Yemeni Shura Council: Release of Mohamed Qahtaan a Priority and Condition for Government Negotiating Delegation

Yemen Monitor/News Room

Ahmed Bin Daghr, head of the Yemeni Shura Council, affirmed that the government will not relent on the demand that political activist Mohamed Qahtaan be at the top of the list of prisoners and abductees, calling for the release of all abductees under the principle of “all for all.”

“The political leadership has directed the government negotiating delegation on the file of prisoners and abductees repeatedly not to abandon its fair demand for the release of all for all,” Bin Daghr said in a statement on the “X”.

“Bin Daghr” stressed that “there is no right to silence or compromise, today and every day, on the demand that the activist and politician Mohamed Qahtaan be at the top of the list of prisoners and abductees. He is the owner of well-known national positions, a man of wisdom and peace, and a great national and political figure.”

He added, “This is our message to this activist who is languishing behind bars in the prisons of the oppressive Houthi enemy, the enemy of the people and the homeland, and to his family, friends and companions, without abandoning our fair demand for the release of all for all.”

Bin Daghr also stressed that the legitimate government has every right and all logic to adhere to this principle in order to achieve the justice that all Yemenis are equal and that everyone has the right to obtain freedom from captivity or abduction, as they all have mothers, wives and children waiting for their return.

He expressed his confidence that “the government negotiating delegation has not and will not remain silent or compromise on this principle, and his confidence in their capabilities, experiences and the justice of their cause.”

Last Sunday, the Yemeni government announced the suspension of negotiations with the Houthis on prisoner exchange until the family of prominent Yemeni politician Mohamed Qahtaan is allowed to visit him in his prison.

Hadi al-Hayj, head of the government delegation for negotiations on the committee of prisoners, abductees and forcibly disappeared persons, said that “the Houthis refuse to agree to the condition of the government delegation to visit the abducted politician Mohamed Qahtaan as a condition for resuming negotiations.”

Al-Hayj added in an intervention in a human rights seminar in Marib that “the government delegation has suspended meetings with the Houthis until the they commits to the delegation’s condition and allows Qahtaan’s family to visit him.”

On April 4, 2015, Mohamed Qahtaan disappeared, leaving behind an unknown fate to this day. All the parties that overthrew legitimacy have disclaimed responsibility for his disappearance, and even raised a storm of contradictions in an attempt to bury the traces of his disappearance.

In June 2023, a new round of consultations was launched on the file of exchanging abductees and prisoners, between the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Houthi group in the Jordanian capital, Amman, under the auspices of the UN.

On June 4 of the same month, the head of the Presidential Leadership Council held the UN responsible for implementing the UN Security Council resolutions on Yemen, at the top of which is the disclosure of the fate of Mohamed Qahtaan.

Last year, 2023, the Houthis released three of the four leaders that the Security Council called for their release by a UN resolution; as part of a prisoner exchange deal between the two parties. However, the Houthis refuse to disclose the fate of Mohamed Qahtaan, in addition to his release.