Human Rights Organization: Death of a Captive Soldier Due to Severe Torture in Houthi Prisons in Sana’a

The "Equality for Rights and Freedoms" organization said today, Saturday, that a captured soldier died as a result of severe torture he was subjected to in the prisons of the Houthi militia in the capital, Sana'a.

The organization said in a statement that it "was informed today by the family of the captive soldier, Muhammad Muhammad Abdullah Hassan Suleiman (36 years old), from the Jabal al-Sharq District in Dhamar Governorate, of the death of their son under torture in the Central Security Prison affiliated with the Houthi group in the capital, Sana'a."

The organization explained that the soldier, Mohammed Suleiman, who was captured on the Sarwah front on June 4, 2020, was subjected to the most heinous forms of psychological and physical torture in his detention center, which led to the deterioration of his health and psychological condition and his loss of consciousness several times, until his family was informed of his death today, Saturday, under the pressure of this brutal torture that he was subjected to throughout his detention, leaving behind a wife and four children.

The organization expressed its strong condemnation of this heinous crime, stressing that it is "not the first crime that the organization has monitored in the prisons of the Houthi group and will not be the last, noting that the armed Houthi group follows a systematic policy in dealing with prisoners and civilian detainees in its prisons, targeting their lives and their physical and psychological safety without any regard for moral and legal obligations.

The “Equality” organization expressed its deep concern about the increase in these crimes and their recurrence in the prisons of the Houthi group, and called on the international community to take immediate and urgent action to protect prisoners and detainees and ensure that those involved in these crimes are held accountable and that the perpetrators of these crimes do not escape punishment.

She stressed that these crimes constitute a flagrant violation of the Third Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which requires humane treatment and prohibits torture and abuse of any kind. This crime also amounts to war crimes under international human rights law.