Coronavirus ripping through Sanaa prisons, Yemeni doctors say

The novel coronavirus is ripping through Sanaa prisons as Houthi officials continue to deny the spread of the outbreak in the capital, health officials in the rebel-held city told The National on Tuesday.

Outside jails, doctors in the capital said the situation was catastrophic and that dozens of health officials on the front lines have succumbed to Covid-19 and died without proper protection or support.

"The pandemic started spreading among the detainees in the central prison and in the political security prison in Sanaa," a doctor in a prominent public hospital in the capital told The National on condition of anonymity. "Many prisoners being detained in the central prison were transferred to Al Kuwait public hospital with coronavirus-like symptoms."

Iran-backed Houthi officials have downplayed the virus even as the UN has warned that the war-ravaged country could face tens of millions of cases unless there is urgent action. The country only has 496 confirmed cases with 112 deaths however, neither government or rebel doctors have access to labs that can process large numbers of test and therefore the true scale is not being recorded. Doctors report that the virus is far more wide-ranging than the official tallies describe.


Yemenis walk past historic buildings amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the old quarter of Sanaa. EPA  
Yemenis walk past historic buildings amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the old quarter of Sanaa. EPA  

The novel coronavirus is ripping through Sanaa prisons as Houthi officials continue to deny the spread of the outbreak in the capital, health officials in the rebel-held city told The National on Tuesday.

Outside jails, doctors in the capital said the situation was catastrophic and that dozens of health officials on the front lines have succumbed to Covid-19 and died without proper protection or support.

"The pandemic started spreading among the detainees in the central prison and in the political security prison in Sanaa," a doctor in a prominent public hospital in the capital told The National on condition of anonymity. "Many prisoners being detained in the central prison were transferred to Al Kuwait public hospital with coronavirus-like symptoms."

Iran-backed Houthi officials have downplayed the virus even as the UN has warned that the war-ravaged country could face tens of millions of cases unless there is urgent action. The country only has 496 confirmed cases with 112 deaths however, neither government or rebel doctors have access to labs that can process large numbers of test and therefore the true scale is not being recorded. Doctors report that the virus is far more wide-ranging than the official tallies describe.

"The situation in Sanaa is out of control, many doctors and other medical staff of those who were in charge of combating the pandemic have died from the virus, meanwhile tens of citizens are dying on a daily basis," the doctor said.

He added that most people were just dying at home with no medical care as almost all the hospitals in the city have closed their doors over a lack of protective equipment for staff and a lack of ventilators, testing equipment and drugs for treatment.

Amid the outbreak, the Abductees' Mothers Association – a group representing the families of those held by the rebels – is calling for a finalised prisoner exchange to be implemented to save thousands of lives trapped in the squalid detention facilities.

"Many prisoners detained in the political security prison in Sanaa contacted their families this month and they were all sick, but everybody is saying that they have the flu, they couldn't tell the truth because the Houthi men observe them while they talk to their families," Um Abdullah, the association's spokesperson, told The National.

But government officials said that Houthi rebels are delaying a prisoner swap deal hashed out with international mediation in Amman in February.

Abdulqader Al Mortada, the Houthi lead negotiator for the prisoner exchange, said on Twitter on May 31 that the rebels are ready to "implement the swap" and accused the government of not signing the UN and International Committee for the Red Cross mediated deal.

Majid Fadel from the government negotiating team pushed back, saying that, "The Houthi rebels lie as much as they breathe". Mr Fadel is also a deputy in the Human Rights Ministry.

"We agreed on all the suggestions to prove our keenness and desire to end this humanitarian crisis," he said. "The last round was in Amman where we grudgingly conceded and agreed to exchange 1,420 prisoners as a first stage then end the swap deal on an all-for-all basis. But the Houthis stepped back and refused to free some prisoners included in the first stage of the deal and the matter inflicted a fatal blow to the agreement in Amman," Mr Fadel said.

"We agreed on exchanging 1,420 prisoners from all parties, so all the 1,420 prisoners must be released as agreed upon in Amman," he added.

The UN has repeatedly called on all sides in Yemen to immediately release political prisoners as the outbreak of coronavirus spreads in the war-ravaged country.

In March 2020, the UN Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen said that prisoners are particularly vulnerable and must be let go.

"The Group of Experts urges all parties to the conflict in Yemen to immediately release all detainees and political prisoners being held in political, security and military detention facilities, official and secret alike, in order to prevent and mitigate the risks of Covid-19 contagion in the whole of Yemen, in line with their obligations under international law," the panel said in its statement.