Mwatana for Human Rights stated in its annual briefing on the Legal Support Service that, through its network of field-based female and male lawyers across various Yemeni governorates, the organization provided legal assistance in 2025 to no fewer than 956 victims of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture. This support comes as part of Mwatana’s ongoing efforts to advocate for civilians affected by grave human rights violations and crimes.
Mwatana explained that its legal interventions during 2025 contributed to the release of 422 victims, affirming that this work falls within its continued commitment to stand alongside victims and their families, to seek to ensure minimum procedural justice, and to confront practices of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture, amid Yemen’s highly complex human rights and security context.
Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, said: “The Legal Support Unit represents one of the most important direct intervention tools relied upon by Mwatana to confront arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture, and to stand by victims and their families in a context marked by the absence of justice and the persistence of impunity.” She emphasized that “what victims face in terms of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture is not merely an individual violation, but rather reflects a systematic pattern practiced by the various parties to the conflict.”
Al-Mutawakel added: “Through the Legal Support Unit, Mwatana for Human Rights works to ensure the minimum level of procedural justice for victims and to exert legal pressure to secure the release of those arbitrarily detained or to improve their legal status, despite significant security and political challenges.”
Mwatana clarified that the Legal Support Unit includes a network of female and male lawyers working in 18 Yemeni governorates, providing free legal assistance to victims of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and the arbitrary denial of procedural justice guarantees committed against civilians by various parties to the conflict—constituting flagrant violations of national legislation and relevant international instruments.
During 2025, the Legal Support Unit carried out its work alongside victims’ families or on their behalf, following meticulous documentation of incidents and based on informed consent from victims or their relatives. The Unit focused on safeguarding individuals’ legal rights from the moment of arrest, through the circumstances and place of detention, interrogation and defense procedures, and up to trial.
Mwatana reported that in 2025, in addition to providing legal support to victims of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and violations of procedural justice requirements—work it has pursued for years—it also provided legal assistance to 110 women facing difficulties in accessing justice in the governorates of Taiz, Hadhramout, Shabwah, Aden, and Marib, in cases such as divorce, alimony, and violence against women. The organization achieved notable progress in these cases, including obtaining final judgments in favor of the victims.
Mwatana for Human Rights further stated that the Legal Support Unit team (field and central) conducted no fewer than 2,831 field visits in 2025, covering various security and judicial bodies, as part of its intensive efforts to advocate for victims of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture. The team also submitted at least 264 legal memoranda aimed at following up on victims’ cases, verifying their legal status, ensuring their enjoyment of procedural rights, and working toward their release or the improvement of their detention conditions—ongoing efforts to curb grave violations and confront impunity.
In 2025, Mwatana for Human Rights documented no fewer than 1,241 victims of violations related to incidents of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture across various Yemeni governorates, including 828 victims of incidents that occurred during 2025. The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group bears responsibility for 669 victims of the total documented violations; the internationally recognized government and Islah Party-affiliated formations for 305 victims; the Southern Transitional Council for 240 victims; and the Saudi/UAE-led coalition for 25 victims. In addition, two incidents are attributed to the Joint Forces. These figures represent only the violations that Mwatana’s team was able to document and verify, and do not encompass all violations committed during 2025.
During 2025, Mwatana’s Legal Support team operated in an extremely high-risk environment, amid ongoing threats and harassment targeting team members by various parties to the conflict, as well as repeated attempts to obstruct their work—whether through security restrictions, intimidation, or interference with communication with victims and their families. These practices formed part of broader campaigns targeting independent human rights organizations and further complicated the human rights operating environment. They posed an additional challenge to the continuity of legal work and compelled the team to adopt heightened precautionary measures to ensure the safety of both staff and victims, without deterring it from continuing its human rights mission.
Despite these challenges, the Legal Support Unit team continued to provide the legal assistance available and to address accessible cases, driven by its belief in the importance of persisting in the defense of victims’ rights and the necessity of preserving pathways to justice and accountability, even in the most complex and difficult contexts.
Mwatana affirmed that the work of the Legal Support Unit during 2025 is part of an integrated approach that links documentation, legal support, and advocacy, with the aim of protecting victims, defending their rights, and confronting patterns of violations and grave crimes that have affected thousands of civilians in Yemen at the hands of various parties to the conflict. The organization stressed its continued commitment to working alongside victims and their families, despite mounting challenges and restrictions.
To request the Legal Support Service: https://www.mwatana.org/stmr-ldaam-lqnwny
