Tag: Houthis

ACJ Sounds Alarm Over Taiz Environmental and Health Catastrophe as Houthi Siege Blocks Fuel Supplies

URGENT HUMANITARIAN APPEAL

American Center for Justice (ACJ) Sounds the Alarm over the Environmental and Public Health Catastrophe in Taiz amid the Houthi Militia’s Prevention of Fuel Supplies and Continued Siege

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) expresses its grave concern over the rapidly deteriorating environmental and public health situation in Taiz city, following the complete suspension of municipal cleaning and waste collection operations and the shutdown of municipal vehicles and equipment due to depleted diesel supplies. The Houthi militia is preventing fuel from entering the city by closing all main and secondary access routes, while simultaneously obstructing access to the main landfill west of the city.

Through photographic and video evidence, as well as firsthand field testimonies, ACJ has documented how streets and residential neighbourhoods across Taiz have been transformed into open-air dumping grounds. Tonnes of rubbish have accumulated in front of homes, commercial premises and restaurants, as well as at the entrances to schools, hospitals and healthcare facilities. These facilities are already experiencing near-total operational paralysis and severe shortages of water and medical supplies.

The rapidly accumulating solid and medical waste in a densely populated urban environment, home to hundreds of thousands of civilians and internally displaced persons (IDPs), including more than 52,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition according to UN estimates, is creating conditions conducive to the spread of potentially deadly epidemics and diseases, including cholera, dengue fever, respiratory illnesses and skin diseases.

The Houthi militia’s prevention of fuel supplies essential to the operation of public services and healthcare facilities, coupled with its obstruction of municipal vehicles seeking access to waste disposal sites, goes far beyond the scope of military measures. It exposes the civilian population to the grave risk of preventable illness and death by contaminating the environment on which their lives and well-being depend.

Under international law, such conduct may constitute the deliberate deprivation of civilians of essential supplies and services indispensable to their survival. A siege that disrupts sanitation services and undermines the conditions necessary for life raises serious concerns under the legal prohibitions against starvation of civilians and the imposition of life-threatening living conditions. Where such measures are deliberately employed to inflict widespread suffering on the population of Taiz in an attempt to compel political or military submission, they may also constitute collective punishment. The resulting paralysis of daily life and disruption of essential public-service infrastructure pose a direct threat to the rights to life and to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as to children’s rights to education and adequate, safe food.

Under Yemeni domestic law, these practices contravene Articles 35 and 54 of the Yemeni Constitution, which establish environmental protection as a national responsibility and safeguard the right to healthcare and preventive health services.

They also conflict with Environmental Protection Law No. 26 of 1995, which prohibits activities that cause environmental pollution or harm human health.

Furthermore, these practices constitute a breach of Public Hygiene Law No. 39 of 1999 and its implementing regulations, which govern the collection, transportation and disposal of waste as essential components of public health protection.

In addition, conduct that exposes the lives or health of the population to serious danger, deliberately contributes to the spread of disease and epidemics, or disrupts essential public facilities may fall within the scope of offences punishable under Yemen’s Crimes and Penalties Law No. 12 of 1994, where the requisite legal elements are established.

Under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, the conduct attributed to the Houthi militia raises serious concerns regarding compliance with Common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits collective punishment and measures of intimidation against protected persons.

These practices are also inconsistent with Article 14 of Additional Protocol II of 1977 and Rule 53 of customary international humanitarian law, which prohibit the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and address the protection of objects indispensable to civilian survival. Such objects include supplies and infrastructure essential to the operation of water pumps and environmental sanitation facilities.

Where the relevant facts and legal elements are established, these practices may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity within the meaning of Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, depending on the nature and context of the acts and the applicable elements of each offence. This includes conduct involving the intentional infliction of severe suffering or serious injury to physical or mental health, as well as the imposition of conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population, where the relevant legal requirements are satisfied.

These practices also conflict with the protections afforded under Articles 11 and 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognise the right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. They further raise serious concerns regarding compliance with Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires States Parties to take appropriate measures to combat disease and malnutrition, with due regard to the dangers and risks of environmental pollution.

In light of these documented developments, the American Center for Justice (ACJ) calls on the United Nations, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen and the Humanitarian Coordinator to move beyond expressions of concern and condemnation and take concrete, effective measures to exert sustained pressure on the Houthi militia to immediately and unconditionally reopen all roads and access routes leading to Taiz.

