Joint statement: Stop death penalty sentences against convicts in Yemen
Geneva - The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, SAM for Rights and Liberties and AFD International warned in a
joint statement that the courts of the Houthi group in Yemen will continue to carry out death sentences against
political opponents without regard to fair trial conditions.
The three organizations said in a statement that al-Houthi group had turned the judicial system in the areas under its
control into a political tool to settle accounts with its political opponents. The group detained and tried hundreds of
civilians on broad charges and violated all legal procedures to ensure the rights of the accused.
According to their sources, the three organizations said that the Houthi-controlled courts consistently and blatantly
violated all justice procedures and denied detainees and their lawyers the right of defense guaranteed under domestic
and international law.
The joint statement pointed out that most of the detainees in al-Houthi prisons were illegally taken and subjected to
enforced disappearance for several months before being shown in illegal detention centers that are not under the
supervision of the Public Prosecution. They are subjected to various kinds of psychological and physical torture during
detention, and are forced to sign confessions they know nothing about their content.
The organizations indicated that they documented a number of cases where executions were made against a group of
civilians. It took only one session to issue sentences ending their lives. The court did not give the defense body the
right to plead guilty.
The organizations quoted a Yemeni lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying that the right to defend the
accused was completely lacking. “I attended a trial session for a group of defendants. I was surprised at the first
session by the Judge pronouncing the death sentences for five of them. I asked the court for a copy of the case file and
the hearing was adjourned, but my request was rejected immediately.”
The organizations pointed out that the courts under al-Houthi's control clearly violate the privacy of the detainees. In
some cases, the detainee is photographed during the interrogation period, which is not permissible by the law.
A photo and audio recordings of the detainee are published via media, with the public inciting against them in an
attempt to prepare the public opinion to accept and encourage the harsh sentences against the accused.
The organizations have shown that such measures are a clear violation of the criminal justice law and fair trial rules
and raise serious concerns about the intention to issue harsh sentences against detainees.
Since March 2015, the Houthi courts have issued 55 death sentences against civilians. The courts have not observed fair
trial guarantees, an indication of a loss of confidence in Yemen's entire judicial system.
Concluding their statement, the organizations issued an urgent appeal to all the relevant international parties to
pressure the al-Houthi group to stop the execution of a number of defendants and to urge the group to stop the
politicized verdicts and death sentences issued against dozens of Yemenis on fabricated charges.
The organizations urged that all parties to the conflict in Yemen, including armed groups, should respect the rules of
international humanitarian law and spare civilians any dangers they may incur, stressing the need for urgent UN
intervention to end the suffering of thousands of detainees in prisons in Yemen.