Barran Press - By Ammar Zu’bul
Mohammed Yahya Ali Youss clutches four photographs of his five-year-old son, Malek, who died on September 20, 2024, following what his father alleges was catastrophic medical malpractice at a hospital in Hajjah, northwestern Yemen.
The first photo shows Malek, healthy and smiling, in new clothes outside his home on March 18, 2024, the day he was taken to the hospital. The second depicts him frail and ill in a hospital bed after, his father claims, receiving a wrong medication. The third is a harrowing image of Malek, reduced to a skeletal frame after months of alleged neglect. The final picture shows Malek’s lifeless body, shrouded in a burial cloth.
This Barran Press report details the tragic death of Malek, who arrived at the hospital walking, only to perish within its walls. It also highlights the ordeal faced by his father, who alleges intimidation and threats from Houthi authorities tasked with investigating the case, in an apparent attempt to force him to drop his complaint.
Mohammed Youss, a resident of Aflah al-Yemen district in Hajjah governorate, says he took his only son, Malek, to the Saudi Hospital in Hajjah on March 18, 2024, for treatment of a chest infection. Malek was walking and, according to his father, appeared otherwise healthy. Little did Youss know this trip would lead to his son's death.
A Fatal Mistake
Two days after Malek's admission, and while in the emergency room, his condition, according to his father, had begun to improve. However, the doctors decided to keep him for a third day. "They inserted an IV drip with three injections," Youss recounts. "Immediately, he started convulsing, as shown in the second photograph."
In a formal complaint filed with the prosecutor's office on May 27, 2024, and seen by Barran Press, Youss states the IV drip was administered by a Pakistani hospital worker. He alleges that within a minute of the injection, Malek began violently shaking, "like he'd received an electric shock." Youss claims his son's limbs stiffened, and he lost all consciousness. He accuses the hospital of subsequent neglect and refusal to transfer Malek to another facility despite his repeated requests.
Failed Rescue Attempt
Youss says the doctors assured him Malek would recover, dismissing his condition as a simple infection. As Malek's health deteriorated, Youss attempted to transfer him, but the hospital administration and doctors refused. "Their insistence made me wait," he laments.
In his complaint, Youss suggests the hospital's refusal to transfer Malek was a deliberate attempt to cover up their alleged medical error, which left him "a skeleton covered only by skin," as depicted in the third photograph.
After a month, the hospital unexpectedly asked Youss to sign a discharge form, which he refused, demanding a transfer document instead—a request the hospital denied.
Navigating a Bureaucratic Maze
As Malek's health rapidly declined, Youss turned to the authorities for help. Documents obtained by Barran Press show he filed a complaint with the Hajjah police and criminal investigation department on May 14, 2024. He was then referred to the public prosecutor's office, which, he says, failed to compel the hospital to transfer his son.
A memo obtained by Barran Press reveals that the Hajjah governorate's appeal court assigned the medical council to investigate the case urgently on June 8, 2024. Another document, dated June 12, 2024, shows the Sana'a public prosecutor's office directed the head of the medical council, Mujahid Ali Me’sar, to investigate and submit a detailed report. The investigation, however, appears to have stalled, leaving Youss to grapple with his son's death and the alleged intimidation he faces.
Allegations of Manipulation
Mohammed Yahya Ali Youss firmly believes his son’s life could have been saved had the hospital not insisted on holding him, attempting to evade responsibility for what he calls a “fatal error.” He also claims that the authorities have sided with the accused, pointing to similar cases where intervention from officials led to successful outcomes.
Youss accuses the medical council of failing to address the situation with the seriousness it deserved, while his son Malek’s health deteriorated day by day. He holds the council and its head, Mujahid Ali Me’sar, responsible for “manipulating my son’s case, which I brought to them in hopes of saving him.”
In a separate complaint directed to the Attorney General in Sana'a, Abdel Salam Houthi, Youss stated, “My son remained in the hospital for six months until the medical staff finally removed the IV, after which he passed away.” He asserted that the hospital intentionally neglected Malek’s condition during this time, claiming, “I could have saved my child’s life, but the staff committed their heinous crime with premeditation.”
Youss criticized the medical council for not fulfilling its legal obligations regarding his son’s case, alleging that it deliberately manipulated the investigation to absolve the hospital of blame and delayed proceedings related to his case.
Legal Violations and Violent Threats
On July 22, 2024, the medical council issued a report concerning the incident, which Youss deemed unlawful and biased in favor of the hospital. He told Barran Press that the report was compiled without consulting experts and that the deceased’s body was not subjected to forensic examination. He also highlighted that some signatures on the report belonged to individuals who were not present.
