Mwatana for Human Rights announced that it provided legal support, through its field team of female and male lawyers, to 395 victims subjected to arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture, contributing to the release of 32 of them during May 2025.
Mwatana offered legal support to civilian victims held by various parties: 179 victims held by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group, 89 by the Southern Transitional Council (STC), 109 by internationally recognized government forces, and 18 by the Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces.
The victims were distributed across several governorates in varying numbers, with Aden at the top with 59 victims, followed by Amanat Al-Asimah with 54, then Taiz and Hadramawt with 53 each, Hajjah with 30, Al-Dhale’ with 28, Lahj with 27, Marib with 23, Shabwa and Dhamar with 16 each, Abyan with 14, Amran with 11, Sana’a with 5, and Al-Mahwit and the Yemen-Saudi border areas with 3 each.
During May 2025, Mwatana for Human Rights documented 98 new incidents of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture. The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group was responsible for 54 of these incidents, internationally recognized government forces for 22, Southern Transitional Council forces for 19, and the Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces for 3 incidents.
It is worth noting that Mwatana for Human Rights provides legal support to victims of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture through a network of lawyers across various regions of Yemen. These violations are committed by different parties and target individuals arbitrarily. The organization undertakes legal action in coordination with the victims’ families or on their behalf, following thorough documentation of each case and with the informed consent of the victims or their relatives.
The legal support team at Mwatana focuses its efforts on ensuring procedural justice for all individuals who come into contact with law enforcement bodies or who are detained by armed groups that now function as de facto authorities. These efforts aim to guarantee victims’ rights from the moment of arrest, through interrogation and defense, during detention, and up to the point of trial.
