CAIRO— Their mothers and sisters cried with joy and women from the neighborhood ululated as 46 Yemeni detainees walked free on Tuesday after months or years spent in detention in one of several prisons controlled by the United Arab Emirates in southern Yemen.
It was the third batch of prisoners released after the Associated Press revealed that hundreds of Yemenis swept up in antiterror raids by Emirati-backed forces have been subjected to torture and sexual abuse aimed at brutalizing the detainees and extracting ‘‘confessions’’ as part of a US-backed antiterror campaign.
Images posted on social media show the freed men grinning and flashing V signs for victory as their loved ones and neighbors hugged and kissed them in the southern port city of Aden.
The saga of the detainees from the Beir Ahmed prison is linked to the brutal civil war that has roiled the Arab world’s poorest country, where a Saudi-led coalition, of which the UAE is a leading member, is at war with Iran-aligned rebels known as Houthis, who control the capital.
Prosecutor Mohammed Ali Saleh confirmed the release of the 46 on Tuesday without elaborating, while the detainees gave the media a list with their names. Among them was 23-year-old Saddam al-Azazi, held since June of last year. His mother said that she fainted when she heard the news, and that her daughters had to carry her to see him.
Other prisoners despaired at not being included among those released, with one trying to kill himself by taking pills, according to witnesses. Prison officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
ASSOCIATED PRESS