GENEVA - The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights, SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties, and the AFD International warned in a joint statement today that the courts of the Houthis group in Yemen will continue to issue death sentences against political opponents without regard to fair trial conditions.

In the statement, the three organizations indicated that Houthis group turned the judicial system in the areas controlled by them, into a political tool against its political opponents, where it has made to disappear, detained and prosecuted hundreds of civilians on false charges, and violated all legal due processes to ensure the rights of the suspects.

The Houthis-controlled courts consistently and blatantly violate all judicial procedures and deprive detainees and their lawyers of the right of defense guaranteed under national and international law.

The joint statement pointed out that most of the detainees in Houthis prisons were illegally abducted and subjected to enforced disappearance for several months before being shown in illegal detention places that are not under the supervision of the Public Prosecution. They are subjected to various kinds of psychological and physical torture during detention, signing confessions that they do not know of its content.

The organizations indicated that they documented a number of cases where executions were issued against a group of civilians, and it took only one session to issue sentences ending their lives. The court did not give the defense the right to plea for the suspects.

The organizations quoted a Yemeni lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying that the right to defend the accused was completely lacking. "I attended a trial session for a group of defendants. I was surprised at the first session by the death sentences of five of them. I was charged with pleading for one of them. I asked the court for a copy of the case file, but my request was rejected immediately. I only have access to the file in the same session and provide an immediate response to the indictment and list of evidence. "I then had to make an oral pleading, but I was surprised by the judge's decision to hold the case for the ruling in the same session, and he issued a death sentence against the defendant, and in the same way the other four were sentenced.

The organizations pointed out that the courts under the control of Houthis clearly violate the privacy of detainees. In some cases, the detainee is photographed during the interrogation period, which is not permissible by law. Moreover, the detainee's picture and audio recordings are published in all the media, which is considered contempt for the detainee and incitement against them, and prepare the public opinion to issue harsh sentences against the accused.

The organizations have shown that such measures are a clear violation of the criminal justice law and fair trial rules and raise serious concerns about the intention to issue harsh sentences against detainees.

According to the statement, since March 2015, the Houthis courts have issued 55 death sentences against civilians. The courts have not observed fair trial conditions, an indication of a loss of confidence in Yemen's entire judicial system.

At the end of the statement, the organizations issued an urgent appeal to all relevant international parties to pressure the Houthis group to put an end to the death sentences imposed on a number of defendants and to push the Houthis group to end its domination over the judiciary and to stop the politicized verdicts and death sentences issued against dozens of Yemenis on fabricated charges and politicized legal issues , Respect for the rights of individuals under its authority and the release of all abductees and forcibly disappeared in its prisons.

The organizations urged that all parties to the conflict in Yemen, including armed groups, should respect the rules of international humanitarian law and spare civilians any dangers they may incur, stressing the need for urgent UN intervention to end the suffering of thousands of detainees in prisons in Yemen

2019-05-03