Member of the Shi’ite Houthi militia stand guard on a wall surrounding the old city of Sana’a, Yemen, on January 1, 2015. (EPA/Yahya Arhab)Sana’a and Aden Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s government-in-exile and human rights activists have launched an international campaign aimed at highlighting violations and crimes committed by Houthi rebels who control large parts of the country, government sources say.
According to the official who preferred to remain anonymous, the campaign coincided with peace talks between government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Iran-backed Houthi movement that ended in Geneva last week without reaching a ceasefire deal.
Houthis took control of large parts of Yemen in September, and placed President Hadi and several cabinet members under a month-long house arrest.
The advance by Houthis on the southern city of Aden, where Hadi established a temporary base for his government, prompted the president to flee to neighboring Saudi Arabia.
In late March Riyadh launched, at Hadi’s request, an aerial campaign against the Houthis and forces loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen.
A delegation of 13 human rights activists, mostly youths, has held a series of meetings with representatives of international organizations and members of diplomatic missions in Geneva to highlight the scale of crimes and transgressions being committed by the Houthis and Saleh’s followers in Yemen, according to the source.
The team has distributed a report outlining violations and crimes the Houthis committed in several cities, including Sana’a, Taiz and Aden, according to the source.
The report details dozens of cases of government and party officials, human rights activists and journalists who have been detained or forcibly disappeared by the Houthi rebels.
It also includes testimonies about cases of harassment against civil activists and journalists, such as Akram Al-Shawafi, a human rights activist, and Jalal Al-Shar’abi, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reporter in Sana’a, who are both detained by the Houthi militia.
The campaigners submitted a request to the Office of the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the crimes and violations committed by the Houthis, a member of the delegation told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The request is being studied by the OHCHR, Riyadh Al-Dab’i said, adding: “Concerned bodies will be addressed to facilitate the arrival of the [fact-finding] committee [to Yemen].”
“The delegation highlighted to international organizations the scale of crimes being committed by the Houthis against the Yemeni people, including crimes against humanity, such as the use of civilians as human shields, the war of extermination against the cities of Aden and Taiz and the collective punishment of civilians represented by besieging cities and targeting aid convoys, medical staff and health institutions,” he added.
Meanwhile, the rebel group on Thursday appointed a new governor for Lahj, the second southern province—after Shabwa—whose governor they have replaced since their coup against President Hadi.
The Supreme Revolutionary Committee appointed Ahmed Hammoud Juraib as the new governor of Lahj province, SABA news agency, which the Houthis control, reported on Thursday.
Mohamed Ali Mohsen contributed reporting from Aden.
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Source: Asharq Alawsat
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