ACJ further calls for safe and sustained access to fuel, humanitarian relief supplies and medical materials, and for municipal sanitation teams to be granted safe access to waste disposal sites so that waste collection and removal operations can resume without further delay.

ACJ urges the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to launch an immediate emergency response. This response should include supplying the Taiz Cleanliness and Improvement Fund, hospitals and water pumps with the fuel necessary to maintain essential operations, as well as providing funding for urgent environmental sanitation campaigns to remove tonnes of accumulated waste and address areas at risk of disease outbreaks before the public health situation spirals out of control.

At the same time, ACJ calls on international accountability mechanisms and the UN Human Rights Council to ensure that the siege of Taiz and the deliberate disruption of healthcare facilities and environmental sanitation services are documented and investigated as conduct that may constitute war crimes, where the requisite legal elements are established.

ACJ also urges the relevant international authorities to consider imposing targeted international sanctions on Houthi leaders whose responsibility for administering the siege and preventing fuel supplies from entering the city is established, and calls for those responsible to be held accountable through the competent judicial mechanisms, in accordance with applicable international law.

Issued by the American Center for Justice (ACJ)
25 October 2026

October 25, 2026
“Freedom of Religion and Minorities in Yemen”: ACJ Documents Over 6,000 Violations, Systematic Persecution of Minorities, and Targeting of Clerics and Holy Sites (2014–2022)

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) released an extensive investigative report titled “Freedom of Religion and Minorities in Yemen,” monitoring the collapse of religious freedoms and documenting systematic abuses against religious minorities, places of worship, and clerics across Yemen from March 2014 to September 2022. Based on field investigations, forensic verifications, primary court dossiers, and testimonies from victims and religious officials, the report documents 6,072 violations perpetrated by warring parties, with the Houthi movement and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) bearing primary responsibility alongside extremist groups.

20221201 – Freedom of Religion and Minorities in Yemen تنزيل

The report substantiates severe patterns of religious discrimination and forced displacement that have virtually eradicated historic minority communities. The indigenous Yemeni Jewish community has been decimated, reduced to merely six individuals following campaigns of arbitrary arrests, property confiscations, and forced expulsions orchestrated by the Houthi movement—including the ongoing arbitrary detention of Libby Salem Marhabi despite completing his judicial sentence. The Christian community faced armed assaults and terror attacks, notably the March 2016 massacre at an elderly care home in Aden by ISIS, which left 16 dead—including four Catholic missionary nuns—along with the burning of St. Joseph’s Church and the arbitrary detention and torture of Christian converts. Furthermore, the Baha’i community endured 141 documented violations by Houthi authorities, including 71 arbitrary arrests, property seizures, sham capital trials, and the forced expulsion and exile of six community leaders outside Yemen in July 2020. The report also details the sectarian siege and assault on the Salafi community of Dammaj in Saada (2011–2014), which killed 199 civilians, injured 599, and culminated in the forced displacement of over 5,000 residents.

Targeting of religious leaders and sectarian purging form a central pillar of the findings. The ACJ verified the assassination and killing of 34 imams and mosque preachers: 22 executed in areas controlled by the STC in southern Yemen—corroborated by judicial confession dossiers linking armed hits to figures within the STC and UAE-funded structures—eight killed by Houthis, and four in Taiz. Enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions affected 227 preachers (171 by Houthis and 39 by the STC), while over 340 preachers were arbitrarily dismissed for ideological non-compliance. In northern regions, Houthi authorities forcibly subjected 1,113 civil and military public servants to mandatory sectarian indoctrination courses under penalty of job forfeiture, banned traditional Sunni religious practices (including Taraweeh prayers) in 411 instances, and arbitrarily altered the historic names of 36 mosques.

20221001_الحريات الدينية تنزيل

Grave breaches against religious and cultural heritage include the complete detonation of 27 mosques and 15 Quranic schools exclusively by Houthi forces using high explosives, the armed conversion of 303 mosques into military barracks and detention cells, and the aerial and artillery bombardment of 125 places of worship (69 by Houthis and 46 by Arab Coalition airstrikes). Additionally, 17 ancient mosques, domes, and Sufi shrines were bulldozed or demolished on sectarian grounds by Houthis, Salafi formations under the Giants Brigades, the Abu al-Abbas group, and Al-Qaeda. Furthermore, 1,942 incidents of weaponizing religious pulpits to incite sectarian hatred and military mobilization were documented across all warring factions.

