Abductees’ Mothers Association voices its profound and escalating concern for its sons held captive in the prisons of the Houthi group. This anxiety intensifies with the renewed aerial bombardments in areas under their control, the frequency of which has alarmingly increased recently, with utter disregard for the presence of hundreds of civilian abductees languishing in prisons and secret detention centers within these regions.
We vehemently condemn the continued detention of innocent civilians, abducted years ago without any semblance of legal justification, and the relentless and expansive campaign of abductions that persists unabated. We hold the Houthi group fully accountable for the lives of our abducted and forcibly disappeared sons held in their custody. Their families can no longer bear the weight of another tragedy, reminiscent of the harrowing incidents that befell abductees previously held in the Military Police building in Sana’a in December 2017, and the catastrophe at the Dhamar Community College in September 2019, which claimed the lives of dozens of abductees.
We, at Abductees’ Mothers Association, issue an urgent appeal and reiterate our call to the international community, influential actors, and relevant organizations to exert pressure on all parties to secure the release of our abducted and forcibly disappeared sons from all prisons and to empty these detention centers entirely.
The abduction and detention of civilians in locations vulnerable to airstrikes constitute a double crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. This gravely increases the potential for humanitarian disasters to befall our abducted sons should the bombardments continue.
Furthermore, we demand that the UN Special Envoy fulfill his duty by pressing all parties to adhere to the Stockholm Agreement and implement the promises made regarding the unconditional release of all abductees and forcibly disappeared individuals.
We, mothers, possess nothing but worry and fear for the fate of our sons who have been forcibly vanished into the darkness of prisons. We renew our plea to the international community, and to human rights and humanitarian organizations, to bear their moral and humanitarian responsibilities towards these innocent souls and to work by all possible means to ensure their safety and their swift release.
Issued by Abductees’ Mothers Association
April 23rd, 2025