The UN human rights office, OHCHR, says it is deeply alarmed at death penalty sentences handed down to 30 men in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, noting credible allegations of torture and ill-treatment.
In an appeal to the de facto Houthi authorities in Sana’a to dismiss the likely politically motivated charges, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that most of the men were academics, students and politicians affiliated with an opposition movement.
Sana’a, in the west of the Arabian peninsula State, has been under the control of the Houthis since late 2014, after they drove out forces loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
From March 2015 until end of June 2019, OHCHR has documented 7,659 civilians killed and 12,305 injured in the ongoing conflict, it said on Friday.
