Geneva – SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties said that this year’s World Day Against the Death Penalty comes as Yemen experiences one of the darkest periods in its history, marked by the political and retaliatory use of capital punishment. The organization affirmed that the de facto authorities in Sana’a have turned the death penalty into a tool for silencing opponents and eliminating dissidents, in gross violation of the right to life and all guarantees of a fair trial.

SAM indicated that the number of death sentences issued in areas under the control of the Houthi group has exceeded 550 since the group’s takeover of power in 2014. The majority of these sentences, the organization said, were politically or sectarian-motivated, issued by courts that lack independence and rely on fabricated charges and confessions extracted under torture and coercion. These practices, SAM emphasized, constitute political executions carried out outside the framework of the law.

The organization highlighted the case of human rights activist Fatima Al-Arouli, who was sentenced to death in December 2023 following a sham trial marred by severe procedural violations, including being denied legal representation and held incommunicado for eight months, before being charged with fabricated accusations of espionage — a flagrant breach of justice and human dignity.

SAM drew attention to the case of human rights activist Fatima Al-Arouli, who was sentenced to death in December 2023 following a sham trial marred by grave violations, the most serious of which were denying her the right to legal counsel, holding her incommunicado for eight months, and charging her with fabricated accusations of espionage, in clear violation of the principles of justice and human dignity.

SAM also drew attention to the case of journalist Taha Ahmed Rashid Al-Maamari, who was sentenced to death and had all his movable and immovable property — valued at more than 2.2 million US dollars — confiscated on charges of “working with coalition countries,” despite having resided abroad since 2015. The organization described this as a systematic political and economic exploitation aimed at expropriating property and silencing independent voices.

The organization stressed that “political execution” has become an entrenched practice by the de facto authorities in Sana’a, used to intimidate society and suppress political and intellectual opposition. It cited the mass execution of nine citizens from Tihama in 2021 as a heinous crime and a bloody scene that will not fade with time, where victims were publicly executed after sham trials and confessions extracted under torture.

SAM reiterated that the right to life is inalienable and non-negotiable, and that the ongoing issuance and execution of death sentences outside the bounds of justice constitutes a crime against humanity requiring urgent international intervention. The organization called for the immediate suspension of all politically motivated executions and for a comprehensive review of cases before the special criminal courts operating under the authority of the de facto power.

The organization further urged the international community and the United Nations to establish a permanent monitoring mechanism to track politically motivated death sentences in Yemen, grant access to prisons and detention centers for documentation of violations, and work toward creating an international judicial process to hold perpetrators accountable and ensure victims’ right to justice and reparation.

SAM also called on the Yemeni government to take a clear and firm stance against political executions in Houthi-controlled areas, to unify legal and human rights efforts in exposing and documenting such practices, and to abolish vague legal provisions used to criminalize expression and dissent, as a step toward eliminating the death penalty in politically and ideologically motivated cases.