Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) reported that forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council (STC), backed by the United Arab Emirates,

have sharply escalated human rights violations in Hadramout Governorate following their takeover of the Wadi and Desert districts. WJWC warned that these abuses reflect a dangerous slide into widespread disorder and reach the threshold of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Recent field documentation reveals a systematic and violent pattern of violations targeting civilians, wounded individuals, prisoners of war, detainees, and displaced families. These acts constitute clear breaches of international humanitarian law and core human rights norms. The continuation of such practices poses an immediate threat to civilian lives and is deepening insecurity and lawlessness across the governorate. Statements by the President of the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni General Staff Command confirm the official recognition of the gravity of the situation and the rapid deterioration of human rights and security conditions.

Systematic Violations Against the Wounded and Prisoners

Over the past several days, STC-affiliated forces stormed hospitals in Mukalla on December 9, 2025, abducting wounded members of the Hadramout Protection Forces and the Popular Resistance. The victims were forcibly removed at gunpoint and transferred to undisclosed locations despite critical medical conditions. According to the Hadramout Tribal Alliance and local leaders, abductees were subjected to severe torture in secret detention centers operated by security formations led by Saleh Ali bin Sheikh Abu Bakr, known as “Abu Ali al-Hadrami.” Among the abducted were Abdullah Awad Barshid al-Nuhi, Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad al-Asrani, Saeed Aboud Mubarak al-Qarzi, and Waleed Omar Ahmad Bakdah Barshid.

Documented reports indicate that STC forces also executed prisoners of war—officers and soldiers of the First Military Region—after seizing positions without resistance, followed by mass arrests of dozens of military personnel, reflecting a systematic pattern of violations against civilians and armed forces alike. An official statement from the Yemeni General Staff on December 12 confirmed that approximately 32 officers and soldiers were killed and 45 wounded, with several still missing. These acts constitute flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, including conventions protecting the wounded, detainees, and prisoners of war.

Displacement Based on Identity

Women Journalists Without Chains documented a series of grave violations affecting dozens of families, particularly those from Yemen’s northern governorates. These abuses included the storming of homes, the forcible eviction of residents, the looting of property or dumping of household belongings into the streets, and the forced displacement of families under direct threat.

WJWC also recorded widespread arrests of civilians carried out solely on the basis of identity, including the detention of children. These arrests were conducted through a network of newly established checkpoints deployed across streets and residential neighborhoods, especially in and around the city of Seiyun. Detainees were transported in armored vehicles or trucks to the governorate’s border crossings and forcibly expelled after being held for days in makeshift detention facilities, while dozens of others remain unlawfully detained.

According to official estimates, approximately 578 families have been displaced from Hadramout Governorate to Marib Governorate in recent days. The number of displaced families is expected to rise to around 2,550 in the coming period, underscoring the scale of the violations and the severity of the humanitarian crisis.

The organization noted that these practices mirror similar violations previously committed by Southern Transitional Council forces in the governorates of Aden and Lahj in 2016, 2018, and 2019, which involved forced displacement campaigns against hundreds of families, accompanied by serious assaults and widespread looting. This recurrence confirms a systematic pattern of targeting civilians on the basis of their geographical identity.

Escalating Hate Speech and Regional Incitement

Alongside the violations unfolding on the ground, the organization documented a deeply troubling surge in hate speech disseminated by official media outlets, activists, and officials affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council. This discourse has relied on hostile, exclusionary, and regionally charged language directed at residents of Hadramout originating from the northern governorates, fueling social polarization and reviving divisions in a manner that poses a serious threat to civil peace and social cohesion.

WJWC noted that this pattern is not unprecedented. It has previously documented similar campaigns of hate speech and regional incitement in the governorates of Aden and Lahj, where media narratives and organized incitement targeted displaced persons from the northern governorates. Those campaigns were later followed by grave violations against civilians, underscoring the direct link between inflammatory rhetoric and subsequent abuses. The recurrence of such discourse today confirms the persistence of a systematic pattern of targeting civilians on the basis of their geographical identity, with dangerous implications for civilian protection and long-term societal stability.

Escalating Violations and War Crimes

Amid escalating abuses in Hadramout following the takeover by Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces, Women Journalists Without Chains previously confirmed that these forces have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. Documented violations include the execution of captured officers and soldiers from the First Military Region, as well as arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances affecting dozens of civilians and military personnel, particularly in Seiyun. The organization also recorded widespread looting of government and military facilities, civilian institutions, homes, commercial properties, and political party offices.

The organization stressed that the scale and nature of these violations—committed against civilians, the wounded, and prisoners—constitute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, Common Article 3, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Rome Statute, which classifies such acts as war crimes and crimes against humanity when carried out on a widespread or systematic basis.

Urgent Call for Protection and Accountability

Women Journalists Without Chains reiterated its strong condemnation of these violations, warning that continued impunity will further endanger civilian lives and deepen instability in the governorate. The organization called for an immediate halt to all abuses, the unconditional release of abducted and arbitrarily detained individuals, an end to identity-based attacks, unhindered access to medical care for the wounded, and the safe return of displaced families.

The organization urged Yemeni authorities, including the Presidential Leadership Council, to fulfill their responsibility to protect civilians and ensure accountability. It also called on the international community, the United Nations, and relevant international mechanisms, including the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, to take clear action, support independent investigations, and activate international accountability measures, including the International Criminal Court. The organization concluded that protecting civilians and ending impunity is an urgent obligation essential to preventing further violence and displacement in Hadramawt.