A/HRC/45/CRP.7 men who subsequently disappeared.232 Key figures from the Al-Islah party are members of the Government of Yemen in Ta‘izz and hold influential positions.233 For those released there is no legal redress. One man who was released through a prisoner exchange to another governorate told the Group he could not return to his village and that his property has been illegally confiscated by the authorities.234 Families of the disappeared suffer mental anguish and are at risk when trying to seek the truth and redress. (ii) By the De Facto Authorities – in Sana’a 166. The Group is similarly concerned that individuals continue to be subjected to enforced disappearance by de facto authorities. The Group investigated 21 cases, 9 men and 12 women, who were disappeared in Sana’a. Many of these people appear to have been targeted for their perceived opposition to the Houthis, or as human rights defenders and journalists, or for being members of religious minorities. In some cases, the period of disappearance extended over years. In at least three verified cases, the victims were disappeared for over two years. For example, 53-year old Khalida Al-Asabhi was abducted on 11 May 2018 along with her then three-year-old nephew by members of the Political Security. While the child was returned to the family the same day, at the time of writing, Khalida Al-Asabhi, who suffers from health conditions, remains disappeared. Her family reported the incident to the local police station the next day, and was told that, in light of the circumstances of the abduction, she could have been taken by the Security Police or the National Police. The family also checked the official prisons in Sana’a but the victim’s name did not appear in any of the records. There is information to suggest she is being held in one of the secret facilities in the Dar Salim area.235 Due to the prevailing climate of fear and intimidation, the family were only able to instruct a legal representative in the case in 2020, after relocating to an area not controlled by the Houthis. (c) Torture including sexual violence and other forms of ill-treatment 167. As with previous reporting periods, the Group of Experts verified the widespread practice of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in places of detention, including in both official prisons and unofficial and secret detention facilities operated by the Government of Yemen, the de facto authorities, the STC and the UAE. (i) By the Government of Yemen at Ma’rib Political Security Prison, Ma’rib 168. The Group of Experts verified that the Government of Yemen conducted torture, including sexual violence, and other forms of ill-treatment, at the Ma’rib Political Security Prison and the linked Al-Saleh Institute facility in Ma’rib. The Group investigated in particular the treatment of five men and two boys held at these facilities. Detainees were subjected to lengthy interrogations, accused of being affiliated with, or working with the Houthis. In these interrogations Political Security personnel applied torture to humiliate, degrade, ‘emasculate’ and coerce detainees to admit to false allegations. Sexual violence was used in conjunction with other forms of torture. Torture methods included beating, electrocution, suspension in painful positions, use of scorpions and snakes, fake executions, crawling on broken glass and screws, and sexual violence via burning, beating and electrocution of genitals, and brushing genitals with a broom stick.236 In two cases they informed two detainees that they were going to transform them to “be like their wife” and prevent them ever having intercourse again. For example, in one case they stripped a boy naked, suspended him from the ceiling by his hands, and informed him that they were going to damage his genitals to prevent him ever having intercourse again. For an hour, they beat his penis and testicles with a metal bar and electric cables, pausing only to continue their interrogation and ordering him to confess. He was left with lasting trauma and injuries to his reproductive organs which may affect his capacity to reproduce. 237 232 Confidential source on file. Confidential source on file. 234 Confidential source on file. 235 Confidential source on file. 236 Confidential sources on file. 237 Confidential sources on file. 233 47