Four of the kidnapped captives had died in a botched rescue attempt by Yemeni troops. Six of the defendants were detained in late December and brought to trial on January 27. Four more went to trial on February 13. The suspects reported that their confessions had been extracted under torture, and a British pathologist reported signs of serious physical ill-treatment when he met with some of the prisoners in February. The defendants were convicted in August and sentenced to prison terms ranging from seven months to seven years.
Prisons are overcrowded and their sanitary conditions poor.
In October, the government initiated a campaign to eliminate dozens of private prisons run by influential tribal leaders. A presidential decree in 1998 made kidnapping a capital offense. Three Islamic militants were convicted of abducting the Western tourists and sentenced to death in May 1999. One was executed in October. Thirty-two executions were reported by late October.