A harrowing investigation has exposed a network of secret prisons in southern Yemen run by the United Arab Emirates, confirming the darkest fears of families whose loved ones have vanished into the void of war.

The BBC has gained unprecedented access to detention facilities on former UAE military bases, uncovering evidence of systemic abuse that constitutes a grave violation of international law. The findings reveal a parallel justice system where detainees are held without charge, interrogated in shipping containers, and subjected to brutal torture methods, including sexual violence.

The Anatomy of Terror

The investigation focused on the Al-Riyan airport in Mukalla, a facility ostensibly used for counter-terrorism operations against Al-Qaeda. Inside, witnesses described scenes reminiscent of the worst excesses of the War on Terror. "They treat humans like cargo," one survivor recounted. "You are not a person there; you are just a body to be broken."

• The "Grill": Former detainees described a torture technique where prisoners are tied to a spit and rotated over fire, a claim corroborated by multiple independent sources.
• Sexual Violence: The report documents credible allegations of sexual assault used as a tool of interrogation to humiliate prisoners and coerce confessions.
• The Denial: The UAE government has categorically denied the allegations, dismissing them as "political fabrications" by rivals in the ongoing proxy war.

A fractured Coalition

This revelation drives a wedge deeper into the already fractured coalition between Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Yemen.While technically allies fighting the Houthi rebels, their agendas in the south have diverged violently. The UAE’s support for southern separatists has often pitted them against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, creating a chaotic vacuum where human rights abuses flourish with impunity.

For the mothers of the missing in Aden and Mukalla, the report offers a grim validation but little hope. Their sons are pawns in a geopolitical chess game, locked in steel containers while the world looks away.