Yemeni Public Prosecution Begins Implementing Presidential Directives to Close Secret Prisons in the South of the Country
Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
The Public Prosecution has commenced the implementation of directives issued by the Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi, mandating the closure of prisons and illegal detention centers in a number of provinces liberated from the Houthis, and the release of detainees held outside the legal framework.
A judicial source stated that the Attorney General, Judge Qaher Mustafa, has ordered urgent measures to identify and close all illegal detention sites. This action is based on a memorandum issued by the Minister of Justice, Judge Badr Al-Ardah, which included instructions to implement the binding presidential directives requiring full coordination between security and military agencies and the judicial authority.
The source clarified that the directives emphasized the necessity of transferring detainees to official facilities under state and legal supervision or releasing them immediately if there are no judicial orders or legal justifications for their detention.
According to an official document, the Attorney General has instructed the head of the Prisons Division and the heads of the relevant prosecution offices to conduct immediate field inspections of all detention and holding facilities within their jurisdiction and to immediately release anyone found to be detained unlawfully.
The directives also included transferring detainees with pending cases or legal detention orders to official, approved prisons and referring their files to the relevant prosecution offices. Additionally, all non-official detention and holding facilities are to be closed, with this process documented in official reports. Legal responsibilities for any detention outside the legal framework are to be identified, and necessary legal measures are to be taken against those responsible.
Previously, the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council had issued directives to close all secret prisons and illegal detention centers in provinces under the control of the Yemeni government and to immediately release detainees held outside the legal framework.
According to the official Yemeni News Agency, President Al-Alimi tasked the security and military agencies, in coordination with the Public Prosecution and the Ministry of Justice, with identifying the locations of illegal detention facilities in the provinces of Aden, Lahj, and Al-Dhale’ and formulating an urgent plan for their closure.
The presidential directives affirmed ensuring the transfer of any detainees to official, legally compliant facilities or their immediate release if no legal charges are substantiated against them, within the framework of strengthening the rule of law and protecting public rights and freedoms.
It is noteworthy that there are dozens of detention facilities in these provinces that were under the control of the dissolved Southern Transitional Council forces, holding many activists, politicians, and religious figures for years without trial or any justification for their abduction and forced disappearance.
