Review of the fifth periodic report of Yemen

1.9 Inhuman Conditions in Detention Centres and Prisons (Art. 2, 7, 9, 10)

1.9.1A proliferation of places of detention

There is a prison in each provincial capital. According to domestic law, only persons convicted by a court are to be held in these prisons, administered by the Ministry of Interior. But in reality, people are detained in these prisons on the orders of tribal leaders or officials, without a mandate from any judicial authority. Police sections also have detention facilities. Under domestic law, police custody should not exceed 24 hours, but this limit is rarely respected.

There is also a plethora of other detention facilities managed by other government agencies. Those in charge of these facilities regularly arrest and detain people under various pretexts without a judicial warrant.

However, it is Political Security that hold the greatest number of people incommunicado in their centres across all provinces. Suspects can languish in these centres for periods ranging from days to several months, sometimes even years. National Security also has detention centres where detainees are held incommunicado, but it seems that the length of detention at these types of detention centres is never very long. After interrogation by this service’s officers, suspects are transferred to other security services’ detention facilities.

Foreigners awaiting deportation are held at the Visa Service, under the auspices the Ministry of the Interior; when they are suspected of terrorist activities, they are transferred to the Political Security centre where they await deportation.