Geneva - SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties stated that the decision of the Presidential Leadership Council to end the military relationship with the United Arab Emirates, followed by the UAE Ministry of Defense’s announcement of the termination of its military presence in Yemen, does not absolve the UAE of legal responsibility for the grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed during the period of that presence.
The organization affirmed that international law is clear in that military withdrawal or the termination of security arrangements does not create immunity from accountability, nor does it negate the obligation to investigate and prosecute serious crimes, particularly those that may amount to crimes against humanity, including torture, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and widespread harm inflicted on civilians and their property.
SAM indicated that credible international reports, including those issued by the United Nations Group of Eminent Experts and independent international human rights organizations, have over the years documented serious and consistent allegations of a pattern of violations in Yemen. These included the management or support of unofficial detention facilities, systematic torture practices, cases of enforced disappearance, and violations committed by Emirati forces or local armed formations supported by them or subject to their effective control or operational direction. The organization stressed that these allegations have not been seriously denied, nor have they been investigated through independent and transparent inquiries to date.
SAM added that human rights reports and testimonies from victims and their families also point to cases of extrajudicial killings targeting civil activists, mosque preachers, and social figures, carried out by foreign mercenaries or elements linked to Emirati-backed armed formations, within a broader pattern of intimidation and silencing of critical voices. The organization emphasized that such acts, if proven, constitute grave violations of the right to life as guaranteed under international human rights law and cannot be justified or legitimized under any security pretext.
SAM also documented the existence of unofficial detention facilities in Mukalla, Balhaf, and Aden, which were associated with credible allegations of arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment, and enforced disappearance. Available information indicates that more than 40 individuals remain subjected to enforced disappearance, without their families being enabled to know their fate or places of detention, in flagrant violation of the fundamental guarantees of a fair trial and the right to know as enshrined in the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The organization affirmed that the continued incommunicado detention of these individuals and the denial of any information to their families amount to cruel and inhuman treatment of both the victims and their relatives and constitute an independent violation requiring investigation and accountability.
Under the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, states are obligated to respect and protect civilians and protected persons and to investigate grave breaches and prosecute those responsible. The 1984 Convention against Torture also imposes an absolute prohibition on torture in all circumstances and obliges states to conduct prompt, independent, and impartial investigations into every credible allegation and to hold those responsible accountable regardless of their rank or position. The 2006 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance affirms that enforced disappearance is a grave crime that cannot be justified or evaded in terms of its consequences and obliges states to guarantee the right to truth, justice, and reparation.
The organization added that the Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, adopted by the International Law Commission, explicitly stipulate the responsibility of a state that aids, supports, or makes a substantial contribution to the commission of an internationally wrongful act when it is established that the state had knowledge of the circumstances of that act. This responsibility includes the international responsibility of the state alongside the individual criminal responsibility of persons involved in committing, ordering, or contributing to the crimes.
SAM called on the Presidential Leadership Council to take immediate and concrete steps, including the formation of an independent and impartial investigative committee comprising judges, legal experts, and representatives of independent human rights organizations, vested with powers of subpoena and unrestricted access to detention facilities and relevant records; to ensure the protection of victims and witnesses; to publish the findings of the investigation to the public; and to immediately disclose the fate of all forcibly disappeared persons and release those arbitrarily detained or refer them to an independent judiciary in accordance with fair trial standards.
The organization also urged the international community, states parties to the Geneva Conventions, and relevant UN mechanisms not to treat the termination of the military presence as the closure of the violations file, and to support accountability pathways and ensure an end to impunity. It stressed that ending a military presence cannot be a substitute for justice and must not be used to close cases of violations or to deprive victims of their right to truth, justice, and reparation.