مدونة رمضان2
Torture in The Name of the State
Ayman Ali (pseudonym), who is 38 years old, heads two families. The first family consists of his first wife and three children, and the second family consists of his second wife, who is six months pregnant. Ayman travels safely and peacefully between Amd district and Mukalla city for his own business and to provide for his children and wives.
On Thursday, March 10, 2022, at around 12:30 pm, like many other Yemenis, Ayman went to the Qat market in the Gul Kret area of Amd district, Hadramout governorate, to buy Qat. He left his home knowing that he had no debts or enemies seeking revenge.
While Ayman was checking and negotiating to buy Qat from the seller, everything was normal. Suddenly, his life turned into a nightmare when three masked and fully armed men in civilian clothes arrested him with the participation of more than nine other armed men.
The armed men were on board two white Hilux Toyota cars and a white Land Cruiser Toyota, all of which had no number plates. The group was led by a Criminal Investigation officer and another officer from the military checkpoint of the internationally recognized government’s first military zone.
During this harrowing experience, Ayman was transferred to several prisons in which he was subjected to enforced disappearance many times and suffered various types of torture, for charges he denies any connection to.
“We are the State”
The masked men identified themselves to Ayman by saying, “We are the state,” and started beating him with rifle butts. They forcibly dragged his body across the ground between the Qat sellers. In the name of the state, they forced him into one of the three cars used in the arrest operation. The remaining armed men used their weapons to prevent any civilians from intervening or even attempting to identify the masked men.
Ayman says:
“They tied me to one of the bed rack’s rear poles of the car, as if I was a goat being taken to the slaughterhouse.” He was then transported to one of the prisons in the First Military Zone in Seiyun by a joint force from the Seiyun Criminal Investigation Department and the First Military Zone forces. It is worth noting that they did not have an arrest warrant from the prosecution.
Broken Glass Shards
Ayman was subjected to torture on that fateful night, the episodes of which only ended when he lost consciousness due to the severity of the beatings and his shackles being tightened. They even made him ingest shards of broken glass, which caused him severe internal injuries. He says:
“They took me to a room, tied my legs and hands, blindfolded me, and tortured me with iron skewers and military-pant belts. They wanted me to confess to a crime I did not commit, which was the assassination attempt of Ayman Ba Essa, the former commander of the coast guard in Mukalla. They even forcibly made me ingest shrads of broken glass, which caused unbearable pain and started to tear apart my intestines, leaving me feeling nauseous and dizzy. I could feel myself losing consciousness, and blood was coming from my mouth due to the wounds caused by the broken glass shards they had forced into my mouth.”
With the help of the treating doctor in the early morning hours of Friday, March 11, 2022, Ayman gradually regained consciousness and opened his eyes to a new life that he was destined to live.
The arresting party claimed that Ayman had attempted suicide. On Saturday, March 12, 2022, he was transferred to the central prison in Seiyun, where he was interrogated with his hands tied behind his back. He was then forced to place his thumbprint on several interrogation reports without being informed about their contents or given the opportunity to read them. All of this was done in the name of the state.
On the day following the interrogation session, Ayman’s mother and relatives were finally allowed to visit him. He was held in Seiyun Central Prison for two months without being brought before the Public Prosecution, which was an illegal procedure by the detaining body. During his detention, Ayman was only allowed to make calls to his mother, wives, brothers, and other relatives every two days.
After the two months he spent in the Central Prison of Seiyun, he was enforced disappeared again for about five days. His mother was very worried about him, so she asked his brothers to find out his whereabouts. After several phone calls made by his brothers, the Criminal Investigation Department in Seiyun told them that Ayman had been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Prison in Mukalla since Thursday, May 12, 2022.
After being transferred to the Criminal Investigation Prison, Ayman was placed in the Mukalla Central Prison where he was deprived even of the limited rights he had in Seiyun Central Prison. He was not allowed to have visitors or make phone calls. Even his mother was not permitted to see or hear from him.
Mwatana played a role in following up and ending the second enforced disappearance of Ayman. After pressure on the Director of Criminal Investigation Department in Mukalla, Ayman’s mother was allowed to see him before he was transferred by the Specialized Criminal Prosecution to the Central Prison in Mukalla on May 19, 2022 without conducting any investigation with him. Visitations hadn’t been allowed for him until the tragedy almost happened. Ayman tried to commit suicide.
He Tried to Commit Suicide
The victim’s second wife recounted how she received the news of her husband’s suicide attempt. She said, “I received a phone call and as soon as I heard the caller say, ‘Are you the wife of Ayman, who is detained in the Central Prison?’, I lost focus and only heard the words ‘committed suicide’ from his speech! I screamed and the phone fell out of my hand.”
The misunderstood news reached the victim’s family, causing shock and worry among his relatives and loved ones. However, things became clear later, and his family breathed a sigh of relief. Ayman was alright; it was just a suicide attempt, and the danger had passed.
Ayman recounted the reasons and motives of what happened and said, “I was beaten by one of the guards in the ward, which made me realize the extent of the ill-treatment I was subjected to. I was not allowed visits for over a month, and I wasn’t even allowed to make phone calls. Eventually, I was beaten.”
Ayman revealed that he was driven to attempt suicide by one of the torture methods used against him at the First Military Zone prison in Seiyun. He shattered one of the ceiling lamps in his cell and ingested the broken glass. He then lost consciousness and was hospitalized to save his life.
A Blessing in Disguise
Nasser (pseudonym), the victim’s cousin, said,
“Since the incident, the prison administration allowed the victim to have visitors and make phone calls, even expediting his visitation schedule. Ayman has been standing on his legs behind an iron mesh for over three months so he could see his pregnant wife whose fetus had grown in size, and his mother whose health and ability to endure tragedies had been affected by the years. She would not have believed that Ayman is still alive if did not see him with her own eyes.”
“Ayman will have to wait until after the judicial recess to find out whether the criminal prosecution will investigate the charges against him, which he claims are baseless. He insists that his only fault is being the cousin of a business partner of an influential officer in the Elite Forces (a friend to the Emirati forces based in Al-Rayyan Airport camp).
The mother, wives, brothers, and relatives continue to pray fervently for Ayman’s release and safe return. To Be Continued
