The massacre of Houthi judicial rulings: sentencing 19 abductees to death and undermining the de-escalation track.

The Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced Disappearance is closely following with deep concern and shock the dangerous and inhumane escalation carried out by the Houthi terrorist militia through the use of a judiciary deprived of will as a tool for physical liquidation and political revenge. At a time when the Yemeni street is waiting for the activation of understandings on the exchange of prisoners and abductees to end the suffering of thousands of detainees, Yemenis were surprised by the issuance of politicized mass death sentences against 19 citizens from the governorates of Al-Dhalea and Taiz.

The Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced Disappearance condemns in the strongest terms the Houthi death penalty rulings against the abductees and denounces them.

The Specialized Criminal Court affiliated with the Houthi militia in the capital, the abducted Sana’a, issued yesterday, Monday, void rulings sentencing 19 abductees to death (between hadd, retribution, and discretionary punishments) and imprisoning 3 others for periods ranging from two to ten years, in a fabricated case involving 23 defendants who were subjected to the most severe forms of psychological and physical torture to force them to confess to fabricated charges.

More dangerously, the court announced the termination of proceedings against 5 others due to “death,” which is a serious indication confirming their extrajudicial liquidation after they died under systematic torture inside the Houthi militia’s prisons.

The Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced Disappearance affirms that these sham trials lack the minimum standards of justice and represent an extension of the policy of judicial execution pursued by the Houthi militia to terrorize society and keep the file of abductees as a tool of political and military blackmail, in parallel with the continuation of systematic repression campaigns and arbitrary arrests against teachers and activists in Ibb Governorate, and the ongoing pursuit of more than 120 UN and international employees, some of whom face the risk of execution on alleged espionage charges.

In light of this dangerous turning point, the Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced Disappearance expresses its absolute and complete condemnation of these void rulings issued by a court lacking legal competence and jurisdiction, and warns the Houthi militia against harming the lives of the 19 abductees or implementing any of these unjust decisions.

The Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced Disappearance calls on the United Nations, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to Yemen, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to intervene immediately and exert serious pressure on the Houthi militia in Sana’a to stop these political executions and freeze the politicized judiciary.

It also calls on the legitimate Yemeni government and its negotiating team in the file of prisoners and abductees to take a firm stance and suspend any peace negotiation tracks until real guarantees are put in place to protect abductees and activists from death sentences, and to insist on including all political detainees (including the heroes of the Hajour uprising, detainees from Ibb Governorate, and humanitarian staff) without omission or fragmentation.

The Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced Disappearance also demands an international and independent investigation into the circumstances of the death of the five abductees who died inside Houthi detention centers before the ruling was issued, and the inclusion of the names of judges and security officials involved in these trials and torture in international sanctions lists.

International silence regarding the transformation of courtrooms in Sana’a into human slaughterhouses for opponents and civilians is a green light for the group to continue its crimes. No real peace in Yemen will be achieved unless political trials are immediately stopped and all abductees and forcibly disappeared persons are released unconditionally.

Issued by:Irada Organization against Torture and Enforced DisappearanceTuesday, 19 May 2026