Yemeni detainees in UAE-run prison start hunger strike

CAIRO – Dozens of Yemeni detainees, including some tortured at the hands of Emirati forces, have started a hunger strike to protest their continued detention despite a prosecutor’s decision to release them.

In a statement smuggled from the prison of Beir Ahmed in the southern city of Aden on Monday, the prisoners said the strike comes after three inmates tried to commit suicide ion the past weeks, including two by swallowing pills. Two prisoners confirmed the cases to the Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

The statement also said that while prosecutors had ordered the release of some prisoners remaining in detention, others weren’t referred to any judicial authorities at all after they were transferred from one prison to the other.