The ACJ classifies these documented acts as war crimes and crimes against humanity under Article 7 and Article 8 of the Rome Statute, as well as flagrant breaches of Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property. The Center calls on the international community to guarantee minority protections in all political settlement frameworks, hold perpetrators of religious violence and targeted assassinations judicially accountable, and compel the immediate evacuation of militarized shrines and mosques.

October 25, 2026
American Center for Justice Launches “ Deliberate Disappearance” Study

Enforced Disappearance in Yemen: A Systematic Strategy of Repression and a Revenue Stream for the War Economy

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) has launched its comprehensive human rights and investigative study entitled “Deliberate Disappearance: The Strategy of Enforced Disappearance and the Networks of Secret Detention Centers in Yemen.” The study examines and deconstructs the practices of enforced disappearance and the networks of unofficial detention facilities operated by the parties to the conflict. It reveals the transformation of enforced disappearance from an occasional security measure into a deliberate policy aimed at subjugating society and removing civil and political actors from public life, while simultaneously transforming it into a source of revenue that sustains extortion networks affiliated with the war economy. These networks demand exorbitant sums from victims’ families in exchange for preliminary information or false promises of release.

Deliberate Enforced Disappearance تنزيل

The study provides a geographical map of secret detention centers and documents the seizure by armed formations of vital civilian facilities and their conversion into unlawful detention sites outside the scope of the law. These include the Al-Saleh Prison Complex in Taiz; the detention facility of the Security and Intelligence Service in Sarif, Sana’a; the network of prisons at Bir Ahmed Camp and Wadah Hall in Aden; and the prisons at Al-Rayyan Airport in Mukalla and Al-Ghaydah Airport in Al-Mahrah. The study also exposes patterns of administrative and psychological deception practiced by the de facto authority (the Houthi group), including the repeated and tightly controlled transfer of detainees in order to sever avenues of tracing, paralyze the oversight role of the judiciary, and target lawyers, as occurred in the case of the disappearance of lawyer Abdul Majeed Sabra. It further documents the belated disavowal of criminal responsibility through unsubstantiated claims, as manifested in the case of political leader Mohammed Qahtan, who has been forcibly disappeared since April 2015.

The study highlights the social and economic impact of the disappearance of breadwinners, which impoverishes families and forces them to sell their assets and property to cover the costs of extortion. It further documents the use of systematic detention as a means of effecting demographic change and emptying areas of their original inhabitants, in addition to using the detention of relatives as a tool of pressure against displaced persons and activists abroad in order to sever networks of social solidarity and financial support.

The study provides a dual legal characterization of the documented facts, characterizing them as war crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, and as crimes against humanity pursuant to Article 7(1)(i) of the Rome Statute. It emphasizes that the prohibition of enforced disappearance constitutes a peremptory norm of general international law (jus cogens) and that its customary-law status is binding upon all, without being extinguished by the passage of time. The study identifies the levels of individual criminal responsibility of the leaders who issue orders, field supervisors, and perpetrators. It also establishes the international responsibility of the United Arab Emirates on the basis of Article 8 of the Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts and the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, in view of the established evidence of its effective control, its establishment of the armed formations, and the assumption by its field officers of the management of secret prison networks in the southern governorates.

دراسة تغييب مقصود تنزيل

In its study, the American Center for Justice calls upon the United Nations Security Council to make the comprehensive disclosure of the fate of disappeared persons and their unconditional release a separate humanitarian item within negotiation tracks; to expand targeted sanctions to include leaders, prison supervisors, and extortion networks; and to refer the file of violations in Yemen to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court pursuant to Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. The Center calls upon the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to clarify the field restrictions imposed upon it and to uphold its powers to conduct regular, unconditional inspections of all places of detention. It further urges judicial and prosecutorial authorities in states applying the principle of universal jurisdiction to open comprehensive criminal investigations and issue international arrest warrants against those involved.

The study urges the United Arab Emirates and the forces involved in the conflict to comply with the rules of customary international law and the law of state responsibility, put an end to policies of denial, disclose the fate of detainees in prisons managed by their field officers, and provide fair compensation and comprehensive reparation. It calls upon the de facto authorities and armed formations to immediately release all disappeared persons, dismantle the secret facilities and open them to oversight by public prosecution authorities and the judiciary, halt financial extortion, and protect lawyers and witnesses.

The study calls upon the internationally recognized Yemeni government to complete the procedures for ratification and deposit its instrument of accession to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, harmonize its national penal legislation accordingly, and establish an independent national body for missing persons. It also calls upon human rights organizations and associations of victims’ families to establish a centralized DNA database to preserve biological evidence and safeguard the rights of victims and their families to know the truth and obtain judicial accountability.

