Yemen: 19-year-old model in rebel jail attempts suicide, transferred to hospital

A  19-year-old Yemeni model is being treated in hospital after she tried to kill herself in Sanaa jail run by Houthi rebels, Arab News reported. Entesar Al-Hammadi, who was arrested back in February at a Sanaa checkpoint, had attempted suicide earlier this week inside a Houthi-controlled jail. Her lawyer, Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal, told the media outlet that she had tried to hang herself shortly after the Houthis moved her into a wing for “prostitutes”.

Hammadi was reportedly saved when a child accompanying his imprisoned mother cried out after seeing her hanging. Al-Kamal said that the 19-year-old felt “humiliated” by the Houthis shaming her. The lawyer added that Hammadi’s mental and physical condition is “very, very difficult”. 

Born to a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother, Hammadi was abducted from a street in Sanaa with two friends. She was put on trial on charges of prostitution, drug dealing and breaching Islamic norms. According to Amnesty International, the model's trial which opened on June 6 had been tainted by "irregularities and abuse".

As per reports, the Houthis have refused to release her despite intense local and international pressure. After placing her in solitary confinement, the group even banned media coverage of the case and replaced a prosecutor who had ordered her release. Hammadi, on the other hand, denied the accusations and threatened a hunger strike if the Houthis refused to free her. 

Hammadi facing ‘unfair trial’ 

Michael Page, deputy Middle East director of Human Rights Watch, reportedly said that Hammadi was facing an “unfair trial” and the Houthis had prevented her lawyer from seeing case documents. Page said that the Houthi authorities should ensure her rights to due process, including access to her charges and evidence against her so she can challenge it. He even added that the group should immediately drop charges that are so “broad and vague that they are arbitrary”. 

Ahmed Arman, Yemen’s minister of legal affairs and human rights, told Arab News that the Houthi handling of the case was “typical” of their mistreatment of prisoners. It is worth mentioning that according to several international media reports, violence against women, especially in Houthi-controlled areas, has been on the increase since Yemen plunged into a civil war in 2014 that the UN says has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. 

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