Dec 30,
2023.
Posted by Balkan
Periscope - Hellas
The areas
of Yemen that are under the control of the Houthis, as well as the capital
Sanaa, the institution of slavery has returned.
Sources report
that several civilians have been forced into slavery by prominent Houthi
leaders. More than 1,800 Yemenis work as servants and slaves at the residences
and workplaces of high-ranking Houthi officials.
These
including militias leader Abdulmalek al-Houthi, his brother Abdulkhaliq and
their relatives Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, Hamza al-Houthi, Abdulkarim al-Houthi,
Mohammed Abdulkarim al-Houthi, Yehya Badreddine al-Houthi, Sheikh Ashraf
al-Kabsi, Abdulrab Saleh Jarfan, Hassan Amer and others.
The Houthis
are working tirelessly to restore slavery in Yemen, nearly 70 years after the
adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and decades after the
1962 revolution in Yemen. The revolt called for liberation against all forms of
oppression and slavery.
Several
local reports have confirmed that slavery witnessed a rise in Yemen during the
past four years when the Houthis staged their coup against the legitimate
government. Crimes linked to modern slavery vary from actual slavery, abusing
people’s poverty and hunger, forced marriage, human trafficking and the forced
recruitment of children, women and African migrants.
Yemeni
activists revealed that since the coup, the Houthis sought to segregate Yemeni
society into rulers and subjects, and masters and slaves.
They told that
the Houthis are attempting to cement these ideas in society by having the
Houthi family seize all aspects of the state and its institutions.
“We do not
doubt this segregation because it is the literal implementation of racist
ideology that is based on modern slavery and the divine right to control rule,
money and the affairs of the people,” they said.
A member of
the lawyers syndicate in Yemen told Asharq Al-Awsat that some Houthi elders and
social figures still enslave the poor, bind their freedoms and force them to
work without pay. They are also forced to the battlefield to fight for the
Houthis.
The Houthi
discrimination against the people is based on color, race and ancestry, he said
on condition of anonymity.
The
masters, who call themselves the “Hashemites”, are now at the top of Yemen’s
social class. They believe themselves to be of the purest ancestry and have
given themselves the privilege of ruling the country and accumulating wealth.
They are followed by tribes, workers and farmers. This class is often looked
down upon and discriminated against by the Houthis.
Slavery is
outlawed by Yemeni law, said the lawyer. Perpetrators can face no less than ten
years for buying, selling or depriving a human of his free will.
Since their
coup, the Houthis have sought to turn back the hands of time and take back
Yemen to the era of the oppressive imamate and all forms of slavery.
A civilian,
who works for a pro-Houthi tribal leader in Saada, told: “I have been working
for years at the sheikh’s house without pay. I cannot go back to my family or
do anything out of my own free will.”
“I do not
know the meaning of freedom,” he said.
He revealed
that he is responsible for all the house work, as well as farming. He noted
that the number of servants and slaves rose remarkably under Houthi rule,
attributing it to the increase in poverty, unemployment and hunger, all of
which were sparked by the coup.
Experts
confirmed that poverty, starvation tactics, oppression and systematic Houthi
exploitation have forced civilians into slavery.
The
Minister of Awqaf in the legitimate government had previously called for the
need to uncover the Houthis’ misleading practices, expose their discrimination
against the people and their dividing of society into masters and slaves.
According
to an international report, more than 40 million people around the world,
including 85,000 in Yemen, are victims of slavery. It said the war-torn
countries of Yemen and Syria account for 76 percent of slavery cases in the
Arab world.
A US State
Department report had also previously confirmed modern slavery in Yemen,
accusing the Houthis and the al-Qaeda group of promoting slavery and human
trafficking. Sexual abuse, slavery and child recruitment are among the most
glaring examples of human trafficking in Yemen, it said.
[Agencies]
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