Hundreds of detainees in Yemen tortured to death in Houthi prisons

The Yemeni government announced on Thursday that hundreds of those who had been forcibly abducted have been tortured to death in Houthi prisons and camps.

A statement issued by the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights, the United Nations Security Council, as well as other international organizations, called for pressuring Houthi militias and ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh to stop their crimes against detainees and to release them. It further accused the insurgent militia of being solely responsible for the murder of the abductees.

The statement also said: “Militias at the origin of the coup are committing the most heinous crimes and violations against the detainees, of which the most recent is the crime of torture until death perpetrated against the detainee Ahmed Saleh Hussein al-Wahashi of the village of Mdouqin in the province of al-Bayda, who was arrested on October 15.”

Wahashi was abducted and killed under torture by Houthi militias in a prison in Sanaa.

It was reported that Wahashi was taken by Houthi militia along with his nephew, who is still in prison.

Following Wahashi’s abduction, the militia perpetrated all kinds of torture on him and broke his spine, which led to his death on October 28.

The Ministry of Human Rights confirmed that the crimes committed by the militias against civilians and detainees are in fact war crimes against humanity, and that the perpetrators will be punished and prosecuted both locally and internationally.

Of the crimes that have been reported, Yemeni human rights organizations count the killing of no less than 111 abductees in Houthi militia prisons under brutal torture. Yet, these numbers only refer to the crimes that have been disclosed, while similar violations of forced abductions, disappearances and torture are yet to be revealed or uncovered.