Report: 1,370 kidnappings, enforced disappearances in Yemen in 2019

The Yemeni Abductees’ Mothers Association said it has documented 1,059 cases of kidnapping and 312 cases of enforced disappearances in 2019 by the various parties to the conflict in Yemen.

The association explained in a report issued on Tuesday that the majority of violations took place in areas controlled by the Houthi.

According to the report, as many as 158 people who had been kidnapped were killed during air strikes launched by the Saudi-led coalition or had been tortured to death in prisons run by Houthis or the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) militias.

“As many as 134 kidnapped persons were killed in airstrikes launched by the Arab coalition on the Community College Prison in Dhamar, while 21 kidnapped persons died as a result of torture by the Houthi militia and three kidnapped persons died at the hands of the STC in Aden,” the report said.

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The report documented 1,030 cases of kidnapping by the Houthis including 23 women and 11 children last year, 18 cases of kidnapping by the STC in Aden and 11 cases by the Saudi-backed government.

The Houthis, it added, were responsible for 303 cases of enforced disappearance against civilians last year while the STC committed five and the Yemeni government were accountable for four.