Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Yemen.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Yemen. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Yemen U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/yemen/
[accessed 12 August
2021] DISAPPEARANCE In September the UN
Human Rights Council Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (UN Group of Experts)
report stated it believed that parties to the conflict were continuing to
engage in enforced disappearances. There were reports of politically
motivated disappearances and kidnappings by both ROYG and Houthi forces of
individuals associated with political parties, nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), and media outlets critical of the ROYG or the Houthi movement (see
section 1.g, Abuses in Internal Conflict). The Houthis and their allies
sometimes detained civilian family members of ROYG security officials. The
Houthis targeted and detained foreigners, including those believed to be
working for foreign diplomatic missions. There were also reports of
disappearances carried out by other parties to the conflict. From August 2019 to
July 31, the ROYG’s National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations to
Human Rights (NCIAVHR) documented 1,298 cases of arbitrary arrests and
enforced disappearances committed by various parties to the conflict, a 400
percent increase over the previous year The Aden branch of
the Mothers of the Abducted Association issued a statement in August stating
that association members continued searching for 38 forcibly disappeared
individuals; their fate and medical condition and those responsible for their
disappearances were unknown. TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT The UN and human
rights organizations continued to report that torture and other forms of
mistreatment were common in ROYG-, Houthi-, and Emirati-controlled detention
facilities. The UN Group of Experts reported abuses in detention included
sexual violence, prolonged solitary confinement, electric shock, burning, and
other forms of torture (see section 1.g., Abuses in Internal Conflict.). According to the
July report by the Mwatana Organization for Human
Rights, from May 2016 to April, the ROYG was responsible for 65 incidents of
torture; the Houthis were responsible for 138 incidents of torture, including
27 deaths in detention centers; and UAE forces and UAE-aligned armed groups,
including the STC, were responsible for 141 incidents of torture, including
25 deaths in detention centers. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/yemen/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 16 May
2020] F2. DOES DUE PROCESS
PREVAIL IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL MATTERS? Arbitrary detention
is common, with hundreds of cases documented in recent years. Many amount to
enforced disappearances, with no available information about the victims’
status or location. Detainees are often held at unofficial detention sites.
As with other state institutions, security and intelligence agencies like the
Political Security Organization have been split into parallel Houthi- and Hadi-controlled structures, with each operating in
territory controlled by its side in the civil war. In areas that lie within
the UAE’s sphere of influence in southern Yemen, Emirati special forces have
been accused of operating a network of secret prisons and detention centers
where torture is said to be rife. Yemen: Prolonged
detention and torture of 10 journalists illustrates risks faced by media
workers Amnesty
International (AI), 1 May 2019 [accessed 8 May
2019] The 10 journalists
have been held since the summer of 2015 and are being prosecuted on
trumped-up spying charges for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of
expression. Over the course of their detention the men have been forcibly
disappeared, held in intermittent incommunicado detention, been deprived of
access to medical care and suffered torture and other ill-treatment. In one
recent incident, on 19 April a prison warden entered their cell at night,
stripped off their clothing and brutally beat them, according to trusted
sources. They have been held in solitary confinement since that day. Report
Points to Mass Torture in UAE-Run Prisons in South Yemen Financial Tribune,
14 August 2018 [accessed 15 August
2018] [accessed 15 August
2018] The report—which
was provided by Yemeni military figures who worked with the Saudi-UAE
coalition battling Yemen’s Houthi forces—described scenes of sexual abuse by
Emirati army personnel and their Yemeni surrogates. Individuals endured
rape at the hands of coalition forces and were subjected to electrocution in
the genitals, chest and armpits. Some detainees were hung in midair while
being insulted and beaten, the report said. Electric cables
were used alongside wooden bats and steel poles during the interrogation
sessions. In some instances,
the detainees are described as having been deprived of sleep and confined to
narrow spaces with poor hygienic conditions and limited air ventilation. For some, this was
accompanied by sessions where their skins were lashed with whips and their
wounds were subsequently covered in salt. Others had industrial nails
inserted into their finger and toenails. The report alleged
more than 49 people died as a result of the torture and five gravesites were
used to bury the deceased. The account confirms
a report by the Associated Press published in June over alleged acts of
torture perpetrated by members of the Saudi-UAE coalition in a network of at
least 18 secret prisons. Tales
of torture and horror: Inside Houthi prisons in Yemen Arwa Ibrahim, Al
Jazeera, 10 June 2018 www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/tales-torture-horror-houthi-prisons-yemen-180530085005320.html [accessed 10 June
2018] "I spent 50
days in an underground prison with barely any oxygen. I was hung by my wrists
from the ceiling and left in my own faeces and
urine to rot. I wasn't allowed to wash once.
