Yemenis demand release of detainees in UAE-run 'torture prisons'

Family members of Yemeni detainees being held and allegedly tortured in two seperate prison networks held demonstrations in Sanaa on Wednesday demanding the release of their loves ones.

The prisoners are being detained in jails run by Houthi rebels who control the Yemeni capital, and also in a secret UAE run prison network where torture is said to be widespread.

Protests also took place in Mukalla, the capital city of Yemen's Hadramaut province, demanding the release of loved ones in UAE-run jails.

Detainees are allegedly subject to extreme forms of torture methods at the UAE prison network.

One includes placing victims over a "grill", in which they are tied to a spit and turned over a pit of fire, mimicking the action of roasting a chicken.

A report written by AP exposed the prisons and documented at least 18 clandestine lock-ups across southern Yemen, run by the UAE and local forces allied to the Abu Dhabi.

All of the torture prisons are either hidden from Yemen's exiled government, or are off limits.

This is despite the UAE being part of the Saudi-led coalition which aims at restoring President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi's government, which was overthrown by the Houthis in September 2014.

A video has recently emerged allegedly showing UAE-backed Yemeni militias beheading prisoners who they claim to be captured Houthi rebels.

The footage shows the four detainees being beheaded and shot at close range by a group of armed men who are flying the flags of the UAE and the formerly independent state of South Yemen.

The UAE has denied all allegations of torture in Yemen.