Yemen detainees free days after AP report on UAE-run prisons

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

An AP investigation last June found a network of secret prisons run either directly by the UAE or through allies, with former inmates and security officials often reporting seeing Emirati officials at the facilities, where they said torture is widespread. The United Nations Panel of Experts and Human Rights Watch have also confirmed the existence of Emirati-controlled prisons and torture.

culture

The groom lost the ring. At this traditional Doukhobor wedding, it didn't matter

2h ago

Second-Degree Murder

Charges upgraded in Turnor Lake murder investigation

8h ago

Developing capabilities

'Cost of drama is too high': NATO leaders meet in Turkey for annual summit

9h ago

The release on Monday came days after the AP revealed that hundreds of Yemeni prisoners swept up in anti-terror raids by Emirati-backed forces have been subjected to torture and sexual abuse.

In one incident in Aden’s Beir Ahmed prison, where al-Anbari was held, hundreds of inmates were forced to undress and Emirati officers searched their anal cavities on March 10, claiming to be looking for contraband cellphones.

At least three others were also freed on Monday from various Emirati-linked facilities. One was an elder called Mahmoud al-Baydani, who used to work for the International Committee of the Red Cross to help mediate releases of hostages held by al-Qaida. He had been held at Beir Ahmed and another UAE-controlled prison in Buriqa. One of the others was held in a lockup in the house of Aden’s Emirati-backed security chief Shalal Shaye.

A brother of one of the newly released detainees told the AP that “he was freed all of a sudden without notifying the family in advance.” The brother said the family found out about his release when he arrived at the house, half an hour later.

A state prosecutor, Mohammed Ali Saleh, declined to say how many detainees were freed on Monday.

Security officials told the AP that more prisoners are expected to be released in the coming days from different secret prisons in Aden.

Separately, in the city of Mukalla, east of Aden, 12 detainees were freed on Tuesday from the central prison, which is under the authority of the Yemeni government, a senior prison official said. The detainees had been previously held in one of the UAE-controlled secret prisons at Riyan Airport in Mukalla before they and around 100 other Riyan inmates were handed over to government authorities.

The security and prison officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.

The Emirates, a key U.S. ally, has spread its influence across southern Yemen while participating in a Saudi-led coalition that is fighting Iranian-backed rebels known as Houthis who hold the north. The UAE has armed and funded militias and security forces separate from the Yemeni government as well as installed bases.

The AP first asked the Pentagon about abuses committed by the UAE one year ago. Despite reports of torture documented by the AP from former and current detainees, human rights groups and the United Nations, Marine Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, said the United States has seen no evidence of detainee abuse in Yemen.

“U.S. forces are required to report credible allegations of detainee abuse,” he said. “We have received no credible allegations that would substantiate the allegations put forth in your line of question/story.”

U.S. officials have acknowledged that American forces receive intelligence from UAE partners and have participated in interrogations in Yemen. Rankine-Galloway said he could not comment on intelligence sharing with partners.

Maggie Michael, The Associated Press