Sexual abuse rife at UAE-run jails in Yemen
YEMEN - Hundreds of detainees have been sexually abused at a jail in southern Yemen believed to be run by the United Arab Emirates, according to several witnesses. Fifteen officers who arrived at Beir Ahmed prison in Aden were wearing headdresses, but their accents were from the UAE, Associated Press reported. They lined up the detainees and ordered them to undress and lie down. The officers then searched the anal cavity of each prisoner, claiming to be looking for contraband mobile phones. The men screamed and wept. Those who resisted were threatened by barking dogs and beaten until they bled, witnesses said. Descriptions of abuse suggest sexual torture is rampant in UAE-controlled prisons in Yemen. Details of the US ally’s secret prisons and use of torture were exposed by an AP investigation in June last year. AP has since identified at least five jails where security forces allegedly use sexual torture against prisoners. When asked last year about claims of human rights abuses committed by the UAE, a Pentagon spokesman said the US had seen no evidence of detainee abuse in Yemen. “US forces are required to report credible allegations of detainee abuse,” Maj Adrian Rankine-Galloway said. “We have received no credible allegations that would substantiate the allegations.” American officials have acknowledged that US forces receive intelligence from UAE partners and have participated in interrogations in Yemen. But Rankine-Galloway said he could not comment on intelligence sharing with partners. Emirati forces that are part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels have taken control of swaths of territory in the south of Yemen. Hundreds of men suspected of being al-Qaida or Islamic State militants have been held in at least 18 prisons. Witnesses said Yemeni guards working under the direction of UAE officers have used various methods of sexual torture and humiliation. They allegedly raped detainees while other guards filmed the assaults, and are accused of electrocuting prisoners’ genitals. Witnesses claim they sexually assaulted others with poles. (The Guardian)