MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th July, 2019) Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen Martin Griffiths said on Sunday that he was worried about 30 people sentenced to death by Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis.
On Tuesday, a Sanaa court in rebel-held northern Yemen sentenced 30 prisoners to death on charges of spying for the Saudi-led coalition, a court source told Sputnik. On Friday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said UN human rights experts had expressed concerns over the fate of the convicts.
"The UN opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. @OSE_Yemen echoes @UNHumanRights statement & we are alarmed by the imposition of the death penalty on 30 people in Sana'a. We urge the parties to implement the prisoners & detainees agreement signed in Stockholm," Griffiths tweeted.
According to the OHCHR, the convicted men were arrested by Houthis in 2016 and charged with participating in an organized armed group that planned a series of attacks on security personnel and Houthi-linked popular committees, as well as spying. The convicts are believed to be on the list of prisoners who the internationally-recognized Yemeni government wanted to swap for Houthi rebels in its custody, local media reported.
Yemen has been locked in a conflict between government forces, led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthi rebels. A Saudi-led coalition has been conducting strikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015. The conflict has resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis in the country.
In December 2018, for the first time in several years, the parties to the conflict in Yemen met face-to-face in Stockholm for a meeting organized by the United Nations. They managed to reach a number of relevant agreements, in particular, to implement a ceasefire, exchange prisoners and open humanitarian corridors in Al Hudaydah.
