Human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Laureate Tawakkol Karman issued a sharp rebuke of recent claims circulated by the Houthi militia regarding the fate of abducted veteran leader Mohammed Qahtan. In a statement published on her official platforms, Karman dismissed allegations that Qahtan was killed in a coalition airstrike as "absurd and transparent" fabrications.

Karman emphasized that Mohammed Qahtan remains a victim of enforced disappearance at the hands of the Houthi group, which she characterized as a "sectarian terrorist" entity. She held the group fully accountable for his life, safety, and ultimate fate, warning that those who echo Houthi leaks are—knowingly or unknowingly—contributing to the "whitewashing" of a major crime and aiding the group in evading justice.“

If their narrative were true, why did they conceal it all these years?” Karman questioned, pointing to a long history of Houthi manipulation. She accused the group of exploiting the suffering of Qahtan’s family and using his case as a cynical tool for "blackmail and bargaining" throughout the years of his abduction.

The statement further highlighted that the enforced disappearance of Qahtan and his companions stands among the most "heinous atrocities" committed by the Houthis—a group she says has gone to extremes in destroying Yemen’s future through killing, oppression, and systematic starvation.

Reaffirming the inevitability of justice, Karman concluded by asserting that the Houthi leadership will eventually be held fully accountable for these crimes. She reminded the international community and the Yemeni people that such crimes "do not expire with time," and that no amount of "deception and distortion" can bury the truth of the group's actions.