About the Map
Given that the impact of crimes of enforced disappearance is not limited to depriving a person of their liberty or detaining them outside the framework of the law, but extends to denying their detention or concealing their fate or whereabouts—thereby placing them outside the protection of the law and leaving their family in a constant state of anxiety and uncertainty, and because this crime is considered one of the most severe violations—not only against the victims themselves but also against their families, who remain suspended between hope and loss, deprived of knowing the truth or accessing justice— and on society as a whole, Mwatana for Human Rights has made the fight against crimes of enforced disappearance a primary goal, as part of its ongoing efforts to document and expose grave human rights violations, in order to contribute to building a national human rights memory, prevent their recurrence, and secure justice for the victims.
In parallel with ongoing efforts to document facts, conduct in-depth research and studies, provide legal support to victims and their families, and engage in advocacy, awareness-raising, and capacity-building, Mwatana is launching the interactive map of enforced disappearances in Yemen, “Suspended Fates,” as an open space for remembrance and acknowledgment, as a digital memorial to the victims of enforced disappearance throughout the various stages of the conflict and political upheavals Yemen has witnessed, and as a platform for the ongoing remembrance of thousands of victims and thousands of families who are still waiting to learn the truth about their loved ones, and the right of the victims and their families to justice, redress, and compensation. It sheds light on one of the most painful and persistent crimes in Yemen’s contemporary history, which has for decades remained shielded from adequate attention and effective accountability.
Crimes of enforced disappearance have accompanied the various cycles of political conflict, civil wars, military coups, armed conflicts, and the turbulent upheavals that Yemen has witnessed over many decades of its modern history, in both northern and southern Yemen, from the 26 September and 14 October revolutions—and the events and transformations that preceded them—through the wars in the central regions and the events of 13 January 1986, and the cycles of power struggles in both halves of the country, the post-Yemeni unification period, the war of the summer of 1994, the war on terrorism, the Sa’ada wars, the Southern Peaceful Movement, the popular protests of 2011, the transitional period, and up to the armed conflict that has been ongoing since 2014.
The interactive map of enforced disappearances in Yemen shows how crimes of enforced disappearance have accompanied the various cycles of the Yemeni conflict, and how they have been committed by authorities, security and military agencies, multiple armed groups, and political factions—regardless of their political and ideological orientations— It also illustrates how these crimes have persisted over time and how there has been a collective failure to address them, despite the transfer of power among various parties. Furthermore, it demonstrates that enforced disappearances in Yemen were not a phenomenon tied to a specific historical period or to a single party involved in the cycles of conflict, but rather represented a recurring pattern of violations, It also shows that the victims did not belong to a single group, but rather included politicians, military personnel, journalists, academics, human rights activists, human rights defenders, students, workers, and ordinary civilians who found themselves at the center of the conflicts or on their periphery.
Although women account for a small proportion of the documented cases on this map compared to men, this does not necessarily mean that women were spared from this crime or that they were not subjected to enforced disappearance during the various stages of the conflict. The lack of documentation regarding cases of women’s disappearances is largely linked to prevailing social and cultural factors, as conservative norms and traditions have led many families to refrain from reporting cases of women’s disappearances or speaking about them publicly, for fear of social stigma or damage to the family’s reputation. Furthermore, fear of retaliation and the weakness of protection and redress mechanisms have limited some families’ ability to seek to uncover the fate of women subjected to enforced disappearance or to demand their rights. Therefore, it is likely that the actual number of women who have been subjected to enforced disappearance is higher than the number of cases that have been documented and verified. The data provided by this interactive map is not limited to cases of enforced disappearance involving victims who were detained and whose fate or whereabouts remain unknown; it also includes victims who were executed following a trial or in extrajudicial field executions after their detention, In such cases, the authorities and their agencies have refused to hand over the bodies to their families or to disclose their burial sites or the fate of their remains. In these instances, the crime of enforced disappearance continues through the concealment of the victim’s fate and the denial of the family’s right to know the truth, recover the body, and bury it in a manner that preserves human dignity.
