Yemeni Network: Houthis committed 2,678 enforced disappearance crimes in seven years

Arab Sea Newspaper - News Updates

Arab Sea - Yemen - Follow-ups: The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms revealed that it had documented 2,678 cases of enforced disappearance committed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias against civilians, including 158 women and 137 children, during the period from January 1, 2018, to April 30, 2025. In a report coinciding with the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, the network clarified that the violations included various segments of society, including 689 workers, 301 military personnel, 209 politicians, 182 educators, 74 activists, 93 students, 108 merchants, 51 journalists, 49 preachers and orators, 23 academics, 52 lawyers, and 43 doctors, in addition to dozens of social figures. The report stated that 1,937 abductees were subjected to physical and psychological torture, including 117 children, 43 women, and 89 elderly people, while torture led to the death of 476 victims, including women and children. The network also recorded 56 cases of physical liquidation inside Houthi prisons, 79 deaths due to medical negligence, and 31 deaths due to heart attacks, in addition to hundreds of others suffering permanent disabilities. According to the report, the Houthi militias run about 641 prisons in areas under their control, including 368 official prisons that they seized and 273 secret prisons that they established inside government institutions and civilian buildings. It confirmed that the prisons are still overcrowded with abductees who have no connection to the war, while many criminals and repeat offenders have been released to recruit them for the group. The network called on the United Nations to intervene urgently to release all arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared persons, calling on the Security Council to compel the Houthis to implement its relevant resolutions, most notably resolutions 2140 (2014), 2201 (2015), and 2216 (2015). It also urged the Human Rights Council to condemn these violations and support the National Commission of Inquiry to hold those responsible accountable.