Former prisoners traumatised by Houthi treatment

Many of those freed this month need counselling after experiencing torture and harsh conditions in rebel captivity.

Rebel fighters at a Houthi gathering in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on June 20, 2016. Yahya Arhab / EPA
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Aden // Prisoners freed recently by Houthi rebels say they were ill-treated and even tortured by their captors, with many now showing signs of psychological trauma as a result.

“The Houthis did not treat us as human beings but as animals,” said Shukri Al Auqaili, who was one of the 76 men released by the rebels in a prisoner swap in Taez province on June 18.

He said the Houthis subjected some prisoners to electric shocks to make them reveal information about the pro-government forces, and kept them all in basements completely cut off from light.

"I was captured one year ago from Forty Metre Street [in Taez city] while I was fighting the Houthis and they then took me towards Sanaa. They moved me between more than one prison, but all of them were dark," Mr Al Auqaili told The National.

Mr Al Auqaili, who is in his 20s, said many of the prisoners could not cope with the conditions. “We could not sleep very well, and by the last months I saw many prisoners suffering from psychological trauma.”

Some prisoners shouted or cried in their sleep, while others spent the whole night talking to themselves, he said. Others refused to eat and became ill.

Abdul Kareem Abdul-Aziz, a psychologist with his own practice in Taez city, said he had seen several former prisoners with psychological trauma caused by the conditions of their captivity.

“Many of the prisoners need urgent counselling, otherwise their psychological health will worsen,” Mr Abdul-Aziz said.

However, as with many other parts of Yemen, medical services in Taez province have been badly affected by fighting between pro-government forces and the rebels, with most of the health facilities closed and doctors fleeing to other provinces or abroad.

The UAE, a member of the Saudi-led military coalition supporting the government, has helped restore medical services in the government-held province of Aden to the south, but most of the prisoners come from poor families and cannot afford to travel there for treatment.

The father of one of the prisoners, who asked not to be named, said his son had been having nightmares and shouting in his sleep after returning home. At other times he appeared to be in a daze, he said.

"I cannot see my son suffering in front of my eyes," he told The National. "I will sell my wife's jewellery and take my son to Aden, as there are good centres for psychological counselling there."

He said his son was not a pro-government fighter but was arrested by the Houthis while he was travelling to Ibb province, where he has a small shop.

foreign.desk@thenational