On Tuesday, news told the story of Cathrine Østensvig Dale, who is fighting to get her brother Anders Cameroon Østensvig Dale home to Norway. He was listed as a terrorist by the USA and the UN after he traveled from Nesodden to Yemen in 2011. There, PST believes that Dale became part of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). PST has long struggled to locate the Norwegian. Now, however, he is in Shamlan prison in the Yemeni capital Sana. He himself has told family members that in phone calls. There, Cathrine Østensvig Dale and the organization Abductees Mothers Association (AMA) fear that he may be exposed to very harsh conditions of imprisonment. – Exposed to torture – Conditions are probably not very good in that prison. So I can’t live with the fact that I know he’s sitting there, and not do anything, says the terrorist-listed Norwegian’s sister to news. Cathrine Østensvig Dale has spoken to her brother over the phone from prison three times. He has said that he is injured, and among other things is partially paralyzed from the knee down in one leg. The sister says that in March this year Dale said he had been imprisoned in Sana for two and a half years. Cathrine Østensvig Dale tells for the first time how it is that her brother Anders Cameroon Østensvig Dale is on the terrorist list by the USA and the UN. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news Amat al-Salam al-Hajj, leader of AMA, describes the conditions in the prisons in Sana’a: – The prisoners are subjected to torture, both physically and psychologically. They get lasting pain, and illnesses they cannot get rid of. – All this happens because they are in places that are not good for people, says al-Hajj to news. Deputy Governor Hameed Assem of Sana County says they can refute all allegations of poor prison conditions. Read the full response from Assem further down in the case. Alleging prisoners are raped al-Hajj says their organization has registered 144 cases of death in prisons in Sana’a as a result of prisoners being tortured. Sick prisoners must be denied medicine and food. She also claims that the prisoners are subjected to rape by the prison guards. – Men rape prisoners. They do this to humiliate them. Amat al-Salam al-Hajj, head of the organization Abductees Mothers Association, says prisoners are denied food and medicine in the prisons in Sana’a. Photo: Privat Many of the prisoners are said to also have psychological problems. – Imagine those who have to listen to people being beaten to death, says al-Hajj. In the Shamlan prison, which Dale, who is listed as a terrorist, is in, the situation is difficult, says al-Hajj. – It was actually rehabilitated by international aid organisations, to provide better conditions for the prisoners. There is one department that is supposed to be good, but also one that is not even suitable for animals. The situation is very, very difficult. news is not aware of which department in Shamlan prison Dale is in. – Can challenge all evidence Hameed Assem is deputy governor of the Sana district in Yemen. He refutes all allegations of poor prison conditions in the city’s prisons. – I visit the prisons, and the conditions there are very good. Never before have the prisoners had as much food and sun as today, says Assem to news. Hameed Assem says the Foreign Ministry in Norway can contact the authorities in Sana in Yemen to resolve the case of Anders Cameroon Østensvig Dale. Photo: Privat He says they can challenge any evidence people may think they have to the contrary, and says they are happy to welcome visitors to the prisons. – Our prisons are for rehabilitating people and doing better – not destroying. al-Hajj claims the Houthi-run authorities have secret prisons. – What the Houthis do is bring international aid movements to prisons and show that everything looks good. But actually there are many secret prisons. The conditions there are incredibly bad, and there are rapes carried out by the authorities, claims al-Hajj. In the center of Yemen lies the province of Al Bayda. AQAP has been strong in this area. According to sources news has spoken to in Yemen, the Norwegian has also lived in this province, including in the district of Al Sawma’ah. Now he is in the country’s capital, Sana. Deputy Governor Assem says that prisoners are not raped in their prisons. – We are Arabs and Muslims. It is others who commit rape – not us. There is not a single case of rape. Believes the case can be solved Dale’s lawyer Patrick Lundevall-Unger criticizes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Norway for not doing enough in the case. He believes his client is entitled to come home because he is injured. Cathrine Østensvig Dale has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to give her brother consular assistance. They replied that the wish had to come from him himself. When the sister spoke to Dale again in a later conversation, the Norwegian accused of terrorism confirmed that he wanted consular assistance. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accepted the application via her sister, she says to news. In September 2014, the Houthis took over Yemen’s capital, Sana’a. This makes it difficult for Norway to negotiate with the country. This picture is from 2016. Photo: MOHAMMED HUWAIS / Afp Deputy Governor Assem in the Sana county believes that there are no problems without solutions. – Get in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sana, and resolve it through them, says Assem when asked about what Norway can do with Dale. – Can there be a solution? – Yes of course. There is no problem without a solution. Do you think the Houthis will negotiate? Stig Jarle Hansen is a professor at the Norwegian University of Environmental and Life Sciences (NMBU), and an expert on, among other things, Yemen. He believes that the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs can go a long way by making contact with the Houthis in Sana in Yemen. – They have become more friendly in recent years. Everything indicates that the Houthis are open for business. If you get the right actors, this will work out just fine, says Hansen. Stig Jarle Hansen, professor and Yemen expert, says that in principle it should be fine for Norway to negotiate an agreement on Dale with the Houthis, if they so wish. Photo: Håkon Sparre / UMB He says the main problem for Norway in negotiating an agreement on Dale will be that you have to deal with authorities Norway does not recognize as sovereign. – Norway must then make it clear that they relate to the Houthis as the real power holders where Dale is, but not as the legitimate authorities in Yemen. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must obtain a clarification from what Norway recognizes as the legitimate state of Yemen, before they can enter into negotiations with the Houthis. – That twist is not exactly easy, but it should work, says Hansen. Foreign Ministry: – Very limited opportunities news has asked the Foreign Ministry how they respond to the invitation from Deputy Governor Assem to make contact to resolve the matter with Dale. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has so far not commented on this. Communications manager Tuva Bogsnes emphasizes that Dale is on the terrorist list, and that it is therefore a demanding process. Bogsnes wrote in an e-mail to news on Monday that consular matters are subject to confidentiality, and that the Foreign Ministry cannot therefore go into detail: “We fully understand that this situation is difficult for both the Norwegian and his family. (…) The Norwegian authorities’ travel advice to Yemen is at the highest level, advising against all travel to and staying in the country, and encouraging Norwegian citizens who are in Yemen to leave the country. Against this background, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has very limited opportunities to provide consular assistance in Yemen.” Read all the cases about the terrorist-listed Norwegian here.
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