Condemnation of Houthis’ decisions upholding death sentences against 3 abductees from Mahweet governorate.
Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced Disappearance condemns in the strongest possible terms the Houthis militia’s actions in upholding and enforcing unjust death sentences against three abducted civilians, following sham trials that lacked the most basic standards of justice before courts devoid of legitimacy, amid grave violations including enforced disappearance and systematic torture over many years.
These decisions constitute an extrajudicial killing, a war crime and a flagrant violation of the rules of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. They further reveal a complete disregard for civilian lives and for binding international obligations.
Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced Disappearance affirms that forcing abductees to sign what were termed “final death sentences” inside prisons constitutes conclusive evidence of coercion and the absence of free will, entrenches the criminal nature of these procedures and holds the militia’s leaders the direct individual criminal responsibility.
Established Legal Violations:
1- Arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, in violation of Article (9) of the International Covenant and the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
2- Violation of the absolute prohibition of torture under Article (7) of the same Covenant and the Convention Against Torture, as the victims were subjected to torture and cruel inhuman treatment.
3- Violation of the guarantees of a fair trial stipulated in Article (14) of the International Covenant, including the right to defense, legal representation and the presumption of innocence.
4- Violation of the right to life guaranteed under Article (6) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits arbitrary deprivation of life.
5- Execution following a sham trial, in contravention of the United Nations principles on the prevention of extrajudicial executions, constituting an international crime requiring accountability.
Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced Disappearance warns that carrying out these executions will undermine the course of ongoing humanitarian negotiations, threaten the thousands lives of detainees and abductees and constitute a dangerous escalation requiring immediate international intervention.
Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced Disappearance calls for:
The immediate and unconditional suspension of the death sentences.
Releasing the abductees or referring them to an independent and legitimate judiciary with guarantees of a fair trial and for enabling international organizations to gain immediate access to places of detention and to meet with the abductees.
Opening an independent international investigation and for holding accountability upon all involved militia’s leaders, members and judges.
Urging the Negotiation Committee and the legitimate government to pursue urgent solutions and not to remain idle in the face of the grave violations and procedures aimed at executing the three abductees. They must fulfill their duties and exert pressure on the militia to halt these unjust decisions.
Urging the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to fulfill his legal and humanitarian responsibilities, to urgently press for the suspension of these unjust rulings and to include these serious human rights violations in upcoming briefings to the Security Council, as a true test of the international community’s commitment to protecting civilians and preventing extrajudicial executions.
Urging the United Nations, the UN Security Council and the countries sponsoring peace in Yemen to take deterrent measures, including the imposition of strict, targeted sanctions against Houthis militia’s leaders involved, to ensure non-impunity and to save the abductees’ lives.
Issued by Irada Organization Against Torture and Enforced Disappearance,
Republic of Yemen
Sat. Jan 10, 2026