Sana’a, Yemen — Houthi authorities continue to hold prominent Yemeni human rights lawyer Abdulmajid Sabra in enforced disappearance, more than four months after his abduction from his office in the capital on September 25, 2025, raising serious concerns over the systematic targeting of independent legal professionals.

Information documented by Women Journalists Without Chains indicates that Sabra remains detained without any legal basis, judicial warrant, or formal charges. Testimonies provided by his family confirm that his ongoing detention is not linked to any recognizable criminal offense, but rather constitutes a retaliatory measure directly connected to his legal advocacy on behalf of victims of abduction, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention before the Houthi-controlled Specialized Criminal Court.

The organization reported that Houthi authorities have explicitly conditioned Sabra’s release on his full withdrawal from representing detainees and forcibly disappeared persons, as well as his permanent cessation of human rights work. Such conditions amount to coercion and extortion, and represent a grave and unprecedented violation of the independence of the legal profession and the fundamental right to legal defense.

Abdulmajid Sabra is widely recognized as one of Yemen’s most prominent human rights lawyers, having dedicated years of professional work to defending individuals held in Houthi-run detention facilities. His continued detention reflects a broader pattern of intimidation aimed at silencing independent lawyers, dismantling legal advocacy, and depriving victims of violations of access to justice and legal protection.

Women Journalists Without Chains warned that making a lawyer’s freedom contingent upon abandoning professional and human rights duties constitutes not only a violation of Sabra’s individual rights, but also a systematic threat to the legal profession as a whole. Such practices undermine the right to defense, erode the rule of law, and leave thousands of detainees vulnerable to torture and ill-treatment without oversight, accountability, or legal recourse.

The organization stressed that the treatment of Abdulmajid Sabra constitutes a flagrant breach of the Yemeni constitution and national legislation, as well as a serious violation of international legal standards, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which explicitly prohibit the arrest, detention, or punishment of lawyers for carrying out their professional duties.

Strongly condemning the continued enforced disappearance and coercion of Sabra, Women Journalists Without Chains held the Houthi militia fully responsible for his physical and psychological safety, and reiterated its demand for his immediate and unconditional release, without restrictions or conditions.

The organization further called on the United Nations, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, and relevant international human rights mechanisms to take urgent and effective action to secure Sabra’s release, ensure accountability for those responsible for these violations, and uphold the independence of the legal profession and the right to defense in Yemen.