Abuse of power & retaliationOversight & ethics enforcementPhysical & psychological abuse

After the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council dissolved, Yemen orders secret prisons closed but no prosecutions or whereabouts of the disappeared are reported

Confidence: Corroborated · 2 sourcesYemen · Oct 6, 2026

Subject of this story

Government of the United Arab Emirates

Rashad al-Alimi, President of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council

Also named

Advocate

Human Rights Watch

Abductees' Mothers Association

What happened

After the UAE withdrew forces on 30 December 2025 and the Southern Transitional Council announced its dissolution on 9 January 2026, NGOs documented 18 secret prisons in southern Yemen used between 2015 and 2025. On 12 January 2026 President Rashad Al-Alimi called for all illegal prisons to be closed and arbitrarily detained people released. Human Rights Watch urged authorities to preserve evidence and give independent investigators access, and neither HRW nor France 24 report prosecutions of those responsible. The Abductees' Mothers Association said it submitted 62 names of disappeared people to Aden's governor and that not one detainee had been found; the UAE denied the allegations.

Sources (2)

Human Rights WatchYemeni authorities should "preserve evidence and immediately grant access to independent investigators to informal detention facilities and secret prisons."

France 24NGOs documented 18 secret prisons; Abductees' Mothers Association submitted 62 names to Aden's governor with no results.

Response

Government of the United Arab Emirates

Not yet contacted

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Rashad al-Alimi

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Not yet contacted for this story.

Southern Transitional Council

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What happened next (0)

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