthis in Sana’a.

The statement denounced the huge deterioration in the captives’ health condition in Habra prison, leading to dozens suffering from dangerous and critical diseases. Houthis and Saleh militias also prevent captives from seeing a doctor or receiving essential medications from their parents.