October 24, 2026
American Center for Justice (ACJ) Demands Independent Investigation into the Killing of Child Ammar Al-Shuraihi a Day After Interrogation by Houthi Militia

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) calls for an independent and transparent investigation to uncover the circumstances surrounding the killing of a child, Ammar Yasser Al-Shuraihi, whose body was found next to a house in his village on October 22, one day after he was summoned and interrogated by Houthi militia gunmen.

Preliminary information received by ACJ indicates that Houthi militia operatives summoned Al-Shuraihi for interrogation on October 21 and released him later that evening, before his family found him dead the following day. The incident occurred after the group imposed its military and security control over the victim’s home village of “Akamat Al-Ruhn” in the Jabal Sabir area, south of the besieged city of Taiz.

This chronological sequence—spanning the child’s detention, interrogation, and the subsequent discovery of his body in a militarily and security-restricted zone—places direct responsibility on the Houthi group. It necessitates the immediate disclosure of the nature and conditions of the interrogation, the events preceding his death, and an inquiry into whether he was subjected to any form of ill-treatment or threats while in custody.

ACJ stresses that subjecting children to security interrogations without legal safeguards and threatening their physical integrity and right to life constitute grave violations of international human rights law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Furthermore, ACJ holds the Houthi militia, exercising de facto military and security control over the village, fully legally responsible for the safety and protection of the civilian population in areas under its control.

ACJ urges immediate measures to preserve forensic evidence at the crime scene and to protect witnesses and the victim’s family from any coercion that may obstruct the course of justice. The Center underscores the imperative of identifying the perpetrators, holding all those involved accountable, guaranteeing the Al-Shuraihi family’s right to full redress, and preventing impunity.

October 24, 2026
American Center for Justice (ACJ) Warns of Imminent Humanitarian Catastrophe in Taiz Amid Houthi Shelling, Fuel Blockade and Closure of Access Routes
The American Center for Justice (ACJ) has warned of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Taiz city, as the Houthi movement escalates its armed attacks and tightens its blockade of the city by preventing fuel and cooking gas supplies from entering. These developments are compounded by security measures and region-based restrictions that prevent displaced people from entering the city of Aden.

In a statement and urgent humanitarian appeal, the Center said that continued Houthi attacks on densely populated residential neighbourhoods, coupled with restrictions on the entry of petroleum products, have brought public hospitals and dialysis centres to the brink of a complete shutdown. This threatens the lives of hundreds of patients and wounded people whose survival depends on a continuous electricity supply and the uninterrupted operation of medical equipment.

In its statement, issued on 18 October 2026, the Center added that the Houthi movement had imposed a blanket ban on the entry of domestic cooking gas, including small quantities carried by individuals. These restrictions have driven black-market fuel prices to levels beyond the purchasing power of the majority of residents trapped in the besieged city.

The Center also reported widespread economic violations in areas of Taiz governorate recently brought under Houthi control. These included the imposition of mandatory prices for goods and orders requiring traders and residents to dispose of the official currency issued by the Central Bank within one month and replace it with the old currency. The Center further reported raids on the homes of displaced residents, the looting of their furniture and personal belongings, and the publication of video footage showing acts of vandalism and destruction.

Regarding civilian movement, the Center explained that armed clashes near the few remaining routes available for civilians to cross, combined with deliberate closures lasting longer than the designated periods for passage, expose travellers to potentially fatal risks. The Center also criticised the security authorities in Aden for preventing displaced families and people fleeing conflict zones from entering the city and detaining them at security checkpoints on discriminatory, region-based grounds.

The American Center for Justice stressed that the deliberate interruption of fuel supplies, the targeting of Taiz’s healthcare system, and the use of the blockade as a weapon of war may constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law. It called on the international community and the United Nations to intervene immediately to secure an end to the shelling and ensure that access routes are opened to allow essential supplies into the city. It also urged the security authorities in Aden to respect the rights of displaced people and immediately facilitate their entry and accommodation without discrimination.

FULL STATEMENT

American Center for Justice (ACJ): Taiz Faces a Slow Death — We Condemn the Closure of Lifelines and Call for Urgent International Intervention to Save Civilians and Patients

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) is following with grave concern the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Taiz city, where the Houthi movement is tightening its siege on millions of civilians and combining direct military escalation with a systematic campaign of starvation. This is unfolding amid international silence that is exacerbating the scale of the catastrophe, alongside arbitrary measures that deprive displaced people of their right to seek safety.

