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Updated 23 January 2026 - The BBC has gained rare access to former UAE military installations in Yemen, revealing a network of clandestine detention centers long accused of systematic abuse.
Facilities exposed after UAE withdrawal
Reporters toured two repurposed military compounds in the Al-Dhaba Oil Export Area near Mukalla, where shipping containers and cramped cells bore markings of detainees held as recently as December 2025. The Yemeni government, which recently reclaimed the sites from UAE-backed separatists, permitted the visit amid escalating tensions between its Saudi and Emirati allies.
Conditions described as inhumane
Inside the facilities, approximately 10 shipping containers-interiors painted black with minimal ventilation-displayed names and dates etched into metal walls. Former prisoners told the BBC each container held up to 60 men at a time, forced to sit upright indefinitely. One survivor recounted:
"There was no space to lie down. If someone collapsed, the others had to hold him up."
At a second base, the BBC observed eight brick-and-cement cells, including solitary confinement units measuring roughly one meter square. Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani stated these were used for isolation.
Allegations of torture and sexual abuse
Multiple survivors described beatings, electric shocks, and sexual violence perpetrated by Emirati soldiers and allied Yemeni fighters. One man, detained for 18 months, said interrogators demanded he confess to al-Qaeda membership-an accusation he denies. He recounted:
"They told me if I didn't admit it, I would be sent to 'Guantanamo.' I didn't even know what they meant until they took me to their prison. Then I understood."
A mother alleged her teenage son, an athlete detained nine years ago, was electrocuted, doused with ice water, and sexually abused. She said a coerced confession recording played at his hearing included audible beatings in the background.
Decade of documented abuses
Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have long reported arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and torture in UAE-run facilities. In 2017, Human Rights Watch documented testimonies of detainees subjected to electric shocks and prolonged isolation without charge. The UAE has consistently denied such allegations.
The BBC independently verified accounts through interviews with approximately 70 former detainees and families of 30 others still missing. Huda al-Sarari, a Yemeni lawyer documenting abuses, organized a meeting where survivors detailed overcrowding, forced confessions, and threats of transfer to Guantanamo Bay.
Political fallout and prisoner transfers
The Yemeni government's decision to grant media access follows a fracturing alliance with the UAE. After UAE-backed Southern Transition Council (STC) forces seized territory in December 2025, Saudi Arabia bombed a suspected weapons shipment in Mukalla and demanded Emirati forces withdraw. The UAE denied arming the STC, but its troops left Yemen in early January, enabling government forces to retake southern provinces.
On 12 January 2026, President Rashad al-Alimi ordered the closure of all "illegal" prisons in former STC-controlled areas. Minister Eryani acknowledged discovering detainees but provided no numbers. Relatives, however, reported transfers to government-run facilities, raising concerns about continued arbitrary detention.
Unanswered questions
The UAE did not respond to the BBC's request for comment on the allegations or the visited sites. Eryani claimed the government lacked access to UAE-controlled areas until their recent liberation, stating: "We had been told by many victims that these prisons existed but we didn't believe it was true."
Families of detainees argue Yemeni and Saudi authorities must have known about the network. The ongoing civil war has seen all parties accused of human rights violations, exacerbating Yemen's humanitarian crisis.
