Amnesty International Calls for Investigation into UAE's 'Secret Prisons' in Yemen

Amnesty International, in a report published on Thursday, July 12, called for investigations into torture and possible deaths in Yemeni prisons and the 'network of secret detention facilities' operated by the UAE in the country. Hours after the report's release, the UAE officially rejected the findings, claiming it was an attempt to undermine 'the country's efforts in Yemen.' According to the Al Jazeera news website, Amnesty International urged the UAE to 'immediately' stop torturing prisoners and release them. The latest report from Amnesty International also mentions that it has evidence of 'systematic torture and mistreatment' of prisoners in UAE-operated detention facilities in Yemen, which 'could constitute a war crime.' This human rights organization's report comes two days after Yemen's Interior Minister called on the UAE to either shut down its secret prisons in southern Yemen or hand them over to the legitimate government of the country, the exiled government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. While Abu Dhabi had previously denied reports regarding the management of secret prisons in Yemeni territory, this is the first time that Yemen's Interior Minister, Ahmed Maysari, has publicly called for the dismantling of these prisons during negotiations with Emirati officials. On Thursday, Abu Dhabi once again issued a statement rejecting Amnesty International's report, accusing the organization of having 'political motives aimed at harming' the UAE's efforts in Yemen. The existence of secret prisons and the prevalence of torture in Yemeni detention facilities were revealed last year by the Associated Press in a report. Since then, the AP has identified at least five men who were victims of sexual torture by UAE security forces. In late June of this year, the AP reported, based on interviews with eyewitnesses, that UAE army officers sexually tortured hundreds of Yemeni prisoners at the Bir Ahmed prison in Aden. In its latest report, Amnesty International referenced 51 cases of 'enforced disappearance' that occurred from March 2016 to May 2018, of which '19 individuals are still missing.' The UAE has detained hundreds of Yemeni men on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda and ISIS in 18 secret prisons, but no charges have been filed against these individuals, and none have been tried so far. The Associated Press first shared severe human rights violation cases by UAE military personnel with the US Department of Defense about a year ago. The Pentagon described the evidence as 'shocking' and stated, 'The United States takes all allegations of abuse and torture seriously, although we currently do not have reliable information on this matter.' On Thursday, Amnesty International also called on the United States to suspend its cooperation with the UAE in intelligence gathering and to halt arms sales to the country. The US government supports the Saudi-led military coalition with billions of dollars in arms and has intelligence and security cooperation with the UAE. The UAE is also part of the Saudi-led military coalition that has intervened since 2015 to support the government in the Yemeni civil war.