AL-MUKALLA: Government officials and human rights activists in Yemen have accused Iran-backed Houthis of torturing and executing a prisoner of war a year after capturing him in the central province of Marib.
Muammar Al-Eryani, Yemen’s minister of information, culture and tourism, said Houthi captors tortured Abdul Wahab Al-SHajjae, a Yemeni government soldier, and denied him lifesaving medication, which resulted in his death in prison, and that they refused to return his body to his family.
Al-Eryani tweeted: “During his detention the prisoner Abdul Wahab Al-SHajjae was exposed to the harshest kinds of physical and mental abuse and was denied access to medical care and the most fundamental rights.”
He said that last year the Ministry of Human Rights recorded that 350 inmates out of 1,635 tortured by Houthis had died.
He added: “Due to weak international stances on torture and systematic killing of prisoners and abductees, the Houthi militia practiced even more brutality and abuse and terrorized the community opposed to the militia’s coup.”
Al-SHajjae’s brother, Yemeni journalist Abdul Basit, mourned his death, saying on Wednesday that the family had been kept in the dark about his condition for a year.
He tweeted: “After a full year of waiting and hoping for his return, we learned this morning that my eldest brother, brother of the soul Abdul Wahab, had been martyred.”
The death of the POW has prompted calls for an international investigation into his death and for the acceleration of prisoner swap arrangements to free hundreds from Houthi detention.
“Rights Radar requests that the UN Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Abdul Wahab Al-SHajjae,” the organization said.
Houthis have abducted thousands of people since late 2014 from areas under their control, including Sanaa, and subjected them to various forms of mistreatment, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Rashad Al-Alimi has backed international efforts to end the war and renew the truce.
During a meeting with US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking, in Riyadh, Al-Alimi said the presidential council and the government would support the envoy and other international mediators in their efforts to reach a comprehensive and long-term peace settlement to alleviate the suffering of people in Yemen.
A Yemeni government official told Arab News that the US envoy did not discuss any new proposals, but urged Al-Alimi to give mediators more time to persuade the Houthis to renew the truce, which expired on Oct. 2.
Houthis accused of executing Yemeni prisoner of war
https://arab.news/z4v4h
Houthis accused of executing Yemeni prisoner of war
- Yemen’s minister of information said Houthi captors tortured a Yemeni government soldier, and denied him lifesaving medication
- Last year the Ministry of Human Rights recorded that 350 inmates out of 1,635 tortured by Houthis had died
Turkiye’s Erdogan says Kurdish forces in Syria must lay down arms and disband now
- Turkish leader says laying down weapons is the only way out, he added, and any provocation would be a ‘suicide attempt’
ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish forces in northern Syria must lay down weapons and disband now to avoid further bloodshed, after Damascus struck a ceasefire with the group and gave them four days to agree on integrating into the central state.
Syria’s Turkiye-backed government forces seized swathes of territory from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria this week, as part of President Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s efforts to bring all the country under central government authority.
The United States, the SDF’s main ally, said its partnership with the group had changed in nature since the emergence of the new government in Damascus, and urged Kurdish fighters to integrate into Syria’s state apparatus.
Turkiye views the SDF as a terrorist organization linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group. It has been engaged in a peace process with the PKK for months and says the group — and its extensions — must disband and disarm.
Speaking to members of his AK Party in parliament, Erdogan said Turkiye welcomed Tuesday’s ceasefire agreement between the SDF and Damascus, adding he hoped the group’s “full integration” would herald a new era in Syria.
“Our hope is for this issue to be solved permanently without any more bloodshed, for the terrorist organization, which is now stuck in some areas in northern Syria, to lay down its weapons, disband, and for there to be no more conflict,” he said.
Laying down weapons is the only way out, he added, and any provocation would be a “suicide attempt.”
Earlier, Erdogan’s office said he discussed developments in Syria with US President Donald Trump in a phone call. He said on Wednesday that their call was “fruitful” and that they spoke about the joint battle against Daesh in Syria.
He also urged Kurds in Turkiye not to fall for “provocations” by militants and said his government would continue to carry out the peace process with the PKK.
