Int’l Red Cross Says Visits Over 3,400 Yemeni POWs in 2022
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday that it had this year visited more than 3,400 Yemeni prisoners of war (POWs) and other detained individuals held in Yemen and Saudi Arabia by all parties to the conflict, including the Houthi authorities and the internationally recognized government and its allies. These visits aim to ensure that POWs are treated in accordance with international humanitarian law and are able to communicate with their families.
“Earlier this month the ICRC concluded a 10-day visit to the Khamis Mushait detention facility in Saudi Arabia where conflict-related detainees are held under the authority of the Joint Forces in Saudi Arabia. A similar visit was conducted in Sana’a in October,” the ICRC said in a written statement.
The ICRC urged the conflicting sides to ensure humane conditions for all detainees, and said its visits can “assess the living conditions of the detainees and exchange the family news between them and their relatives.”
The ICRC has also worked to facilitate the release and transfer of POWs and other detained individuals, when feasible.
The statement quoted Fabrizio Carboni, the ICRC’s regional director for the Near and Middle East, as saying: “We await the close of political negotiations toward the release, transfer and repatriation of all conflict-related detainees so they can be reunited with their families after years of separation.”
Since 2019, it has facilitated the release of more than 1,500 prisoners by the parties to the conflict, according to the ICRC’s statement.
