Rights group decries 'abusive' detentions by Yemen's rebels

In this Aug. 9, 2016 photo, smoke rises after Saudi-led airstrikes hit a food factory in Sanaa, Yemen. In the air campaign by Saudi Arabia and its allies against Yemen’s Shiite rebels, rights experts say there has been a pattern by the Saudi-led coalition in depending on faulty intelligence, failing to distinguish between civilian and military targets and disregarding the likelihood of civilian casualties. Experts say some of the strikes likely amount to war crimes. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) (The Associated Press)

CAIRO – An international rights group has denounced Yemen's Shiite rebels over what it says are unlawful detentions and torture by the Houthi rebels in the war-torn Arab country.

Human Rights Watch says the rebels, who captured the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and other territory in 2014, have held hundreds of opponents in arbitrary detentions.

The group says it has documented two deaths in custody and 11 cases of alleged torture and abuses in a new report , which was released on Thursday.

The New York-based group also urged the Houthis to release the detainees and hold officials accountable.

Sarah Leah Whitson, the Mideast director at Human Rights Watch, says the war between the Houthis and the Saudi Arabia-led coalition "provides no justification for torture and 'disappearance' of perceived opponents."