Geneva – SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties has released a comprehensive human rights report documenting the extrajudicial execution of Sheikh Saleh Hantous, one of the most prominent religious and educational figures in Yemen’s Raymah Governorate, at the hands of the Houthi group. The report affirms that the incident constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law and human rights treaties, and qualifies as a war crime warranting international accountability.

The report states that the operation carried out by the Houthis on July 1, 2025, involved the excessive use of military force. The entire village of Al-Bayda in Raymah was besieged, with all roads leading to it cut off. Simultaneously, the area surrounding Sheikh Hantous’s home was bombarded before the house was stormed and he was deliberately executed. The report described the act as a brutal and systematic crime.

Based on eyewitness testimonies, official documents, and family accounts, the report notes that the Houthis did not stop at the killing, but followed it with a series of grave violations. These included arbitrary arrests of family members and companions—among them children and wounded individuals—enforced disappearances, systematic looting of the family’s property, and destruction of personal documents. The family was also denied the right to conduct a proper funeral or even view the body of the deceased, an act the report described as a flagrant violation of the dignity of the dead and of Yemeni religious and social norms.

The report highlights that this crime is part of a broader policy systematically targeting independent religious and social voices in Houthi-controlled areas. Sheikh Saleh Hantous had consistently resisted the group’s attempts to impose its ideological doctrine on religious education, which subjected him and his family to continuous harassment, threats, and assaults, ultimately culminating in his field execution amid a total absence of legal or humanitarian protection.

The report affirms that the execution of Sheikh Saleh Hantous and the accompanying violations constitute a clear breach of international humanitarian law and human rights, amounting to a war crime that demands international accountability. It adds that the incident exposes the dangerous pattern of targeted persecution against religious and educational figures and reveals the lack of legal, regional, or international deterrence, which has emboldened the group to continue its policy of impunity.

In its recommendations, the report calls for the establishment of an independent international investigation committee under UN supervision to collect and preserve evidence and hold perpetrators accountable. It also urges the referral of the case to the International Criminal Court, the imposition of strict sanctions on Houthi leaders involved, and the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared members of Sheikh Hantous’s family.

Additionally, it calls for comprehensive compensation for the family and the establishment of an effective international mechanism to protect educational and civil institutions in conflict zones, warning of the long-term threat such violations pose to Yemen’s security and stability.