A Houthi-run court in Yemen has sentenced 13 people to public execution on homosexuality charges, a judicial source said Tuesday, as human rights groups decried a rise in abuses by the Iran-backed rebels.
The sentences were handed down in Ibb, a province controlled by the Houthis whose attacks on Red Sea shipping since November have prompted retaliatory strikes by the United States and Britain.
Three others were jailed on similar charges, according to the judicial source, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.
Another 35 people have been detained by Houthis in Ibb province on homosexuality charges, the source said.
It won’t be solved for that kid. But by denying the Houthis a country and denying their offensive capabilities, we ensure that they occupy an increasingly smaller and more isolated patch of desert and mountains that nobody cares about, and prevent them from expanding their rule over more people, whom it will oppress. It’s a conservative, religious fundamentalist, populist movement, that openly endorses terrorism and rule by assassination and violence. It’s extremely popular with the locals, those that haven’t been executed as infidels.