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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 10 July 2018

Yemen demands Emirates shut down prisons where abuses rife

By AHMED AL-HAJ several prisoner releases,
MAGGIE MICHAEL apparently aimed at eas-
Associated Press ing some of the pressure. So
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Ye- far 80 prisoners have been
men’s interior minister on freed, according to pros-
Monday demanded the ecutors and family mem-
United Arab Emirates shut bers.
down or hand over secret In the latest release, three
prisons that The Associated people who had been
Press reported are under forcibly disappeared re-
the control of the UAE and turned home to their fami-
its allied militias. lies three days ago, saying
At least 80 detainees have they were freed from the
been freed from the facili- Wadah Nightclub deten-
ties in recent weeks since tion facility, their families
an AP investigation de- told the AP.
tailed sexual abuse and The Wadah facility was
torture at the sites. found empty Sunday dur-
It was the first time Interior ing a visit by the state-run
Minister Ahmed al-Maysari National Commission to
has gone public with the This May 9, 2017 file photo, shows a view through a mesh window over part of Aden Central Prison, Investigate Alleged Viola-
demand in talks with an known as Mansoura, in Aden, Yemen. tions in Human Rights, the
Emirati official, seeming to Associated Press commission said. It is not
contradict the UAE’s re- In June, the AP revealed on network, has previously tional cooperation, Reem clear how many detainees
peated denials that it has that hundreds had been said he has no authority al-Hashemi, in talks also at- were there or what hap-
authority over any prisons subjected to sexual abuse, over the prisons and that tended by the top Emirati pened to them. Former de-
in Yemen. including one incident in he can’t even enter the military commander in Ye- tainees say there were sev-
The AP first reported in an the Beir Ahmed prison in southern city of Aden with- men, Brig. Gen. Moham- eral cells, some containing
investigation last year that the southern city of Aden, out Emirati permission. med al-Hassani. up to 70 people.
the UAE and its allied mili- where detainees were In Yemen’s three-year civil Al-Maysari stressed the “ne- In recent weeks, there ap-
tias were running a network lined up naked as guards war, the UAE is part of the cessity to shut down the pears to have been an ef-
of secret detention facilities probed their anal cavities. Saudi-led coalition bat- prisons and put them under fort to paper over the con-
around southern Yemen, Sexual abuses were filmed tling Iranian-backed reb- the authority of the Yemeni ditions at Beir Ahmed. Pris-
beyond the control of Ye- as a way to turn suspects els known as Houthis who judiciary and prosecution,” oners say on one occasion,
meni President Abed Rab- into informants, detainees have taken over most of the state-run SABA news wardens forced detain-
bo Mansour Hadi’s govern- reported. On Sunday, An- northern Yemen. Ostensi- agency said. ees to play volleyball and
ment. Former prisoners and war Gargash, the UAE state bly, the Emiratis and Hadi’s Al-Maysari visited the Emir- chess in front of cameras,
security officials described minister for foreign affairs, government are allies in ates last month for talks that and that TV screens were
widespread torture at the dismissed as “fake news” that fight. But tensions have officials said drew up plans installed to allow them to
facilities, which are housed reports that his country been high between them. to shut down the prisons. His watch the World Cup. The
in locations ranging from controls prisons or has set The UAE has built up militias visit came after repeated prisoners spoke on condi-
Emirati-run military bases up a base on the Yemeni across southern Yemen that TV appearances in which tion of anonymity for fear
to a former nightclub run island of Socotra. government officials say he said he has no control of reprisals.
by a UAE-backed security “In Yemen, the Emiratis are only loyal only to the over the prisons. Al-Maysari was expected
chief and his anti-terrorism have been subjected to Emiratis. Those forces have A senior government of- to visit the prison on Sun-
squad. Thousands of Ye- an unjust smear campaign taken over wide swaths of ficial told the AP on Mon- day, according to three rel-
menis swept up in the U.S.- because it bears its respon- territory in the south, includ- day that “the prisons are atives of prisoners who met
backed campaign against sibility toward regional se- ing towns and cities. The still under the Emiratis’ full with him on Wednesday.
al-Qaida have been held in curity with courage and official security forces, by control.” “He told us he will get in,
the prisons without charges boldness,” he said. contrast, are fragmented “There are promises by the search for the missing ones,
or trials. Some have been Al-Maysari, who has come and poorly funded. Emiratis to hand them over. and get a full list of detain-
interrogated by U.S. per- under pressure from fami- On Monday, al-Maysari We hope so,” he said. “All ees. He will be in charge,” a
sonnel inside the facilities, lies of detainees who have met in Aden with the UAE’s we have are promises.” mother of one of the three
the AP found. disappeared into the pris- state minister for interna- Recent weeks have seen said.q