Geneva – SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties has released a comprehensive report on the human rights and humanitarian situation in Yemen during 2024, revealing a troubling rise in violations targeting civilians across the country, particularly in areas under Houthi control. The organization documented a total of 3,472 violations, including 394 killings, 287 injuries, 1,409 arbitrary arrests, 209 cases of enforced disappearance, 99 incidents of torture, and 169 cases of forced child recruitment.
SAM indicated that the Houthi group was responsible for 3,014 violations—approximately 86% of the total recorded. Armed groups operating outside state authority followed with 135 violations, and the internationally recognized government was responsible for 109. This distribution highlights the severity of the human rights situation in the country.
The organization emphasized that violations extended beyond physical harm to include violations of personal and political freedoms and freedom of expression. SAM documented 66 politically motivated trials and 183 assaults on personal freedoms. It also noted the suppression of religious events and the confiscation of both public and private property, with 567 violations recorded in this category alone.
According to SAM, 2024 witnessed systematic practices of extrajudicial killings: 151 individuals were shot dead, 39 killed by landmines, 18 tortured to death, 10 killed in shelling, and 10 took their own lives due to harsh living conditions. Regarding children, 57 were killed, 58 injured, and 67 arbitrarily detained. Additionally, 169 children were forcibly recruited, five subjected to sexual assault, and one case of child marriage was documented.
Geographically, violations were notably concentrated, with Ibb governorate leading with 554 violations, followed by the Capital Secretariat with 512, then Dhamar, Al-Bayda, and Taiz. This reflects the intensity of violations in conflict zones, where horrific methods such as shelling, landmines, and torture-related deaths were employed.
The report also spotlighted the growing repression of journalists and activists, which included unfair trials and torture to death—cases that involved wounded detainees and forcibly disappeared persons whose decomposed bodies were later discovered in Houthi detention facilities.
SAM reported that the Houthis deliberately targeted civilians through house demolitions, imposed sieges, and restricted freedom of movement. It documented direct shelling of residential neighborhoods and crowded markets, causing dozens of deaths and injuries among civilians, including women and children, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law. Over 20 homes were blown up by the group in recent months—particularly in Al-Bayda—resulting in casualties and injuries among civilians, including children. SAM also noted a severe siege on the Hamma Sarar area, depriving more than 5,000 people of access to food and medicine.
The year 2024 also saw a disturbing trend: the recruitment of civilians to fight in Ukraine through networks operated by the Houthis. Exploiting Yemen’s economic hardship, recruits were lured with false promises of lucrative jobs. They were held in closed camps, and some families were later informed of their relatives’ deaths in combat.
SAM also issued an official documentation of Israeli airstrikes on Yemeni territory in 2024, which resulted in significant civilian casualties and property losses, sparking broad human rights and humanitarian concerns. The Israeli air force conducted strikes on December 19 and 27 targeting civilian facilities, including power stations in Dhahban and Haziz, an oil facility in Ras Issa, and infrastructure such as the Hodeidah port, Sanaa airport, and Al-Kathib port. These attacks killed nine civilian workers, injured 16 others, and left three missing at Sanaa airport.
The airstrikes also inflicted extensive damage on vital infrastructure relied upon by millions of Yemenis, particularly in energy, transport, and logistics sectors, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in a country already enduring the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. International reports warned of an imminent oil spill disaster due to strikes on oil facilities, posing a severe risk to the environment and public health.
SAM referenced remarks by UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher in his Security Council briefing, where he stated that the airstrikes “jeopardized critical port infrastructure and threatened the flow of food, fuel, and essential imports into Yemen.” The organization emphasized that these consequences endangered the lives of millions dependent on such resources.
In terms of civil liberties, the Houthi group enacted a new law restricting freedom of expression and enabling the criminalization of dissent without clear legal standards—an escalation of institutional repression against public freedoms, as described by SAM.
On the humanitarian front, the organization noted that Yemen continues to face one of the world’s worst crises, with nearly 10 million children in urgent need of humanitarian aid and more than 600,000 suffering from acute malnutrition—120,000 of them in critical condition. The country also witnessed a widespread cholera outbreak resulting in 258 deaths and nearly 95,000 suspected cases amid the ongoing collapse of water and sanitation services.
SAM affirmed that humanitarian organizations are unable to operate at full capacity due to restrictions imposed by the Houthis, who have recently intensified their crackdown on UN staff. Thirteen UN employees were arrested, and the High Commissioner’s office in Sanaa was raided and its contents seized.
Throughout the year, Houthi authorities maintained strict restrictions on relief and civil society organizations, launching arrest campaigns targeting 13 UN and international organization staff in Sanaa. They were taken to undisclosed locations and denied access to lawyers and family, as part of a systematic effort to silence independent voices.
SAM highlighted the simultaneous enactment of new repressive laws labeling opponents as “enemies of the state or Islam,” granting de facto authorities unchecked powers to suppress freedom of expression, assembly, and association, while using the judiciary as a tool for political retribution.
The organization warned that these policies portend further deterioration of Yemen’s humanitarian and rights conditions, undermining existing humanitarian and legal efforts. SAM stressed the urgent need for international intervention to halt these abuses and ensure accountability, calling for a comprehensive political solution that ends the conflict and establishes lasting stability.
In conclusion, SAM issued a set of recommendations in its 2024 annual report aimed at halting the ongoing violations and addressing the worsening human rights and humanitarian situation in Yemen. The organization described these recommendations as a roadmap essential for restoring Yemeni human dignity, ensuring accountability, and fostering peace and stability.
SAM urged the international community to exert tangible pressure on all parties to the conflict—foremost among them the Houthi group—to end all forms of violations, especially arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, and the forced recruitment of children, as well as attacks on civilians and property. It also called for the creation of an independent international mechanism to monitor human rights in Yemen, collect evidence, and document crimes in preparation for holding perpetrators accountable before international courts.
The organization emphasized the importance of urgently releasing all arbitrarily detained individuals, ensuring fair trials, and ending the use of the judiciary as a tool for political vengeance. It stressed the necessity of an independent judiciary and the annulment of rulings based on confessions extracted under torture.
SAM underscored the need to protect children from recruitment and exploitation, advocating for the activation of national and international mechanisms to prevent their use in armed conflict and to hold those responsible accountable. The organization also called for the expansion of psychosocial support programs for children and women survivors of violations, along with legal protection for victims of gender-based violence.
SAM demanded the lifting of restrictions on humanitarian and relief organizations and enabling their safe and unconditional access to those in need across all regions, free from interference or coercion. It called for support and funding of the UN humanitarian response plan to ensure continued provision of health, education, and food services.
The organization also recommended repealing laws and legislation that restrict freedom of expression and civic activity, reopening arbitrarily closed offices of local and international organizations, and ensuring freedom of the press and human rights activism. It argued that protecting civic space is a prerequisite for any successful and sustainable peace process in Yemen.
Furthermore, SAM emphasized that any future political settlement in Yemen must incorporate a justice and human rights dimension to ensure redress for victims and prevent impunity. Accountability, the organization said, is the cornerstone of transitional justice and the foundation for building a genuine peace grounded in human rights.
SAM called for a transparent and independent international investigation into the Israeli airstrikes on Yemen and for holding those responsible to account, stressing that targeting civilian infrastructure constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law and exacerbates the suffering of a population already burdened by siege and restricted access to aid and essential goods.
The organization concluded its recommendations by urging UN member states and the Security Council to take immediate action to end the human rights and humanitarian disaster in Yemen, warning that ignoring these violations would lead to further deterioration and pave the way for another cycle of violence and suffering.