Two Houthi leaders are responsible for 516 cases of arrest and enforced disappearance

The National Committee for Investigating Allegations of Human Rights Violations (governmental) has announced the responsibility of Abdul Karim Al-Houthi (the uncle of the Houthi leader) as the appointed Minister of Interior in the internationally unrecognized Houthi government, and Abdul Hakim Al-Khiwani as the appointed head of the Houthi Security and Intelligence Agency, for cases of arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance witnessed in the capital Sana'a and the provinces controlled by the Houthis.

The committee revealed in its 11th report, covering the period from August 1, 2022, to the end of July 2023, that the Houthi militia, loyal to Iran, committed 516 cases of arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance during that period.

The report presented by the committee to the President of the Presidential Council, Dr. Rashad Al-Aleemi, last month, indicated that on May 25, the Houthi militants raided the house of Abdullah Al-Alfi in the Al-Jaraf area in Sana'a during a regular meeting of 17 members of the Baha'i community and arrested them.

The report explained that during the Baha'i community meeting, which took place through the "Zoom" application, the house was raided and a large number of masked gunmen entered with seven women called "Zainabiyat," who arrived in several armored vehicles, buses, and cars. As soon as they arrived, the house consisting of four apartments was searched, and those present were isolated and interrogated in the house that was raided from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The report mentioned that the Houthis seized personal phones and transferred the detainees to prison, including two children who were released at the end of the same day, in addition to five women.

The victims reported being subjected to insults, curses, and defamation during their arrest and interrogation, and they were denied visitation rights after being transferred to prison, and they were asked to sign pledges not to engage in any activities related to the Baha'i community as a condition for their release.

The report also pointed out the responsibility of the Houthis for the arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance of a citizen in the Maseek neighborhood in Sana'a on May 20, 2022, under the pretext of a post he made on his Facebook page criticizing the militia and its leader, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, accusing him of "incitement and dealing with hostile entities."

It also mentioned the arbitrary arrest of a citizen and his son in the Hadah district in Dhamar governorate on September 28, 2022, due to their refusal, along with other residents of the area, to confiscate their lands in the village of Al-Dais in A'amas Al-Jabal, in order to establish a military site for the militia and use it as a center for inspecting travelers, as the area is located on the border of Marib governorate. In that case, the investigation committee held the security leadership in Dhamar governorate, including the appointed governor, Mohammed Nasser Al-Bukhaiti, and Nasser Al-Bukhaiti, the appointed director of Hadah district, and Fadl Al-Haribi, the security supervisor in the district, responsible for the violation.