Yemenis face 'torture till death' in Houthi detention, says ex-prisoner

Houthis and supporters of ousted leader Ali Abdullah Saleh gather to protest the Saudi-led operations during a rally on the second anniversary of the Operation Decisive Storm at al-Sabin Square in Sanaa, Yemen on March 26, 2017 [Mohammed Hamoud / Anadolu Agency]

Yemeni prisoners are being “tortured to death” in the Houthis’ secret detention facilities, the Sana’a-based Association of Abductees’ Mothers reported yesterday.

Speaking at a session held by the association in the Yemeni city of Ma’rib, the freed journalist, Mohammed Abdu Al-Washahi said that he was held in Al-Wahda police station in the northern Yemeni city of Dhamar on charges of allegedly working with the popular resistance in sending updates on the Houthis’ military sites to the Saudi-led military coalition.

Al-Washahi, who was abducted on 3 October 2015, stressed that he was threatened with death by the rebels, noting that his hands and legs had been broken as a result of the assaults he was exposed to in detention. He explained that he was released on bail paid by tribal mediators.

Dhamar contains dozens of Houthi-controlled prisons where hundreds of Yemenis are being held and tortured on a daily basis, according to Al-Washahi.

Another prisoner, Ali Taher Al-Faqeeh, said he was abducted in February 2015 and had been severely tortured in a Houthi-controlled prison.

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