In Taiz, Abductees’ Mothers Association has documented 76 cases of abducted civilians and 29 forcibly disappeared persons held by Houthi armed group. Additionally, there have been 2 arbitrarily detained persons held by the government, 2 forcibly disappeared individuals held by Abu Al-Abbas group, and one forcibly disappeared held by Tariq’s forces at the western coast.
Those individuals have been held as long as six years, while the intransigence of all parties continues to prolong their abduction and disappearance, and increase the life-threatening risks they face daily. 28 abductees held at Alsaleh Prison, as documented by the association, suffered a great terror due to a great explosion that occurred on March 1st of this year in one of the buildings of Alsaleh compound, which is used as prisons by Houthis.
The explosion itself is expected to be caused by weaponries stored in the buildings by Houthi armed group, as a former abductee testified that he witnessed weapon stored near detention buildings. Thus, torture and bombing prisons by air force are not the only risks endangering the lives of abductees.
In our rally, we demand to urgently and unconditionally release all abductees and arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared persons held by all parties.
We call upon the ICRC and OHCHR to visit prisons and detention centres, take serious actions to grant the abductees and detainees access to all their rights, and mount the needed pressure to guarantee their safety.
We, also, call upon all human rights organizations and activists, locally and internationally, to exert the necessary pressure to release the abductees and forcibly disappeared persons, document the violations against them, and generate more efforts to fight impunity.
Issued by Abductees’ Mothers Association, Taiz. March 16th, 2022.