Torture to Death - Yemen 2017

Torture and other ill- treatment continue to be used by the Houthi-Saleh militia, terrorist groups and, to a lesser extent, the pro-Hadi government forces. Torture crimes continue to be widespread in prisons, detention centers in Yemen where human rights conditions have deteriorated following the takeover of Yemen’s legitimate government by the Houthi-Saleh militias and the ensuing conflict between the pro-Hadi government forces backed up by the Arab Coalition forces on the one hand, and the Houthi-Saleh militias on the other. By the end of 2017, the Houthi-Saleh alliance suffered a crackdown, which ended in the killing of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh on 4 December 2017 at the hands of his allies, the Houthi group.  

This report documents the monitoring process of 28 victims of torture to death between 1 January and 31 December 2017. Out of these 28 victims, 22 were men aged between 19 and 49 years as well as two children and one elderly person.

These cases of torture victims were documented in (11) Yemeni governorates, with (5) cases in Ibb, (4) in Hodeidah and Sa'ada each, (3) in Amanah (the Capital Secretariat), Taiz and Aden each, and (2) in Hajjah, while the other (4) cases were documented in Abyan, Al-Bayda, Shabwah and Amran with one case in each governorate.

The victims, who were tortured to death – and mentioned herein, were all civilian noncombatants, working as farmers, fishermen, entrepreneurs (workshop owners), workers, teachers, former soldiers, and activists. Most of them were also married and had and children.

Most of the abusive incidents against the victims of torture begin with abduction, detention and enforced disappearance. None of the torture victims was allowed any form of contact with the outside world, relatives, or any other human rights groups. Most victims' families were unable to obtain information about the fate or place of their detained relatives, especially in view of the frequent inter-district or inter-governorate transfers of the detainees. 

Of the 28 victims who died of torture- documented in this report- the Houthi-Saleh group was responsible for the torture and death of 22 victims, while the pro-legitimate government forces were responsible for the torture and death of five victims and one victim died of torture by terrorist groups.

Compared to the number of victims of torture to death by the Houthi-Saleh militias, the number of torture victims in areas controlled by the pro-legitimate government forces appears to be lower. However, these cases remain alarming as human rights are being violated in cities and areas under the authority of the legitimate government.

This report concludes with a number of recommendations for the different parties to the conflict, human rights groups as well as international organizations and institutions to take the necessary actions so as to end abduction, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and to prevent further deaths in prisons and detention centers.