Barran Press
A human rights organization announced on Saturday, August 31, 2024, that it has documented 1585 civilians who have been subjected to enforced disappearances for periods ranging from two months to five years in areas under the control of the Houthi group, which is listed as a terrorist organization.
The announcement was made during the "Annual Briefing on Victims of Enforced Disappearances" event, organized by the National Commission for Prisoners and Abductees in collaboration with the Yemeni Organization for Rights, in the governorate of Marib (northeastern Yemen).
According to the annual briefing, reviewed by "Barran Press," over 1585 civilians have been subjected to enforced disappearances for varying periods, ranging from two months to five consecutive years, in areas controlled by the Houthi group, including 34 women and 64 children.
The briefing added that 136 of them remain missing as of the date of the briefing, including 51 former employees of international organizations and the US embassy, while the internationally recognized government is responsible for three cases of enforced disappearance.
The briefing urged the Yemeni government to urgently join and adhere to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, incorporate its provisions into its laws and regulations, and activate national human rights protection mechanisms throughout Yemen, particularly judicial mechanisms to protect citizens from the crime of enforced disappearance and to prosecute those responsible.
The briefing also called on the United Nations to take swift, serious, and effective action to secure the release of all those forcibly disappeared in Houthi prisons, including UN staff, to ensure justice for the victims, to condemn those responsible for these violations, and to oblige the Houthi group to cease its incitements and hate speech against international and UN organizations, to stop interfering in the work of humanitarian and relief organizations, and to redirect their activities to serve their own agenda.
The briefing also called on the Houthi group to immediately release those forcibly disappeared in their prisons, particularly employees of UN and international organizations, to stop incitement and hate speech and accusations of treason against those forcibly disappeared, their organizations, their activities, and their role, and to stop obstructing the work of humanitarian and relief organizations, interfering in their activities, and directing them to serve their own goals.
The head of the National Commission for Prisoners and Abductees, Radwan Masoud, explained that the Houthi group has employed systematic methods and practices to carry out enforced disappearances against civilians as a way to silence dissenting voices and intimidate civil society in the areas under their control for the past 10 years.
In turn, the head of the "Di Ment" organization, lawyer Fahd Al-Wosabi, said that the Houthi group has not only kidnapped and disappeared civilians but has also subjected them to other violations that are no less serious than the crime of enforced disappearance, including fabricating serious trumped-up charges against them, forcing them to confess to these fabricated charges, filming their confessions, and broadcasting them on all official media outlets affiliated with the Houthi group.