SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties stated that the current trajectory of investigations into secret prisons and enforced disappearance cases suffers from fundamental structural flaws that obstruct the pursuit of truth and undermine accountability. These deficiencies persist amid a lack of full independence and the absence of an effective judicial process capable of fulfilling its responsibilities in uncovering violations and holding perpetrators accountable.
The organization explained that the dominance of political and media considerations over the documentation and handling of these grave violations—combined with the continued presence of several suspected perpetrators in influential executive positions—risks transforming this file from a matter of justice and human rights into a temporary political tool managed through power balances rather than the rule of law. Such an approach places an undue burden on victims and their families, deprives society of its right to truth, freezes accountability through political calculations, deepens impunity, and erodes the foundations of justice.
SAM affirmed that documented testimonies collected over several years from survivors and victims’ families indicate the involvement of multiple security agencies affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in acts of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. These include senior security officials, among them Shallal Shaye’ and Musleh Al-Dharhani, in addition to other security entities that played direct or indirect roles in operating, supervising, or facilitating unofficial detention facilities and secret prisons.
The organization noted that some of these facilities remain closed secret prisons, inaccessible and shielded from oversight, and that the fate of detainees held within them cannot be determined except through a serious, independent investigation led by a neutral body with a clear legal mandate. Such a body must be empowered to access detention sites, summon those responsible, and ensure witness protection, free from political and security pressure.
SAM further highlighted that families continue to endure a cruel state of waiting, marked by deepening anxiety due to the total absence of new information regarding the fate of their forcibly disappeared relatives. The organization stressed that this prolonged silence constitutes not only an ongoing violation of victims’ rights, but also a form of collective psychological punishment inflicted on families, leaving wounds open with no prospect of truth or redress.
Through its continued engagement with a large number of victims, survivors, and their families, SAM found that fear and insecurity remain major obstacles preventing victims from speaking openly about their experiences. This is due to the continued presence of alleged perpetrators in positions of authority and the absence of meaningful change in the surrounding security, institutional, and judicial environment. The organization emphasized that the lack of clear and effective measures to protect victims, witnesses, and their families—both during testimony and afterward—deepens enforced silence, undermines the credibility of any investigative process, and renders discussions of justice incomplete and unsafe for victims without genuine protection guarantees.
In this context, SAM expressed serious concern over the appearance of individuals potentially implicated in grave violations within the current political scene in Riyadh, particularly in discussions related to the Southern–Southern Dialogue. The organization warned that advancing figures with troubling human rights records into political arrangements poses a direct threat to justice efforts and sends a deeply negative message to victims that violations can be politically bypassed without accountability.
SAM also noted that the current handling of this file is marked by excessive media-driven momentum, closely tied to recent political developments, including public hearings conducted in a fragile security environment. Such conditions fundamentally contradict the nature of serious investigations, which require careful deliberation, rigorous evidence examination, professional verification, and the construction of comprehensive legal case files based on documented facts, technical analysis, and the contribution of independent experts in criminal investigation, forensic medicine, and international law. The organization stressed that rushed hearings or their reduction to short-lived media cycles weakens accountability prospects and serves neither truth nor victims’ rights.
SAM emphasized that any discussion of investigating secret prison violations is meaningless unless it is independent, serious, and professionally conducted, operating outside local and regional power dynamics and grounded in clear legal authority free from political or security interference. The organization underscored that violations committed over the past decade cannot be treated as isolated security incidents, but rather reflect deep structural failures within the system of power and a dangerous overlap between security decision-making and non-state actors.
Accordingly, SAM calls for a fundamental reassessment of the investigative approach to secret prison violations and related abuses that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, through the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism composed of qualified local and international legal and technical experts. This mechanism must be granted open temporal and material jurisdiction, ensure the protection of victims and witnesses, publicly disclose its findings, and link its work to a clear accountability pathway that prevents impunity. SAM stressed that such measures are essential to restoring public trust and constitute an indispensable pillar for any genuine path toward justice and the rule of law in Yemen.