"They extracted my fingernails and used a cable to press onto the
flesh underneath. I lost consciousness from the sheer amount of pain." "They burned me with fire and dipped
me in water that they'd run an electric current through. They beat me with
all sorts of electric cables and iron rods," explains Baakar, who says he saw nails, dead animals and body
parts at some of the detention centres while he was
imprisoned. "I saw detainees
chained to the walls. They were bleeding around their feet, and their wounds
from the chains had become infected with puss and worms. "One guy had been hung from his
penis; he couldn't urinate for two whole weeks. When I saw him, I knew that
was the end of his manhood," says Baakar, who
claims that he was punished for trying to treat some of the detainees during
his imprisonment. Torture
and suicide: The testimony of a Houthi captive Fras Shmsan, Saudi Gazette, 11 April 2018 saudigazette.com.sa/article/532492/World/Mena/Torture-and-suicide-The-testimony-of-a-Houthi-captive [accessed 15 April
2018] As for the former
detainee Jamal Al-Ma'amari, the doctor said: “When
I was in prison, the Houthis brought Al-Ma’amari;
he was my cellmate for three months. The last time I checked on him, they
brought me to him from another cell, he was just a human mass, crying and in
pain, he needed at least two detainees to help him, they would usually become
physically and psychologically exhausted during a short period of time
because it was difficult to care for him.” “Members of the
militia tortured Al-Ma’amari by burning him with
cigarettes and electrocuting him; they cut off the nerves of his upper and
lower left limb and ended up paralyzing him in his left side. That wasn’t
enough for them; they tortured him by destroying his left testicle.” UN
report: All parties in Yemen committed torture Middle East Monitor,
15 February 2018 www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180215-un-report-all-parties-in-yemen-committed-torture/ [accessed 16
February 2018] The 329-page report
which was submitted to the Security Council on 26 January was made public
yesterday. In it the publication a panel of Yemen experts concluded: “The
Government of Yemen, the United Arab
Emirates and Houthi-Saleh forces have all engaged in arbitrary arrests and
detentions, carried out enforced disappearances and committed torture.” Investigations in
to 12 cases of detention by the United Arab Emirates in Burayqah,
at the Al Rayyan airport led the experts to
conclude that the UAE were responsible for torture, including imprisonment in
metal cages, ill treatment, enforced disappearance of detainees and denial of
due process. The report
confirmed the use of “starvation” as a weapon against the Yemenis by the
Saudi-led coalition, which violated international law. But the blame was put
on all sides of the conflict, which have violated international humanitarian
law and international human rights law. Human
Rights Watch World Report 2015 - Events of 2014 Human Rights Watch,
29 January 2015 www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/...
or
www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2015_web.pdf [accessed 18 March
2015] YEMEN ACCOUNTABILITY - Yemen’s parliament
voted in January 2012 to give former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his aides immunity from prosecution. In September 2012,
however, Saleh’s successor, President Abdrabuh
Mansour Hadi, decreed the creation of an
independent commission of inquiry to investigate alleged rights abuses
committed during the 2011 uprising, and recommend measures to hold
perpetrators accountable and afford redress to victims. By November 2014, Hadi had still to nominate the inquiry’s commissioners
and no progress had been achieved. ATTACKS ON
JOURNALISTS
- In the first half of 2014, the Freedom Foundation, a Yemeni organization
that monitors press freedom, recorded 148 attacks affecting members of the media,
ranging from verbal harassment and threats, confiscations, looting,
destruction of property, and politicized prosecutions, to unlawful detention,
and one killing. In 47 percent of the cases reported, the abuses were
attributed to the government and its agents. Al-Reemi Describes Brother’s Torture Shady Yaseen, National Yemen, 8 Sept 2013 nationalyemen.com/2013/09/08/al-reemi-describes-brothers-torture/ [accessed 8 Sept
2013] The story of
Ibrahim’s arrested revolves around a quarrel that occurred between Ibrahim
and security forces after Ibrahim’s attempt to cross the barriers established
around YALI. During the dispute, the soldiers accused Ibrahim of attempting
to detonate a grenade in the vicinity of the Institute. Some versions of the story say that the
grenade belonged tone of the soldiers, though Saddam
says that the soldiers created this charge to further implicate his brother. With the police
charges against him, Ibrahim was taken from his work to a criminal
investigation, where he was exposed to several forms of torture. When Saddam next
saw his brother, “I couldn’t recognize him. He was pale and had difficulty
talking. On his forehead was a huge bruise and his hands and feet were tied. …When
we met, he didn’t say a word. After a few minutes, he began to talk with
difficulty but didn’t seem to recognize us. He seemed as if he had lost the
sense of himself.” Conclusions and
recommendations of the Committee against Torture U.N. Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment -- Doc. CAT/C/YEM/2 (2010) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/yemen2010.html [accessed 12 March 2013] Impunity for acts
of torture and ill-treatment 8. The Committee is
deeply concerned at the numerous allegations, corroborated by a number of
Yemeni and international sources, of a widespread practice of torture and ill
-treatment of detainees in Yemeni prisons, including State security prisons
run by the Public Security Department, the national security authority and
the Department of Anti-Terrorism under the Ministry of the Interior. The
Committee is further concerned that such allegations are seldom investigated
and prosecuted, and that there appears to be a climate of impunity for
