The Houthi “Secret Detention Centers” File on the United Nations Table

Within the framework of the intensive and continuous human rights activism of the Erada Organization, in partnership with the Yemeni Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violations and Torture (Will and Hope), and on the sidelines of the 62nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, a delegation from the “Erada” Organization for Combating Torture and Enforced Disappearance, headed by Sheikh Jamal Al-Maamari, held a meeting with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances at the Palais des Nations.

The meeting was dedicated to discussing the file of gross and systematic violations committed by the Houthi militia in Yemen. The President of the “Erada” Organization—who also heads the Yemeni Center—submitted a documentary report to the UN team regarding the reality of secret prisons and the suffering of forcibly disappeared persons.

This report included an accurate map and in-depth details about one of the Houthi secret detention centers, where 752 abductees and forcibly disappeared persons are held under harsh, inhumane conditions.

During the meeting, the President of the “Erada” Organization stressed the need to transition to the stage of international accountability. He emphasized that the organization, in partnership with the Yemeni Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violations and Torture, continues to build an accurate database containing the names of supervisors, officers, and investigators involved in crimes of torture. This serves as a strategic step to prosecute them locally and internationally to ensure they do not escape punishment.

The meeting also reviewed the Houthi militia’s practice of converting homes and public institutions into secret prisons affiliated with its security apparatuses, including National Security, Political Security, and Preventive Security. It presented definitive evidence of systematic torture that led to the deaths of hundreds of victims behind bars.

For their part, members of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances expressed their deep appreciation for the exceptional role played by the “Erada” Organization for Combating Torture and Enforced Disappearance, and for the efforts led by its president, Sheikh Jamal Al-Maamari, in documenting violations, revealing the truth, and defending victims of enforced disappearance.

The team noted that the personal experience of Sheikh Jamal Al-Maamari, as a victim of enforced disappearance and brutal torture himself, did not break his will. Instead, it served as a powerful motivation to transform his suffering into a human rights and humanitarian mission, dedicating his efforts to demanding the accountability of perpetrators, redressing victims, and achieving justice for the forcibly disappeared and their families.

The Enforced Disappearance team confirmed that the submitted reports will be urgently integrated into international council reports. They noted that the team has addressed numerous official communications to the Houthi militia, demanding they immediately reveal the fate of those disappeared in secret detention centers and expedite their release.

The “Erada” Organization for Combating Torture and Enforced Disappearance, in partnership with the Yemeni Center, renewed its pledge to the victims of enforced disappearance and their families to move forward in this human rights struggle, asserting that it will not stop until it ensures the liberation of all abductees from the darkness of detention centers and brings the perpetrators to international criminal justice.

Furthermore, the Yemeni Center calls upon the international community to assume its moral and legal responsibilities towards this tragedy that bleeds the human conscience in Yemen.

Issued by: The Yemeni Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violations and Torture (Will and Hope)

Marib, June 30, 2026