Yemenis complain of surveillance, repression in Houthi-controlled areas

ADEN -- In parts of Yemen under the control of the Houthis, the Iran-backed group has been exercising tight control over the population through spying and manipulation, residents of these areas say.

They have done this by cultivating or coercing local residents to serve as informants, by controlling what is taught at universities and by requiring youth to attend classes that promote their own ideology, among other means.

Sanaa resident Mohammed Nasser, who works for a security agency in the city, said he was arrested in a Sanaa marketplace as the result of a phone call.

Nasser, who asked to use a pseudonym, said the Houthis arrested him for his "outspokenness and criticism" of their actions, which he says "have made the current situation tragic for Yemeni families living in areas under their control".

He said they appear to have overheard a phone call he made to one of his friends, who had moved to Mokha on the Red Sea coast and joined the National Resistance Forces, led by Brig. Gen. Tareq Mohammad Abdullah Saleh.

Saleh is the nephew of former Yemeni president and General People's Congress (GPC) head Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was slain by the Houthis after publicly renouncing his party's alliance with the Iran-backed militia.

Nasser told Al-Mashareq the phone conversation he had with his friend "did not go beyond a general question about conditions in general and was not related to the ongoing conflict".

Yet he was arrested and imprisoned until early 2022, he said, and his family received no information about his whereabouts during his more than year-long incarceration.

Nasser said his release from prison was contingent upon taking several "cultural courses", which the jailers forced him and his fellow prisoners to do.

Retired military officer Hammoud Khaled meanwhile said he has faced discrimination from the Houthi-appointed neighbourhood supervisor, who denied him access to the gas cylinders that the Houthis distribute among residents.

Khaled, a Sanaa resident who asked to use a pseudonym, said he was forced to enroll his son in cultural courses conducted by the Houthis.

After completing the courses, Khaled's son was deployed to the front without his knowledge, he said, and Khaled did not have any news about his whereabouts for more than six months.

"My son was dragged to the front by force to ensure my loyalty," he said. "Yet, gas and food are distributed only to those who are ideologically loyal to the Houthis, and the others do not mean anything to them."

To make matters worse, Khaled said he is interrogated after every visit to a relative or friend, which is "an unbearable situation".

A climate of repression

The Houthis clamp down on the population in the areas under their control, attempting to control what residents of these areas say or do, political analyst Faisal Ahmed said.

They even try to control what is taught at universities, he said.

"The Houthis have replicated the Iranian method of monitoring people's movements and activities through informants they plant in neighbourhoods," he said.

"The group also monitors residents to find out who among them takes part in its activities and events, and deprives those who do not participate of aid and services," he said. "They may even be arrested as Houthi opponents."

The Houthis started cracking down on the population and making arrests after former president Saleh was killed in 2017, Ahmed said.

The group also promoted a hotline, via affiliated media outlets, which locals were encouraged to call to report on those who oppose the group, he added.

Many Houthi opponents who were identified by the hotline were subsequently detained, he said, and "some remain imprisoned after five years".

"Monitoring is done in various ways in workplaces, as there is a Houthi supervisor in every public and private institution, as well as in schools and universities," he said.

This oversight has gone from observing behaviour to monitoring postgraduate research, he added, and no one may start research on the subject of his or her choice without an overseer's approval.

Deputy Minister of Justice Faisal al-Majeedi said the Houthis use repressive methods to "kill any societal resistance or thought that rejects their ideology".

The Houthis act like "terrorist gangs" in that they seek to suppress the local population, he said. They also seek to use all available media platforms to further their ambitions and to mobilise members of various communities.

Exploiting village elders

The group also is using neighbourhood elders to achieve its goals and spread its ideology, according to National Committee for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations spokeswoman Ishraq al-Maqtari.

She said the group exploits neighbourhood elders, especially in al-Hodeidah, Ibb, Dhamar, Raymah and Sanaa.

It entrusts them to register those eligible for aid, distribute domestic gas cylinders and pressure residents and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to obtain their family members' personal information, al-Maqtari said.

The data is used to ascertain the political leanings of families, and to force them to agree to the recruitment of their sons, she said.

Through her work, al-Maqtari said, she has discovered that the Houthis detained a large number of Ibb, al-Hodeidah and Taez residents with the help of village elders and Houthi-appointed individuals who act as informants.

The Houthis have deliberately replaced most neighbourhood elders with Houthi sympathisers and have assigned them a cultural role to promote the Iran-backed group's ideology, she said.

Al-Maqtari accused the Houthis of repressing local residents by investigating their opponents, monitoring their homes and listening through windows to learn what is going on inside homes.