Inside Story

What are US troops doing in Yemen?

US politicians want to know whether there’s an American connection to disappearance of hundreds of Yemeni prisoners.

The US House of Representatives has voted to investigate the US role in torture prisons in Yemen – and want Defence Secretary Jim Mattis to find out.

The Associated Press says hundreds of men, captured in the hunt for al-Qaeda fighters in southern Yemen, disappeared into a secret network of prisons.

Human Rights Watch found that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and its allies detained and tortured hundreds of people in their three-year war against Houthi rebels. The UAE denies the allegations.

So, have US forces broken the law by torturing suspects during interrogation?

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault

Guests:

Kristine Beckerle – Yemen and UAE researcher, Human Rights Watch

Hakim Al Masmari – editor-in-chief, Yemen Post

Nabeel Khouri – former US diplomat and former deputy chief of mission in Yemen