Human rights org reveals new Saudi violations against Yemeni prisoners in secret prisons

The Geneva-based “Sam” Organization for Rights and Freedoms, affiliated with the Islah Party, on Thursday issued a report monitoring new violations by the Saudi authorities against the Yemeni detainees in secret prisons.

The organization stated that Saudi Arabia arrests hundreds of Yemenis in prisons, some of which are illegal in the Kingdom, and also runs other prisons inside Yemen.

It stated that it had obtained dozens of reports and more than 100 testimonies through personal interviews and phone calls reporting arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture of journalists, politicians, officers and civilians, under various pretexts ranging between terrorism charges to writing opinion pamphlets.

The report mentioned the names of a number of prisons, including eight detention centers, in the Kingdom’s territory or under its supervision, in which many Yemenis were exposed to grave violations.

“Sam” indicated that Saudi interrogators, describing them as “cruel”, had practiced torture against the detainees in ‘Al-Tin prison of the First Military Region in Sayoun city, which is supervised by Saudi officers, one of whom is called “Al-Khalidi.”

The report pointed to the detention operations practiced against children and women to pressure their families on charges related to opinion and political orientation.

Sam’s report is an extension of previous human rights reports issued by local and international agencies, including Human Rights Watch, that revealed flagrant violations against Yemeni detainees.

 YPA