URGENT ACTION

RELEASE ARBITRARILY DETAINED EDUCATION EXPERT

Moujib al-Mikhlafi, a Yemeni education expert and trainer, has been arbitrarily detained by the Huthi de facto authorities since 10 October 2023 in Sana’a, Yemen. Following his arrest, he was forcibly disappeared for 21 days and held incommunicado for over a month at the Huthi-run security and intelligence detention centre in Sana’a where he remains to date. He is held without charge and he is denied his right to legal counsel. He must be immediately released.

TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL LETTER

Ansarullah Spokesperson Mohamed Abdelsalam
X: @abdusalamsalah
Email: mdabdalsalam@gmail.com 

Dear Mohamed Abdelsalam,

Moujib al-Mikhlafi, a 49-year-old education expert and trainer on the rights of the child, peace building, dialogue and nonviolent communication, has been arbitrarily detained since 10 October 2023 at the Huthi-run security and intelligence detention centre in Sana’a. He has not been charged to date and has been denied his right to counsel. 

According to a family member, Moujib al-Mikhlafi was arrested by Huthi security and intelligence forces on 10 October 2023 as he was on his way to Ibb governorate in Southern Yemen to give an education training to education staff at schools. Security and intelligence forces raided his house on the same day without a warrant and confiscated two mobile phones, two iPad tablets and work-related papers.
 
Following his arrest, Moujib al-Mikhlafi was subjected to enforced disappearance for 21 days until his family learned from the reports and complaints department at the security and intelligence service that he was held at the security and intelligence detention centre in Sana’a where he remains to date. According to a family member, he was held incommunicado for five weeks following his arrest before he was allowed to call his family on 15 November 2023. 

His family’s concerns about his health mounted after they learned, in March of this year, that his health was deteriorating. Moujib al-Mikhlafi suffers from pre-existing health conditions including diabetes and high blood pressure. 

According to Amnesty International’s research, detainees at the Huthi-run security and intelligence detention centres are often held in horrific and punitive conditions and are denied access to adequate healthcare. 

We urge the Huthi de facto authorities to immediately release Moujib al-Mikhlafi. Pending his release, the authorities must ensure he is protected from torture and other ill-treatment and that he has access to legal representation, regular family contact, and adequate healthcare. 

Yours sincerely,
Additional information

Moujib al-Mikhlafi is an education expert and trainer who has been working at the Ministry of Education in Sana’a for 24 years until he was detained on 10 October 2023. His work included trainings targeting education staff at schools on the rights of the child, peacebuilding and conflict resolution, dialogue and nonviolent communication.
Following his arrest, his family submitted an appeal to the head of the Supreme Political Council and the head of the security and intelligence service and a complaint to the head of the legal unit at the office of the Huthi leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi, but they have not received a response to date. 
Arbitrary detention violates the Yemeni Criminal Procedures Law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Yemen is a state party. 
All parties to the conflict, including the Huthi de facto authorities, the internationally recognized government, and the Southern Transitional Council have carried out arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, harassment, torture and other ill-treatment, and unfair trials. 
Since 2015, Amnesty International has documented the cases of scores of journalists, human rights defenders, academics, members of the Baha’i community, and others perceived as opponents or critics who were subjected to arbitrary arrest, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, and unfair trials with recourse to the death penalty by the Huthi de facto authorities. All were targeted simply because of their work as journalists or for exercising their human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, and thought, conscience and religion or belief. 

PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: Arabic and English.
You can also write in your own language.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 8 July 2024.
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.

NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: Moujib al-Mikhlafi (he/him).
Additional Targets

DR YASSIN SAEED NOMAN Ahmed
Ambassador
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen
57 Cromwell Road SW7 2ED
020 7584 6607
Fax 020 7589 3350
admin@yemenembassy.co.uk
Monday-Friday 09.30-16.00
Salutation: Your Excellency