© AP Photo
This undated photo obtained by The Associated Press shows a drawing of a prisoner being abused at a prison in Yemen run by the United Arab Emirates. Arabic from right to left reads: “Anti-terrorism,” “Innocent citizen,” and “Real terrorism behind their back, they don’t look at.” The AP has identified at least five secret prisons run by the UAE, a key U.S. ally, where security forces use sexual torture to brutalize and break inmates.
The 15 officers who arrived at the prison in southern Yemen hid their faces behind headdresses, but their accents were clearly foreign - from the United Arab Emirates. They lined up the detainees and ordered them to undress and lie down. The officers then searched the anal cavity of each prisoner, claiming that they were looking for contraband cellphones.
The men screamed and wept.
Those who resisted were threatened by barking dogs and beaten until they bled.
Hundreds of detainees suffered similar sexual abuse during the event on March 10 at Beir Ahmed prison in the southern city of Aden, according to seven witnesses interviewed by The Associated Press.
Descriptions of the mass abuse offer a window into a world of rampant sexual torture and impunity in UAE-controlled prisons in Yemen.
© AP Photo
This undated photo obtained by The Associated Press shows a drawing of prisoners being transported in a pickup truck to an Emirati-run prison in Yemen. The Arabic reads: “This is how they transport the prisoners from and to the coalition. Blindfolded and handcuffed in the back of a Land Cruiser pickup in large numbers as if they are animals and under gunpoint.”
The UAE is a key U.S. ally whose secret prisons and widespread torture were exposed by an
AP investigation last June.
The AP has since identified at least five prisons where security forces use sexual torture to brutalize and break inmates.
Yemen's war began in 2015, after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels took over much of the country's north. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading a coalition to fight the rebels, but UAE forces have overtaken wide swaths of territory, towns and cities in the south. The U.S. is backing the coalition with billions of dollars in arms, and partners with the Emiratis in anti-terrorism campaigns.
Comment: Yes, it's Abu Ghraib all over again and let's not forget Guantanamo. And if the US can't be directly involved, they'll show you how - they're experts by now. See also: