Geneva – SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties stated that as the Muslim world welcomes a new Hijri year, carrying values associated with freedom, justice, and human dignity, Yemeni lawyer and human rights defender Abdulmajid Sabrah has begun an open-ended hunger strike today, Tuesday, 1 Muharram, from inside the Security and Intelligence detention facility in Sana’a, in protest against his continued detention for more than 260 days outside the framework of the law and without being afforded his fundamental rights to defense and a fair trial.

The organization stressed that this painful contradiction between the values embodied in the commemoration of the Prophet’s Hijra—symbolizing the triumph of truth over injustice—and the continued detention of a human rights defender without legal justification raises serious concerns regarding respect for the rule of law and adherence to the fundamental guarantees of justice.

SAM added that Abdulmajid Sabrah’s decision to resort to a hunger strike reflects the extent of the suffering caused by his prolonged detention and constitutes a final peaceful protest after exhausting all available avenues to demand his right to freedom and justice.

The organization noted that hunger strikes are a form of peaceful protest employed by detainees when all avenues for redress have been blocked, leaving the human body itself as a last resort to express rejection of injustice and to demand fundamental rights guaranteed by law.

SAM expressed deep concern over the serious health and humanitarian consequences that may result from the hunger strike and held the de facto authorities in Sana’a fully responsible for the safety and well-being of lawyer Abdulmajid Sabrah, as well as for any risks arising from his continued detention.

The organization renewed its call for his immediate release or, alternatively, for his referral to an independent and impartial judiciary that provides all guarantees of a fair trial in accordance with national and international standards. It also called for allowing his family and legal counsel to communicate and meet with him without restrictions or obstacles.

SAM emphasized that Abdulmajid Sabrah’s case has gone beyond that of an individual detainee and has become a genuine test of respect for the rule of law, judicial independence, the protection of lawyers and human rights defenders, and the right of every individual to liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention.

The organization concluded its statement by affirming that the most important lesson to be drawn at the beginning of the new Hijri year is the need to move from arbitrariness to the rule of law, from injustice to justice, and from oppression to respect for human dignity and fundamental rights that must never be compromised under any circumstances.