A/HRC/45/CRP.7
“Muhamasheen”456, IDPs and refugees.457 Nevertheless, it received reports458 on the severe
and disproportionate impact of the conflict on the “Muhamasheen” communities, who are
among the most affected by internal displacement, and who have endured continuous
struggles to enjoy their human rights. It also received allegations of acts of sexual violence
against “Muhamasheen” girls459 and against IDPs in Hudaydah, Aden and Ibb460, which
require further investigation.
302. The Group is also concerned that the parties to the conflict have not changed their
patterns of behaviour with regard to the targeting of human rights defenders, journalists,
lawyers and activists.
303. Additionally, the Group received reports of the numerous obstacles endured by
persons with disabilities in equally accessing quality health services and assistive devices,
humanitarian aid, education and employment opportunities.461 Older people are also
particularly vulnerable. For example, an assessment of the needs of older people living in
Sana’a, Lahj and Ta‘izz governorates reported that 62 per cent of older people in those
governorates do not have any income, while 32 per cent do not have access to enough food.462
These reports also require further investigation.
2. Religious Minorities
304. Religious minorities continue to face particular barriers to the enjoyment of their
rights. On the basis of the information collected and reviewed, the Group is not able to
publicly report on certain cases of violations experienced by some of these groups.
Information relating to these cases was withheld for protection reasons relating to the victims’
security and that of their communities.
305. The Jewish population in Yemen is estimated to constitute less than 50 individuals,463
living mainly in territory under the control of the Houthis in the Amran and Sana’a
Governorates. The Houthis continued to develop an anti-Semitic faith rhetoric. In addition to
the Houthi slogan, which includes the sentence “Curse on the Jews”, the Group reviewed
multiple speeches made by the Houthi supreme leader, Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, during the
course of 2019 and 2020, that incited violence against Jews. For instance, in one of these
speeches, on 21 May 2020, he proclaimed: “the Jews are moving towards ensuring that the
nation does not have the right vision”. Reportedly, the Jewish minority faces tough
restrictions imposed by the Houthis, notably to their freedom of movement in conjunction
with constant threats to their lives and security.
“You cannot carry a bible in Yemen, you must carry the Koran” Testimony from an
exiled Christian priest464
Translated from Arabic as “the marginalised”, the term designates a community subjected to social
caste-based discrimination. Though Yemeni law does not discriminate against the Muhamasheen,
they are commonly and pejoratively referred to as “al-Akhdam”, meaning servants.
457 According to UNHCR, there are approximately 280,000 refugees and asylum-seekers living in
Yemen, mainly having fled from the Horn of Africa. A large number of them are from Somalia.
458 See, for instance, The Historic and Systematic Marginalization of Yemen’s Muhamasheen
Community, Sanaa Center for Human Rights, 4 June 2019, available at:
http://sanaacenter.org/files/Muhamasheen_en.pdf
459 Confidential sources on file.
460 Confidential sources on file.
461 See, for instance, Excluded: Living with disabilities in Yemen’s Armed conflict, Amnesty
International, 3 December 2019, available at:
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE3113832019ENGLISH.PDF
462 HelpAge International, Rapid Needs Assessment of Older People, Yemen, September 2019,
available at:
https://www.helpage.org/resources/publications/?ssearch=yemen&adv=0&topic=0®ion=0&langu
age=0&type=0
463 According to INSAF, nowadays, the Jewish community is reduced to a total number of 43 persons
living in Yemen, 11 of them in Amran Governorate and the remaining 32 are restricted to live in the
so-called “touristic city” in Sana’a.See: https://insaf-ye.org/publications-and-research, p. 44.
464 Confidential source on File.
456
77
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