YouSaid · the spoken record

Al-Hajj

lines on the record

9

first

2023-08-16

most recent

2023-08-16

sittings or episodes

1

sources

un-security-council

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1. “We call for all those responsible for the abduction and forced disappearance and torture to be brought to domestic and international justice. Indeed, they must not be allowed to enjoy impunity. We warn that agreeing to a fragile peace will lead only to the return of violence and fighting. There is simply not enough time to give the Security Council a detailed account of the situation. However, it is important for all Council members to know that the Yemeni people and those personally affected have high hopes for the Council in its efforts to make a breakthrough on all tracks. We remain firm in our resolve to achieve our goal of ensuring human rights, including the right to freedom, justice and equality. We believe in the Council, its role and its support so that our efforts come to a positive end. We will continue making our efforts.”

   2023-08-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9396 (2023) · source

2. “We call for comprehensive peace, the return of State authority, disarmament and non-interference by external parties in our internal affairs. We call for the release of all detainees and abductees and for the fate of those forcibly missing and disappeared to be disclosed. We call for the immediate implementation of the Stockholm Agreement, which calls for the unconditional release of abductees and detainees. Utmost priority should be given during negotiations to the issue of male and female abductees and the forcibly disappeared. We call for the families of abductees and forcibly missing persons to be represented in negotiations. We call for this issue to be resolved in a fair manner because it is the most important step towards achieving peace and stability in Yemen.”

   2023-08-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9396 (2023) · source

3. “They suffer the presence of landmines and snipers, in addition to policies imposed by the Houthis that limit their abilities to travel, move, work and study. Travel is forbidden for women without being accompanied by a mahram, a male relative. Women cannot access basic services, including sexual and reproductive health services. They are also subject to threats, abduction, forced disappearance and even targeted killing. This is especially the case for women peacebuilders and defenders of human rights. We believe that the Security Council has great power. We trust that it also intends to resolve this specific issue by bringing about an end to the conflict and protecting civilians in Yemen in general. We would therefore present Council members with a number of recommendations, as follows, that we hope will be taken into consideration.”

   2023-08-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9396 (2023) · source

4. “Their families are waiting for them, despite their present conditions, which are a violation of their most basic human rights, running counter to all international laws and conventions, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention. When we speak about the abductees, we speak of thousands of families and children who have been forcibly displaced and forced to live in places with substandard living conditions. They suffer acute shortages of food, medicine and clean water. They live in scorching heat with total power cuts. Women are the most adversely affected by the conflict, which has undermined their lives and livelihoods. They are enduring social-based violence in different areas under the control of the combating parties.”

   2023-08-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9396 (2023) · source

5. “Many of those have suffered psychological trauma and poor health, as they were subjected to different kinds of abuse, including living in conditions where they became sick due to exposure to the infectious diseases that are widespread in prisons. They have had to face forced displacement and bad economic conditions. We see this exchange of prisoners and detainees as a good indication that the issue could be resolved once and for all on the condition that it is an all-for-all exchange. We call upon the international community and international rights organizations to assume their responsibilities and put an end to the suffering of thousands of the abductees, forcibly disappeared persons and their families.”

   2023-08-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9396 (2023) · source

6. “Some 97 civilians remain in the prisons of the Southern Transitional Council, including 61 forcibly disappeared persons, and 26 detainees are being held by the legitimate Government, including three forcibly disappeared persons. That is what our association has documented. Those numbers are very high for all parties, and abductions persist despite the declared truce. For decades, the Security Council has instilled in us a humanitarian culture which made us believe that freedom is non-negotiable, a right that cannot be used as a bargaining chip. We commend the role played by the Special Envoy, Mr. Hans Grunberg, in the exchange of prisoners among the parties to the conflict, which has led to the release of hundreds, and only 200 civilian abductees remain outstanding.”

   2023-08-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9396 (2023) · source

7. “Thousands have been released, but they are saddled with trauma and permanent physical injury as a result of the systematic torture they faced in the Houthi prisons. Worse, some 140 people were killed as a result of torture or medical negligence inside the prisons. Some 420 civilians remain detained, and 73 are still forcibly disappeared, 13 of whom are followers of the Baha’i faith, including politician Mohammed Qahtan. Some 50 abductees and three women are being tried by the Houthis in politicized courts. They have been subjected to systematic torture. It is difficult to give Council members a detailed account in the brief time allotted to me.”

   2023-08-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9396 (2023) · source

8. “However, pain and tragedy weigh more heavily upon us when we consider one of the worst consequences of the war, namely, the abductees, forcibly displaced persons and others who are suffering deprivation and pain with their families, in particular the mothers who have lost their abducted and forcibly disappeared children. We are speaking of civilians who have not participated in the conflict in any way, who have been taken from their homes, newly established checkpoints, and their places of employment, their universities or elsewhere. Since 2016, we have documented the abductions of 9,568 civilians by different parties to the conflict in Yemen. The Houthis are responsible for most of them — for 9,130 cases of abduction, including 130 women.”

   2023-08-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9396 (2023) · source

9. “I am grateful for this opportunity to brief the Security Council on behalf of the Abductees’ Mothers Association. The Association is a Yemeni human rights organization made up of the mothers, wives and relatives of abductees and forcibly disappeared persons, and of women activists advocating for freedoms and human rights. The Association deals with issues affecting abductees, the arbitrarily detained and the forcibly disappeared. I thank you, Madam President, for your interest in listening to the voice of the victims, who are calling for peace, justice and fairness. I address the Council today from Taiz, a city that has been under Houthi siege for more than 3,000 days. The war has been going on for far too long, with consequences that have undermined our peace, security and a decent life. Tragic stories caused by the war in Yemen abound.”

   2023-08-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9396 (2023) · source