Our pain has been worsening every day since the coalition air force targeted Community College Prison in Dhamar forty days ago. Every tear drop is considered a condemnation for the silence towards the brutal crime that resulted in the death of 100 abductees. Many mothers are still in shock as they have been patiently looking forward to seeing their abducted sons free. However, they sadly ended up collecting their sons’ dismembered bodies. All our support, condolences, and prayers go to those mothers.
Abductees’ Mothers Association in Taiz has monitored 27 cases of identified bodies. Only 20 of them could be buried despite detaining other family members by Houthi armed group for days. There were 32 missing abductees who turned to unrecognizable body parts as Houthis claimed. These body parts were collected by Houthi armed group in huge plastic bags and preserved in bad conditions causing them to rot. Additionally, Houthis demanded families to have them DNA checked in order to find out which parts belongs to whom.
The wife of the abductee Adeeb Ali Al-Futaih says that she saw and recognized her husband’s body on TV, namely AlMasirah channel. Yet, when she went to collect the body for burial, she did not find it. “They hid the body!” she said.
Jawad Al-Sheikh’s family found his name on the list of victims issued by Houthi armed group. However, Jawad was not at the Community College Prison during the airstrikes as he had been admitted a week earlier due to angina and his health condition is still bad until today.
We, at Abductees’ Mothers Association, call upon International Red Cross and the United Nations to immediately intervene to help the families that were unable to collect their relatives’ bodies due to inhuman and illegal procedures, lack of information because of enforced disappearance, inaccuracy of the information provided by Houthis, or the financial incapability of families to move and bury their sons as the UN and IRC had a great role in releasing 30 survivors of the incident recently.
We hold Houthi armed group and the Arab Coalition responsible for the mass murder of our sons as it is an imprescriptible crime against humanity. We demand the United Nations and its Security Council to bring the perpetrators to justice and to place the needed pressure in order to unconditionally and immediately release all the abductees and forcibly hidden individuals.
May the martyrs rest in peace. May the wounded heal. May all abductees be free.
Issued by Abductees’ Mothers Association, Taiz
October 12th, 2019