Torture and Enforced Disappearance in Yemen Receives Significant International Attention – Palais des Nations

Geneva – Palais des Nations

The file of torture and enforced disappearance in Yemen has attracted widespread international attention during a human rights symposium organized by the “Erada” Organization for Combating Torture and Enforced Disappearance, in partnership with the Yemeni Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violations and Torture, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The event saw the participation of representatives from UN mechanisms, diplomatic missions, and international organizations, who discussed the reality of the victims, ways to enhance international accountability, and ending the policy of impunity.

The symposium witnessed the participation of representatives from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the team supporting victims of torture, the team concerned with the sale and exploitation of children, and the team of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. This was in addition to representatives from the embassies of Germany, Belgium, the United States, and the European Union, as well as several human rights defenders, journalists, and representatives of international organizations, in an attendance that reflected the growing international interest in the file of abductees and the forcibly disappeared in Yemen.

During the symposium, the organization revealed new details about a secret prison affiliated with the Houthi militia, presenting maps, documents, and information that it stated document the location of a secret facility where 752 abductees and forcibly disappeared persons are held, including 237 children, as part of its new human rights report, “Behind the Walls of Silence”.

The symposium was opened by journalist Abdulrahman Saylan, the session moderator, who emphasized that the continuation of the crimes of torture and enforced disappearance requires more effective international action, while Dr. Omar Kazaba presented a legal intervention addressing the legal responsibility for these crimes, confirming that torture and enforced disappearance are among the most serious violations that necessitate accountability and the prevention of impunity.

In a moving speech, the President of the Organization, Sheikh Jamal Al-Maamari—a survivor of torture and enforced disappearance—reviewed his personal experience, stressing that the suffering of victims does not end upon their release from prison, but extends for many years. He called on the international community to take urgent action to reveal the fate of all those forcibly disappeared, release those arbitrarily detained, provide redress to the victims, and hold those responsible for these crimes accountable.

The symposium also included a video intervention by French journalist Anna Gonzalez on the role of the media in documenting war violations in Yemen, while former detainee Qais Ali Thabit gave direct testimony about the torture he endured inside Houthi detention centers, followed by the testimony of Amat Al-Wali Qais Harmal, which embodied the suffering of the families of abductees and the forcibly disappeared, and the deep psychological and humanitarian impacts these crimes leave behind.

The organization screened a documentary report documenting aspects of the suffering of victims and their families, before launching its human rights report, “Behind the Walls of Silence,” which documents testimonies, evidence, and information related to crimes of torture and enforced disappearance inside secret detention centers.

The organization affirmed, in its final statement, that the secret prison revealed by the report represents a highly dangerous model of the illegal detention system, stressing that the 752 forcibly disappeared persons are not just numbers, but souls waiting for freedom, and that the detention of 237 children constitutes a crime against childhood and humanity.

The organization demanded that the international community and the United Nations take urgent steps to reveal the fate of all those forcibly disappeared, ensure the unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained, enable the International Committee of the Red Cross and relevant UN mechanisms to access detention sites without restrictions, hold those responsible for crimes of torture and enforced disappearance accountable, and support rehabilitation programs for victims and reparation.

The symposium concluded with an open dialogue between UN representatives, diplomatic missions, international organizations, and the attendees, covering ways to enhance international accountability mechanisms, support victims and their families, and intensify international efforts to end the crimes of torture and enforced disappearance and ensure that perpetrators do not escape punishment.

Issued by: The Yemeni Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violations and Torture (Will and Hope) Saturday, July 4, 2026 – Yemen, Marib