The Abductees’ Mothers Association held a protest on Wednesday outside the headquarters of the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Human Rights Violations in Aden, coinciding with the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, observed on August 30 each year. The protest called for the fate of all persons subjected to enforced disappearance to be disclosed and for an end to the years of suffering endured by their families.
During the protest, the Association’s leadership met with two members of the National Commission, Judge Dr. Mohammed Talian and Judge Nasser Al-Awdhali, to discuss the cases of those subjected to enforced disappearance and the suffering of their families, who have been left without information about their loved ones’ whereabouts or fate.
The Association urged the Commission members to take serious and effective action on the issue, work to establish the fate of those forcibly disappeared, verify their conditions and places of detention, and ensure their families’ right to know the truth and receive assurances about their safety.
The two Commission members said the issue of enforced disappearance is among the cases receiving priority in the Commission’s work. They said the Commission continues to address the issue within its available capacity and that its upcoming report includes the names of a number of people subjected to enforced disappearance. The report is expected to be published and announced in early September.
The Abductees’ Mothers Association said publishing the names of those forcibly disappeared and establishing their fate would represent an important step toward justice for victims and their families. It called for this step to be accompanied by serious efforts to determine the whereabouts of all those missing, enable them to communicate with their families, and end the detention of anyone deprived of their liberty outside the framework of the law.
According to the Association’s documentation, 143 people remain forcibly disappeared by the Houthi group, while another 78 remain forcibly disappeared in Aden. They continue to be denied contact with their families as well as legal protection and due-process guarantees, while their families endure years of uncertainty and anxiety over their fate.
The Association renewed its call on the relevant authorities to immediately disclose the fate of all persons subjected to enforced disappearance, reveal their places of detention, enable them to communicate with their families, and release those detained outside the framework of the law. It also called for independent and transparent investigations into cases of enforced disappearance and accountability for those responsible.
The Association further urged human rights organizations and relevant international bodies to maintain pressure to end the practice of enforced disappearance in Yemen and to ensure that human rights and international organizations have access to detention facilities to verify the conditions of forcibly disappeared persons and other detainees.
The Abductees’ Mothers Association stressed that knowing the fate of one’s sons is a fundamental right that cannot be postponed or used as a bargaining tool. It said mothers would continue to raise their voices until the fate of all those subjected to enforced disappearance is revealed, they are reunited with their families, and justice is achieved for victims and their loved ones.
