Jabhad Posted February 9, 2006 SANA’A, Feb. 8 — Following their Feb. 4 release, several Somali refugees complained of horrific treatment they experienced in Yemeni prisons. Refugees spoke of rapes that occurred to some married women by security forces. They described those committing the rapes and their leaders who instigated them as brutal and awful, lacking Islamic morals. At HOOD offices, a woman who was raped painfully described the cruel treatment of many Somali men and women: “On the night of Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005, Central Security soldiers stormed the gathering of about 2,000 refuges in front of the UNHCR office in Sana’a. “I saw many men, women and children dragged and beaten. The soldiers kicked and trod on pregnant women, children and old men who could not move. They also put women and their babies before water hoses and poured cold water on them. They hit them with clubs and gun butts on all body parts without distinction. One man died and they broke the hands, legs and heads of many other men and women,†she recounted. The woman continued: “I fell down and the soldiers dragged me to a nearby building under construction. Several of them began raping me brutally. Some tread on my hands with their heavy leather boots, another pulled my hair, while others raped me. The same thing happened to other Somali women. I never expected this to happen in an Islamic country,†she concluded. Another refugee described his misfortune and that of other refuges with the UNHCR, which was supposed to protect and look after them, but turned out to be a foe instead. The man demanded UNHCR office managers and the protection office manager be interrogated for their roles in encouraging conflicts between the refugees. He also demanded refugees’ voices be heard by UNHCR in Geneva to send a committee to solve their problems. They also demand education, residence, health and legal rights, as well as protection from inhumane prison treatment and appointment of a lawyer to stand with them against what they term Yemeni security harassment. In a related issue, HOOD sent a report to the attorney informing him of the Somali women’s rape cases by Central Security soldiers. It also reported refugee complaints against UNHCR and some police stations. The Yemen Times will publish more details in its next issue about a meeting with Mohamed Naji Alaw, General Secretary and head of HOOD. HOODOrganization for Defending Rights and Freedoms Executive Director Lawyer Khalid Al-Anesi said to the Yemen Times:“The organization will demand international investigation on activities of the General Commissioner for Refugees’ Affairs working in Yemen and detect its role causing quarrels between Somalis and Yemeni security apparatuses during last year’s sit-in in protest of the commissioner’s behavior toward refugees that claimed lives of several.†He added:“The request raised by the commissioner to police to disperse protesters was illegal and unconstitutional. The commissioner must be held to account for the sufferings of refugees in the Yemeni territory.†Source: Yemen Times, Feb. 08, 2006 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
