NOOR SURIB

Yemen –Abductees’ Mothers Association has launched a campaign with the cooperation of the American Center for Justice (ACJ). The association issued a statement to launch the campaign, supported by the ACJ, many activists, and NGOs. In the statement, the mothers emphasized that their children are innocent but they were abducted and disappeared because of their political views. The association demands that April 18 should be declared a popular and official day to end the suffering of the abductees.

7,823 civilians were abducted

In the statement, the association also released its statistics from 2016 and 2022. Between 2016 and 2022, 7,823 civilians, including 158 women, were abducted by the Houthis, 419 civilians, including nine women, were abducted, 172 civilians were killed by security forces, 478 civilians were subjected to torture in Houthi prisons, and 142 in the prisons of the security services of the legitimate government, according to the statistics.

448 civilians are held in prisons

According to the statistics, 92 civilians were tortured to death, “210 civilians were killed in the bombardment on the checkpoints of the coalition. 18 civilians died due to medical negligence; all of them disappeared in the Houthi prisons. 448 civilians have been still held in prisons. 73 civilians, including three women, have been held in prison by the Security Belt Forces.  18 civilians have been held by the Yemeni internal security forces. The Abductees’ Mothers Association documented that five detainees, including a woman, have been held in prison by joint forces. Abducted 51 people were sentenced to death without trial in Houthi Prisons.”

The association stated that they interviewed 795 women and men, who were released from prison after being subjected to torture. In the statement, the association calls on the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni government to urgently and justly resolve the cases of the abducted and forcibly disappeared and demands that April 18 should be declared as Yemeni Abductees’ Day.

“Our struggle will continue”

NuJINHA spoke to Arwa Fadl, a member of the Abductees' Mothers Association, about their campaign. “I still don’t know the fate of my husband, who was forcibly disappeared in 2016. Everyone knows that dozens of abductees and disappeared people were tortured to death and that many more died due to medical negligence. I looked for my husband in many prisons and asked many people what happened to my husband but unfortunately, I didn’t receive any information about him. We will continue our struggle together with families, who are looking for their disappeared relatives.”

Center of Strategic Studies to Support Women and Children

Head of the Association for the Protection of Abused Women and Survivors of Houthi Prisons, Noura Al-Jarawi said, “The Houthis still arrest and hold women in prison without carrying out any investigation. Some women are held in prison with their children. The death penalty for women has not been abolished yet. The physical and psychological torture against women is increasing day by day. Women are raped and forced to go on hunger strike due to bad conditions in prisons.”

She also told us that they support the campaign launched by the Abductees' Mothers Association

Dr. Angela Al-Maamari, the president of the Center of Strategic Studies to Support Women and Children, also commented on the campaign saying, “we must seriously focus on the psychological effects of abduction on the abducted people and their families. Psychological support should be provided for them.”

In the statement, the Abductees' Mothers Association also calls for active participation in the online campaign under the hashtags #YemeniAbducteesDay and #يوم_المختطف_اليمني_18أبريل