Yemen: Alkarama reminds UN human rights experts of the tragedy of the forcibly disappeared politician, Mohammed Qahtan
Alkarama addressed UN human rights experts regarding the case of Yemeni politician and Islah party leader Mohammed QAHTAN, who disappeared after his arrest at his home in Sana'a.
In its submission to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Alkarama expressed its disappointment that the case of the Yemeni politician was not mentioned during the UN-sponsored negotiations between the Yemeni parties in the context of international efforts to end the war and achieve peace in Yemen.
In a letter sent to Alkarama, Qahtan's family said: "We are sorry for the Houthis' refusal to disclose our father's fate given his conditions of detention. He represented a political current in a negotiation process aimed at finding peaceful political solutions to the war. »
Regarding the outcome of the negotiations on the exchange of prisoners and abductees between the Yemeni official government and the Houthi group, Qahtan's family added: "Today we share both feelings of joy and sadness. We welcome the return of every prisoner and share the desire of all families to find their missing. At the same time we feel the bitterness caused by the continuous disappearance of our father all these years. »
Qahtan's family renewed its call for the Houthis to release him unconditionally and outside any negotiation process with any party. "Because he is a Yemeni citizen and politician who was and still is eager to protect every Yemeni. It is unfair to respond to the peaceful and biased policy of peace with brute force," the family added.
The family of prominent Yemeni politician Mohammed Qahtan is suffering for the eighth consecutive year caused by his disappearance following his abduction by Houthi gunmen shortly after the September 2014 coup.
Alkarama shares the concern of Qahtan's family, who earlier issued a statement in which he stressed the responsibility of the Houthi group, also known as "Ansar Allah", for his life. The statement came in the wake of statements by one of the militia leaders who denied any relationship between Qahtan and his militias, blaming supporters of former President Ali Saleh, a Houthi ally before he was killed.
Between 20 and 30 October 2015, Alkarama submitted an urgent appeal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances regarding the situation of Islah party leader Mohammed Qahtan.