Foreign ministry denies existence of UAE-run secret prisons in Yemen

Detention centres are under "the jurisdiction of Yemeni legitimate authorities", ministry says.

ABU DHABI // The UAE has strongly refuted a report claiming that there are secret detention centres in southern Yemen run by the UAE Armed Forces.

“What is stated in the report is completely untrue; it is nothing more than a political game through which the militias and the parties affected by the efforts of the Arab Coalition to fight the terrorist organisations seek to discredit the Coalition, which originally entered Yemen in order to save the people of Yemen,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said on Friday.

The ministry said the UAE, as a part of the Arab Coalition, did not administer or supervise any prisons in Yemen, which was “within the jurisdiction of the Yemeni legitimate authorities”.

The Coalition forces provided training to Yemeni cadres in accordance with the best legal practices, the ministry said in a statement.

The UAE, working closely with local Yemeni forces, has played an instrumental role in removing Al Qaeda from Southern Yemen. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the terrorist group’s most ruthless franchises, was directly responsible for the murder of hundreds of government officials, local police, and Yemeni civilians, the statement added.

The ministry said the UAE “has provided billions of dollars in direct assistance to Southern Yemen, helping to provide safety and security, restoring water and power systems, repairing schools and hospitals and distributing food aid”.

It said the UAE military in Yemen respected the international conventions of war and conflict, reiterating, “The UAE maintains no secret detention centres and does not torture prisoners.”

* Wam