The Inter-Parliamentary Union pledges to protect Yemeni MPs from Houthi violations
English - Wednesday 23 February 2022 الساعة 04:42 pm
Aden, NewsYemen:
The Inter-Parliamentary Union expressed its deep concern over the violations of the Houthi militia, the Iranian arm in Yemen, against members of the Yemeni parliament, including the execution and stripping of their membership.
This came during a meeting with Parliament Speaker Sultan al-Barakani, via video conference, on Tuesday, with the Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Committee on Middle East Affairs and President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean Gennaro Miliore, according to the official "Saba" agency.
Miliori stressed the continuation of work regarding the situation in Yemen and human rights issues, expressing his understanding and concern for the violations against the Yemeni people and members of Parliament by the Houthi militia.
The agency quoted a report on the issues of Yemeni parliamentarians issued by the Inter-Parliamentary Union Committee on Human Rights, which is the only international mechanism charged with defending parliamentarians, as it expressed deep concern about the violations practiced by the Houthi militia against Yemeni parliamentarians.
The committee pledged to protect the human rights of members of the Yemeni parliament at all times, noting that the General Secretariat of the Inter-Parliamentary Union will continue to consider the issues of Yemeni parliamentarians and take the necessary measures to inform the UN envoy to Yemen of those violations, work to find solutions and continue to follow up.
The committee expressed its deep and continuing concern about the arbitrary death sentences issued by the Houthi militia court in Sana’a against 46 deputies, in the form of a fatwa, explicitly allowing the blood of these representatives to all those who can kill them, including the common people.
It also expressed its deep concern about the stripping of 83 deputies of their membership in the House of Representatives, in violation of the law and the constitution.
It considered these "arbitrary measures a direct and imminent threat to the lives of MPs," stressing the need for those responsible to refrain from threatening the physical safety of MPs or using collective punitive measures against members of their families who remained in Sana'a, including the arbitrary expulsion of women and children from their homes.
It called on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to ensure accountability for violations and abuses to which all parliamentarians are subjected, and to protect their basic human rights.
For his part, the Yemeni Parliament Speaker thanked the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Human Rights Committee and the Middle East Committee for their understanding of the Yemeni issue and what it issued regarding the representatives' issues.
Al-Barakani pointed to the difficult and tragic conditions Yemenis are experiencing following the Houthi coup, and the challenges facing peace prospects in Yemen as a result of the militias’ intransigence and rejection of all regional and international peace initiatives and their dropping all peace initiatives from international envoys, Saudi Arabia and the US administration.
He pointed out that the Houthi militia refused to meet the UN envoys and chose the path of war and death instead of peace.
The Speaker of Parliament listed the horrific violations committed by the militias against Yemenis and the killing, destruction and looting of property they are subjected to, leading to the issuance of the so-called fictitious death sentences against politicians, parliamentarians and journalists, and the arrest of thousands who are subjected to the most horrific forms of torture in Houthi detention and prisons, and targeting civilians and displaced persons in Marib and the rest of the provinces.
While revealing that the Houthi militia has displaced more than 3 million displaced people from their homes and cities, he stressed that the Yemenis in the areas under the control of the coup "lost all the basic elements of life, freedom of movement and political practice, and these areas have turned into a large prison controlled by this oppressive gang," he said.
Al-Barakani pointed out that the Houthis targeted the plane of the prime minister and its members upon their arrival at Aden International Airport on December 30, 2020, as one of the most heinous crimes of the Iranian-backed Houthis.
He cautioned against the Houthis' continued procrastination and failure to respond to the international community's calls to defuse a major environmental and humanitarian disaster and the irresponsible handling of the Safer oil tank issue.
Last May, the Inter-Parliamentary Union recognized the legitimacy of the Yemeni House of Representatives as the sole representative of the Yemeni cause, in an achievement like then an international slap to the Houthi militia.
