ADEN: Houthi militias have turned prisons into hellholes for Yemeni citizens who defy their illegal seizure of power, a recent report said.

The report revealed torture methods used by the rebels and how Yemeni citizens are kidnapped and bargained over for hefty ransoms.

The abductees, according to the report, are categorized and distributed to jails and detention centers according to how “dangerous” they are.

The shocking phenomenon is seen in the city of Dhamar, which has been transformed into a large prison for those who oppose the Houthi fighters and troops loyal to deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Several government buildings have been turned into detention centers to meet the growing number of prisoners. Now there are over 55 prisons and centers in Dhamar that contain more than 2,000 abducted prisoners from different provinces who receive brutal physical and psychological torture, according to Dhamar Media Center.

Meanwhile, tens of the released prisoners came forward to reveal that they were severely tortured on daily basis. They added that the Houthis established tens of road checkpoints to kidnap opponents and disseminated lists of most-wanted people.

A former prisoner recounted that investigations with prisoners always start after midnight and last until morning.

“Detained people are violently beaten, lashed, waterboarded, tortured with electricity and forced to confess incidents they did not commit,” the prisoner recounted.

“In Al-Shouna prison, the most notorious one, drinking water is not good even for animals! Prisoners are forced to sleep at the same spot where they urinate or excrete. Every 20-30 persons are confined to a single room or basement,” the former anonymous prisoner said.

Local sources elaborated that the rebels consider the journalists and military commanders and Ma’reb fighters loyal to President Hadi Mansoor the most dangerous category, so when any of them is kidnapped, he is held in the political security prison in Dhamar for two days before being moved to the new national security prison, and then to the big prisons in Sanaa. Such people are not released even if huge ransoms are offered.

The second category includes the leaders of the Al-Islah Party and the influential, non-military figures, who are usually jailed in Al-Gharbia prison in Dhamar.

Next comes the category of the ordinary citizens who express their opposing stance on social media platforms, those who tore down Houthi slogans or insulted their leaders. Such prisoners can be liberated for hefty sums of money. The fourth category includes the so-called “deceived people,” who are not proven to support legitimacy, so they are held for at least two months before being released after huge ransoms are paid.

More than nine abductees have died of brutal torture in Dhamar prisons since Houthi rebels seized them in October 2014.