Human rights organization: The Houthis release prisoners in exchange for fighting in their ranks The Yemeni monitoring organization for rights and freedoms reported that the Houthi militia released prisoners in criminal cases and detainees with financial obligations in exchange for their participation in the fighting fronts, in practices that it described as exploiting the conditions of the detainees and undermining the principles of justice. The organization added that it verified the release of the prisoners in the Yav, Dhamar and Sana'a governorates in exchange for their joining the ranks of the Houthis and fighting on the front lines of the conflict, and warned against turning the detainees' need for freedom and settling their duties into a means of attracting fighters. The head of the organization, Arafat Hamran, said in a statement to Al-Masdr Online that the Houthis recently returned to release dozens of prisoners in exchange for their participation in the fighting, after losing lives in their ranks. He added that in 2016, the militia previously released 40 prisoners from the central reform prison in Yves province, against whom final death sentences were handed down, in exchange for their participation in the fighting fronts. The organization called for an end to the connection between the release of prisoners and joining the fighting, and emphasized that the handling of criminal cases and financial obligations must be done in accordance with the law, while protecting detainees from coercion and exploitation. She called on the United Nations, human rights and humanitarian organizations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to verify these facts and act to protect the detainees.