perpetrators of acts of torture. In this respect, the Committee expresses its
concern at article 26 of the code of criminal procedure, which appear to
provide that criminal lawsuits may not be filed against a law enforcement
officer or a public employee for any crime committed while carrying out his
job or caused thereby, except with the permission of the General Prosecutor,
a delegated public attorney or heads of prosecution, and at the lack of
information on the application of this provision (arts. 2, 4, 12 and 16). Fundamental legal
safeguards 9. Notwithstanding
the information provided in the replies to the list of issues and by the State
party delegation, the Committee remains seriously concerned at the State
party’s failure in practice to afford all detainees, including detainees held
in State security prisons, with all fundamental legal safeguards from the
very outset of their detention. Such safeguards comprise the right to have
prompt access to a lawyer and an independent medical examination, to notify a
relative, and to be informed of their rights at the time of detention,
including about the charges laid against them, and to appear before a judge
within a time limit in accordance with international standards. In this
respect, the Committee is concerned at the statement in the State report
(para. 203) that “persons in pretrial detention may meet with their relatives
and lawyers, provided they obtain a written authorization from the
body/entity that issued the detention order”. The Committee notes the
information on record keeping provided in the replies to the list of issues
but it remains concerned at the lack of a central register for all persons
held in detention, including minors (arts. 2, 11 and 12). Incommunicado
detention 12. While noting
that information was provided in the replies to the list of issues in respect
of the Political Security Department, the Committee reiterates its concern at
credible reports of the frequent practice of incommunicado detention by
Political Security Department officials, including detention for prolonged
periods without judicial process (CAT/C/CR/31/4, para. 6 (c)), and is
concerned that other security agencies reportedly also engage in such
practices. The Committee is also concerned at the lack of information on the
exact number and location of places of detention in the State party (arts. 2
and 11). Hostage-taking of
relatives 14. Notwithstanding
the statement provided by the State party delegation that hostage-taking is
illegal in the country, the Committee expresses its great concern at the
reported practice of holding relatives of alleged criminals, including
children and elderly, as hostages, sometimes for years at a time, to compel
the alleged criminals to surrender themselves to the police; it also
emphasizes that such practice is a violation of the Convention. In this
respect, the Committee notes with particular concern the case of Mohammed Al-Baadani, who was abducted in 2001, at age 14, by a tribal
chief because of his father’s failure to pay back debts, and who reportedly
remains in a State prison without a set trial date (arts. 12 and 16). Allegations of
extrajudicial killings 15. While noting
the statement in the replies to the list of issues that extra-judicial,
arbitrary or summary executions constitute violations of the Convention and
the laws in force and are “unlikely to occur”, the Committee expresses its
great concern at allegations of extrajudicial killings by security forces and
other serious human rights violations in different parts of the country, in
particular the northern Sa’ada province and in the
south (arts. 2, 12 and 16). Complaints and
prompt and impartial investigations 16. The Committee
notes the information provided by the State party on its complaints system in
its replies to the list of issues but it remains concerned at the apparent
failure to investigate promptly and impartially the numerous allegations of
torture and ill-treatment and to prosecute alleged offenders. The Committee
is particularly concerned at the lack of clarity of which authority has the
overall responsibility for reviewing individual complaints of torture and
ill-treatment by law enforcement, security, military and prison officials,
and for initiating investigations in such cases. The Committee also regrets
the lack of information, including statistics, on the number of complaints of
torture and ill-treatment and results of all the proceedings, at both the
penal and disciplinary levels, and their outcomes (arts. 11, 12 and 16). Human rights
defenders, political activists, journalists and other individuals at risk 20. The Committee
notes with concern allegations, including in conjunction with recent events
in the region of Sa’ada, indicating that many
Government opponents, including human rights defenders, political activists
and journalists, have been subjected to arbitrary detention and arrest,
incommunicado detentions lasting anything from several days to several
months, denied access to lawyers and the possibility of challenging the
legality of their detention before the courts. The Committee regrets the lack
of information provided on any investigations into such allegations (arts. 2,
12 and 16). Coerced confessions 28. While noting
that constitutional guarantees and provisions of the Code of Criminal
Procedure prohibit the admissibility of evidence obtained through torture,
the Committee is concerned at reports of numerous cases of confession obtained
through torture and at the lack of information on any officials who may have
been prosecuted and punished for extracting such confessions (arts. 2 and
15). AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 The human rights
situation improved during the transition that followed the 2011 uprising
which ousted former President Saleh from power. However, there was an ongoing
lack of information about the fate of those arrested or disappeared during
2011. Impunity for human rights violations committed during President Saleh’s
government was entrenched by a new immunity law, and most killings of
