Yemeni Lawyer: Prisoners Likely Treated Worse in Yemen then Gitmo
It is feared several hundred Yemenis to be released from Gitmo may recieve far worse treatment upon their homecoming to Yemen: YO–
Instead, however, the news (of the impending release) has been greeted with apprehension and an unwilling recognition that the prisoners are likely to suffer far more at the hands of their fellow countrymen than from their American captors.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs didn’t say that they would be tried, he said they would be convicted,” says (their lawyer) Allaw. “The people in charge will not give them any kind of rights and they will find anything or even invent a law just to punish them.’
“There are no guarantees about their fate,” says the lawyer. “They will be treated like animals.”
Yemeni detainees currently held at Guantanamo face the possibility of torture and unfair trials on their return home, says their lawyer.
“The people in charge will not give them any kind of rights and they will find anything or even invent a law just to punish them,” says Mohammed Naji Allaw, who represents the 106 Yemeni detainees and their families in Yemen.
Last week the US announced that it would begin sending suspected Al-Qaeda members captured in Afghanistan back to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen.
The announcement has been criticized by international human rights groups who say the three counties have poor human rights records and that the prisoners are unlikely to face a fair trial and may be tortured or executed in prison.
US federal judge Rosemary Collyer responded by barring the American government from transferring 13 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay out of concern for their safety.
The temporary restraining order requires the United States to keep the men at its military prison camp in Cuba until the possibility the Yemeni detainees might be tortured or detained indefinitely if moved to Yemen is assessed.
Here in Yemen, the US administration’s decision should have been welcomed by the men’s families and Allaw, who have long campaigned for the release. Instead, however, the news has been greeted with apprehension and an unwilling recognition that the prisoners are likely to suffer far more at the hands of their fellow countrymen than from their American captors.
“The prisoners are happy and worried at the same time. Happy to be going back to their country and worried about what will happen to them,” says Allaw.
The lawyer, who unsuccessfully defended the accused bombers of the USS Cole, doubts that the prisoners will receive a fair trial.
