Why Are the Houthis Kidnapping Social Media Celebrities?

a year ago

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The Iran-backed Houthi militia continues its systematic campaign of kidnappings against activists and social media influencers in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, to silence voices.

The campaign is escalating in light of the growing public rejection of the militia’s corruption, which has tightened its iron grip on the capital, Sana’a, and other governorates in north and central Yemen since 2014.

On January 2, 2022, a force affiliated with the Houthi intelligence agency kidnapped the Yemeni activist Ahmed Allao, days after the kidnapping of the YouTuber Mustafa al-Moumri, Hammoud al-Sabahi, and the media activist Ahmed Hajar, while others are being pursued.

The arrest of the activists came after broadcasting video recordings on their personal accounts exposing the criminality of the militia and the corruption of its leaders. The videos criticized the policy of starvation and plundering the people’s wealth that the militia has been pursuing for more than 8 years.

 

Malicious Charges

The wave of anger continues against the Houthis because of the collapsed economic and living conditions, the restriction of freedoms, the suppression, and the silencing of violators, with the continued interruption of employee salaries in militia-controlled areas for more than 6 years.

The militia leveled various charges against the abductees, including disturbing peace, destabilizing the home front, and communicating with the Saudi–Emirati coalition, which has been waging war in Yemen on the side of the legitimate government since 2015.

The brother of the Yemeni YouTuber Mustafa al-Moumri, who the Houthis kidnaped, said that the militia initially informed his family that he was in a training session with the media in order to inform them of the great conspiracy of the enemy, in reference to the Saudi–Emirati alliance.

He added, in a video recording, on January 4, 2023, that the Houthis then asked his family to appoint a lawyer after accusing his brother of undermining security and disturbing public peace on the grounds of his criticism of their corruption.

These are the same charges leveled by the militia against the media activist Ahmed Hajar, who was kidnapped from al-Zubairy Street in the center of the capital, Sana’a, on December 24, 2022, by members of the so-called Security and Intelligence Service of the Houthis.

This came two days after he broadcasted a video exposing the criminality of the Houthis and their practices of corruption and extortion of citizens.

Amid the broad campaign of solidarity with activist Hajar and exposing the Houthis’ corruption, the militia kidnapped activist Hammoud al-Misbahi and Ahmed Allao, accusing them of destabilizing the home front.

In Ibb governorate, central Yemen, the militia stormed the village of activist Issa al-Athari, raided his family’s homes, and kidnapped a number of his family members after he managed to escape and broadcast video clips criticizing the Houthis.

A number of media activists living in Houthi-controlled areas launched a campaign to expose the militia’s crimes and corruption and the conditions of hunger and poverty that the population suffers from.

This comes while the militia leaders are lavishly spending money and refuse to even pay salaries from the revenues of al-Hudaydah port, which is under their control.

 

Shutting Mouths

Commenting on the Houthi kidnapping campaign, activist and human rights defender Riyad al-Duba’i said that the recent arrests of activists are an extension of all the violations that this militia has committed against journalists, activists, and political opponents since the beginning of its coup in September 2014.

He added to Al-Estiklal: “The Houthis are afraid of all civil voices that fall within their areas of control, and therefore they are trying to shut mouths and practice social terror against anyone who opposes this militia or criticizes its corruption and leadership.”

Al-Duba’i explained: “This is a serious violation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and a violation of human rights. Many journalists and well-known social media activists cannot exercise their rights as journalists or tweeters on social media; consequently, they are subjected to many violations, such as kidnapping, torture, and enforced disappearance.”

He added: “There are many violations that the kidnapped activists are subjected to, including the lack of a fair trial, in addition to the fact that their trials take place in the Criminal Court specialized in terrorism cases, while they are civilians, not terrorists, and they are supposed to be tried in the Press and Publication Court.”

Al-Duba’i emphasized that “there are complex violations committed by the militia, and there is a clear surrender from international and human rights organizations that stand by and watch. What the Houthis are doing is against international laws and agreements and against the Yemeni constitution as well.”

He continued: “There are no human rights organizations working in the field of monitoring and documenting these violations in the Houthi-controlled area, except for a few that practically identify with the militia, as they operate in Sana’a, while the rest of the organizations are not allowed.”

“There is no monitoring of all human rights conditions, and in Sana’a in particular, there is no free press, media, parties.. no glimpse of hope.”

The Yemeni activist concluded by saying: “The Houthis will continue to kidnap, disappear and torture anyone who criticizes them. Therefore, we must support them, condemn these practices, and try to make the voice heard by the international community.”

 

Repressive Policy

On December 29, 2022, the militia stormed the headquarters of the Yemeni Bar Association in the capital, Sana’a, to prevent a meeting to be held, at the invitation of the union’s administrative body, to discuss the escalation of attacks and violations affecting them in areas under Houthi control.

Local sources reported that the militia surrounded the union’s headquarters and occupied nearby houses before raiding the headquarters and kidnapping the head of the Yemeni Bar Association, Abdullah Rajeh, and a number of the union’s members.

On January 2, the Yemeni government condemned the arrest campaigns launched by the Houthi militia against the activists.

The Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism,  Muammar al-Eryani, said that the ongoing campaign of arrests recently carried out by Iran’s Houthis “reflects the state of terror experienced by the leaders of these militias, their awareness of the growing state of popular tension, and strong reasons for the upcoming uprising.”

He explained on Twitter that “this campaign against the voices that rose up by exposing the crimes and violations of the militia and its futility and corruption reminds us of the mullahs’ regime’s practices of acts of repression and abuse against the protesters of the youth, girls, and children of Iran, which failed to quell their uprising; it ignited popular anger in all Iranian provinces.”

Since its invasion of the capital, Sana’a, in 2014, the Houthi militia has embarked on a massive kidnapping campaign against activists and academics opposing its project.

This came in an effort by the militia to tighten the police and security grip on all opponents and violators, to subjugate societies by force of arms, and rule them with oppression and fear.

In addition to a number of activists and social figures, the Houthis are detaining high-ranking military and political figures loyal to the government. Among them are Major General Mahmoud al-Subaihi, the former Minister of Defense, and Mohammed Qahtan, a prominent leader in the Yemeni Islah Party (Islamist).

The prisons of the Houthi militia are crowded with dozens of civilians who were kidnapped from their homes and checkpoints illegally and without any clear justification.

After the creation of the so-called Security and Intelligence Apparatus on August 31, 2019, by merging the national and political security apparatus and appointing the Houthi leader Abdul Hakim al-Khaiwani as head of the apparatus, the Houthi militia’s violations against its violators escalated in unprecedented manner.

It harnessed the military, security, and logistical capabilities of the state that it seized in favor of its sectarian project in Yemen, according to observers.