A Father Wants an Answer to His Question: Is My Son Alive or Dead?!

Uncle Hadi Radman (a pseudonym) is a man in his sixties and a resident of Tihama. He prefers to be called 'Uncle'. Time has left visible marks on his face, owing to the pain and disappointment he has endured. At times, he would drift away while talking to me, staring into the unknown. One could sense the agony in his eyes even before he spoke, and occasionally, tears would trickle down his cheeks.He recollects the night when his safety and happiness were taken away from him, saying with his voice filled with pain, “My son Mahmoud (33 years old) disappeared after midnight on March 21, 2016. A year before that date, Mahmoud worked at the Criminal Investigation Department in Bajel district. When salaries were cut off, he decided to stay home and work with me to support us all. He wanted to get married and start a family. However, that night, his dream turned into a mirage.”Men in military uniform stormed the house, and Hadi could not discern their number. They searched the house, took some belongings, and then two of them approached his son. When Mahmoud refused to go with them, they beat him with rifle butts and took him away by force.“I begged them to leave him, but they looked down on us and then threw me to the ground,” Hadi says, choking up. "I kept searching for my son, my heart breaking with grief, until I found out that he was in the Tenth Brigade prison at Bajil Airport. I went there and stayed in front of the gate for hours, begging them to let me in and asking about my son, until a soldier with a grim expression came out and shouted, 'You're looking for a member of Al Qaeda. Go away from here!' I went home with legs that could barely carry me. I kept going there for days but to no avail.”Desperate for news about his son, Hadi borrowed money from an acquaintance to travel to Sana'a, hoping to meet a friend and colleague of Mahmoud's who worked in the Political Security prison. After several attempts, he was able to meet him, but the news he received from Mahmoud’s friend was devastating.“When I asked him where my son Mahmoud was, he replied, 'He died in the Tenth Brigade prison by airstrikes of the coalition. Seven prisoners were killed, including your son. Did they give you the body?' I told him, 'No.'”Hadi's voice trembles as he continues, “I left him, feeling pain that no human being could bear, and went to the morgues in the Military Hospital, Al-Thawra Hospital, and Bajil Hospital, looking for my son's body, but I did not find anything. After getting lost and finding no answers about my son, whether he was really dead or alive, I left everything, left Bajil, and came to Marib governorate, hoping to find even a moment of tranquility.”“Please help me, if you can,” Hadi says, his voice barely above a whisper. "I just want to get an answer: Is my son alive or dead?” The bereaved father still searches for news that would give him any assurance about his son's fate, which remains unknown since his arbitrary detention by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Ansar Allah group (Houthis).