The Houthi militias targeting of mosques and places of worship is not merely an assault on Yemen and its identity; it is a full-fledged war crime under international law. The Geneva Conventions explicitly prohibit attacks on religious sites and civilians under any circumstances.
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Places of worship are protected civilian sites under international humanitarian law. Yet the Houthis have turned them into weapons depots, recruitment hubs, and platforms for sectarian incitementan explicit violation of Article 53 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions.
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The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court classifies attacks on religious buildings as crimes against humanity. Therefore, the Houthis continued targeting of mosques places their leadership under the scope of international criminal prosecution.
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Mosques are not military targets, and attacking them cannot be justified under any pretext. The actions of the Houthi militia represent a clear violation of the principle of distinction between civilian and military targetsa fundamental pillar of international humanitarian law.
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Forcing imams and preachers to deliver sectarian messages under coercion violates freedom of religion, belief, and expressionrights guaranteed in Islam and affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 18 and 19). What the Houthis are doing is not merely the imposition of political authority, but a systematic form of religious repression.
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The targeting of mosques in areas under Houthi control is not an isolated incident, but a deliberate and systematic policy aimed at reshaping the communitys religious consciousness along sectarian lines that are foreign to Yemen and its historical identity.
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When the Houthi militia forcibly turns the houses of God into platforms for mobilization and recruitment, this constitutes the erasure of religious identity and the fragmentation of social cohesionacts that fall under internationally prohibited forms of persecution.
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For Yemenis, the mosque has always been a place of learning and community cohesion. The militia, however, has turned it into a platform for mobilization and incitement, seeking to sever the spiritual connection between Yemenis and their authentic religious heritage.
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The Houthis destruction of Quran learning centers and the closure of institutions dedicated to teaching the Sunnah reveal a clear attempt to eliminate established religious references and replace them with a single, extremist ideology that rejects dialogue, pluralism, and coexistence.
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Replacing qualified mosque imams with Houthi-appointed individuals who lack proper religious knowledge is a direct assault on the sacred role of the mosque. It reinforces the militias extremist project in promoting a radical discourse built on hatred and division.
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Just as Iran used mosques to recruit sectarian militias in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, the Houthi militia is doing the same in Yementransforming pulpits from places of worship into hubs for mobilization, recruitment, and deployment of fighters.
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What the Houthi militia is doing to mosques in Yemen mirrors the exact practices of the Iranian regime toward Sunni mosques in Tehran and Ahvazturning houses of worship into political platforms aimed at controlling religious consciousness and molding it to serve a sectarian agenda.
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Hussein al-Houthis ideological booklets were the initial spark for spreading sectarian thought in Yemen. Their hate-filled rhetoric against others laid the intellectual foundation for the project of destroying mosques and Quran centers.
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The Houthis treatment of mosques cannot be understood apart from Iranian influence. The promotion of hatred, enforcement of ideological conformity, and exclusion of dissent are all tools within a broader project aimed at shaping a submissive society stripped of the right to think differently.
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The Houthi militia imposes pre-written, sectarian Friday sermons on mosque imams and preachers, forcing them to recite messages that glorify the Houthi lineage and promote hatred and division within society. This is a clear violation of freedom of religion and expression, and a transformation of places of worship from centers of devotion and guidance into platforms for political and sectarian indoctrination.
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Since its inception, the Houthi movement has not produced a single recognized Quran memorizer or scholar known for serving, teaching, or promoting the Quran. This is because its project was never founded on the Book of God, but on slogans, conflict, and sectarian supremacy. Therefore, it is only natural that the mosquesymbolizing knowledge, moderation, and unitybecame their primary enemy in their worldview.
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