The Houthi movement continues to intensify its flagrant military attacks on densely populated residential neighbourhoods in the besieged city of Taiz, causing ongoing civilian casualties and destroying civilian objects. These attacks coincide with the movement’s prevention of petroleum products from entering the city, a punitive measure that has brought public hospitals and dialysis centres to the brink of a complete shutdown. The deliberate cutting off of fuel supplies to healthcare facilities amounts to a death sentence for hundreds of patients and wounded people whose lives depend on medical equipment powered by electricity.

The Houthi movement has imposed a blanket ban on the entry of domestic cooking gas into Taiz city and is pursuing even individuals attempting to bring in small quantities to meet their daily needs. This comprehensive blockade has fuelled the black market, driving fuel and cooking gas prices to exorbitant levels that the majority of the besieged population cannot afford.

In areas recently brought under Houthi control, the movement has imposed arbitrary economic restrictions, including the imposition of compulsory prices for consumer goods and orders requiring traders and residents to dispose of the official currency used in areas controlled by Yemen’s internationally recognised government within one month and replace it with the old currency. These measures threaten to trigger widespread bankruptcies and the systematic plundering of residents’ savings.

The Center has documented incidents in which Houthi elements in areas recently brought under their control attacked the homes of displaced residents, forcibly broke into them and looted their contents. These elements reportedly filmed the ransacking and destruction of the homes and published the footage. Such retaliatory conduct violates the sanctity of private homes and instils fear among displaced residents, in an apparent effort to prevent them from returning to their homes.

Civilians seeking to flee areas of danger face potentially fatal risks on the roads. Armed clashes are erupting near the few remaining routes used by residents, while the Houthi movement deliberately extends the periods during which these routes are closed beyond the designated windows for civilian passage.

As civilians flee these conditions in search of safety, the security authorities in Aden are preventing displaced people arriving from Taiz from entering the city and detaining them at its entry points on security-related and discriminatory, region-based grounds. This leaves fleeing families stranded in the open, without shelter or protection.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) affirms that the actions attributed to the Houthi movement, including shelling residential neighbourhoods, preventing fuel and cooking gas supplies from reaching civilians and hospitals, and looting the property of displaced people, constitute war crimes and grave violations of the four Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law, which prohibits collective punishment and the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.

The prevention of displaced people from moving freely by the security authorities in Aden also constitutes an explicit violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, which uphold freedom of movement and the principle of non-discrimination.

In light of these grave developments, the American Center for Justice issues an urgent appeal to the international community, the United Nations and the World Health Organization, and calls for the following measures:
1. Immediate pressure to halt attacks and lift the blockade.
  Exert immediate pressure on the Houthi movement to stop shelling residential neighbourhoods in Taiz, lift the blockade of the city, and allow petroleum products and domestic cooking gas to enter without restriction or condition.
2. Urgent humanitarian and medical assistance.
  The World Health Organization and humanitarian relief organisations must urgently supply hospitals and dialysis centres in Taiz with fuel and medical supplies through safe humanitarian routes that ensure these facilities can continue operating.
3. An end to economic coercion and property violations.
  Require the Houthi movement to cease confiscating citizens’ money and property, repeal decisions restricting the circulation of the official currency, and immediately stop raiding and looting the homes of displaced people.
4. Freedom of movement and protection for displaced people.
  Call on the Yemeni government and the security authorities in Aden to abolish all region-based and security-related restrictions imposed on the movement of civilians, open entry points to displaced people, and guarantee their dignity and safety.
5. International accountability and targeted sanctions.
  Activate international accountability mechanisms and include on international sanctions lists the leaders implicated in the siege of Taiz, the starvation of its residents, and the looting of private property.
Issued by: American Center for Justice (ACJ)
Date: 18 October 2026
October 18, 2026
ACJ Study Documents Houthi Starvation Policies as War Crimes, Calls for UN Sanctions on Militia’s Financial Networks

American Center for Justice (ACJ) Launches Human Rights Study Documenting How the Houthis Have Turned Impoverishment into a Tool of Governance and Military Subjugation in Yemen

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) today launched a human rights study and analytical policy paper entitled “The Houthis and the Power of Starvation: The Political Economy of Impoverishment and the Dismantling of Social Safety Nets in Yemen,” coinciding with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October. Drawing on documentary analysis, financial tracing, and cross-referencing of administrative decisions and legislation issued by the Houthi militia, the study reveals that the spread of poverty and famine in areas under its control results from a systematic process designed to deprive society of its financial independence and redirect its resources towards the war effort and security enforcement apparatus.

