Amnesty calls for probe into Yemen war crimes News
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Amnesty calls for probe into Yemen war crimes

Amnesty International called Thursday for an investigation into possible war crimes in Yemen.

The group published a report [text, PDF] detailing the stories of men in southern Yemen detention facilities. The report documents [press release] “how scores of men have been subjected to enforced disappearance after being arbitrarily arrested and detained by United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemeni forces operating outside the command of their own government. Many have been tortured, with some feared to have died in custody.” The families of the detainees reportedly have no way of knowing what has happened to them, as their questions “are met with silence or intimidation.”

Amnesty’s report not only documents the stories of the families searching for information on their detained family members, but also documents the use of torture in the detention facilities. The former detainees related “accounts of abuse including beatings, use of electric shocks and sexual violence.”

Amnesty insisted in its report that these violations be investigated as war crimes. It included recommendations to the UAE and Yemen to end the alleged violations and to give the victims full reparations. Amnesty has also urged the US and other UAE counter-terrorism partners to “take a stand against allegations of torture.”