International experts working the Yemeni file at the UN Security Council accused Houthis of brutally oppressing opponents in northern Yemen and exploiting the all-female militia known as Zaynabiyat to target women and homes of Yemenis.
The UN recently published a final report prepared by the Panel of Experts on Yemen in accordance with Resolution 2456 of 2019, which was submitted to the Sanctions Committee established by the Security Council under Resolution 2140 of 2014.
More than five years after the conflict erupted, the Houthis and the Yemeni government have made little progress towards a political settlement or a decisive military victory, according to the report.
The report stated that the Houthis continued to consolidate their political and military control, as their forces embarked on a brutal suppression of the tribal and political opposition.
It also referenced the Houthi use of the all-female militia, Zaynabiyat, to search women, raid homes, and indoctrinate Yemenis.
The Zaynabiyat faction is also responsible for running women prison facilities under Houthi control.
Documented violations committed by Zaynabiyat militiawomen included the arbitrary arrest and detention of women, looting, sexual assault, beatings, torture, and facilitation of rape in secret detention centers.
The all-female militia network is headed by the director of the Criminal Investigation Department in Sanaa, Sultan Zabin.
Yemen's Houthis are holding dozens of women without trial and often torturing the detainees and blackmailing their families, activists and a human rights lawyer have told the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
A Yemeni rights lawyer told the AP that the women were rounded up from cafes and parks in the past months.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for fears for personal safety, he said families were still searching for their missing daughters.
The allegations were first raised over the weekend by the Yemen Organization for Combating Human Trafficking, based in the capital, Sanaa.
Furthermore, the UN report also accused Houthi militias of launching attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during 2019.
