SANA'A: A fact-finding team of rights activists told Bikyamasr.com that their latest visit to Hajja, a northern province of Yemen under the direct control of al-Houthis (a group of Shia rebels whom advocate a return to the ancestral rule of the Imams, and with ties to Iran), revealed that residents were living under pressure and that human rights conditions were deteriorating rapidly. Al-Houthis did not hesitate holding local residents hostage to their fight against Sunni Salafis in the region as both factions battle for control, have continued to victimize civilians, violating their civil rights and disrupting everyday life. Residents told Bikyamasr.com correspondents that al-Houthis fighters were blocking access to main roads across the province, preventing local wholesalers from replenishing their food stocks and engendering a spike in commodity prices. “Sugar, flour and beans went up by 40-60% over the past few months, many families cannot keep up anymore and we are all living in poverty,” said a farmer. Other residents reported that armed men from the tribe had come to expel them from their homes, accusing them of harboring Salafi terrorists. “A state of lawlessness is definitely in place with elements clearly abusing their current positions,” said a local activist. “The government needs to intervene immediately, starting with the sending of some troops to re-establish order,” he added. HOOD, Yemen's most prominent rights organization stressed that dozens of schools and Mosques had been forcibly shut down by al-Houthis as residents refused to adopt their slogan: “God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/yAvHT Tags: HOOD Yemen, Human Rights, Humanitarian Crisis, Yemen Section: Human Rights, International, Latest News, Yemen
