Event in Marib Demands Disclosure of Fate of Hajour Residents Forcibly Disappeared Six Years Ago
Yemen Monitor / Marib:
The city of Marib hosted a large human rights event marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, organized by the Hajour Victims Association with the participation of 25 human rights organizations, local human rights offices, and families of the disappeared. The gathering demanded the disclosure of the fate of residents of Hajour, Hajjah Governorate, who were abducted by Houthi forces six years ago and whose whereabouts remain unknown.
During the event, Hajjah Deputy Governor Abdulkarim Hurmus affirmed the local authority’s support for all efforts aimed at uncovering the fate of the disappeared, praising what he described as the “bravery of the people of Hajour” in resisting the militias.
For his part, Fahmi al-Zubairi, director of the Human Rights Office in the capital secretariat, said enforced disappearance constitutes “a blatant violation of international and humanitarian law, and a systematic Houthi tool to silence dissenting voices.”
The event featured emotional testimonies from victims’ families. One relative of a disappeared person listed several abductees, including Sheikh Ali Hadi al-Sheikh (“Abu Muslim al-Zaakri”), Sheikh Ali Falat al-Hajouri, Sheikh Hizam Falat al-Hajouri, Sheikh Mohammed Ali Abdullah al-Hadi, and Najeeb al-Namsha, stressing that families continue to endure “a constant bleeding of pain and suffering” due to the absence of their loved ones.
In a joint statement issued by the participating organizations, the Houthis were held fully responsible for the lives and safety of the disappeared from Hajour, emphasizing that enforced disappearance is a crime against humanity that “does not lapse with time.”
The statement further warned that continued international silence over these violations amounts to “unacceptable complicity” and fosters a climate of impunity.
The organizations called on the United Nations and the UN Special Envoy to Yemen to exert maximum pressure on the Houthis for the immediate and unconditional release of the disappeared, stressing that the issue is an “urgent humanitarian priority that cannot be delayed.”
