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A protest in solidarity with Yemeni women in Geneva and calls for the inclusion of the Houthis in the lists of terrorism
With the approaching International Women's Day, which falls on March 8, European organizations allied for peace and Rasd coalition organized today, Saturday, February 29, 2020, a solidarity protest in Geneva against violations by the Houthi militia against women and children.
According to the organizers of the event, the protest was aimed at communicating the voice of women and clarifying the reality experienced by these women and the violations, crimes, and practices that they are exposed to by the Houthi militia, In addition to urging the international community and human rights actors to intervene to stop these violations.
The protest included: the opening speech delivered by Professor Murad Al-Garti, head of Tamkeen for Human Rights, in which he welcomed the attendees on behalf of European organizations allied for peace and Rasd coalition, and explained the goals and objectives of the stand.
Then, Professor Nora Al-Jarawi gave a speech in the name of the imprisoned women, who gave a live testimony about what women are exposed to in the prisons of the Houthi militia and mentioned numbers and statistics and called for the importance of the move to save them.
The solidarity protest was moderated by Dr. Faris Al-Bail. Dr. Arwa Al-Khattabi also delivered a speech during which she compared the situation of women during the era of the Imamate and the Houthis, what they had suffered and what they are suffering today and the identicality of the conditions under the rule of both sides. Activist, Mansour Al-Shadadi, stressed the importance of the international community's role in protecting women's rights. He also spoke about IFA International for Youth and stressed the significance of the support of international NGOs for women's rights.
GenevaAnd participated in the organization and coordination of the stand, and the formulation of recommendations, the Yemeni doctor and activist, Wissam Basandouh, President of the March 8 bloc for the sake of Yemen women, which includes in his preparatory committee more than one hundred Yemeni women leaders and activists from inside and outside Yemen.
Dr. BasendouhDr. Basendouh presented an exclusive statement to Levent newspaper on the reality of Yemeni women in light of the Houthi hegemony. She urged the international community to "remind the international community of the violations committed by the Houthis against the Yemeni community in general, and the Yemeni woman in particular, which does not stop at the theft of aid, rape and the practice of all available torture methods." The Yemeni activist stated, "We currently have 288 Yemeni women detained after the number reached 800 women arrested earlier." And she emphasized that these women were subjected to the most heinous violations, such as "ironing, rape, and burning, and most of these women were forcibly disappeared, and prohibited from communicating with their families."
In the same context, she called for the whole world to "release the women detainees and restore the rights of the raped Yemeni women" and called for "the inclusion of the Houthi militia on its blacklists, and for it to be considered a terrorist militia because its practices are no less criminal than those of Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards."
It is noteworthy that the protest included chanting various slogans, raising Yemeni flags and banners denouncing Houthi crimes and violations, and about 200 solidarity activists participated in it.