protesters and other human rights violations committed in 2011 and 2012 were
not investigated. Justice was also denied to victims of violations of human
rights and international humanitarian law during armed conflicts in parts of
the country. Over 20 people
arbitrarily arrested during the 2011 uprising and subsequent protests remained
in prison or were victims of enforced disappearance. Torture and other
ill-treatment continued to be reported. In response to unrest in the South,
security forces and groups linked to them used excessive force, killing at
least a dozen people, and arbitrarily detained scores of people involved in
protests or who supported secession of the South. Ansar al-Shari’a (Partisans of al-Shari’a),
an armed group linked to al-Qa’ida in the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP) that controlled parts of Abyan
governorate until June, committed human rights abuses, including summary
killings and amputations. A government military offensive to drive Ansar al-Shari’a out of cities under its control was marked by violations
of human rights and international humanitarian law on both sides, resulting
in civilian deaths. Women and girls continued to face discrimination in law
and practice, and domestic violence. Reports emerged of
slavery in some parts of the country. The humanitarian situation reached
crisis point. At least seven people were sentenced to death and at least 28
people were executed, including at least two juvenile offenders. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 5 Civil Liberties: 5 Status: Partly Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/yemen [accessed 17
February 2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] Arbitrary detention
occurs, partly because law enforcement officers lack proper training and
senior government officials lack the political will to eliminate the problem.
Security forces affiliated with the Political Security Office (PSO) and the
Ministry of the Interior torture and abuse detainees, and torture remains a
problem in PSO prisons, which are not closely monitored. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61703.htm [accessed 17
February 2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61703.htm [accessed 7 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The law
prohibits such practices; however, members of the Political Security Office
(PSO) and Ministry of Interior (MOI) police forces tortured and abused
persons in detention. Authorities used force during interrogations,
especially against those arrested for violent crimes. Although penal law
permits amputations and physical punishment such as flogging for some crimes,
which the government maintains is in accordance with Shari'a
(Islamic law), there were no reports of amputations
or floggings during the year. The government
acknowledged that torture occurred; however, it claimed that torture was not
official policy. For the second consecutive year, journalists, government,
and human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO) officials reported that
both instances and severity of torture in MOI prisons declined. In cases
where there was torture, illiteracy, lack of training among police,
corruption, and pressure from superiors to produce convictions usually played
a role. Torture continued
to remain a problem in PSO prisons, which were not monitored by other
government agencies. There were credible reports pointing to a preferred use of
nonphysical abuse, such as sleep deprivation, cold water, and threats of
sexual assault, as the primary form of torture in PSO prisons. In October two
former PSO prisoners reported being repeatedly tortured and made to sleep
without blankets in cold cells while being held without charge. There were
reports that the MOI's Criminal Investigative Department (CID) routinely used
torture to obtain confessions. On February 4, CID forces investigating a
theft case in Dhamar governorate rounded up five
suspects who were reportedly beaten during interrogation. One suspect
confessed to the crime and was referred to the Attorney General's office for
prosecution. The other four were released. Defense attorneys and some human
rights NGOs observed that most confessions introduced as evidence against
defendants in criminal courts were obtained through torture. Government
sources vehemently denied this. During the year
approximately 14 police officials were disciplined or prosecuted for abuses.
From those cases, seven officers were dismissed, and seven were referred to
the courts for prosecution. Those cases remained pending at year's end. On September 3, two
MOI officers were put on trial for the 1999 torture-induced death of an Aden
bombing suspect. Some human rights NGOs claimed that the defendants did not
appear in court and were possibly being tried in abstentia.
There was no further information on this case at year's end. In October 2004
seven Taiz police officers who were on trial for
the severe torture of a juvenile murder suspect had their case suspended
after they failed to appear for court. At year's end it was reported that the
officers were free and living in Taiz and that
authorities refused to re-apprehend them. There was no further action on the
case. Throughout the year
the government took effective steps to curb torture in MOI prisons. From
February and to October, the government, in conjunction with
a national human rights NGO, the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP), and the British government, trained over 340 MOI officers on the
illegality of torture. Under the initiative, the same NGO printed and the
government distributed a human rights guide for MOI officers. In the first
week of July, 360 female officers completed similar training. The MOI, in conjunction
with the Ministry of Human Rights (MHR), also intensified its monitoring of
prison conditions around the country. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
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ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century-
Yemen", http://gvnet.com/torture/Yemen.htm, [accessed <date>] |
