SAM Organization condemned, today, Monday, the ruling issued on Sunday, July 5, against the child, Jamil Ali Al-Qamie, who was imprisoned for ten years and under police supervision for another three years.

SAM said that the ruling provides a clear picture of the dark conditions of childhood in Yemen, and constitutes a hideous addition to the violations being practiced against children in the Houthi-controlled areas in particular.

SAM said that the Houthis-run court of first instance had also sentenced Jamil to death on September 18, 2018, after a trial that did not last more than a quarter of an hour and during one session.

Jamil al-Qami, born in 2001, according to a certificate of graduation from high school that the organization had seen, was arrested in November 2017 while he was seventeen years old, and he was tried in May of 2018 after one investigation session at the Public Prosecution office in which he did not have a lawyer, He was charged with collaborating with a foreign country by providing the coordinates of the weapons depots and the Houthis gathering sites according to the indictment, charges that are punishable by death.

SAM indicated that the Houthis group appears to be continuing to use the judiciary as a tool to take revenge on opponents and intimidate civilians without regard to age or gender. The organization has documented more than 150 death sentences, involving women, health workers, parliamentarians and academics, and the organization will issue a detailed report on that.

In its latest statement, the organization called on the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the bodies concerned with children's issues to intervene and press effectively and practically to release Jamil al-Qamie without conditions.

SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties, Geneva

July 6, 2020