Documenting Houthi crimes: Reading of the book ‘The Origins of Racial Starvation in Yemen’

Eslam Mohamed

In his book “The Compound Crime: The Origins of Racial Starvation in Yemen”, Yemeni writer Hamdan al-Ali reviews the crimes and methods of the Tehran-affiliated Houthi militia in starving the Yemeni people and sucking their blood to implement their expansionist project.

The book consists of four chapters in which it reviews an aspect of the violations of the militia affiliated with Iran by documenting these practices and explaining their connection to the Houthi belief, containing an explanation of the discrimination and criminality of the apartheid militia.

Roots of fire

In the first chapter, entitled “The Roots of Fire”, the writer attempts to trace the crimes of racist dynastic rule in starving and impoverishing the Yemeni people since the rule of the Imamites and recording the similarities between that era and the Houthi militia, including the political, economic, military and cultural goals.

In the second chapter, entitled “Methods of Starvation”, the writer discusses the methods used by the Houthi militia against the people through a set of policies such as stealing salaries, collecting revenues, and collecting royalties under the name of collecting zakat, khums, endowment funds, taxes, customs, and subscription fees in government institutions, such as communications and other services, as well as extorting expatriates, legitimizing theft, plundering cash reserves, and causing currency deterioration.

The reader of the book finds a number of targeted policies and crimes adopted by the Houthis in order to enrich the policy of deliberate starvation.

The crime of displacement and the suffering of the displaced

In the third chapter of the book, titled “The Crime of Displacement and the Suffering of the Displaced”, the writer talks about the crime of displacement and the suffering of the displaced, enumerating examples of testimonies of journalists who have been kidnapped by the terrorist Houthi militia to show the importance of the financial factor in guiding the behavior of the militia and how it arrests residents to demand ransoms. African immigrants were also exposed to these practices.

It also reviews the methods of besieging some areas such as Taiz and Hodeidah and provides important testimonies in this regard, and it deals with the phenomenon of displacement due to religious beliefs and what happened as a result of the war and its destructive effects, as well as the process of bombing the homes of opponents, which is one of the most prominent crimes of displacement.

Disrupting development

In the fourth and final chapter of the book, entitled “Disrupting Development”, the writer reviews important details about the Houthi policies that deliberately disrupt development, which represents one of the most important disasters that resulted from the Houthi militia’s robbery of state institutions.

According to a study conducted by the United Nations Development Program, the Houthis caused a setback in human development for a period of 21 years, and their policies targeted the Yemenis’ dependence on relief rather than development, contributing to the regression of human capital, according to the health, education and employment index.

The writer included many international and local testimonies that talk about theft and starvation, and he also attached a special appendix to the chapters of the book that includes pictures of many procedures, decisions, laws and events that the country witnessed during the period of Houthi control and war, providing a complete picture of the reality of the situation in Yemen and the suffering left by the militia, which has contributed to the starvation and impoverishment of Yemenis through a group of complex crimes presented and documented in this book.

Militarization of Yemeni lives

The importance of the book “The Compound Crime: The Origins of Racial Starvation in Yemen” comes in its detailed and accurate presentation of the Houthis’ efforts to starve the people, militarize the lives of Yemenis, and make joining their group an alternative condition for their natural entitlements to conditionally obtain aid and salaries that help them and their families to survive.

The book also reveals how the Houthi militia was able to consolidate its control, thwart efforts to restore the state, and use the banner of the humanitarian situation to stop the advance of government forces.

The writer believes that there are many political, military, regional and international reasons that contributed to the Houthis imposing opportunities to pounce on state institutions and military and security capabilities, implementing a process of displacing active societal elements and intellectuals who reject the militia, laying off tens of thousands of workers in government institutions, and granting the elements close to them the right to monopolize public employment in their favor.

The writer indicates that the deterioration of the economic situation resulting from the control of the Houthis produced a class of war merchants from the same dynasty that pursued a policy of plundering and exploiting state resources for its benefit, which contributed to the expansion of poverty, especially after employees were deprived of their wages.