Geneva – SAM organization for Rights and Liberties stated that recent information revealing the arbitrary detention of several women in the Yemeni capital Sana’a constitutes a grave violation of national laws and international human rights standards. These actions, carried out by security forces without judicial authorization and in the absence of basic fair trial safeguards, represent an alarming abuse, particularly when women are involved.

These violations came to light through a post published by attorney Waddah Qutiesh on his Facebook page—later deleted—where he reported receiving a phone call at 11:30 PM from an elderly woman. She informed him that her daughter and her daughter’s friends had been taken from their homes to a police station around midnight, allegedly over suspicions of helping a woman escape the country.

Qutiesh explained that the arrests were carried out without any coercive warrants issued by the competent Public Prosecution, and without the presence of female police officers. This is a direct violation of the Yemeni Code of Criminal Procedure, which mandates explicit judicial authorization for arrest or search operations, particularly in cases involving women.

He further noted that the detainees were held in a police station that lacks appropriate facilities for holding women and does not employ qualified female personnel. This breaches Article (11) of Yemen’s Prison Regulation Law and Article (10) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which require separation between male and female detainees and the provision of suitable conditions for women in custody.

According to Qutiesh, male judicial officers conducted interrogations of the girls from after midnight until the early hours of the morning, without supervision from the prosecution and in the absence of legal guardians or female lawyers—an infringement of the right to a fair trial and legal defense.

He also reported that the girls were referred to the Public Prosecution in a state of extreme exhaustion following an entire night without sleep or rest. The investigation continued in the presence of individuals opposing the girls, who were allowed to ask questions and influence the investigation process, while the prosecution representative remained silent. Despite clear evidence invalidating the accusations—including a U.S. passport issued on June 24, 2025 by the American embassy and video footage confirming the woman’s arrival in the United States—the prosecution ordered their pretrial detention.

In a related development, Zainab Yahya Ali Al-Mawri, a Yemeni citizen with U.S. nationality, released a video testimony on Facebook, revealing that her cousin (M.A.) had previously kidnapped, detained, and abused her. She stated that he confiscated her U.S. passport and prevented her from traveling, forcibly admitted her into a psychiatric facility for six months, and later coerced her into signing a pledge not to attempt escape or seek help—an agreement made under duress so she could be released from the facility.

After her release, Al-Mawri said she remained under house detention, subjected to continuous verbal and physical abuse, including sexual harassment. Unable to endure the abuse any longer, she escaped with the humanitarian assistance of some friends—those very same girls who are now being detained and falsely accused. She emphasized that the true criminal is her cousin, who was the sole reason for her escape.

Local media outlets have also reported on the incident, highlighting the ambiguous circumstances surrounding the arrest and the violations that accompanied the detention and interrogation process, all amid the absence of any official response from judicial or security authorities. Media coverage has sparked widespread concern and condemnation among civil society and human rights advocates, given the serious breaches of women’s dignity and their legally protected rights.

SAM stressed that this case is not isolated but part of a pattern of recurring violations against women in Yemen, whether within the family context or through the conduct of security and judicial authorities. The organization has documented numerous similar cases over recent years in which women have been arbitrarily arrested or subjected to grave abuse without accountability—reflecting a dangerous failure in the legal protection system and the broader criminal justice framework.

The organization believes that the recurrence of such violations reflects a climate of impunity and undermines any claim of rule of law or respect for human dignity. It also exposes the systematic abuse women face in Yemen, in the absence of effective judicial oversight and the use of state security institutions as tools of repression beyond scrutiny.

SAM emphasized that the incident constitutes a blatant violation of women’s rights and dignity and called for urgent action. The organization demanded the immediate release of the detained girls, ensuring their physical and psychological well-being, compensating them for the harm suffered, and holding all responsible parties accountable—whether from the security apparatus or the judicial system—for the unlawful arrest, interrogation, and detention procedures.

Finally, SAM urged the Yemeni government and de facto authorities to initiate comprehensive reforms in the justice system and to rebuild public trust through strict adherence to the law, respect for human dignity, and the elimination of all forms of systematic human rights violations—especially those targeting women..