Abductees’ Mothers Association is following with profound anguish and alarm the escalating campaign of kidnappings and forced disappearances in the capital, Sana’a. Since the beginning of this month, the Houthi militia has launched a widespread abduction campaign. According to our Association’s monitoring and documentation, 24 abductees—civilians and employees of international organizations—have been taken to an unknown location.
We vehemently condemn these ongoing practices, which constitute a blatant violation of human rights and a grave breach of both national laws and international covenants, foremost among them the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These fundamental texts guarantee the right to liberty and personal security and prohibit arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance.
As our Association launches its rights campaign under the slogan “Save the Abductees” to draw the world’s attention to the agony of the victims and their families, we affirm that these grave and continuous practices only multiply our fears for the fate of those taken. This terror is compounded by the painful memory of the Houthi group’s brutal execution of nine sons of Tihama in September 2021, a horrific event whose fourth anniversary now passes and whose dark shadow still haunts the Yemeni people. This atrocity fuels our growing dread that such crimes will be repeated.
We, at Abductees’ Mothers Association, strongly denounce these violations and hold the Houthi group fully responsible for the safety and lives of all abductees and those forcibly disappeared.
We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all detained civilians.
We call upon the United Nations, international organizations, and the global community to shoulder their humanitarian and legal responsibilities and to apply urgent pressure to stop these violations and ensure they are not repeated.
The continuation of these practices will only deepen the human suffering and destroy any chance for peace and justice in Yemen.
Therefore, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to championing the rights of the victims and defending human dignity, until every abductee and every person forcibly disappeared is restored to their full freedom.
Issued by Abductees’ Mothers Association
September 20th, 2025