Yemenis in US Prisons

Mareb Press publishes what claims to be the most accurate list of Yemenis in US prisons both Guantanamo and Bagram. The list is available here. I have written previously about the problems with the list released by the DOD, namely that it is only in English.

Initial attempts by Arabic newspapers to render the names into Arabic resulted in somewhat comical spellings, since you had the name going from Arabic to English through a translator in Guantanamo and back to Arabic in the newspapers. Not terribly accurate.

It does list the 14 Yemenis returned from Guantanamo as well as the one who died in custody. One of these men, Ali Muhsin Salih al-Fuq’an, went missing a few weeks back and put Yemeni security forces on high alert. I have been told that he was re-arrested, but I haven’t seen any documentation.

The list also has the names of four other Yemenis that it claims have been returned to Yemen from secret US prisons. There are also two Yemenis on the list that are currently being held in Bagram, I have my doubts as to how comprehensive this part is.

One other problem is the number of Yemenis in Guantanamo, this list has 119 total including the 104 still there, the 14 returned to Yemen, and the one who died. This, however, is five more detainees than the Yemeni government has on its own list. As ever the mysteries continue from that opaque island down south.