The study examines three main pillars through which the Houthi militia has sought to subjugate the civilian population. The first pillar concerns the confiscation of public-sector wages and the erosion of financial independence. The study documents the consequences of the deliberate suspension of salary payments to more than 1.2 million government employees since the final quarter of 2016, the plundering of cash reserves and investment assets held by pension and social insurance funds, and the circumvention of UN-backed mechanisms for salary payments, including the Stockholm Agreement and the withdrawal of revenues from the ports of Hudaydah.

The study explains that this deprivation has coincided with the Houthi militia’s collection of trillions of Yemeni rials annually in tax and customs revenues, as well as revenues from telecommunications and petroleum products. According to the study, these practices aim to dismantle the middle class and exploit economic deprivation as leverage to push young people and children towards combat recruitment camps.

The second pillar addresses predatory taxation and the militarisation of supply chains. The study documents the establishment of a network of internal land-based customs checkpoints between governorates, through which additional customs duties and taxes ranging from 50% to 100% are imposed on food and medicines. It also documents the imposition of the so-called Khums levy (20%), which is based on lineage-based discrimination.

In addition, the study examines the monopolisation of petroleum product pricing and the prohibition on the circulation of Yemen’s official national currency, which has resulted in the loss of nearly half the value of domestic money transfers. The study explains how bread and medicine have effectively become subject to indirect taxation that finances the Houthi militia’s military apparatus.

The third pillar examines policies aimed at dismantling social safety nets and politicising humanitarian assistance. The study outlines the mechanisms used by the Houthi militia to deprive the most vulnerable groups of protection, beginning with the seizure of funds held by the Social Welfare Fund and the removal of 1.5 million beneficiary cases from its assistance programmes, followed by the criminalisation of independent charitable activities and the centralisation of zakat revenues through the General Authority for Zakat.

The study further documents the subjection of humanitarian operations to the oversight of the Supreme Council for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and International Cooperation (SCMCHA), the manipulation of beneficiary lists, the extortion of international agencies, the detention of humanitarian aid convoys, and campaigns of abduction and enforced disappearance targeting staff members of UN agencies and international organisations.

At the legal level, the study concludes that these interconnected practices fulfil the elements of the war crime of deliberately using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, and obstructing humanitarian relief supplies, pursuant to Article 14 of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions, Rule 53 of customary international humanitarian law, Article 8(2)(e)(xix) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and UN Security Council Resolution 2417. The study further states that these practices fall within the scope of organised pillage and crimes against humanity, including persecution and collective punishment, in addition to constituting serious violations of the Yemeni people’s economic, social and cultural rights.

ACJ has attached a documentary annex to the study containing an analytical record of decisions, regulations and decrees issued by the Houthi militia between 2015 and 2026 to legitimise levies and facilitate the confiscation of property.

The Centre has also attached a formal legal briefing memorandum addressed to the UN Security Council Committee established pursuant to Resolution 2140 and the Panel of Experts on Yemen. The memorandum calls for eight senior Houthi figures responsible for financial, judicial and administrative affairs to be added to the international sanctions list, and for sectoral sanctions to be imposed on four monopoly entities affiliated with the militia.

The memorandum further calls for an international criminal and financial investigation, the removal of humanitarian operations from the Houthi militia’s control, and the establishment of a binding UN and international oversight mechanism to ensure that revenues from ports and telecommunications are channelled towards the payment of public-sector salaries. It also calls for the abolition of internal land-based customs checkpoints.

October 17, 2026
The American Center for Justice (ACJ) condemns the horrific attack carried out by the Houthi militia against King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) condemns the horrific attack carried out by the Houthi militia against King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The attack resulted in the deaths of twelve civilians of various nationalities and injuries to more than 300 people. This devastating toll underscores the militia’s deliberate intent to inflict the greatest possible harm on unarmed civilians at a civilian facility crowded with passengers and airport personnel.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) notes that targeting civilian airports and aviation facilities constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the principle of distinction, which prohibits directing attacks against civilian objects. The Center considers the Houthi militia, fundamentally, a rebel entity and maintains that all its military operations that harm civilians and target vital infrastructure are unlawful acts that may amount to war crimes and warrant international criminal accountability.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) documents the Houthi militia’s continued issuance of explicit threats to target civil aviation and intimidate passengers and airlines. Houthi militia leaders have issued warnings urging people to avoid Saudi airports and airspace. The Center emphasizes that the use of projectiles to strike civilian infrastructure reveals a systematic strategy based on direct intimidation and a disregard for civilian life.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) calls on the international community and United Nations mechanisms to adopt firm and practical measures that go beyond statements of condemnation and activate accountability mechanisms against Houthi militia leaders responsible for these crimes. The Center stresses the need for serious intervention to ensure the protection of civilian objects and prevent those responsible for these grave violations from enjoying impunity.

