The Abductees’ Mothers Association held a meeting with Ambassador Gabriel Munuera Vinals, Head of the European Union Delegation to Yemen, along with representatives of European Union Mission in Yemen, during their visit to the city of Taiz. During the meeting, the Association’s Chairperson, Ms. Amat Al-Salam Al-Hajj, addressed the issue of abductees and forcibly disappeared individuals, highlighting the severe suffering they endure in detention facilities. She emphasized the prolonged nature of their detention, exceeding ten years in some cases, and the resulting, ongoing hardship faced by their families on multiple levels.
Al-Hajj stressed the urgent need for international actors to exert pressure on all parties, particularly those obstructing the ongoing prisoner exchange process, to ensure compliance with measures that would lead to the release of detainees. She underscored that the continued detention of civil society workers and staff of international and local organizations constitutes a compounded violation, given their humanitarian roles. She also called for the immediate release of detained women and an end to their suffering, noting that they are subjected to grave abuses that contravene both humanitarian values and international law.
Furthermore, Al-Hajj urged the Yemeni government to actively pursue the file of forcibly disappeared persons, disclose their fate in southern governorates and across Yemen, and promptly implement presidential directives through concrete and tangible actions.
She also highlighted the Association’s efforts in promoting peace and justice, particularly its advocacy for women through the project “Protecting Civic and Women’s Space and Enhancing Women’s Role in the Peace Process,” supported by United Nations Development Programme through the United Nations Peace Support Facility.
Al-Hajj concluded by affirming that the Association will continue its advocacy and struggle at all levels, both locally and internationally, until all abductees and forcibly disappeared individuals are released unconditionally.
