Beir Ahmed Prison

Yemen
2016

The secret prisons that the UAE established in the southern cities of Yemen continue to shed light on their crimina practices in the country. The abuses practised by UAE-backed groups in Aden and by Emirati officers in the prisons under their supervision revealed shocking crimes against detainees that amount to torture, sexual abuse, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Such acts were not limited to Yemeni detainees alone, but extended to include African refugees as well. 
Beir Ahmed is a prison run by the UAE intelligence in the southern city of Aden. The prison staff are primarily Yemeni, but the facility is sponsored by the UAE where Emirati officers ensure security of the place through the UAE-backed security belt forces. In July 2018, the Yemeni Interior Minister Ahmed Maisari called on the UAE military to close the prisons or hand them over to the Yemeni forces, and by 3 July 2018, the UAE forces had released 46 detainees from the prison. 
Associated Press reports said that the detainees in the prison were subjected to torture and sexual abuse, including by rape and electrocution, which led to the death of dozens because of these Atrocious practices. 
On 17 July 2015, Aden was announced a ‘liberated’ city by the Yemeni and coalition forces, shortly after the UAE ground forces arrived in Aden. In March 2016, the UAE-backed security belt forces, now 15,000-strong, were formed in several southern governorates, including in Aden, Lahij and Abyan. In April 2016, a satellite imagery analysis shows the beginning of the construction of a detention facility at the UAE base in Brega, Aden. The images show how the detention area expanded throughout 2016 and early 2017, in line with the waves of arrests that Amnesty International and others have documented.

Lip-sewn detainees at Beir Ahmed Prison
Lip-sewn detainees at Beir Ahmed Prison

Images

Rough drawings of sexual harassment of detainees in Beir Ahmed Prison
Rough drawings of sexual harassment of detainees in Beir Ahmed Prison
Rough drawings of sexual harassment of detainees in Beir Ahmed Prison
Rough drawings of sexual harassment of detainees in Beir Ahmed Prison
Protests by mothers of detainees
Protests by mothers of detainees
سجناء اليمن عرضة للتعذيب الجنسي من قبل ضباط دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة
سجناء اليمن عرضة للتعذيب الجنسي من قبل ضباط دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة,المجلس الدولي دعم المحاكمة العادلة و حقوق الانسان

Videos

Remote video URL
A foreign report reveals the UAE's involvement in torturing prisoners and running secret prisons in the Yemeni city of Aden, 4News TV Channel interviewed one of the prisoner, 7 December, 2018
Remote video URL
Accusations against the UAE of violating the rights of detainees in Bir Ahmed prison in Aden, Al Jazeera TV Channel, 7 January, 2019