October 12, 2026
Houthi Militias Blackmail Families and Exploit Education as a Trap for Child Recruitment

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) condemns the escalating campaigns of forced recruitment carried out by the Houthi militia against children in Sana’a, Damt, and other areas. Based on field testimonies, the Center has documented that the militia systematically pressures families and blackmails parents by threatening that their children will fail in school, in an effort to force them to send their children to indoctrination and recruitment environments.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) notes that these violations go beyond conventional recruitment efforts and extend to abducting children from the streets without their families’ knowledge, as well as exploiting families facing severe health and economic hardship in order to force them to give up their children and send them to the front lines, particularly the Taiz front.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) has documented field testimonies confirming these violations. In one case, the Center recorded the testimony of a mother in Sana’a who lives in a state of fear after militia members threatened that her son would fail in school in order to force her to send him to indoctrination camps.

In another case, the militia exploited the circumstances of a government employee who had become incapacitated by an illness that had left him unable to work. After his government salary had been cut off for ten years, Houthi operatives came to him and told him that his illness exempted him from fighting. They then compelled him, through intimidation, to send his young son to the Taiz front.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) has uncovered further dimensions of these violations, including falsifying the fate of recruited children and exploiting the suffering of their families. The Center investigated the case of a 13-year-old child who was captured on the Mokha front. After contact with him was lost, the Houthi militia printed and circulated his photograph as that of a person killed in action and informed his family that he had been killed in the fighting. The child later appeared to be alive and was receiving medical treatment at a military field hospital.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) emphasizes that the Houthi militia is fundamentally a rebel entity and that all of its actions and conduct on the ground, including recruitment and mobilization involving both adults and children, constitute unlawful practices. The Center stresses that the militia deprives children of their right to education and a normal life and usurps families’ ability to make decisions concerning the protection of their members.

The recruitment of children under the age of 18 constitutes a clear violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. The recruitment of children under the age of 15 and their deployment in hostilities rises to the level of war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) calls on the human rights community and United Nations organizations to intervene immediately to halt these recruitment operations, activate accountability mechanisms against Houthi militia leaders responsible for these practices, and ensure that educational institutions are kept separate from military exploitation.

Issued by:
American Center for Justice (ACJ)
7 October 2026

October 7, 2026
“Mines… Blind Killer”: ACJ Documents Over 5,800 Civilian Casualties and Widespread Property Devastation Across 17 Yemeni Governorates

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) released an extensive field and legal report titled “Mines… Blind Killer,” documenting the catastrophic civilian casualties and property destruction resulting from landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted across 17 Yemeni governorates between June 2014 and February 2022. Based on a comprehensive year-long field investigation involving site inspections, verified medical and forensic records, and interviews with victims, eyewitnesses, healthcare officials, and demining experts from Project Masam, the report provides documented evidence of systematic violations committed exclusively by the Houthi group.

20224_BLIND-KILLER (3)تنزيل

The report verifies the killing of 2,526 civilians (including 429 children and 217 women) and the injury of 3,286 others (including 723 children and 220 women). Approximately 75% of the wounded suffered permanent disabilities or limb amputations due to anti-personnel mines, anti-vehicle mines, naval mines, and disguised IEDs. Taiz Governorate sustained the highest casualty rate at 22%—predominantly across its western coastal districts—followed by Al-Hodeidah at 13%, Marib at 8.51%, and Al-Jawf at 8.39%, with the remainder distributed across Aden, Al-Bayda, Al-Dhalea, Lahj, Shabwa, Hajjah, Sana’a, Abyan, and Saada. Furthermore, demining operations faced severe hazards, resulting in the deaths of 33 Project Masam personnel (including five international experts) and injuries to 40 others.

