Yemen-conflict-rights-press-religion-UN Yemen activist once held by rebels slams UN peace drive as ‘naive’

Geneva, Sept 27 :A Yemeni activist who was held and allegedly tortured for months by Huthi rebels this week
criticised the UN-backed peace process for his country as “naive”, warning against”humanising” his captors.
Hisham Al-Omeisy, an outspoken activist, journalist and political commentator,was arrested in August 2017 after speaking out against restrictions and corruption inrebel-held areas of the war-ravaged country.
Omeisy says the Huthis accused him of being an American and foreign spy.
“I was tortured in prison… They employed barbaric measures,” he told AFP in aninterview on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
He warned that UN officials trying to bring both sides to the table to hammer outa peace deal were being “played by the Huthis”.
Omeisy was finally released in January after an international campaign to securehis freedom. He lives in Cairo but says he still follows the situation at home.