Methodology

In March 2012, two researchers from Human Rights Watch interviewed five young men and one woman at Sanaa Central Prison who had been sentenced to death for crimes committed when, according to them, they were younger than 18. They represented all of the juvenile offenders sentenced to death in the prison at that time. Interviews were conducted in Arabic by researchers who spoke the language, or with the assistance of a translator. Prison authorities granted us access to the prison and permission to interview these individuals in a private room outside the presence of prison officials. They did not enter the room while interviews were in progress.

Human Rights Watch obtained an additional 18 names of alleged juvenile offenders on death row from UNICEF and the Yemeni NGO Coalition on Child Rights Care (YNGOC), a civil society organization that conducts regular prison monitoring visits and works to end inhumane sentences for juvenile offenders in Yemen. YNGOC employs lawyers who focus on juvenile death penalty cases and social workers providing services to juveniles in prison, and aims to track all juvenile death penalty cases.

We also reviewed court rulings, forensic reports, and appeals filed in these cases.