A Research Paper Addressing Challenges and Proposing Solutions
Mwatana for Human Rights, in partnership with the Smith Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, has released a research paper titled "Crimes of Enforced Disappearance: Addressing Challenges and Proposing Solutions," coinciding with the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, observed annually on August 30. The paper sheds light on the crimes of enforced disappearance committed by successive authorities over decades in Yemen, including those committed since the 1960s and during the ongoing armed conflict that began in September 2014.
The paper focuses on exploring potential mechanisms to address the burdened file of enforced disappearances in Yemen within the framework of transitional justice programs in the post-conflict phase. It discusses the challenges and issues related to the complete absence of accountability mechanisms, truth-seeking, uncovering the fate of the disappeared, and mechanisms for reparations for violations committed over the past decades up to the present.
The paper reviews the experiences of dealing with enforced disappearance and truth-seeking efforts in Syria, Sri Lanka, Argentina, and Colombia—contexts that have suffered from enforced disappearances for decades by different authorities and have developed effective mechanisms to address these issues. These experiences serve as valuable references when designing programs related to enforced disappearances in Yemen in the post-conflict phase.
Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, stated, "It is time to explore possible ways to address the issue of enforced disappearance in Yemen and to work towards a future free of this brutal violation and its consequences." She added, "Studying other experiences that share similarities with Yemen's situation is crucial for understanding how other nations have dealt with complex issues like enforced disappearance in Yemen, the challenges they faced, and the ways they overcame them. It is also important to learn from the mistakes that accompanied those experiences to avoid them."
Mwatana emphasized that this paper is part of the organization’s efforts to address urgent elements and topics of transitional justice, which can provide well-considered inputs to guide transitional justice programs in Yemen and ensure their effectiveness. This will contribute to achieving sustainable peace, under which the dignity and freedoms of individuals are preserved, and the recurrence of human rights violations, particularly enforced disappearances, are prevented in the future.
Mwatana noted that thousands of Yemenis remain victims of enforced disappearance as a result of cycles of political conflict—crimes that continue to be passed down by the authorities and parties that have successively held power and led security agencies with their heavy legacy of victims of enforced disappearance, including forcibly disappeared individuals, their families, loved ones, and communities. This also includes hundreds of victims of enforced disappearance related to the current cycle of conflict, involving all local and regional parties.
Mwatana called on the international community, the United Nations, and international entities and institutions working in Yemen to ensure that their efforts and interventions in Yemen include comprehensive solutions for the crimes of enforced disappearance, uncovering the fate of the disappeared, reparations, accountability, compensation, and commemoration within the framework of comprehensive transitional justice. They also urged the formation of a criminal mechanism to investigate human rights violations, particularly enforced disappearance, and to work on strengthening the functioning of independent civil society organizations in monitoring the security and justice sectors, raising awareness, and building capacities.
