Yemeni activists and human rights groups stated on Monday that the Iran-backed Houthi group has kidnapped dozens of girls from their homes on charges of prostitution since the beginning of July in the northwestern province of Hajjah.
Yemeni officials and human rights activists estimated the number of abducted girls at 100 and warned that the Houthis falsely accused the female prisoners of prostitution without providing evidence to support their claims.
SAM Organization for Rights and Freedoms estimated the number of abducted girls at 60 in less than a month, noting the absence of details about these measures, which it described as “outrageous and unacceptable, and that they violate the rules of protection guaranteed by international law for individuals in general and women in particular.”
As reported by local media, the organization said, in a statement, that it had obtained field testimonies about the Houthi group’s implementation of kidnappings of an estimated 60 girls from their homes since the beginning of July, through an armed raid campaign that targeted many homes without legal permission, in a way that it described as “barbaric”, Which caused terror and anxiety among the families of these girls.
SAM explained that several military vehicles raided residential neighborhoods in the city of Hajjah, and took away the girls since before, during and after Eid Al Adha, without giving reasons, or presenting any judicial order to bring any of the kidnapped girls.
The human rights organization called for urgent action by all international and UN parties to put an end to the persistence of the armed Houthi militia, calling for the immediate release of the girls without conditions, and for those involved in them to be brought to a fair trial for the unjustified and serious violations they committed.
