Ex-detainee exposes torture, violations in Aden secret prisons
ADEN, June 15 (YPA) – A former detainee held in the secret “Wadah Hall” detention facility in the Saudi-controlled city of Aden, south of Yemen, has revealed disturbing allegations of systematic torture and severe human rights abuses against prisoners.
The former detainee described the abuses as grave human rights violations that require urgent international action to protect victims and ensure accountability for those responsible.
In an audio testimony published by the Aden Sons Platform, a former detainee, who requested anonymity, said he had been held at the secret detention facility known as “Wadah Hall,” which he alleged was run by UAE-backed forces under the command of Yusran Al-Maqtari in a coastal area of Aden.
The survivor recounted harsh methods of physical and psychological torture, including the use of stress positions and prolonged detention in solitary confinement cells known as “compression cells.”
According to his testimony, these cells were extremely narrow—measuring no more than 40 to 50 centimeters in width—and characterized by high humidity.
He stated that detainees were forced to remain standing for extended periods and even sleep while standing, a practice he described as a form of enforced sleep deprivation and severe torture.
The detainee added that many prisoners left these cells suffering from chronic health conditions, including spinal injuries caused by prolonged standing and lack of sleep, a condition he said he continues to endure.
The former detainee further alleged that the abuse extended beyond male prisoners and included women, among them pregnant women, who were reportedly held in a separate section adjacent to the facility’s prayer area.
He said he could hear their voices during interrogation and torture sessions that continued day and night. He also claimed to have seen the names of female detainees carved into cell walls as a record of their suffering.
According to his testimony, conditions inside the facility amounted to a deliberate violation of human dignity and fell far below basic health and sanitation standards. He alleged that blankets had not been cleaned or exposed to sunlight for years, citing accounts from other detainees, including a prisoner identified as Naji Omar Saeed Habibat from the district of Lawdar in Abyan province.
The former detainee also described what he said were dire sanitary conditions inside the facility, alleging a widespread presence of scorpions, snakes, and lice. He claimed that lice infestations among prisoners were so severe that the insects were routinely collected and placed in containers.
He characterized Wadah Hall and similar detention sites as closer to hell, where fear, intimidation, and psychological abuse were constant features of daily life.
Concluding his testimony, the former detainee described the secret prisons run by UAE- and Saudi-backed forces as crimes that “shame humanity,” and called for immediate and decisive international action to protect detainees, abductees, and forcibly disappeared persons, and to end the ongoing violations in secret detention facilities in Aden and other southern regions of Yemen.