A statement welcoming the launch of a round of Yemeni negotiations regarding prisoners and abductees in Muscat

Mayyun Organization for Human Rights welcomes the resumption of negotiations by the Houthi group with the Yemeni government regarding prisoners and abductees currently underway in the Sultanate of Oman, under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy to Yemen and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The organization also renews its condemnation of the abduction campaign committed by the Houthi group against employees of international and local organizations during the past month of June, and the fabrication of charges against employees in the detained diplomatic missions for years. It emphasizes the necessity that any partial agreement for prisoner exchange or a comprehensive deal for release should include them on the principle of “all for all.”

It is important for everyone during the negotiation sessions to recall the suffering of thousands of families who wait in pain and longing to reunite with their loved ones behind bars, and to work with sincere intentions, unmarred by political calculations, to succeed in a comprehensive deal that ensures the release of all prisoners, detainees, abductees, and those forcibly disappeared due to the conflict ongoing since 2014. This includes the politician Mohammed Qahtan, who is subjected to systematic violation, being used as a bargaining chip by the Houthi group that has excluded him from all previous agreements and still refuses to reveal his fate or whether he is alive, indifferent to the humanitarian suffering of his family.

The prisoners and abductees continue to be subjected to violations, including torture, ill-treatment, detention in isolation from the outside world, and deprivation of communication with their families, with a profound psychological impact on them and their families deprived of contact.

The continuation of these practices constitutes a blatant violation of international law and exposes the perpetrators to legal accountability. We remind the parties to the conflict in Yemen that they are bound by human rights law, international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and their protocols, which prohibit arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, and ensure the rights of detainees. The right of prisoners, detainees, and abductees to life, freedom, and dignity is inalienable and must not be compromised under any pretext or linked to any other files.

We call on the international community to assume its responsibilities in protecting human rights in Yemen and to make decisive contributions to the current round of negotiations to achieve the desired outcome. The international community must tirelessly work to impose UN sanctions against the obstructing and disabling parties.

Issued by the Mayyun Organization for Human Rights
July 1, 2024