(Beirut) – Warring parties in Yemen, especially the Houthis, further repressed civil society and obstructed and endangered the provision of humanitarian aid in 2024, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. The Houthis also arbitrarily detained and disappeared dozens of United Nations and civil society staff.
For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.
“The Houthis have shown true hypocrisy, saying they stand with Palestinians fighting Israeli oppression while themselves oppressing Yemeni civil society,” said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Governments and the UN should pressure the Houthis to release all arbitrarily detained individuals and equally condemn all actors who threaten Yemen’s civic space and humanitarian aid, including Israel.”
Israeli attacks on the Hodeidah port, a major entry point for humanitarian aid, also threatened aid provision and may amount to war crimes. The Houthis’ indiscriminate attacks, which have hit civilian ships in the Red Sea, killed a civilian, and hit civilian objects in Israel, may also amount to war crimes.
- Since May 31, 2024, the Houthis have arrested and forcibly disappeared dozens of people, including at least 17 staff of UN agencies and many employees of nongovernmental organizations, foreign embassies, and private companies operating in Houthi-controlled territories.
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed forces, in particular the Southern Transitional Council, arbitrarily arrested and forcibly disappeared people, including journalists and human rights defenders.
- The Houthis’ obstruction of humanitarian operations and blackouts of information within their territories exacerbated a cholera outbreak that spread across the country and caused 258 deaths among 95,000 suspected cases.
- All warring parties have increased their restrictions on women’s freedom of movement, in many cases requiring women to travel with a male relative.
- On November 19, the Houthis seized the Galaxy Leader, a commercial ship, and arbitrarily detained its 25-member crew. They have attacked several commercial ships since November and indiscriminately fired rockets at Israel, amounting to possible war crimes.
