The Yemeni Center for Human Rights condemns the aggression’s obstruction of the prisoner exchange agreement.

The Yemeni Center for Human Rights condemned the continued intransigence of the Saudi-American-Emirati aggression coalition and its mercenaries inside Yemen, and their deliberate and systematic obstruction of the implementation of agreements and understandings related to the file of prisoners and detainees.

In a statement, the center condemned the aggression coalition’s reneging on the understandings agreed upon under the auspices of the United Nations last May, regarding the release of more than 1,600 prisoners and detainees from all sides, despite the completion of all preparations, procedures and flights by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs and under the supervision of the United Nations.

The issue of prisoners and detainees is considered one of the most prominent forms of the coalition’s aggression since 2015, due to its serious effects on peace and security in Yemen. This was confirmed by the Security Council’s Panel of Experts, which stated that the coalition countries committed the crime of recruiting mercenaries, through its reports, including the comprehensive report (S/2018/192) for the period 2015, in paragraph (142), which states: “The Panel also notes reports that the United Arab Emirates is deploying ‘mercenaries,’ and this deployment increases the likelihood of violations of international humanitarian law.”

He pointed out that the disavowal and delay in humanitarian conduct represents a blatant violation of basic rights and a complete disregard for the escalating human suffering of hundreds of prisoners and their families who are living through the bitterness of waiting and worry about the fate of their loved ones. He explained that despite the existence of clear understandings and mutually agreed lists approved by all parties, the forces of aggression and their mercenary militias deliberately fabricate pretexts and obstacles in every round of negotiations to thwart the agreed-upon deal.

The Yemeni Center for Human Rights stressed that the disavowal and procrastination not only reflect the absence of political will, but also reveal the insistence of the aggression coalition on using this humanitarian file as a tool for political and military pressure and bargaining, which is contrary to human and moral values, and constitutes a compound crime and a serious violation of the rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

The statement explained that prolonging arbitrary detention, psychological manipulation of prisoners and their families, and deliberately concealing them or obstructing their release constitutes collective punishment affecting thousands of civilians related to prisoners and detainees. It noted that every day the implementation of the agreement is delayed means a continuation of the humanitarian tragedy and the forms of inhumane and degrading treatment prohibited internationally, and a deliberate deprivation of hundreds of mothers and children from seeing their relatives amidst the world’s greatest humanitarian disasters.

The center held the Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition and its mercenary militias fully legally and morally responsible for the lives and safety of all prisoners and for their continued suffering.

He renewed his call for the immediate and full implementation of the prisoner exchange agreement on the basis of “all for all”, as the radical and only solution to completely end this humanitarian issue, away from politicization and fragmentation.

The Yemeni Center for Human Rights called on the international community, especially the United Nations, the Security Council and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to exert real and effective pressure on the coalition countries, their mercenaries and their affiliated mercenary militias to stop obstructing this file and to fulfill their signed commitments.