In an interview with “Yemenat,” writer and political activist Fawzi Al-Ariqi reveals a long list of names of officers responsible for torture and enforced disappearances (1-2).
Interview: Mohammed Al-Suhbani
“Professor Abdul Bari Taher wrote that the worst period of violations of public freedoms occurred under the regime of Ibrahim al-Hamdi. Regarding his role in the creation of scientific institutions, I wrote about this, and some Nasserists insulted me and accused me of lying.”
“There were those who worked in the support services of the National Security Bureau: doctors, nurses, translators. Those who died without anyone mourning them, I simply marked them with a black dot.”
“The artist Murad Subai launched the initiative ‘The Walls Know Their Faces,’ collecting the names and photos of approximately 200 people forcibly disappeared in North and South Yemen. Their faces, names, and dates of disappearance were painted on the walls of Sana’a, Ibb, and Taiz.”
“Professor Fawzi al-Ariqi, a renowned left-wing activist, writer, and political activist, secretary of the Department of Rights and Freedoms of the Yemeni Socialist Party in the Taiz Governorate, presented an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of enforced disappearances in Yemen.”
Al-Ariqi revealed a long history of human rights violations that have gone unpunished to this day.
He also disclosed a long list of names of officers responsible for torture and enforced disappearances, demonstrating the involvement of numerous political and security figures in these repressive practices.
He addressed the impact of political and military conflicts on the frequency of enforced disappearances, emphasizing that this phenomenon was directly linked to internal political conflicts, such as the war in the south after independence and in northern Yemen. Al-Ariqi recounted his personal experience: arrested in 1982 under the regime of Ghalib Mutahhar al-Qamish, he had been detained because of his membership in the Yemeni People’s Unity Party. He criticized a newspaper that had stopped publishing the continuation of his account of his prison experience because it contained the names of some of his torturers.
In this exclusive and exceptional interview, he presented numerous facts that had been silenced by the media. He succeeded in shedding light on sensitive issues and documenting cases of enforced disappearances and human rights violations, perpetrated by many Yemeni political and civil figures. He did so with remarkable courage and determination, contributing to the opening of important historical archives and demonstrating a commitment to reporting the truth professionally.
In this interview, published by Yemenat in two parts, Al-Ariqi addresses the issue of enforced disappearances in Yemen throughout modern history, focusing particularly on the enforced disappearances of Yemeni women.
Al-Ariqi begins by examining the first cases of arrest in the 1930s, under the rule of Imam Yahya Hamid al-Din, then documents this phenomenon after the revolution, and finally its current impact. He explores the underlying reasons for the spread of this phenomenon in a context of internal and external political conflicts, how these cases are documented despite the lack of official evidence and the absence of international law, and the difficulties faced by victims and their families in holding those responsible accountable.
Let’s move on to the first episode:
Professor and left-wing activist Fawzi al-Ariqi, a renowned Yemeni writer and political activist and secretary of the Department of Rights and Freedoms within the party organization in the Taiz Governorate, your activism on Facebook concerning enforced disappearances in Yemen has gained prominence. Why haven’t we seen more of your writings in newspapers and online? Only a few articles have been published in the press.
Have you experienced harassment or threats from security forces to discourage you from continuing to write on social media about this complex, sensitive, and, to say the least, humanitarian issue? Have you ever been arrested for political reasons? If so, under which regime? Ghalib al-Qamish, Muhammad al-Yadumi, or Muhammad Hamoud Khamis? How long were you detained and for what reasons? Where exactly were you arrested? Were you tortured? Who contributed to your release?
Yes, I was arrested in April 1982, under the regime of Ghalib Mutahhar al-Qamish, specifically on April 21, 1982, at a branch of the National Cooperative Development Bank. I was released after agreements were reached with the South, and the activities of the National Democratic Front, with which I was neither involved nor affiliated, ceased. I recounted my prison experience and published it in installments on Facebook. The local newspaper “Al-Shari’a” also published a few episodes in 2014.