A/HRC/33/38 basis of their political affiliation. The same trend was observed in Hajjah Governorate during October and December 2015, where five people were also arrested for their political affiliation. The arrested persons did not appear to present any security threat, and did not appear to play any direct role in the hostilities. Hence, there is reasonable ground to believe that these cases amount to arbitrary deprivation of liberty. For example, Muhammad Qahtan, 57, a renowned Islah representative was arrested on 4 April 2015 by the Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthis without any criminal charges. At the time of the drafting of this report, Qahtan’s family had no information about his whereabouts or wellbeing. In addition, since 26 March 2015, OHCHR documented 17 cases of arbitrary deprivation of liberty of human rights defenders by the Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthis. Mwatana Organization for Human Rights documented 53 cases of ‘’Arbitrary Detention’’ since 21 September 2014. The Ministry of Human Rights under the authority of the Government led by President Hadi submitted a report to OHCHR stating that 8,485 people had been “unlawfully arrested” from September 2014 to March 2016. The Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations mentioned that from 1 December 2014 to 1 December 2015, 8881 people had been allegedly “abducted.” The Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation submitted a number of reports to OHCHR, one of them mentioning that 109 persons had been deprived of their liberties in Taizz from 25 March to 31 October 2015. The organisation “Adala wa Insaf” submitted to OHCHR a list of 222 person who had been allegedly deprived of their liberty in Taizz from April 2015 to April 2016. OHCHR documented several cases of deprivation of liberty since Mars 2015. The National forum of Human Rights submitted to OHCHR a report mentioning 187 cases of alleged arbitrary arrest and detentions having taken place during the first quarter of 2016. The Taizz Humanitarian Centre for Rights and Development reported 221 cases of “kidnaping and enforced disappearance” from 25 March 2016 to 30 November 2016. OHCHR documented the arrest of 29 journalists and human rights activists in Ibb on 13 October 2015 by the Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthis,45 among them Ameen al-Shafaq, a well-known university professor who was arrested in October 2015 and continues to remain in detention at the time of the drafting of this report. Witnesses who were detained with al-Shafaq told OHCHR that he had been subjected to ill-treatment. OHCHR also documented various allegations of violations perpetuated by the Popular Resistance Committees affiliated with President Hadi. In Aden, the Popular Resistance Committees reportedly arrested large numbers of young men who refused to conscript with their armed forces. According to many accounts gathered, there is reasonable ground to believe that in the majority of the cases collected by OHCHR the victims were arrested without criminal charges and did not present a security threat. This form of arbitrary deprivation of liberty may amount to a violation of both international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Some victims were not informed of the legal pretext for their arrest and were not allowed any form of appeal the legality of their detention. The victims were reportedly detained in both official and unofficial detention centers and in 45 30 This incident was also documented by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Mwatana.Amnesty International, Where is my father?:detention and disappearance in Huthicontrolled Yemen, May 2016, p.26, [ https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde31/4006/2016/en/ ]Human Rights Watch, Yemen: 3 Months Since Houthis ‘Disappear’ Protesters, 16 January 2016, [https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/01/16/yemen-3-months-houthis-disappear-protesters] Mwatana Organisation for Human Rights, They Are Not Here, 12 May 2016, p.38.