The puzzle of Dr. Mustafa Al-Mutawakel's elusive destiny unfolds!
On that fateful day of April 27, 2017, Dr. Mustafa Al-Mutawakel, returning from a conference in Morocco, was ensnared by soldiers loyal to the internationally recognized Yemeni government as his bus journeyed from Seiyun Airport. They spirited him away to a clandestine location, leaving his fate veiled in uncertainty. His family, consumed by relentless searching and yearning, has been cruelly kept from visiting or communicating with him.
Six years of unyielding quests, legal battles, and fervent pleas by his devoted wife, Dr. Elham Al-Mutawakel, came to a heart-wrenching close on March 26, 2023, as she passed away without the solace of seeing him. In her final days, grappling with both the emotional turmoil and ravages of declining health, she voiced her anguish over his omission from the prisoner exchange roster.
Dr. Mustafa's journey to Morocco, invited to lead the General Investment Authority in Sana'a, led him through territories governed by Hadi's regime. Departing and returning through Seiyun Airport, he boarded a public bus with unwavering trust, unaware of the enforced disappearance awaiting him, a fate unbefitting his esteemed academic and civil persona. The shadows of uncertainty loom large, casting a haunting veil over the forlorn hearts of those left behind, yearning for answers and justice, as the enigma of his fate continues to elude even the most fervent of seekers.
Until this moment, seven long years have slipped by without his family stumbling upon a single answer or thread that could unravel the mystery of his fate. They have not been spared from the manipulation, surveillance, and silent endorsement of his enforced disappearance by certain political factions. The acts of arbitrary detention and forced disappearance are unforgivable crimes, devoid of justification under any circumstances.
On May 15, 2017, his wife, the esteemed university professor Elham Al-Mutawakel, embarked on a journey to Marib, accompanied by a legal team, in a fervent quest to assert her legal right to visit him and ascertain his well-being. Three members of the academic Faculty Union of Sana'a University, including the head of the Faculty, stood in solidarity with her, joining the visit to demonstrate unwavering support for their colleague.
Upon her arrival at the Marib Governorate premises, she was met with suspicion and treated as a criminal, despite being a desperate wife on a relentless quest to find her missing husband. Elham, in a poignant testimony before her untimely passing, lamented, "I could never have imagined such cruel treatment from certain officials in Marib, who viewed me not as a grieving wife searching for her life partner but as a figure to be feared, akin to the Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi." Despite enduring the hardships of a grueling journey between Sana'a and Marib, she was met with closed doors and left with empty hands.
Before bidding farewell to Marib, her legal representatives received a cryptic call from an unidentified number, revealing that the doctor was no longer within Marib's confines and had been surreptitiously handed over to Saudi Arabia. The caller's chilling words echoed, "Do not trouble us, and we shall not trouble you. It is in your best interest to depart," a message that Elham reluctantly heeded two weeks after the visit, carrying the weight of uncertainty and sorrow in her heart.
Dr. Mustafa Al-Mutawakel is a father of five, comprising three daughters and two sons. Tragically, one of his sons met his untimely end in Malaysia due to a medical misstep following a car collision. This heartbreaking loss transpired mere months after his father's mysterious disappearance, a period marked by profound sorrow as he mourned his father's absence, as recounted by his grief-stricken family. One of his daughters poignantly reflects, "It was a year of utter devastation for us, marked by the enforced disappearance of our father and the tragic demise of my beloved brother. We were compelled to navigate the clandestine transportation of his remains through Oman, apprehensive of a similar fate befalling him as our father."
It is worth noting that enforced disappearance stands as an egregious transgression under the purview of international laws and conventions. The United Nations Declaration for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance steadfastly repudiates any attempts to rationalize such heinous acts under the guise of exigent circumstances like warfare or political instability. Notably, the classification of enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity within the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998 underscores its grave nature.
Moreover, the escalation of armed conflict in Yemen has precipitated a marked upsurge in instances of enforced disappearances, a blight affecting all warring factions in the nation's tumultuous landscape.