The continued concealment of bodies and the refusal to disclose their burial sites raise serious concerns about the existence of secret mass graves in various parts of Yemen, which calls for independent and comprehensive investigations, the disclosure of burial sites, and the protection of potential graves from desecration, as well as ensuring that the remains are exhumed, the victims’ identities are established, and the remains are returned to their families, thereby guaranteeing their right to the truth, justice, and redress. The data presented by Mwatana through the interactive map of enforced disappearances in Yemen is based on a specific methodology, under which Mwatana built the interactive map’s database according to two main classifications of crimes of enforced disappearance in Yemen and in accordance with two mechanisms:
The first mechanism: Victims and incidents of enforced disappearance during cycles of political conflict spanning decades of Yemen’s history The organization worked by reviewing and analyzing a wide range of historical documents, research, studies, human rights and media reports, press materials, records, and documents, and other open sources, to identify the names of victims of enforced disappearance linked to previous cycles of conflict that predated Mawatinah’s founding and its engagement in field documentation work. The information obtained from these sources was reviewed, verified, and cross-checked with other sources whenever possible, in an effort to enhance the accuracy of the data and expand the scope of historical documentation of the crime in Yemen, Therefore, the data presented regarding the incidents and victims of those periods is the data available in open historical sources. It is basic, general, and extremely limited in scope, presenting incidents that have not been documented or verified according to Mwatana’s methodology, and is subject to additions and amendments.
Mechanism 2: Incidents and Victims of Enforced Disappearance During the Current Conflict Since the outbreak of the current conflict in late September 2014, Mwatana has and for years, has been documenting cases of enforced disappearance by collecting testimonies, statements, documents, and related evidence, and verifying information regarding the victims and the circumstances of their disappearance, using an investigative and field-based methodology grounded in the highest professional standards applicable to the documentation of human rights violations.
This interactive map aims to compile the scattered memories of the victims and their families and to link individual cases to the historical and political contexts in which the documented incidents occurred, thereby providing researchers, journalists, human rights advocates, and decision-makers with an accurate source of information, that helps shed light on the crimes of enforced disappearance as a persistent phenomenon in contemporary Yemeni history, rather than merely as sporadic and isolated incidents.
By bringing these stories together in a single space, Mwatana seeks, through this interactive map, to combat forgetting, preserve memory, and once again warn of the dangerous consequences of enforced disappearance—consequences that are not limited to the victim alone, but whose psychological, social, and economic effects extend to the victim’s family and community over the course of months, years, or even decades. Every point on this interactive map is not merely a number, but the story of a person deprived of their freedom and whose fate remains unknown, and a family that continues to wait for answers and clings to its right to know the truth.
This interactive map is not merely a digital record of data on past crimes of enforced disappearance; rather, it is an open call to seek the truth, to provide redress for victims, to build collective memory, to affirm the right of every person subjected to enforced disappearance and their family to justice, dignity, and recognition, to remind all parties and officials of their responsibility to reveal the fate of those subjected to enforced disappearance, to enable families to access the truth, to ensure accountability and redress, and to work toward preventing such incidents from recurring.
Mwatana emphasizes that the information presented through this interactive map does not constitute a comprehensive list of all victims of enforced disappearance in Yemen, but is limited to cases that the organization has been able to document and verify in accordance with its methodology for compiling this map, It is important to note the limited availability of data, the long time that has elapsed since hundreds of incidents occurred, the ongoing armed conflict, and the difficulty in accessing many victims, their families, witnesses, and documents. Therefore, it is likely that the actual number of victims is much higher than the cases that could be documented and included on this map.
Mwatana for Human Rights, which is launching the interactive map of enforced disappearances in Yemen, expresses its deep appreciation for all the efforts that have been and continue to be made to support the victims of enforced disappearance and their families in Yemen, foremost among them: the tireless struggle of the victims’ families, the Association of Families of the Forcibly Disappeared, Al-Nidaa newspaper, everyone who contributed to its special report on victims of enforced disappearance, the “Walls Remember Their Faces” campaign, and other initiatives. It also expresses its deep appreciation to all the experts who contributed their knowledge, expertise, and insights to enrich the content of this map throughout the various stages of its development.
Mwatana emphasizes that this interactive map will remain an open project subject to updates whenever new information becomes available or additional cases can be verified. The organization welcomes all comments, ideas, suggestions, additions, corrections, and reports that will enrich the map’s content, information, and data, thereby contributing to the promotion of the right to know the truth, preserving memory, and supporting efforts to uncover the fate of all victims of enforced disappearance, as well as efforts toward accountability and transitional justice—all of which are essential steps in any genuine path toward achieving justice and building sustainable peace in Yemen.