URGENT ACTION
ACTIVISTS DETAINED IN SECRET, RISK TORTURE
Two Yemeni activists were arrested in October by the Huthi armed group. Their whereabouts are unknown, and they are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
Armed men seized activists Ameen al-Shafaq and Antar al-Mabarazi on 13 October in the central city of Ibb. Antar al-Mabarazi has not been seen since, while Ameen al-Shafaz’s family were able to see him on 26 October at the Political Security Office in Ibb. The two activists have since been held in conditions that amount to enforced disappearance, and are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
Their families have asked repeatedly to see them, but have been denied. At the end of October, when they tried to visit the men, prison staff said they were no longer held there, but did not say where they had been taken.
A group that included political figures, human rights defenders, journalists and activists met on 13 October in Ibb Garden Hotel, to discuss how to deliver water to the nearby city of Ta’iz to alleviate the humanitarian crisis there. Some 30 armed men in civilian clothes came to the hotel at about 5.15pm and arrested at least 25 of the group. The armed men said they were members of Ansarullah, otherwise known as the Huthis, but did not say why they were arresting them. Amnesty International has been told that the Ansarullah Revolutionary Council had been aware that this activity was planned and had said they were willing to co-operate. All the men were taken to the Political Security detention centre in Ibb, where some of them were tortured and otherwise ill-treated. All have since been released, but it is not clear why only these two men out are still detained.
Amnesty International has written twice to Ansarullah representatives and the Political Security Office in Ibb but received no reply. The organization believes that both men were detained because of their activism and involvement in providing humanitarian assistance.
Please write immediately in English, Arabic or your own language:
*Only Facebook and Whatsapp will get through, not hard copy letters*
Urging Ansarullah to tell the families of Ameen al-Shafaq and Antar al-Mabarazi of their whereabouts immediately and ensure that both men are protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and given regular access to their families, lawyers and any medical attention they may require;
Calling on them to release the two men unless they are to be transferred to proper judicial authorities and promptly charged with a recognizably criminal offence.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 21 JANUARY 2015 TO:
Head of Political Security Office in Ibb
Abduljalil al-Shami
Al-Jabbana al-Ulya
Ibb City
Whatsapp number: 00967771237071
Salutation: Dear Sir
Director of the Human Rights Department at Ansarullah Office
Abdulmalik al-Ajari
Facebook page:
Salutation: Dear Sir
And copies to:
Director of the Office of the Presidency
Mahmod Abdulqader al-Jounid
Fax: +967 1 274147
Email:
Also send copies to:
Amabassador Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, Embassy of the Republic of Yemen
2319 Wyoming Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
Phone: 1 202 965 4760 I Fax: 1 202 337 2017 I Email: -OR-
Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! EITHER send a short email to with “UA 273/15” in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent, OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action. Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if taking action after the appeals date.
URGENT ACTION
ACTIVISTS DETAINED IN SECRET, RISK TORTURE
ADditional Information
The Huthis, mostly members of the northern Zaidi Shi’a minority, took over some army and security positions in Sana'a in September 2014. By the third week of January 2015 they had attacked military positions, the presidential compounds and government buildings. This led to the resignation of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government and the Huthis becoming the de-facto rulers of the capital and other parts of Yemen.
Since January 2015, the Huthis have been consolidating their hold on Sana’a and the rest of the country. On 6 February they dissolved parliament and issued a constitutional declaration mandating the creation of a transitional presidential council which will act as a government for an interim period of two years. On 23 March, the conflict between the Huthis, supported by Yemeni army units and some security forces loyal to former President ‘Ali ‘Abdallah Saleh, and the army units loyal to President Hadi, supported by tribes and popular militias intensified in the south of the country which until then had remained outside Huthi control.
A Saudi Arabian-led military coalition, comprised of at least 10 countries, began a campaign of airstrikes on 26 March against the Huthis in support of the forces loyal to President Hadi. The first airstrikes hit Huthi targets and military installations, primarily in Sana’a and Sa’dah, in the north of the country, and later Aden and elsewhere. Both parties to the conflict have committed human rights violations and abuses including war crimes. Over 5,700 people in Yemen have died since the conflict began, with Saudi Arabia-led indiscriminate bombing responsible for the deaths of many civilians. The conflict has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation, with over two million displaced and 82% of the population in need of humanitarian assistance.
There has been a surge in arbitrary arrests, detentions and abductions by the Huthi armed group and allied forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh since the beginning of the Saudi Arabian-led coalition's aerial campaign. Scores of activists and people of various political backgrounds the Huthis perceive as opposing them have been arbitrarily arrested, detained and in some cases tortured and otherwise ill-treated. The majority of those targeted have been leaders, members or supporters of Sunni Islamist political party al-Islah, which has been vocal in condemning the Huthis’ violations since they took over the capital, Sana’a, in September 2014 and are perceived to be supportive of the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes. Most of these arrests have taken place in the cities of Sana’a, Ibb and Hudaydah. Huthis have also targeted, harassed and arrested journalists and activists who have opposed their takeover of government institutions.
Amnesty International interviewed dozens of former detainees and families of detainees in Sana’a and Ibb who had been arbitrarily arrested without a warrant and held incommunicado in unknown locations without access to their families. Many peope were taken from their homes by Huthis and Saleh-loyalists who forced their way in. Many have been held in multiple locations including unofficial detention centres such as private homes, without being given the chance to challenge the lawfulness of their detention or being told why they were being detained.
One of the 25 people detained on 13 October in Ibb, who was later released, has told Amnesty International that he was tortured for 90 minutes during interrogation about the meeting in Ibb Garden Hotel. He reported that his interrogators blindfolded him and tied his hands, then hit him continually on his shoulders, thighs and back with a stick. He told researchers that his interrogators also gave him electric shocks to his chest, neck, forearms and the groin area.
Names: Ameen al-Shafaq, Antar al-Mabarazi
Gender m/f: m
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UA: 273/15 Index: MDE 31/3043/2015 Issue Date: 10 December 2015
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T. 212. 807. 8400 | E. | amnestyusa.org/uan