Houthis arbitrarily detain over 20 Christians in Yemen News
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Houthis arbitrarily detain over 20 Christians in Yemen

Houthi authorities in Yemen have arbitrarily detained more than 20 Christians over the past three months in what Human Rights Watch (HRW) characterizes as a campaign of enforced disappearances targeting the religious minority.

The detentions began in late November and early December 2025, with an expansion on December 24, Christmas Eve, according to HRW interviews with members of Yemen’s Christian community. Those arrested were taken from streets and homes in Sanaa, Ibb, and other Houthi-controlled governorates without warrants or explanation.

“Rather than addressing the alarming rates of hunger that Yemenis are facing, the Houthis seem to only know how to arrest and detain people,” said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen researcher at HRW in a statement Monday. “The Houthis should stop detaining people, including members of the marginalized Christian community.”

According to HRW sources, most detained Christians have had no communication with their families, and authorities have refused to disclose their whereabouts—meeting the definition of enforced disappearance under international law. Some detainees suffer from health conditions, including heart disease and diabetes, requiring medical care.

The Iran-backed Houthi movement controls approximately one-third of Yemen’s territory, including some 80 percent of the population, and enforces a strict interpretation of Zaydi Shi’a Islam. Under Yemeni law, conversion from Islam is a capital offense, and most of Yemen’s few thousand remaining Christians are converts who practice in secret. Yemen’s Christian population, once estimated at 41,000, has dwindled dramatically as believers flee persecution.

The arrests continue a pattern of systematic persecution. In 2023, Houthi forces raided a Baha’i gathering, detaining 17 people without warrants. Since seizing power in 2014, Houthi authorities have targeted religious minorities through arbitrary detention, forced religious indoctrination, and denial of humanitarian aid.

 

 

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