The Yemeni Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MoSAL) has escalated its repression of civil society organisations that work across the country, further shrinking civic space, eight human rights organisations said today, including the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.
On 27 November 2025 MoSAL made a decision to prohibit all civil society actors from engaging with Mwatana for Human Rights, a Yemeni nongovernmental organisation that documents human rights abuses by all warring parties in Yemen. This move follows many other instances over the last few years in which the Yemeni government and MoSAL, as well as the Southern Transitional Council (STC), have obstructed the work of Yemeni civil society organisations, including the Yemen Journalists Syndicate and the Yemen Women’s Union.
The decision, issued under reference number (1001), instructs local councils, social affairs offices, and civil society organisations in areas under the internationally recognised government’s authority to “refrain from any interaction with the entity called Mwatana for Human Rights” and to treat it as an “unauthorised organisation” under Yemeni law.
In its explanation, the Ministry linked the prohibition to concerns about terrorism and alleged ties to Ansar Allah (Houthis), framing the ban as necessary to “maintain the legality and safety of civil society work.” In practice, however, this directive weaponises counterterrorism and security narratives to criminalise engagement with one of Yemeni human rights organisation, further shrinking the space for civil society work.
The decision reflects a broader pattern of repression against civil society, human rights defenders, and journalists by authorities across Yemen, including in the south. Organisations in Aden and other governorates controlled by the government and the STC have faced harassment, arbitrary closures, and administrative obstacles.
MoSAL has refused to renew the registration of several organisations, including Mwatana, as well as the Yemen Women’s Union and the Yemen Journalists’ Syndicate, particularly where they’re seen as working across the whole of Yemen. In 2024, CIHRS conducted interviews with six civil society organisations regarding restrictions they faced from the government. None of the organisations were able to submit their applications-- all six were verbally rejected.
The directive not only undermines the vital role of civil society in Yemen but also violates Yemen’s obligations under international law to protect freedom of association and the work of human rights defenders. The decision also violates Yemen’s Law on Associations and Foundations, which, under Article 3, stipulates authorities must “ensure that associations and foundations can carry out their activities with complete freedom and independence, in a manner consistent with their social responsibilities, and to simplify procedures and facilitate processes related to the right to establish associations and foundations, enabling them to fulfill their mission to the fullest extent.”
It further isolates survivors of human rights and armed-conflict violations and their families, who rely on independent organisations to have their voices heard. Allowing this ban to stand will set a dangerous precedent, effectively giving a green light for politicised attacks on civil society organisations and opening the door to more organisations being subjected to similar threats. Along with attacks on journalists and human rights defenders, these measures risk silencing independent voices across Yemen, dismantling the fragile space that remains for accountability, justice, and the defense of human rights.
We, the undersigned civil society organisations, call on the internationally recognised government to immediately rescind their decision and ensure that all civil society groups can operate freely and safely. International actors, including the United Nations and donor governments, should press all parties in Yemen to end their harassment of human rights defenders and guarantee protection for Yemen’s civil society.
