Detainees Held Without Charges Decry Emiratis’ Sexual Abuses

In 2004, the world was shocked by the abuse suffered by prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In later years the US’ program of torture and extraordinary rendition also drew criticism, especially in the way the US was outsourcing its ‘dirty work’ to its allies.

It was, however, too much to hope that the US and its nominal allies would halt the use of torture in the face of this criticism.

The US-supported and Saudi-led Coalition currently fighting in Yemen represents yet another such massive human rights breach. An indiscriminate bombing campaign has killed thousands, destroyed critical infrastructure, caused a collapse of public health and the world’s largest modern outbreak of Cholera, and left millions facing starvation. Nonetheless, the greatest cruelties appear to be left for those who end up in the secret prisons of the UAE, a major Coalition partner.

“They tortured me without even accusing me of anything. Sometimes I wish they would give me a charge so I can confess and end this pain,” he said. “The worst thing about it is that I wish for death every day and I can’t find it.”

With messages smuggled out by the inmates, Maggie Michael, writing for AP, tells a horrifying tale of life within these prisons. Torture. Beatings. Electric shocks. Systematic rape. All the while prisons have no legal representation and no rights with which to fight their case. What makes this story all the more compelling — and indeed terrifying — are the drawings of the prisoners themselves, which AP has managed to obtain, which show in graphic detail the daily abuse the prisoners suffer.