General Update
In September 2025, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) published a periodic report on human rights violations committed by parties to the ongoing conflict in Yemen. These violations include the arrest of a prominent human rights lawyer, the continued targeting of journalists, media professionals, and other activists, and the imposition of severe restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
Association & Expression
On 14th October 2025, CSOs issued a "call on the Houthi de facto authorities in Yemen, Ansar Allah, to immediately and unconditionally release the prominent human rights lawyer Abdulmajeed Sabrafrom arbitrary detention." A family member reported that, on 25th September 2025, a group of Houthi armed forces and armed men in civilian clothing arrested Sabra after they stormed his office in the Shamila area of the capital, Sana’a, and took him to an unknown location. Sabra’s arrest comes as part of a broader pattern of arrests of people publicly commemorating the 26th September anniversary of the declaration of the Republic in Yemen, a date which the Houthi group opposes celebrating. Sabra is one of the most prominent lawyers who has worked tirelessly to defend those detained based on the peaceful exercise of their human rights in Yemen. He uses his Facebook page to express his personal views, defend the human rights of people in Yemen, and publish updates on the cases he defends.
Press reports indicated that the reason for his arrest was a post he published on his Facebook page on 24th September 2024, in which he emphasised the need to commemorate the 26th September anniversary.
Credible sources reported that the Houthis have carried out a wave of arrests and rounded up scores of people in northern governorates for peacefully celebrating or posting on social media content related to the 26th September anniversary. Human Rights Watch also reported on the Houthi’s arrest of dozens commemorating the national holiday.
On 18th September 2025, Iftihan Al-Mashhari, the director of the Cleaning and Improvement Fund in Taiz Governorate, was assassinated after gunmen fired 20 shots at her as she drove through Sinan Street in the city centre, before fleeing. Taiz is under the control of the internationally recognised government. The city of Taiz witnessed several massive public demonstrations in the days following the assassination, including one which began on 21st September 2025 with the participation of tens of thousands of residents. Protesters demanded that the perpetrators be arrested and brought to trial; the public disclosure of the circumstances of the crime and all parties involved; and an end to the series of assassinations and impunity. On 24th September 2025, Taiz Governorate police announced the death of the main suspect in the assassination, Mohammed Sadiq Al-Mikhlafi, during a clash with security forces. His death sparked fear among many residents, who viewed it as a cover up of the other parties involved in planning and executing the operation.
On the evening of 22nd September 2025, poet and writer Oras Al-Eryani left his home in the Sawan neighborhood of Sana’a and did not return. He has not been heard from since. Local sources confirmed that an armed group affiliated with the Houthi group kidnapped him and took him to an unknown location. Press reports indicated that his arrest came after he published a post mocking 21st September, the day the Houthis took power in 2014.
On the same day, several hours after Al-Eryani’s arrest, Houthi gunmen arrested journalist Majed Zaid after he left a medical centre in Sana’a and took him to an unknown location. According to press sources, his arrest is linked to the security forces’ persecution of citizens, including activists, who attempted to commemorate 26th September on social media or by raising the national flag.
On 24th September 2025, Judge Abdulwahab Qatran posted an urgent notice on his Facebook page to local and international human rights organisations, announcing the enforced disappearance by the Houthi group of his brother, Arif Qatran, and his son, Abdulsalam, on 21st September 2025. Their home was raided by forces loyal to the de facto government in Sana’a, the Houthi group, without any judicial warrants and they were not told of the charges against them. Judge Qatran said they were “detained in the Hamdan Security Complex prison for only one day” and that his brother maintained “limited contact with us via a prisoner’s phone. In his last contact, on the afternoon of 22nd September 2025, he confirmed that he was suffering from serious health conditions. Informed local sources confirmed that the reason for their arrest was their celebration of the 26th September anniversary.
On 27th September 2025, journalist and editor-in-chief and owner of Aden Al-Ghad newspaper Fathi Bin Lazraq, announced his arrest in a post on his Facebook page. The post received widespread support from his colleagues and the public.