SANAA: Yemenis are using street art to lobby the government to tell what happened to hundreds of people who disappeared in years of political turmoil, but even their images on the walls have troubled powerful figures who sought to remove the graffiti.
Yemen is undergoing a tricky transition after a popular uprising last year forced veteran ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh from office, lifting the lid on a host of social, economic and political problems in the Arabian Peninsula state.
Many disappearances are from the unrest last year, but some date back to the turbulent 33 years of Saleh’s rule that saw a civil war in 1994 and the uprising of 2011.
A government official said most of those who vanished last year were youth protesters while those from years back were mainly political figures or military officers viewed as a threat to the regime. Many were taken from home or work and never heard from since.
“Society has forgotten about the forced disappearances but we are painting pictures of them on walls, with notes in English and Arabic on who they are and when they disappeared,” said Murad Subai, 24, an artist who launched the project.
The first efforts of his “The Walls Remember” campaign three weeks ago appeared to upset someone, Subai says. “All the drawings were scrubbed off, and people believe it’s because some army leaders were responsible for disappearances. But we go on drawing. When the images are removed, it’s like the person is being disappeared again.”