Rights Organisation condemns detention of Yemeni investigators by UAE-backed forces News
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Rights Organisation condemns detention of Yemeni investigators by UAE-backed forces

The global organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement online on Friday condemning the unlawful detention of members of Yemen’s national human rights institution by the UAE-backed “Southern Transitional Council” (STC), a major party to the Yemeni war. The National Commission for the Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights (NCIAVHR) is an independent national body that investigates violations by all parties of the conflict in Yemen.

The members of NCIAVHR, who were visiting an unofficial detention centre in the governorate of Socotra, were detained for three hours and released only after being ordered to never visit the centre again. The Centre later that day detained two former detainees as well. One of the detained and released members called the detention centre “among the worst things [the Commission] has seen”, according to the HRW report.

Various outlets, including Human Rights Watch and the Associated Press, documented these secret detention facilities run by the United Arab Emirates and its forces. Southern Transitional Council is a political and military organisation in Yemen, originating in 2017 as a faction of the Southern movement that demanded a separate South Yemen.

Earlier this month, President Dr Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi ordered the closure of these prisons and detention centres and the immediate release of individuals held, stating that “the directive comes as part of a broader course aimed at restoring state authority and upholding respect for human rights.” According to the directive, the President had instructed authorities to identify these unlawful detention centres in the Aden, Lahj, and Al-Dhalea governorates. Further, he ordered an urgent plan to shut down these facilities, transfer the detainees to official institutions, and release them if there is no lawful charge. The President’s statement arrives after the STC’s announcement on their dissolution after fighting with the armed group, Yemeni-government-backed forces, and Saudi Arabia for a month.

In 2024, Amnesty International condemned their crackdown on civic spaces. Noting that the STC adopted stringent measures to restrict the work of Yemeni civil society since 2023, people expressed that organisations not politically aligned with STC were scrutinised further. Several people said that work in the field is closely coordinated by the STC at every stage. This restriction led to people censoring themselves so as to navigate the excessive scrutiny and restrictive, burdensome requirements.

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On February 1, 1790, the Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time. The meeting was held at the Merchants' Exchange Building in New York City, then the national capital. Chief Justice John Jay presided over the first Court with five Associate Justices: James Wilson, John Blair, James Iredell, William Cushing, and John Rutledge. However, due to the limitations of 18th-century transportation technology, the meeting was postponed by Jay until the following day. The first meeting was held primarily to organize the Supreme Court. The Justices did not hear their first actual case, Chrisholm v. Georgia, until 1792.

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