A joint report released by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the Abductees Mothers Association alleges that a former civic hall in Aden has been operating as a covert detention site run by southern Yemeni security forces. The report documents enforced disappearances, torture, and denial of medical care over several years.
The facility, known as Waddah Hall and located in the Gold Moor area of Al-Tawahi District, sits inside a counterterrorism compound near the Southern Transitional Council’s (STC) security headquarters. According to the report, the site is part of a broader network of unofficial prisons whose existence authorities long denied and only recently began to acknowledge amid political tensions between the STC and the internationally recognized government.
Researchers said the findings are based on 30 interviews and records detailing at least 18 cases of enforced disappearance, some dating back to 2016. Families described masked gunmen seizing relatives without warrants and issuing threats when inquiries were made.
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Former detainees recounted suspension, electrocution, suffocation, and forced confessions. Testimonies also described solitary confinement in cramped, unsanitary cells, inadequate food and water, and blocked access to medical treatment, leading to severe health deterioration.
The report links the operation of the site to security units backed, trained, and funded by the United Arab Emirates under counterterrorism frameworks and operating largely through the STC.
It argues this arrangement created detention practices outside judicial oversight and contributed to overlapping authority structures in southern cities, where STC-aligned forces and those loyal to the internationally recognized government compete for control with support from rival regional backers.
The report notes that abuses have occurred in areas controlled by multiple actors and warns against politicizing accountability. It cites a January 2026 announcement by President Rashad Al-Alimi ordering the closure of unofficial prisons and calls for transparent implementation, disclosure of detainees’ whereabouts, and independent investigations.