INSAF Center for Defending Freedoms & Minorities met at the headquarters of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, April 6, 2023, with the Ambassador for Human Rights in France, Dolphin Bourion, and the head of the Yemen office in the Middle East region at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Claire Hodara, as well as Xavier Trembert, an official at the French Foreign Ministry and the United Nations.
The meeting was attended by the activist Mayada Adel, and discussed the most important human rights issues that concern Yemeni women, ethnic and religious minorities, ways to promote and protect them, and related topics to the peace process and transitional justice in Yemen, as well as the role of France on these matters.
INSAF’s chairperson, Eman Homaid, explained during the meeting the situation of minorities in Yemen and the violations they are exposed to in the absence of legal protection for them, especially the continuous violations against the Jewish minority by the Houthi group, including the case of Libby Salem Marhabi, who has entered his eighth year of imprisonment at the hands of the Houthis, the de facto authorities in control of the capital Sana’a since 2014.
During the meeting, Homaid called for the need to pay attention to the issues of ethnic and religious minorities, as they are the weakest link in a country full of religious, social, and cultural complexities, especially during the current conflict that has exacerbated their suffering, and the lack of local and international interest in their issues.
