SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties said that the announcement of an agreement on a deal to exchange detainees, abductees, and forcibly disappeared persons between the Yemeni parties represents a long-awaited and important humanitarian step. It should be implemented fully and transparently, ensuring the actual release of all those included, their safety, and their dignified return to their families, without delay, selectivity, or manipulation of the lists.

SAM added that this deal is not a favor granted by any party, nor a fleeting political gesture, but rather the outcome of the victims’ suffering, the patience of their families, the struggle of mothers, wives, and children, and the efforts of human rights and humanitarian organizations that have continued documenting, advocating, and exerting pressure to secure the release of detainees and reveal the fate of those forcibly disappeared.

The organization emphasized that welcoming this step does not negate the fact that the issue of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance in Yemen remains one of the most painful and serious files. Any partial treatment will remain incomplete unless it includes all detainees, abductees, and forcibly disappeared persons held by all parties, including politicians, journalists, activists, human rights defenders, students, civilians, and everyone deprived of liberty outside the framework of the law.

SAM considered that the importance of this deal is not limited to the release of those covered by it, but also extends to the possibility that it may open a serious path toward uncovering the fate of forcibly disappeared persons, foremost among them politician Mohammed Qahtan, whose fate has remained unknown for years. His case has become a painful symbol of the suffering of thousands of Yemeni families awaiting the truth. SAM welcomed the understandings providing for the formation of a joint committee from both parties, with the participation of his family, to travel to Sana’a, verify his fate, and take the necessary measures, in the presence of the International Committee of the Red Cross as a neutral mediator, before the prisoner release process is carried out.

The organization stressed that, if implemented seriously and transparently, this step could constitute an important entry point for uncovering the truth. However, it must not remain a limited negotiating measure or a deferred promise. Rather, it should become a clear humanitarian and legal commitment that guarantees his family’s right to know, and opens the door to an independent investigation into his enforced disappearance, as well as accountability for all those involved in his detention, disappearance, or the withholding of information about his fate throughout the past years.

SAM expressed regret that, according to what has been announced, the deal does not include staff of humanitarian and UN organizations, human rights activists, or civil society workers who have been deprived of their liberty because of their humanitarian or human rights work. The organization affirmed that excluding them from the release arrangements represents a painful gap in the deal, which must be addressed immediately by including them in any subsequent batches, as their release is a legal and moral obligation that cannot be postponed or subjected to bargaining.

SAM Organization called on all Yemeni parties to treat the file of detainees, abductees, and forcibly disappeared persons as a humanitarian and human rights issue that must not be subject to political bargaining. It urged them to immediately commit to releasing all those arbitrarily detained, disclosing the locations of secret detention facilities, enabling families to know the fate of their loved ones, and guaranteeing non-repetition of these violations.

The organization also called on the United Nations, the Office of the UN Special Envoy, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the international community to monitor the implementation of the deal, ensure the neutrality of procedures, document violations related to detention, disappearance, and torture, and support victims’ right to truth, justice, and reparation.