Human Rights Watch announced, on Wednesday, that on January 23, 2024, a Houthi court issued death sentences against 32 men, including nine death sentences, in a mass trial based on controversial “sodomy” charges. .

The organization called on the Houthis to stop using the death penalty and other cruel and degrading punishments, and to ensure fair trials for the accused.

According to the organization’s report, the court also sentenced 23 men to prison terms of up to 10 years, three of them to public flogging; The organization found that the initial indictment contains serious violations of due process and the Yemeni Criminal Procedure Code.

Nico Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the Houthis are issuing death sentences and subjecting men to public ill-treatment without even the formality of due process, using these harsh measures to distract from their failure to govern and meet the basic needs of the population in areas under their control. .

The organization documented systematic violations in Houthi prisons, with the UN Security Council’s “Expert Group on Yemen” concluding in a 2023 report that prisoners are subjected to systematic psychological and physical torture, which has led to permanent disabilities and deaths among some of them; Another Houthi court in the city of Dhamar convicted 16 men on charges related to public morals.