Secret Prisons and Foreign Mercenaries: 65 Human Rights Organizations Open the UAE’s “Black File” in Yemen
Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
In a striking human rights development, 65 international and local organizations dropped what they described as a bombshell by holding the United Arab Emirates directly responsible for a series of grave human rights violations in Yemen, accusing it of being behind a dangerous security and military escalation witnessed in the governorates of Hadramawt and Al-Mahra in recent days.
In a joint statement carried by the official Yemeni News Agency, the organizations said that what occurred in the two governorates was not incidental, but rather a direct result of Abu Dhabi pushing armed formations loyal to it—funded and armed by the UAE—to storm areas and impose control by force, in blatant violation of Yemeni state sovereignty and a direct threat to social peace and national security.
The statement affirmed that the UAE established and managed these formations outside the institutions of the legitimate state and used them as tools to implement political and security agendas that contradict Yemen’s unity and territorial integrity, undermining the foundations of the state and the rule of law.
The organizations revealed that the military operations were accompanied by a systematic pattern of serious violations, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and cruel and degrading treatment, as well as home raids, looting of property, and forced displacement targeting civilians on a regional basis—practices they described as amounting to collective punishment.
They noted that these violations constitute a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, stressing that the UAE bears full legal responsibility as a state that supported and enabled these crimes.
The statement pointed out that what is happening today is an extension of years of violations carried out by the UAE either directly or through foreign mercenaries of multiple nationalities, citing official Yemeni reports, documentation by local and international human rights organizations, and reports by UN expert panels.
According to the statement, these reports confirmed the UAE’s involvement in running unofficial detention facilities where torture, enforced disappearance, and detention outside any legal framework were practiced, in addition to carrying out assassinations and unlawful killings. It emphasized that this pattern rises to the level of crimes against humanity that are not subject to statutes of limitations.
The organizations explained that the Emirati role was not limited to military and financial support, but also included sheltering and smuggling wanted figures involved in undermining the Yemeni state, and hosting individuals responsible for serious crimes and violations—steps they considered a direct threat to Yemen’s national security and that of neighboring countries, and a deliberate obstruction of peace efforts.
The statement stressed that Emirati conduct represents blatant interference in Yemen’s internal affairs, a clear violation of the UN Charter, and a breach of UN Security Council resolutions prohibiting the support and arming of armed entities operating outside state authority.
The organizations also confirmed that the UAE adopted a systematic policy of preventing human rights organizations and official bodies from documenting violations through threats and intimidation, exploiting the presence of its forces and affiliated militias since 2016.
The statement linked what is happening in Yemen to a broader regional pattern that it accused the UAE of pursuing in other countries such as Libya, Sudan, and Somalia, by supporting armed groups and building parallel networks of influence outside state institutions, contributing to instability and undermining political transition processes.
The organizations welcomed the Yemeni government’s decision to end the Emirati military presence, but stressed that withdrawal does not absolve legal responsibility, emphasizing that serious crimes do not lapse with time and cannot be erased by subsequent political understandings.
They announced their intention to intensify action at the regional and international levels to hold the UAE and its officials accountable, and to compel it to pay fair compensation to the Yemeni state and the victims.
The organizations called for the opening of independent national and international investigations, the immediate disclosure of the fate of the forcibly disappeared, the closure of secret prisons, and accountability for those involved without immunity. They also urged the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee to review the UAE’s role and to list those responsible for violations on sanctions lists.
The statement concluded by calling on the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Human Rights Violations to carry out its duties regarding Emirati violations, in a manner that ensures justice for victims and protects Yemen’s sovereignty and the rights of its citizens.
