As the month of Ramadan approaches, and as part of ongoing efforts to demand the disclosure of the fate of those forcibly disappeared and the closure of secret prisons, the Abductees’ Mothers Association held a protest rally this morning in front of the headquarters of the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The rally aimed to convey the voices of mothers calling for the return of their loved ones and the revelation of their fate after more than ten years of enforced disappearance.
The mothers of the forcibly disappeared stated that holding the protest in front of the Coalition’s headquarters constitutes a message to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, particularly to the head of the coalition delegation, Major General Falah Al-Shahrani, stressing the need to place the issue of abductees and forcibly disappeared persons among the top priorities of the current phase, which requires urgent and serious solutions. They called for efforts to uncover the fate of the disappeared and to open a comprehensive investigation into secret prisons that were previously run by the Security Belt forces affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council.
The Abductees’ Mothers Association renewed its demands to the internationally recognized legitimate government to accelerate the implementation of official directives related to the file of the forcibly disappeared, to disclose their fate before undertaking any other measures, particularly in light of the discovery of a number of secret prisons that are now empty of detainees. The Association also called for holding those responsible for crimes of enforced disappearance and torture accountable, and for providing justice and redress to the victims and their families.
The families expressed their hope that the holy month of Ramadan will arrive with their sons returned to their arms, families reunited around iftar tables, and warmth restored to homes that have been deprived of joy for years, after secret prisons took away their loved ones and denied them their most basic human rights.
