Thirty Yemeni human rights organizations expressed their disappointment on Friday, June 28th, 2024, that the United Nations and its special envoy to Yemen have not utilized their leverage to pressure the Houthi group regarding the case of forcibly disappeared individuals, particularly politician Mohammed Qahtaan, who is subject to UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

In a joint statement, seen by Barran Press, the civil society organizations deemed the UN's stance as "reflecting a lack of seriousness in addressing the issue of enforced disappearances and failing to prioritize it in previous rounds of negotiations."

The statement expressed deep concern over the continued enforced disappearance of politician Mohammed Qahtaan since April 4th, 2015, at the hands of Houthi militants. It has been over nine years without any information about his fate or any permission for his family to visit or communicate with him, constituting a blatant violation of human rights and international law.

The organizations called upon the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni government to fulfill their "legal, humanitarian, and moral duty" by working to free all forcibly disappeared and detained individuals in various Yemeni governorates.

They strongly condemned this ongoing crime, emphasizing that enforced disappearance is a grave human rights violation and constitutes a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The statement urged the Houthi group to immediately and unconditionally release politician Mohammed Qahtaan and all other kidnapped and forcibly disappeared individuals.

It called for independent and impartial investigations into all cases of enforced disappearance by all parties, and for perpetrators to be brought to justice to prevent the recurrence of such violations.

The statement appealed to the UN special envoy to Yemen and the international community to include the issue of enforced disappearances in Yemen on the agenda of the upcoming negotiations in Muscat, and to work diligently to ensure their release.

A new round of consultations on the issue of prisoners and detainees, under the auspices of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross, is scheduled to begin on Sunday, June 30th, in the Omani capital, Muscat.

Earlier, the office of the Yemeni President instructed the government negotiating delegation on the issue of prisoners and forcibly disappeared individuals to "not enter into any prisoner exchange deal with the Houthis that does not include politician Mohammed Qahtaan, or reveal his fate and enable him to communicate with his family," according to a circulating document reviewed by Barran Press.

The Houthi group, internationally designated as a terrorist organization, continues to conceal the politician and prominent leader of the Yemeni Islah Party since his abduction on April 5th, 2015, preventing him from communicating with his family and refusing to disclose his health or fate to this day.

The Houthi group has previously released three out of four individuals subject to UN Security Council Resolution 2216 but continues to refuse to even allow Qahtaan to communicate with his family.

Those subject to UN Security Council Resolution 2216 are former Defense Minister Major General Mahmoud al-Subaihi, Major General Nasser Mansour Hadi, brother of former President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, Commander of the 119th Infantry Brigade Major General Faisal Rajab, and politician Mohammed Qahtaan.

In early May, the government delegation in the prisoner and detainee negotiations accused the Houthi group, internationally designated as a terrorist organization, of "obstructing repeated calls to resume negotiations and hindering any efforts to resolve the prisoner issue."

On January 3rd, the Yemeni government delegation in the prisoner and detainee negotiations announced the postponement of a round of negotiations scheduled for that week with the Houthi delegation to "an indefinite date" following "Houthi intransigence and obstruction," according to the government delegation spokesperson.

On April 17th, 2023, approximately 887 prisoners were released in a prisoner exchange deal between the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Houthi group, classified as a terrorist organization, according to an agreement reached in the last round of negotiations in Switzerland. This was the second-largest exchange overseen by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross since the outbreak of the conflict in Yemen.

On October 16th, 2020, the International Committee of the Red Cross implemented a deal between the Yemeni government and the Houthis involving 1056 prisoners and detainees, including 15 Saudis and 4 Sudanese from the Arab coalition forces.