UAE officers accused of torturing Omani citizen in secret detention in Aden

ADEN, Sept. 04 (YPA) -Human rights reports have accused Emirati officers of torturing an Omani citizen, Mohammad Hamoud Al-Saidi, for over four months in a series of secret prisons in Aden, Yemen.

According to a report published on the Aden Rights Platform, Mohammad Hamoud Al-Saidi was abducted while he was on a trip to Aden in September 2024 by members of the UAE-funded “Security Belt” forces in Aden.

The report detailed that Al-Saidi was taken to a secret detention center where he endured various forms of torture under the supervision of Emirati officers.

The Security Belt forces, a group backed by the UAE, initially detained Al-Saidi and transferred him to the “Victory Camp” detention facility, where he was subjected to days of interrogation and physical abuse.

Following this, the report states that Al-Saidi was moved to “Badr Camp,” a detention center controlled by Ahmed Hassan Al-Marhabi, the UAE’s security official overseeing the Southern Transitional Council (STC), where he continued to face torture in solitary confinement.

His captors reportedly denied him any access to legal representation or the ability to contact his country’s embassy.

The report further highlighted that Emirati officers actively participated in the interrogation sessions and in inflicting psychological and physical torture on the Omani citizen. Al-Saidi was eventually handed over to the so-called “Criminal Investigation” unit in the Khormaksar district of Aden.

The number of victims subjected to abductions, enforced disappearances, and brutal torture in prisons and detention centers affiliated with the UAE in Aden has significantly increased since the beginning of 2016.

In addition to the widespread torture, numerous extrajudicial killings have been reported inside these facilities. The fate of many detainees remains unknown, including Colonel Ali Ashaal Al-Jaadani, who has been missing since mid-June 2023.

@E.Y.M