Aden’s Shadow War: Abductions, Torture, and Systematic Silencing of Dissent

In the port city that once symbolized the promise of a democratic future for southern Yemen, a darker reality now unfolds.

Over recent months, a campaign of kidnappings, enforced disappearances, and torture has gripped the streets of Aden, targeting activists, unionists, and civilians who dare to speak out. The perpetrators, according to field reports compiled by Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC), are armed forces aligned with the Southern Transitional Council (STC), including the notorious Security Belt Forces and Presidential Storm Brigades. What emerges is not a series of isolated incidents, but a pattern — systematic, deliberate, and increasingly bold.

A City Under Siege: Repression in Aden

Once considered a relative safe haven amidst Yemen’s chaos, Aden has become a crucible of repression. Since December 2024, WJWC has documented a steady escalation in rights violations. Civil society figures, protest organizers, and even social media critics have become targets of extrajudicial actions that violate both Yemeni law and international human rights conventions.

 According to field monitors working under severe security constraints, this wave of state-sponsored intimidation is aimed at silencing dissent over deteriorating public services and rising corruption. Power outages, water shortages, and collapsing health systems have fueled widespread public anger — and the authorities have responded not with reform, but with repression.

 Targeted Abductions and Torture

One of the most chilling indicators of this crackdown occurred on May 3, 2025, when three prominent members of the Coordination of Civil and Human Rights Forces — Dr. Hassan Fadl Al-Haithami, Waseem Al-Aqrabi, and Jamal Al-Baihani — were kidnapped shortly after leaving a meeting in Aden’s Mansoura District. According to eyewitness accounts, they were forced into vehicles — one a marked security van, the other a civilian white Hyundai Santa Fe — and whisked away without arrest warrants or formal charges.

On the same night, Ali Ashal Masoud Al-Ja’dani, uncle of a forcibly disappeared military officer, was abducted under similar circumstances. While several of the abductees were later released, Waseem Al-Aqrabi remains in detention, reportedly subjected to brutal physical torture at a Security Belt Forces facility.

A statement issued by the Coordination group on May 9 condemned the abuse as “barbaric,” holding STC forces responsible for Al-Aqrabi’s safety and demanding his immediate release. The case has become emblematic of a broader assault on Aden’s civil society infrastructure.

Criminalizing Speech and Peaceful Protest

Other incidents point to a growing intolerance of even modest dissent. On May 1, popular YouTuber Mustafa al-Hasani was arrested after posting a video critical of the city's worsening public services. Though released the next day without charges, his detention sent a clear message: criticism will not be tolerated.

 That same day, activist Moataz al-Rusi was abducted in broad daylight outside a furniture store in Mansoura by masked gunmen in a black Toyota Prado — a method now routinely employed by STC-affiliated operatives. Al-Rusi had been a vocal participant in protests over Aden’s electricity crisis. He had previously been kidnapped in December 2024 for denouncing local government corruption online, underscoring the recurring nature of such reprisals.

Just three days earlier, on April 28, Presidential Storm Forces launched a raid in Crater District following mass protests against deteriorating living conditions. The crackdown was swift and brutal: live ammunition fired into the air to disperse demonstrators, young men beaten with rifle butts, and multiple arrests. At least four protesters — Salem Jawa, Mohammed Awad, Mohammed Fahd, and Abdul Karim Anwar — were detained and held for several days at the Storm Brigades' "Camp Twenty."

 Earlier, on April 22, another peaceful protester — Abdulrahman Zaki — was abducted by masked men using both military and civilian vehicles. His only apparent crime: calling for transparency regarding the fate of forcibly disappeared individuals.

Disguised Oppression: A Tactic of Impunity

A disturbing hallmark of these abductions is the strategic use of civilian vehicles — often Voxy or Prado models — operated by masked assailants. This tactic, WJWC notes, is designed to obscure the identity of the perpetrators and disassociate them from official institutions. The blurring of lines between formal security forces and clandestine units creates a culture of impunity, where victims are denied even the basic right to know who is responsible for their suffering.

 Such operations are not only illegal under Yemeni law but also violate multiple international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture.

 Silencing Women’s Voices

On May 10, Al-Ardh Square in Khormaksar District witnessed a peaceful women-led protest calling for improved basic services. Organized by civil society activists, the demonstration highlighted the disproportionate burden Yemen’s collapsed infrastructure places on women.

Despite the protest’s peaceful nature, STC loyalists launched an online incitement campaign ahead of the event, aiming to discredit the protest and intimidate its organizers. Security Belt Forces maintained a heavy presence throughout the demonstration, underlining the authorities’ deep mistrust of grassroots movements — even those led by women demanding water and electricity.

From Harassment to Human Rights Crisis

The abuses recorded over the past six months are not random acts of overreach. They form part of a sustained and deliberate strategy to suppress civil resistance in Aden. Between December 2024 and May 2025, WJWC has cataloged a litany of violations: arbitrary arrests, beatings, torture, enforced disappearances, and attacks on peaceful demonstrators and displaced populations.

These actions, the organization warns, amount to crimes against humanity if viewed through the lens of their scope, consistency, and political intent.

WJWC has called attention to the Southern Transitional Council’s command responsibility — especially among security and military leaders who either ordered or condoned these abuses. Without meaningful accountability, the group warns, Aden risks descending further into lawlessness and repression.

A Call for Accountability

In a formal statement, Women Journalists Without Chains condemned what it described as an “organized assault” on Aden’s civil society. The organization reiterated that the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and personal security are protected not only under Yemeni constitutional law but also under international human rights norms.

WJWC called for the immediate and unconditional release of all individuals subjected to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. It urged the United Nations, international human rights bodies, and donor states to apply diplomatic pressure on the STC to halt its campaign of repression.

The organization also demanded the activation of UN investigative mechanisms to probe these incidents, document violations, and hold perpetrators accountable under international law.

Defiance in the Face of Fear

Despite the dangers, civil society in Aden continues to resist. Women-led protests, grassroots initiatives, and digital advocacy campaigns represent a growing refusal to be silenced. WJWC praised these acts of courage, emphasizing that the voices of Yemen’s citizens — particularly its women — are not only vital to rebuilding the nation but also indispensable to resisting tyranny.

“In the face of repression,” the organization wrote, “peaceful protest is an act of profound resistance. Protecting this civic space is not a luxury — it is a necessity.”