Mass hunger strike in UAE-run jails in Yemen

Dozens of Yemeni prisoners in UAE-run jail in Yemen declared an open-ended hunger strike in protest against their illegal detention.

In a statement smuggled from the notorious prison of Beir Ahmed in the southern city of Aden on Monday, the prisoners said their protest steps came in rejection to their continued detention without any legal basis and their physical torture.

The prisoners decided to launch the hunger strike after three of their colleagues tried to commit suicide in the past few weeks, according to the leaked letter.

Back in June, a number of international organisations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accused the UAE of operating two secret prisons facilities in Yemen in which detainees were tortured.