Maldivian foreigners in Yemeni custody [Archives:2006/931/Local News]
SANA'A, March 22 ) Maldives Foreign Minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed strongly criticized Yemeni authorities, accusing them of running a “chaotic” country which has resulted in the arrest of five Maldivian nationals, Yemen News web site reported.
“Many of these types of things happen in states like Yemen,” Shaheed stated in a press report.
The Maldives demanded the Yemeni government release the five Maldivians arrested February 25 while visiting a friend.
According to Ahmed Sareer, Foreign Ministry Assistant Director General, who traveled to Yemen and was allowed to meet with the five arrested Maldivians, the reason for their arrest remains unclear.
“As of now the Yemeni government has not revealed the reason for their arrest. The Yemeni government said those arrested were arrested by Yemeni security forces. Since there were security issues involved, the reason for their arrest cannot be disclosed yet,” said Sareer, who returned to the Maldives March 14.
Sareer confirmed that the identities of those arrested have not been revealed, upon their families request, because they have been proven of no crime. He also confirmed that they had experienced no harm and were being treated humanely.
The issue of the five Maldives citizens has raised the question of the poor track-record of arbitrary arrest and detention in Yemen. Yemeni Interior Minister Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi recently confessed the existence of five Cameroonians in custody since 1995. They remained detained in political security prisons for more than 10 years, accused of “counterfeiting, money laundering and forming a gang to attack the national economy,” however Yemeni authorities have not brought the men to trial yet.
The Organization for Human Rights stated that it received a letter from four of the men in 2004 complaining that they had been picked up in the street in the middle of the night while staying at Hotel Sana'a Plaza.
The five imprisoned men stated that they needed “a respectable authority to listen to their case with impartiality and to consider their suffering before passing any judgment.” They said the conditions they live in are disgusting and the food is so bad “that even animals refuse to eat it.”
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