SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties welcomes the agreement reached in the Sultanate of Oman, under the sponsorship of Oman and the supervision of the United Nations, during the tenth round of consultations on detainees and abductees between the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Houthis, announced on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, in Muscat. The agreement provides for the large-scale release of thousands of detainees and abductees from all parties.
The organization regards this development as a significant humanitarian step that helps alleviate the prolonged suffering of thousands of families and represents a positive indicator of the potential for practical progress on urgent humanitarian matters, provided there is sufficient political will and international guarantees.
Under the agreement, both parties agreed on an exchange involving approximately 2,900 detainees and prisoners, including Yemeni politician Mohammed Qahtan, listed under UN Security Council Resolution 2216. The first party, represented by the Prisoners and Detainees Authority (on behalf of the Yemeni government and the Arab Coalition), and the second party, represented by the National Committee for Prisoners and Missing Persons (on behalf of the Houthis), reaffirmed their full commitment to implementing the Stockholm Agreement, particularly the phased release mechanisms as a legal and humanitarian path toward comprehensive release of all detainees without exception.
According to available information, the agreement includes the release of 1,700 detainees from the Houthis in exchange for 1,200 detainees from the internationally recognized Yemeni government. A special arrangement provides for the release of 50 Houthi detainees in exchange for Mohammed Qahtan, in addition to the release of two pilots, five other Saudi detainees, and 15 Sudanese detainees, in a cross-border humanitarian exchange.
The agreement also emphasizes prioritizing the most vulnerable groups, including patients and the injured, minors, the elderly, and long-term detainees, in line with international humanitarian law, particularly the rules protecting persons deprived of their liberty during non-international armed conflicts.
SAM stresses that addressing the issue of detention in Yemen should not be limited to temporary exchange arrangements. It must form part of a comprehensive rights-based approach aimed at ending arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances, ensuring the fate of all missing persons is clarified, providing legal accountability, and offering reparations to victims and their families while preventing recurrence of these violations.
In this context, SAM calls on all relevant parties not to stop at the release stage, but to give serious and systematic attention to post-release phases through comprehensive reintegration and long-term recovery programs for released detainees, particularly those subjected to prolonged detention. These programs should include psychological and social support, specialized healthcare, and legal and economic rehabilitation, ensuring that victims regain their dignity and capacity to reintegrate into society while addressing the deep and long-lasting impacts of arbitrary detention, in line with international standards on victims’ rights, reparations, and non-recurrence.
The organization urges all parties to implement the agreement fully, faithfully, and in good faith, under effective UN supervision and clear guarantees. SAM also calls on the international community to continue fulfilling its legal and moral responsibilities and to press for the unconditional release of all detainees and abductees, as a fundamental step toward building trust, respecting human dignity, and creating an enabling environment for any sustainable peace process in Yemen.