Warmongers lose the values and meanings that characterize human beings, but not before losing their humanity. One of the manifestations of losing humanity is indifference to the fate of human beings; they snatch them from their safe lives to torture and death and take them from their homes and families to detention camps and centers of abduction.
Since my appointment as head of government delegation in the talks with insurgents, I was keen to make the issue of detainees, abductees and the forcibly disappeared the main issue to reach a political solution that ends the coup and leads to the cessation of the war.
I believed that if we could reach an agreement on this issue, we would help those who started the war, Houthis, to restore their humanity. If they regain their humanity, they facilitate reaching a political agreement and cessation of war.
Families of thousands of detainees, abducted and forcibly disappeared are in pain, namely those of the four leaders: Mahmoud al-Subaihi, Nasser Mansour Hadi, Faisal Rajab and Mohammed Qahtan, who were kidnapped three years ago.
As head of the government’s delegation in the talks, I worked with my colleagues to make this issue a top priority. We were able to put it on the top of the agenda which issues and details were agreed upon before we headed to the Biel talks on December 15, 2015.
Time was long overdue to stop the pain of the victims and their families and find a quick solution. We did not believe that the criminals would continue with their transgressions that we have been talking about for three years.
We were also prompted to speed up the process after hearing stories from released detainees about the torture they were subjected to. Their unknown location and illegal detention centers were another motive for us.
For days in Biel, Switzerland, we discussed with coupists delegation this issue and we insisted on the need to reach an agreement before any political talk, while they did not see these subjects as important. Sometimes they said they were not authorized to discuss them.
For us, my colleagues in the government delegation and I, these issues were necessary to building trust, being an indicator of the insurgents' willingness to stop the war, more precisely of any left human values in them.
As an affirmation of responsibility and values, and an expression of reassurance, we stressed that the case involved mutual obligations and the government didn’t want detainees with either parties. We asked to know the fate of the abductees and those forcibly detained, and we provided reports about them.
This raised a big question that remained without a real answer: How many detainees are there exactly? We demanded an official answer concerning their fate, but insurgents did not heed our request, the prior commitment or the envoy's interventions.
The question that puzzled me and my colleagues was whether we were actually meeting with Yemenis. We have not seen such inhumanity and lack of conscience.
We sent an official letter to the Envoy asking for specific time otherwise we’d suspend our participation in the consultations until we received a response.
Eventually, after pressures from the Envoy and the sponsoring countries, insurgents showed willingness to address two humanitarian points: detainees and besieged Taiz. The international community praised the agreement.
Up until today, this agreement has not been implemented.
The fate of the four leaders was one of the issues of discussion and we sent a formal written memorandum to the envoy and demanded an official response from the coup party.
Head of Houthi delegation, Mohammed Abdulsalam took me aside and told me that Mahmoud al-Subaihi was fine and so was Faisal Rajab. Concerning the brother of President Hadi, Major General Nasser Mansour, whose fate was unknown until that time, he told me: "He is fine and constantly taking his medicine. I want you to reassure President Hadi." However, regarding Mohammed al-Qahtan, he said he knew nothing about him. I tried to know whether he did not know his fate or he was not authorized to reveal his fate. Abdulsalam insisted in the end that he knew nothing about him.
After that, I insisted on discussing the issue in presence of the envoys, and on organizing a visit a period set one to two weeks after the talks. We agreed on that, but it has not happened so far. The consultations were scheduled to continue on January 14, 2016, to address political matters, but this meeting took place only on April 24 in Kuwait.
In Kuwait, the issue was repeatedly discussed and a joint committee was formed. Names were exchanged and the Envoy’s office submitted a draft of a detailed agreement, which had been modified several times by the coupists.
The Envoy and a number of sponsor countries’ ambassadors stated that a breakthrough has been achieved in the file of prisoners, detainees, abductees and forcibly disappeared.
We tried many proposals to achieve a real breakthrough while insurgents continued with their evasive responses on not releasing the four leaders, saying that we were in a state of war and describing them as war prisoners. We proposed that they transfer the four detainees to Oman until the signing of the agreement and the end of the war.
We talked with Omani officials, but Houthis didn't change their stance. They also insisted that detainees, including journalists, activists, politicians, anti-coupists, and even citizens were war prisoners.
We proposed a Red Cross visit to all, where they write down their names and inform their families of their situation in order to alleviate their pain as a first stage. We agreed to include prisoners with detainees, abductees and forcibly disappeared for the sake of facilitating the procedure for these Yemenis who deserve to return to their families.
But in the end, and despite all our efforts and the efforts of the envoy, his team and the international community, they renounced each agreement, and reneged on their commitment to signing the agreement, which was altered several times upon their request.
Kuwait talks ended after 100 days without any progress. The number of detainees increased and the destiny of many of them remained unknown. International efforts, including the efforts of former envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, failed to reach a visit to the detainees, including the four leaders, or to reveal the situation of Mohammed Qahtan, even after the international promises Ould Cheikh received.
It was possible to talk long about this file, which is a constant government concern, but it was not at the same level of interest to the international community, which may have viewed Houthis as a merely convicted gang from whom anything is expected.
Activists, too, are not very concerned with this issue perhaps because human rights advocates in areas under Houthi control fear arrest and abduction.
Only the mothers, wives and sisters of the detainees take action without their men, motivated by pain, suffering and disappointment due to the absence of real men. This issue will remain crucial for building trust.
Houthis’ practices in this issue indicate their lack of morals and religious and humane values. If they do not end this, they are nothing but beasts who will continue their crimes and wars without any religious or human prohibitions. This will only end when our people can get rid of them and put an end to all the tragedies they have caused.
