The Houthi group’s execution of 9 people by firing squad in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, drew local, Arab, and international condemnations.
On Saturday morning, the “Houthi” group executed 9 people, on the grounds of their conviction of participating in the assassination of the former head of the group’s Supreme Political Council, Saleh Al-Sammad.
Al-Sammad, who is one of the largest Houthi leaders, was killed on April 19, 2020, in an airstrike by the Arab coalition, in Al Hudaydah Governorate (west).
The Yemeni parliament (the first chamber of parliament) said that “the crime of executing the nine citizens today is a real catastrophe that reflects the Houthi militia’s indulgence in abuse of society and the use of simple people as scapegoats to settle internal accounts to cover up the existing divisions among them.”
In a statement, the Council called on the international community and United Nations organizations, especially the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Hans Grundberg, to condemn this heinous crime and hold the perpetrators accountable, and to demand an end to all sentences issued by the judiciary politicized by the Houthi militias.
In turn, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Nayef Al-Bakri, said that the Houthi militia “continues to abuse Yemenis by kidnapping, killing and displacing.”
He added, through his Facebook account: “We condemn the execution of nine of the sons of Tihama (western Yemen), including a minor child and a leader in the (formerly ruling) General People’s Congress, on a malicious charge.”
On the same level, the Arab Parliament condemned, in a statement, “the Houthi militia’s continued violations of human rights against the Yemeni people,” after the execution of 9 people, including a minor, in the capital, Sana’a, for a “new terrorist crime.”
The Arab Parliament stressed “the need for international solidarity and serious work to deter this terrorist militia, which is indifferent to any international laws.”
And he warned that “the inaction of the international community will encourage this militia to continue its terrorist acts.”
For its part, the “American Center for Justice” (non-governmental human rights-based in Michigan) denounced the execution of the nine people.
He added in a statement, that the execution “came after an illegal trial that lacked the minimum standards of justice.”
The incident condemned the “Rights Radar” organization for human rights in the Arab world (a non-governmental organization based in the Netherlands).
The organization said on its Twitter account: “The Houthi group did not dare to carry out the executions of the nine civilians today except because of the silence of the international community about its successive crimes since 2014, which go unpunished.”
The organization added: “Do not let the perpetrators of violations go unpunished until they are deterred from continuing to repeat their crimes.”
At dawn on Saturday, Yemeni Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani called, in a statement, for international and international pressure on the Houthis to stop the execution of the nine people.
In his statement, Al-Eryani warned: “The Iranian-backed Houthi militia has launched mass killings of civilians by executing 9 residents of Hodeidah Governorate, after they were subjected to a mock trial on trumped-up charges.”
Yemen has been witnessing a war for nearly 7 years, which has killed more than 233,000 people, and 80 percent of the population, numbering about 30 million, has become dependent on support and aid, in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the United Nations.
The conflict has had regional spillovers, since March 2015, as a coalition led by neighboring Saudi Arabia has been carrying out military operations in support of the government forces, in the face of the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled several governorates, including the capital, Sanaa, since 2014.
