Secret Torture Prisons in Yemen

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

According to AP News, at least 18 secret black site torture prisons operate in Yemen.

They're run by the despotic UAE, along with rogue Yemeni elements trained by the Gulf state.

Washington is likely behind what's going on - US citizens complicit in interrogations. None of this would be happening without US involvement and approval.

An estimated 2,000 or more detainees are brutalized in captivity - not al-Qaeda fighters as AP reported. America, Riyadh, the UAE, and their rogue allies support them.

Detainees are Houthis or supporters. Saudi terror-bombing targets their fighters, Washington involved in the fighting. 

US weapons and munitions are used to massacre countless numbers of Yemenis, mostly civilians in harm's way, willfully targeted as part of a diabolical plot to inflict maximum pain and suffering on an entire population, millions affected.

According to an AP investigation, "secret prisons are inside military bases, ports, an airport, private villas and even a nightclub." 

"Some detainees have been flown to an Emirati base across the Red Sea in Eritrea, according to Yemen Interior Minister Hussein Arab and others."

AP cited anonymous Defense Department officials admitting US involvement in interrogations. They lied saying no torture or other forms of abuse occurred in their presence.

DOD spokeswoman Dana White grievously lied, claiming America "always adhere(s) to the highest standards of personal and professional conduct."

"We do not turn a blind eye because we are obligated to report any violations of human rights."

Fact: Torture is official US policy, authorized at the highest levels of government, especially post-9/11 - despite international and constitutional law banning it at all times, under all circumstances with no allowed exceptions.

Fact: Laws prohibiting torture are jus cogens. They're higher, compelling laws. No nation may pass legislation permitting it. No courts may justify it. Jus cogens prohibitions allow no immunity from criminal liability.

Fact: A 2013 "sweeping, 577-page" Constitution Project (CP) report said it's "indisputable that the United States engage(s) in the practice of torture."

Fact: What began earlier, continues now. Torture is globalized, featuring lawless abductions and brutalizing treatment.

The UAE lied, claiming no involvement in torture or other forms of abuse. Lawyers and family members of victims explained around 2,000 or more men disappeared into black site torture prisons.

Former Riyan airport detainees "described being crammed into shipping containers smeared with feces and blindfolded for weeks on end," AP explained. 

"They said they were beaten, trussed up on (a) 'grill…spun in a circle of fire…and sexually assaulted." 

"According to a member of the Hadramawt Elite, a Yemeni security force set up by the UAE, American forces were at times only yards away. He requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter."

Another detainee said the "entire place is gripped in fear. Almost everyone is sick, the rest near death. Anyone who complains heads directly to the torture chamber."

He was flogged, beaten and otherwise abused, placed inside a shipping container. Guards lit a fire underneath and filled it with suffocating smoke.

AP interviewed 10 former detainees, nearly 20 of their relatives, and around a dozen Yemeni officials, complicit with Riyadh in combating Houthi fighters and terrorizing Yemeni civilians.

Neocon US Defense Secretary James ("mad dog") Mattis praised the UAE as a "little Sparta," claiming it's involved in combating al-Qaeda - both countries support.

One Yemeni victim said he'd rather "die and go to hell…than go back to" the torture prison where he was held and brutally treated.

Yemen is Obama's war complicit with Riyadh, the UAE and their rogue partners in high crimes. Now it's Trump's, escalating combat instead of responsibly ending it.

Washington bears full responsibility for the rape and destruction of Yemen - including horrific torture inflicted on thousands of victims, a testimony to US viciousness.

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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

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