The issue of enforced disappearances in Yemen has once again come to the forefront amid the waning influence of the Southern Transitional Council and its affiliated military formations backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This development follows the takeover by forces aligned with the internationally recognized government of the temporary capital, Aden, as well as the southern and eastern governorates, a shift that has offered victims’ families a renewed sense of hope in learning the fate of their missing relatives.
On 24 December 2025, Alkarama submitted a complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) regarding nine Yemeni nationals who were formerly detained in Guantánamo Bay. Having been deprived of their liberty by the United States for several years without charge or trial, they were transferred to the United Arab Emirates between 2015 and 2016 on the understanding that they would be released upon arrival.
Alkarama has learned, from Emirati human rights defense sources, of the death of political prisoner Ali Abdullah Al-Khaja in Al-Razeen Prison in Abu Dhabi. His health had severely deteriorated and he remained imprisoned for more than thirteen years despite a United Nations decision deeming his detention arbitrary and calling for his release.
The fate of Emirati activist Jassem bin Rashid Al-Shamsi remains unknown following his arrest in Syria on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at a checkpoint in the capital, Damascus. He was reportedly taken to a security facility without a judicial warrant or clear charges, and all contact with him has since been severed.
Yemeni businessman Abdullah Ali Abdulhafidh ABDELWAHAB remains detained at Abu Dhabi’s federal prison, known as Al-Sadr, in conditions that contravene international human rights standards. His contact with his family is extremely limited: when he is allowed to make a phone call, it never lasts more than one minute, deepening the anguish and distress of his relatives.
The authorities of the United Arab Emirates are continuing their campaign of repression and intimidation against prisoners of conscience and political opponents, using the justice system and anti-terrorism laws as tools in their war against human rights.
On 11 March 2025, Alkarama submitted to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) the case of Mr. Abdullah Ali Abdulhafidh ABDELWAHAB, a Yemeni businessman who was arbitrarily arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and sentenced to 15 years in prison merely for posts on Facebook.
Alkarama expresses its deep concern over reports of raids and arrests carried out by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) against Palestinian and Arab residents of the country for their solidarity with the Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli occupation's killing and genocide in Gaza.
Alkarama strongly condemns the unjust sentences issued by a court in the United Arab Emirates against 53 political detainees. Most of these individuals were the subject of Opinions from the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which had called for their immediate release.
