Houthi militants are torturing female detainees, activists say

Yemen: Yemen’s Houthi militants are holding dozens of women without bringing them to trial or charging them with a crime, often torturing the detainees and blackmailing their families, activists said on Thursday.

The allegations were first raised over the weekend by the Yemen Organization for Combating Human Trafficking, based in the capital, Sanaa. The group’s founder, Nabil Fadel, told The Associated Press that he received information from families, former female detainees, and other sources showing that over the past months, the Houthis have been rounding up women over allegations of prostitution and collaboration with the Saudi-led coalition, which is at war with the Houthis.