Their Fate Unknown for a Month: Growing Anxiety Among Families of Detainees Held in Houthi Prisons Targeted by Israeli Airstrikes
Yemen Monitor / Exclusive:
Families of detainees held in Houthi prisons in Sanaa say they have had no information about their loved ones since the Israeli airstrike that hit the Security and Intelligence Service prison on September 25.
Khaled, the son of detainee Ahmed Ali al-Yemeni, wrote on Facebook:
“Since the targeting of the Security and Intelligence Service facilities, we haven’t heard my father’s voice until now. We were told to ‘wait for your turn’ to make calls.”
He noted that fear has intensified within the family, as they have not been allowed to check on his father’s condition, amid what he described as prolonged and troubling silence, calling for reassurance about his father’s safety.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Association of Mothers of Abductees said that the detainees were left inside the Security and Intelligence prison under Houthi control after the heavy bombing, without being evacuated. The statement confirmed that all visits have been banned since the attack, which has deepened families’ fear and anxiety about the fate and wellbeing of their loved ones.
The association held the Houthi group fully responsible for the safety and lives of all detainees in its prisons and called on the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to immediately intervene to assess their physical and psychological conditions and ensure protection from further abuses.
The Houthi group had announced on September 25 that several prisons affiliated with the Security and Intelligence Service had been bombed, but did not disclose whether there were casualties.
