News - Yemen: The head of the National Committee for Prisoners Affairs, Abdulqadir Al-Murtada, confirmed that the ill-treatment of US-Saudi mercenaries with prisoners would be exposed in their prisons if mutual visits occurred.

The US-Saudi mercenaries claim that the prisoner Sami Al-Watiri was tortured in the central prison in Sana'a until he died. However, the prisoner was not subjected to any kind of torture, and he is in perfect health. According to the  head of the National Committee for Prisoners' Affairs, Al-Watiri contacted his family and assured them that he was fine.

He denied that any of the prisoners had been tortured, explaining, "We asked the United Nations to visit all prisons and show the results to the public."

Al-Murtada indicated that the United Nations' position towards uncovering crimes against prisoners is weak, adding, "We have not seen any action in this regard."

He called on all international organizations to take immediate action and visit all prisons, confirming readiness to open all prisons to see the conditions of prisoners.

Al-Murtada explained, "A month ago, we were about to reach an agreement to implement a deal to exchange 1,400 prisoners from both sides, and the mercenaries imposed obstacles."

He explained that, "The mercenaries use the prisoners' issue for extortion, and they are not serious about the exchange," indicating that the mercenaries rejected an offer to include Muhammad Qahtan in the new deal in exchange for the release of a group of prisoners.

The head of the Prisoners' Committee also confirmed that the prisoners' issue is still stagnant, indicating that the United Nations did not put pressure on the US-Saudi aggression and mercenaries to implement what was agreed upon.

In addition to the false allegations against the prisoners in Sana'a prisons, the mercenaries of the aggression continue to thwart any visits to the prisons between Sana'a and Marib in order to hide the attacks and torture that the prisoners are subjected to in Marib prisons.

In May, the US-Saudi mercenaries in Marib thwarted a prison visit, which was scheduled by the United Nations.

Al-Murtada said that a new round of negotiations was supposed to be held in mid-May, after the completion of prison visits between Sana'a and Marib as a first step paving the way for the implementation of the remainder of the March 2022 agreement. However, the intransigence of the US-Saudi mercenaries and their refusal to visit prevented progress in the prisoners’ issue.

He stated that the committee submitted a list to the UN that included a group of prisoners and detainees to disclose their fate in exchange for disclosing the fate of Muhammad Qahtan, pointing out that the US-Saudi mercenaries in Marib refused to disclose the fate of the prisoners and abductees.

He renewed the committee's keenness to complete the visits in order to facilitate the prisoner exchange process, stressing Sana'a's readiness to enter into a comprehensive deal for the release of all prisoners, but there is obstruction from the US-Saudi mercenaries.