Rights Group: Houthis Terrorize Taiz Residents with Messages Threatening Destruction and Demanding Surrender

The 'SAM' Organization for Rights and Liberties has accused the Houthi group of using text messages to terrorize the residents of Taiz governorate and exert psychological pressure on them, coinciding with shelling, military escalation, and a tightened siege on the city, between September 3 and October 20.

In a report released Saturday titled "Messages Under Shelling," the organization stated that it documented text messages containing calls for residents to surrender and cooperate with the Houthis, along with warnings about the continuation of clashes and the potential destruction they could cause.

It clarified that it obtained 11 messages kept by one family, while the head of the household reported receiving more than 30 messages on his and his wife's phones by mid-October, through the Yemen Mobile, Yemeni-Omani, and Sabafon networks, under the sender ID "GOV".

According to the report, the messages included calls for those the group describes as "the deceived" to take advantage of what it calls "amnesty" and return to their areas, in addition to messages urging Taiz residents to cooperate with the Houthis and linking the continuation of battles to the risk of the city's destruction.

The organization highlighted the case of the family of citizen Salim Mohammed, who had previously been displaced from Sana'a to Taiz, before his wife received a message on October 16, coinciding with the sounds of shelling around the city.

The report quoted Salim as saying that the message terrified his wife, who called him fearing the city's destruction. It revived her fears of displacement and anxiety for her three children, which prompted him to take a long leave from his job to stay with his family.

'SAM' considered that the timing of the messages with the shelling and military operations, along with their warnings and calls for compliance, indicates they were used as a means of psychological pressure on civilians, especially displaced families and those affected by the siege and lack of security.

The organization said its assessment was based on copies of the messages, testimonies from the affected, the similarity of their content and timing with the military escalation, as well as their consistency with Houthi statements and publications about the battles in Taiz.

It warned of the repercussions of these practices on the mental health of civilians, particularly children and displaced families, pointing to the potential for increased fear, sleep disturbances, and constant anxiety, given the limited options for moving to safer areas.

It emphasized that using threats with the intent to spread terror among the civilian population is prohibited under international humanitarian law, calling for an independent investigation, the preservation of digital evidence, the protection of victims and witnesses, and a halt to the use of communication networks to pressure the population.