UAE Major Supporter of Yemeni Militias Involved in Detentions

The UAE is the primary supporter of unlawful armed militias that engage in arrests and enforced disappearances in Yemen, motivated by Abu Dhabi’s dubious agenda for influence and growth.

Democracy Now in the Arab World addressed the grim reality of thousands of individuals in Yemen who are currently being arbitrarily detained without legal due process.

The organization stated that although there are no official, updated statistics on the number of detainees, the systematic nature of these enforced disappearances indicates that thousands of people are being held incommunicado throughout Yemen.

Civil conflict in Yemen escalated after the Houthi takeover of Sanaa in 2014 and subsequent military intervention in 2015 by the Saudi-led coalition, aiming to restore President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, whose government fled to Aden in southern Yemen.

As the conflict continues, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances have become alarmingly common across Yemen, and not just in Houthi-controlled areas.

Various factions in addition to the Houthis, including the Yemeni government and UAE-backed forces, have forcibly detained people to suppress and eliminate dissent and create fear among the population.

Victims are often political opponents, journalists, citizen journalists, business owners, activists, academics, judges, and ordinary citizens who are perceived as a threat.

For several years, extensive reporting from local and international organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the UN Committee of Experts, and the UN Human Rights Council Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, has documented systematic violations committed by all parties involved in the Yemen war.

These reports reveal that detainees are frequently held without charges, endure torture, receive insufficient medical care, and are denied outside contact. Some have even died as a result of torture.

These violations not only violate Yemeni law but also violate international human rights conventions to which Yemen has signed.

Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances also violate constitutional rights, as Article 48 of the Yemeni Constitution guarantees personal freedom and security.

 Yemen has also signed several international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides for the protection of individuals from arbitrary arrest and detention.

Widespread violations of these rights have fostered a climate of fear and impunity, discouraging people from speaking out or engaging in politics in a nation ravaged by years of conflict, further worsening the severe humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

In southern Yemen, areas outside Houthi control are not faring much better. Significant human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and torture, have been documented in areas controlled by UAE-backed Yemeni forces.

As Yemen fractures as a state, the emerging “new Yemen” becomes an area marked by oppression and suffering, where power struggles overshadow fundamental rights.

All of these violations have exacerbated an already horrific humanitarian crisis. There are many flaws in the international humanitarian response and its support for local relief work in Yemen, including a reluctance to condemn such violations.

However, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance particularly affect families, causing them to lose their primary breadwinners and resulting in economic hardship and greater vulnerability. Communities are fragmented as individuals vanish without a trace, leading to widespread anxiety and insecurity.

All of this is a reflection of the political disintegration in Yemen as a state, and it was originally a malicious Emirati plan.