AL MUKALLA, Yemen: Saudi-backed Yemeni officials on Monday said the United Arab Emirates has been running secret prisons in the country’s south, the latest episode in a growing rift between the two regional allies turned rivals.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia entered the Yemen war in 2015 as a united front backing the government against Iran-backed rebels.
But they later supported rival factions within Yemen’s internationally recognised government. A brief land grab by UAE-backed separatists infuriated Riyadh, which rolled them back.
Pro-Saudi forces have since taken control of all of southern Yemen after the UAE withdrew its forces.
“We have regretfully discovered a number of secret prisons used by Emirati forces,” Salem al-Khanbashi, a newly-appointed member of Yemen’s eight-seat presidential body, told a press conference.
“We are currently documenting the violations committed against our people.”
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have previously reported on the existence of prisons run by the UAE and its allies, including the separatist Southern Transitional Council which is backed by Abu Dhabi.
The UAE has previously denied the allegations as politically motivated claims to discredit the country’s forces.
But Khanbashi repeated the accusations to foreign media on a government-sponsored trip attended by AFP in Al-Mukalla, Hadramawt, one of the two provinces separatists briefly seized in December.
“All necessary measures will be taken to hold the perpetrators of these violations accountable,” said Khanbashi, who is also Hadramawt’s governor.
“Whether it’s (STC leader) Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the UAE, its agents, officials, or those working with them who are proven to be involved in these violations.”
Khanbashi said authorities would provide evidence of the claims, with plans to take the reporters on a tour of detention centres, which they say were previously run by Emirati forces, the next day.
Yemeni leader Rashad al-Alimi, who heads the country’s presidential body, issued an order earlier this month to shut down illegal prisons and detention centres in areas formerly under STC control.
He also asked for detainees in those facilities to either be released or transferred to government-run facilities.
The UAE has not commented on the recent allegations.–AFP
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