In a “grievance and appeal” submitted to the unrecognized Houthi government on September 16, 2024, Youss claimed the medical council’s management deliberately manipulated the case to protect the hospital. He outlined several violations that he said evidenced a willful attempt to deny justice for his son, accusing the accountability committee of neglecting to seek unbiased expert opinions and relying solely on the disputed report as evidence.
He argued that the council failed to form a team of consultants to inspect the procedures taken regarding his son Malek from the moment he was admitted to the hospital, emphasizing that the case involved the loss of innocent life.
Threats and Coercion
In addition to the inadequate handling of the case, Youss reported facing verbal abuse and threats from the head of the medical council, Mujahid Ali Me’sar, during his visits seeking assistance. He recounted an incident where he was rebuked for bringing his son to the hospital, with Me’sar questioning, “Who told you to bring him here for treatment?”
Youss’s grievances to Houthi authorities reflect escalating hostile actions against him by the medical council, culminating in his reported abduction and threats to his life to force him to withdraw his case.
On July 23, 2024, he claimed he was kidnapped from the council premises by staff and guards, taken to an undisclosed location, and coerced under threat to sign documents he did not understand. In a memo submitted to the Attorney General at the end of July, he recounted, “They forced my thumbprint on two papers at gunpoint, then took me to another unknown location and coerced me again.”
In his appeal to the unrecognized Houthi government, he described the actions against him as a deliberate crime aimed at denying a human being the right to life, equating it to premeditated murder.
He stated, “The medical council has lost my son’s case and is trying to destroy me in the process. For five months, my case was held with them until my son died, and now he remains in the morgue, with his death on the council’s conscience.”
Exorbitant Costs and No Results
Following his abduction, Youss claimed that council employees contacted him, demanding one million riyals to facilitate a medical committee’s investigation into the incident at the Saudi Hospital. Despite following up for two months, he received no results, and upon his son's death, he learned that the accused doctors had been sent to Egypt.
Youss confirmed he has a receipt for the one million riyals. He also noted that the hospital administration has been in constant contact with the governor and local council members, as well as regional sheiks, in an effort to pressure him into accepting his child’s body and closing the case, a proposal he has resolutely rejected as he remains committed to holding them accountable.
Death Twice
Following the tragic death of his son, Malek, Mohammed Yahya Ali Youss has submitted a follow-up memo to the unrecognized Houthi government, lamenting, “I bring you the news of my son Malek’s death, who passed away after suffering two forms of murder: first, through medical malpractice at the Saudi Hospital, and second, through the complicity of official agencies with the perpetrators who committed their crime over six long months.”
During this period, Youss asserted that his son lay in the hospital without any internal or external care. He accused the medical council of wasting precious time while his son’s condition deteriorated, stating that they could restore Malek to a normal life. He holds the Houthi government accountable for the negligence that led to his child’s death and is calling on the Houthi leader for redress.
A Grave Mistake
Barran Press has spoken to a member of the medical council who expressed dissent regarding the council's report, admitting, “There was a significant error in relying on the hospital’s report as documentation.” The council member, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, emphasized that any medical report must be accompanied by evidence. “When it states that a patient’s blood was in a certain condition upon arrival, it should include lab analysis. And if treatment was administered, it must be supported by a prescription,” he explained.
He stressed the necessity of forming a team of consultants to review the procedures from the hospital to the medical council and recommended filing a grievance with the complaints committee regarding the council’s reliance on the hospital’s report as conclusive evidence.
Media Disappointment
Having lost hope for justice, Youss attempted to bring his case to the media in Sana’a, only to find disappointment there as well. He recounted his experience with Al-Hudood TV, a channel affiliated with the Houthis, stating they had requested his case documents to cover the story. Describing his interactions with them as “empty promises,” he noted, “After providing the requested documents and a CD, they assured me they would contact me the next day. Instead, days later, their legal advisor, Abdul Rahman, informed me, ‘We don’t want to get involved with the medical council’s issues.’”
A Justice Denied
Amid ongoing conflicts and wars, hospitals and medical centers can become sites of human slaughter, while oversight bodies and law enforcement often become complicit in such crimes. This is the grim reality facing Yemen, which has endured a decade of war, a truth that has become painfully clear to Mohammed Yous after losing his only child to catastrophic medical malpractice, leaving him with no avenues for accountability or justice.
As his son’s body remains in the morgue in Hajjah, Youss wanders the halls of Houthi authorities in Sana’a, desperately searching for the justice that remains elusive and the humanity that has been lost.