A report obtained by Al Jazeera alleges that detainees in a network of clandestine prisons set up by the United Arab Emirates across southern Yemen have been exposed to a host of brutal interrogation techniques that included physical and psychological torture.
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.
According to AP, hundreds of men were rounded up and detained on suspicion of belonging to the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The report obtained by Al Jazeera put the number of secret prisons at 27, including sites in Hadramout, Aden, Socotra, Mayyun Island, as well as a facility in Eritrea where the UAE maintains a military base.
With logistical support from the United States, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have carried out attacks in Yemen since March 2015. The war effort is ostensibly an attempt to reinstate the ousted government of Abu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
In 2014, Hadi and his forces were overrun by Houthi forces who took over much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.
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