The Army-Building team – composed of members from the NDC’s Military and Security Working Group - visited the Prison Authority and met with the authority’s Director Muhammad Al-Zalab and Deputy Interior Minister Ali Al-Akhsha.

Al-Zalab said one of the problems with Yemeni jails is that the number of prisoners oftentimes exceeds prison facilities’ capacities. For example, he said that while there are about 2,500 inmates at Sana’a’s Central Prison, it was designed to hold only 1,500 individuals.

According to Al-Zalab, other problems include insufficient government support and a lack of medications and trained, capable personnel. He added that prison officials in some Yemeni governorates are compelled to sell allotted foodstuffs to purchase medications for inmates.

“The situation in Yemeni prisons is bad. Each prisoner receives only a $2 daily allowance, leaving families to pay 70% of their imprisoned relatives’ expenditures,” he added.

Al-Zalab also pointed to the specific problems which face imprisoned women and juveniles and spoke about how in some cases, drugs and weapons find their way inside jails.

Separately, the team also visited Sana’a’s Special Forces headquarters, where it met with Commander Fadl Al-Qawsi and other officials.