The investigation substantiates the destruction of civilian transportation and rural livelihoods. Anti-vehicle mines completely destroyed 425 vehicles and partially damaged 163 others, while 334 agricultural farms were rendered unusable and 2,185 head of livestock were killed. The report documents advanced camouflage techniques used by Houthi forces, including encasing explosives in resin matching local rocks and soil, disguising devices as toys or household containers, integrating sensitive magnetic sensors, and deploying naval mines along Red Sea transit routes and fishing grounds off Midi and Al-Hodeidah. Compound violations include the forced displacement of rural communities, denial of safe return to liberated areas, contamination of water sources and grazing paths, denial of humanitarian access, and obstruction of students’ access to schooling.

ACJ classifies these acts as grave breaches of the 1997 Ottawa Convention (ratified by Yemen in 1998), Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and Customary International Humanitarian Law prohibiting indiscriminate warfare, constituting war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Center calls on the Houthi group to immediately cease the manufacture and planting of landmines, surrender comprehensive minefield maps, and destroy its stockpiles. ACJ further urges the international community to sanction responsible military commanders and expand technical and medical assistance for mine clearance and survivor rehabilitation.

October 1, 2026
“Manufacturing Violence and Hatred”: ACJ Documents Houthi Indoctrination and Child Recruitment in Summer Camps Across Controlled Governorates

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) released a specialized qualitative report titled “Manufacturing Violence and Hatred,” documenting the objectives, curricula, and systematic human rights violations associated with the summer centers operated by the Houthi movement for school-age children and youth between 2017 and 2022 under the banner of “Education and Jihad”. Based on field investigations, on-site inspections, interviews with educators, academics, parents, and merchants across Sana’a, Dhamar, Al-Mahwit, Al-Hodeidah, Ibb, Saada, and Al-Jawf, and a rigorous forensic review of seven core instructional textbooks, the report exposes the operational mechanisms behind these camps.

Manufacturing Violence and Hatred (3)تنزيل

The findings demonstrate that the Houthi group utilizes summer courses as a systematic conduit for military mobilization to replenish depleted combat ranks. In 2022 alone, the ACJ documented the recruitment of 701 children from summer centers into combat formations: 189 in Saada, 186 in Dhamar (with 85% under the age of 15), 119 in Sana’a, 111 in Amran, 42 in Al-Hodeidah, 35 in Al-Mahwit, and 19 in Ibb. The report records grave humanitarian consequences stemming from this indoctrination, detailing confirmed instances where children returned from camps exhibiting acute behavioral hostility, including parricide and physical violence against immediate family members who questioned loyalty to the group’s leadership. In multiple verified cases, recruited minors were deployed directly to active frontlines in Marib and Al-Jawf, where they were killed in combat or sustained catastrophic injuries resulting in permanent limb amputations, often without the prior knowledge or consent of their families.

صناعة العنف والكراهية_compressed-1 (1)تنزيل

Beyond child soldiering, the report details compound violations against educational institutions and the right to education. The Houthi authorities closed 118 established summer educational centers in Sana’a, raided and looted 89 others, and revoked licenses for teaching the Holy Quran in independent institutions and mosques. The group weaponized educational access by providing free curricula and tuition waivers exclusively to children attending sectarian summer camps, while imposing mandatory fees on the general public school population. Furthermore, the group deployed coercion to enforce ideological conformity in traditionally Shafi’i communities across Ibb and Al-Hodeidah, while subjecting commercial merchants in Sana’a, Dhamar, and Ibb to systematic financial extortion to fund the multibillion-rial expenses of running hundreds of open and closed military-style encampments.

Textual analysis of the 278 pages across seven instructional booklets confirms the systematic presence of content that glorifies death, sanctions sectarian violence, and incites hatred. Curricula for primary-level children incorporate phrases such as “I will slaughter you,” mandate the chanting of the group’s sectarian slogan, and frame non-adherents as hypocrites and enemies of faith, entirely omitting foundational concepts of civic coexistence, peace, and national identity.

Under international law, the compulsory conscription and recruitment of children under the age of 15 into armed forces or their use in hostilities constitute war crimes under Article 8(2)(e)(vii) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. These acts also stand in direct violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. The ACJ recommends that the Houthi group immediately shutter all closed and open summer camps, abolish curricula that promote hatred and militancy, adhere to its signed UN Action Plan on child recruitment, and redirect operational funds toward public school teacher salaries. The Center also urges the international community and the United Nations to exert decisive pressure to halt child mobilization and hold commanders implicated in the unlawful recruitment of children legally accountable.

October 1, 2026