200 Held in Yemen 'to Placate Us'

The US-led "war on terror" has caused a worsening of human rights in Yemen, with the authorities there holding almost 200 people without trial in an effort to placate the Americans, says a report published today.

In the months following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Yemen embarked upon mass arrests, detentions, and the secret deportation of foreign nationals, Amnesty International reports.

In the 1990s, Yemen, a poor, mountainous country with porous borders, became a popular refuge for Islamists, many with Afghan connections.

After September 11, Yemen's government was pressed by Washington to crack down on extremists, or face military intervention.

Kate Allen, Amnesty's UK director, said: "The Yemeni authorities have tried to defend the indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial of nearly 200 people as unavoidable in its efforts to stave off US pressure.

"The US's role in Yemen has been deeply questionable, with the FBI allegedly involved in mass arrests, the CIA conducting illegal killings with a 'drone' last year, and US authorities blocking trials of suspects in the sinking of the USS Cole three years ago."

The detentions in Yemen mirror those in Guatanamo Bay, Cuba, where Yemenis are among those being held by the US without trial.

Children - the youngest was 12 - have been rounded up in the mass arrests in Yemen, the report says.

Amnesty says the Yemeni authorities acknowledge that some of the measures breach the country's own laws but say they are obliged to "fight terrorism" to avert the risk of US military action.