HAIL: The Yemeni Coalition to Monitor Human Rights Violations found that Houthi and Saleh militias committed more than 5,000 human rights offenses, including more than 200 enforced disappearances, during 2016, according to its annual report.
The report included 5,092 violations, of which, there are 4,882 documented cases of arbitrary detention, 210 cases of enforced disappearance, the majority committed at the hands of the Houthis and ousted Saleh forces, which constitutes about 95 percent of the total cases. Security forces committed 124 violations, about 2 percent of the total.
The report, a copy of which was obtained by Arab News, showed the documented breaches affirm that 2016 witnessed the greatest waves of arbitrary arrests implemented by Houthi and Saleh militias that included women and children. The majority of detainees were subjected to brutal, degrading, inhumane and severe treatment at the hand of their jailers.
The report cited stories told by the detainees on the use of both physical and psychological torture, as they were kept prisoner in the underground basements of houses and schools used as secret prisons. Dozens were detained in small and dark rooms without ventilation. Many detainees suffered skin diseases and infections as a result of lack of hygiene. They were prevented from contacting their families or having lawyers assigned to defend their rights.
Arbitrary arrests and abductions documented in the report also included women, thus ignoring and bypassing all moral and ethical values, and humanitarian customary traditions. The actions criminalize forcing women and children to enter political conflicts, and armed conflict in particular, according to the report.
Monitoring field squads of the Yemeni rights coalition documented 20 cases of violations of women who were arbitrarily arrested; 19 cases were implemented at the hands of the Houthi militias, and one case by an unknown party.
Meanwhile, during 2016, 115 children were subjected to arbitrary arrest. The report also documented three cases of enforced disappearances among children, all of whom were detained inside Houthi and Saleh secret prisons.
Politicians were among the most affected by arbitrary arrest and disappearance. The report said that cases of violations that included politicians numbering 1,032, of which 942 political figures were subjected to arbitrary arrests while 90 persons were subjected to enforced disappearance.
Activists and human rights defenders came in the third within this category of violations, with the total number of violations amounting to 702, of which there were 662 cases of arbitrary arrests and 40 cases of enforced disappearance.
Meanwhile, the uprising against the Houthi and Saleh militias continued following attacks raged by their militias against the tribes and sheikhs in Yemen.
These divisions came after Houthis abducted many children and forced them into the war. The militias also abducted tribesmen who refused to fight with them and enforced their disappearance inside secret prisons.
The Houthi teams continued to scour the towns and villages under their control to drag young people to fight with them.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdulmalik Al-Mikhlafi said that Houthi militias continue to detain Defense Minister Mahmoud Al-Subaihi, Nasser Hadi and Mohammad Qahtan, and thousands of the others abducted and arrested.
The Kingdom’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Jaber, also confirmed that the continued disappearance of Al-Subaihi at the hands of the Houthi militias, as well as the disappearance of Qahtan and Hadi.
Houthis committed over 5,000 cases of rights violations: Report
Houthis committed over 5,000 cases of rights violations: Report
Israeli strikes kill 3 people in Gaza, hospital says
- Shifa Hospital reported the deaths amid the months-old ceasefire that has seen continued fighting
DEIR AL-BALAH: Israeli military strikes on Monday killed three people west of Gaza City, according to the hospital where the casualties arrived.
Shifa Hospital reported the deaths amid the months-old ceasefire that has seen continued fighting. The Israeli army said Monday it is striking targets in response to Israeli troops coming under fire in the southern city of Rafah, which it says was a violation of the ceasefire. The army said it is striking targets “in a precise manner.”
The four-month-old U.S-backed ceasefire followed stalled negotiations and included Israel and Hamas accepting a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump aimed at ending the war unleashed by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel. At the time, Trump said it would lead to a “Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”
Hamas freed all the living hostages it still held at the outset of the deal in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and the remains of others.
But the larger issues the agreement sought to address, including the future governance of the strip, were met with reservations, and the US offered no firm timeline.
Top UN official concerned over Israel’s West Bank decision
The United Nations top official on Monday expressed concern about the Israeli security cabinet’s decision to deepen the country’s control over the occupied West Bank.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “gravely concerned” and warned that the Israeli decision could erode the prospect of a two-state solution, spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement.
“Such actions, including Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are not only destabilizing but – as recalled by the International Court of Justice – unlawful,” he said.
Israel ‘s security cabinet on Sunday approved measures that aim to deepen Israeli control over the occupied West Bank and weaken the already limited powers of the Palestinian Authority.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the measures would make it easier for Jewish settlers to force Palestinians to give up land, adding that “we will continue to bury the idea of a Palestinian state.”
Israel captured the West Bank, as well as Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state.
Rafah crossing improving, official says
The Palestinian official set to oversee day-to-day affairs in Gaza said on Monday that passage through the Rafah crossing with Egypt is starting to improve after a chaotic first week of reopening marked by confusion, delays and a limited number of crossings.
Ali Shaath, head of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, told Egypt’s Al-Qahera News that operations at the crossing were improving on Sunday. He said 88 Palestinians were scheduled to travel through Rafah on Monday, more than have crossed in the initial days since reopening. Israel did not immediately confirm the figures.
The European Union border mission at the crossing said in a statement Sunday that 284 Palestinians had crossed since reopening. Travelers included people returning after having fled the war and medical evacuees and their escorts. In total, 53 medical evacuees departed during the first five days of operations.
That remains well below the agreed target of 50 medical evacuees exiting and 50 returnees entering daily, negotiated by Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian and international officials.
Shaath and other members of the committee remain in Egypt, without Israeli authorization to enter the war-battered enclave.
The Rafah crossing opened last week for the first time since mid-2024, one of the main requirements for the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. It was closed Friday and Saturday because of confusion around operations.
Palestinian officials say nearly 20,000 people are seeking to leave Gaza for medical care unavailable in its largely destroyed health system.
Palestinians who returned to Gaza in the first days after the crossing reopened described hourslong delays and invasive searches by Israeli authorities and an Israeli-backed Palestinian armed group, Abu Shabab. Israel denied mistreatment.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Monday that five people were killed over the previous 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 581 since the October ceasefire. The truce led to the return of the remaining hostages — both living captives and bodies — from the 251 abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the attack. Israel’s military offensive has since killed over 72,000 Palestinians, according to the ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and is staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties.
