YEMEN: ‘GOD ONLY KNOWS IF HE’S ALIVE’: ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE AND DETENTION VIOLATIONS IN SOUTHERN YEMEN
Yemeni security forces that are backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as UAE troops operating in southern Yemen have been carrying out hundreds of arbitrary arrests and committing serious violations, including enforced disappearance and torture and other ill-treatment, mostly under the pretext of “fighting terrorism”. Families have been left trying to navigate an opaque structure of competing security forces and a network of formal and informal detention centres in a desperate attempt to locate their loved ones. These violations must be investigated. The fate and whereabouts of the disappeared must be revealed and effective remedy and reparations must be afforded to victims.
