Investigation Committee documents hundreds of forced disappearances, severe violations in Hadramout, Aden prisons

HADRAMOUT, March 24 (YPA) – Human rights sources have revealed the registration of 874 cases of enforced disappearance in Hadramout Governorate, coinciding with the documentation of grave human rights violations within detention centers managed by Saudi and UAE-backed forces.

In statements to Al-Jazeera, Hussein al-Mashdali, head of the National Commission to Investigate Allegations of Human Rights Violations, confirmed that investigations uncovered a “humanitarian shock,” including:

• Torture leading to death: Documentation of fatalities under torture and cases of sexual assault within prisons in Hadramout.
• Security pretexts: Between 95% and 99% of these violations occurred under the guise of “counter-terrorism,” often targeting the relatives of suspects.
• The Aden file: The fate of dozens of forcibly disappeared persons in Aden and other southern governorates remains unknown, with 63 cases documented in Aden alone.

Al-Mashdali noted that many victims refrain from testifying due to “social stigma.” He emphasized that inspections of several detention sites failed to locate missing persons, amid reports that detainees may have been transferred to other facilities, such as “Bir Ahmed” prison, or extrajudicially executed within the facilities.

YPA