The Ansar Allah group (Houthis) seeks relentlessly to harass the Yemenis in the areas under its control. The group, which was formed in the mountains of Sa'ada, now rules most of northern Yemen, but it does not care about serving people, while it does not stop devising perceptions related to harassing society and its freedom.
Since its takeover of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, on September 21, 2014, the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) has resorted to using various state institutions to serve its project, whose sectarianism is manifested every day with ideological ideas, an army of motivated people, and repressive practices through which the group seeks to impose its tutelage on society.
The World Cup fans in Sana’a are the latest victims of the harassment, after these repressive practices reached the restrooms and cafes that broadcast the World Cup 2022 matches hosted by the State of Qatar since November 20. The Sana’a authority imposed on the fans to watch a package of lectures, supplications and psalms between matches and in between.
In this context, the owner of a rest house, who preferred not to be named, told Khuyut that armed men imposed this procedure on them and circulated it to a number of rest houses and cafes in the capital.
During the truce period, the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) aroused a lot of controversy, through the code of conduct that they imposed on government employees, as observers confirm that these actions are only the beginning of the group's devotion to irritating society and trying to abuse it in every way.
While another person confirmed to "Khuyut", that he watched a match in a cafe in Taiz street (south of Sana'a), where Houthi educational materials were imposed between matches. The time interval between one match and another in the football group of the World Cup is about an hour, as four matches are broadcasted in one day in this round.
Impose ideas
“Khuyut” verified at least five breaks, which witnessed the application of the same imposed procedures, exploiting the pause times in matches by broadcasting prayers and lectures recorded in Flash memory, which are forcibly shown to the audience on the football match screens.
According to the owners of rest houses, cafes, and clubs, armed members of the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) met with them and forced them to follow up this procedure. Hence, when they were asked for an official letter, armed men refused and obliged them to implement what was dedicated, otherwise they would be imprisoned.
As a result, many club owners expressed their annoyance and helplessness, due to the restrictions imposed on them during a period that is considered an important season for them to work in view of the harm that these instructions caused by alienating fans, since the clients of rest are athletes who like to watch the matches and the sport analysis between halftime and sports news between each match and the other.
In addition, Abdurrasheed Al-Faqeeh, Executive Director of Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, said in a post on his Facebook account: "The Houthi group's latest attempt to impose its perceptions on people is represented by storming popular interaction with the World Cup matches, as it forced the rest houses to display their media materials on the screens, during the intervals between matches. The group has granted itself the right to break into people's breathing spaces to force them to listen to their speeches, slogans and anthems."
He added, "What is certain is that all attempts to impose ideas ultimately lead to counterproductive results, regardless of the quality or badness of these ideas, and all attempts to coerce people by exploiting power and its means to embrace ideas have totally failed."
Dedication to harassment
During the truce period, the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) aroused a lot of controversy, through the code of conduct that they imposed on government employees, as observers confirm that these actions are only the beginning of the group's devotion to harassing society and trying to abuse it in every way.
Further, the group's authority in Sana'a had announced, earlier in November 2022, the execution of the "functional code of conduct" that obliges all employees in the areas under its control to follow rules of conduct that are imposed on everyone. This Code sparked widespread criticism among employees, politicians, and activists inside and outside the areas controlled by the group.
This is not the first time that the authority of Sana'a has raised controversy. It was preceded by the practices of the Graduate Club, which aimed to suppress the joy of the graduating students, and obligated them to follow certain rules during the graduation ceremonies.
The "Houthis" tighten their security and ideological grip in the areas under their control, but they abandoned all their commitments towards the society, amid muffled public anger under the barrel of a gun.
