Protest to Demand the Release of Detainees Held by the Fourth Brigade in Lahj, Southern Yemen
Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
The city of Al-Turbah, south of Taiz Governorate, witnessed this morning a protest organized by dozens of mothers and families of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons, demanding the immediate release of their sons who have been held for nearly two years in the prisons of the Fourth Mountain Infantry Brigade in Tur al-Bahah District, Lahj Governorate (southern Yemen).
The participating women raised banners condemning the illegal detention of 23 detainees, including children under the age of 16, without judicial orders, demanding that their cases be transferred to the competent judicial authorities or that they be released immediately.
The protesters accused the brigade commander, Brigadier General Abu Bakr al-Jabouli, and his brother Alawi, of committing grave violations against the detainees, including enforced disappearance, torture, and the extraction of confessions under duress, amid the complicity of the military prosecution and the absence of any role for the relevant judicial authorities.
The protest statement affirmed that only two detainees were recently released after their cases were transferred to the criminal prosecution in Taiz, which the families considered evidence of the weakness of the charges against the other detainees and the lack of legal basis for the detention procedures.
The mothers also expressed their deep concern regarding the fate of two detainees, Yasser al-Nasseri and Shehab Alwan, after information circulated about their deaths under torture and the lack of any trace of them for two years.
The protest held the brigade leadership, the military prosecution, and the security services in Al-Shimaytain, as well as the Ministry of Defense and the Taiz Axis, fully responsible for these violations, calling on the Chairman and members of the Presidential Leadership Council to intervene urgently and form an independent committee to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.
The statement concluded by thanking the human rights organizations that supported the case, including the National Human Rights Committee, the SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties, the American Center for Justice (ACJ), and a number of media outlets and activists who shed light on these violations.
Earlier human rights reports had documented the detainees being subjected to severe torture and denial of medical care and communication with their families, amid widespread human rights demands for their immediate release and the accountability of those involved.
