Over 570,000 Uighurs involved in Xinjiang cotton coerced labour: report

Issued on: 15/12/2020 - 

Xinjiang is a global hub for the crop, producing over 20 percent of the world's cotton 

STR AFP/File
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Beijing (AFP)

Hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority labourers in China's northwestern Xinjiang region are being forced into picking cotton by hand through a coercive state labour scheme, a report has said.

Rights activists have said the northwestern Xinjiang region is home to a vast network of extrajudicial internment camps that have imprisoned at least one million people, which China has defended as vocational training centres to counter extremism.

A report by Washington-based think tank the Center for Global Policy published Monday -- which referenced online government documents -- said that in 2018 three majority-Uighur regions within Xinjiang sent at least 570,000 people to pick cotton as part of a state-run coercive labour transfer scheme.

Researchers estimate that the total number involved in coerced Xinjiang cotton-picking -- which relies heavily on manual labour -- exceeds that figure by "several hundred thousand".

Xinjiang is a global hub for the crop, producing over 20 percent of the world's cotton, with the report warning of the "potentially drastic consequences" for global supply chains.

Around a fifth of the yarn used in American comes from Xinjiang.

Beijing said that all detainees have "graduated" from the centres, but reports have suggested that many former inmates have been transferred to low-skilled manufacturing factory jobs, often linked to the camps.

But the think tank report said labour transfer scheme participants are heavily surveilled by police, with point-to-point transfers, "military-style management" and ideological training, citing government documents.

"It is clear that labour transfers for cotton-picking involve a very high risk of forced labour," Adrian Zenz, who uncovered the documents, wrote in the report.

"Some minorities may exhibit a degree of consent in relation to this process, and they may benefit financially. However... it is impossible to define where coercion ends and where local consent may begin."

The report also says there is a strong ideological incentive to enforce the scheme, as the boost in rural incomes allows officials to hit state-mandated poverty alleviation targets.

China has strongly denied allegations of forced labour involving Uighurs in Xinjiang, and accused the US of wanting to "suppress Xinjiang companies".

Beijing also says training programmes, work schemes and better education have helped stamp out extremism in the region.

Earlier this month, the US banned imports of cotton produced by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a major paramilitary entity, which covers about a third of the crop produced in the entire region.

Another proposed bill banning all imports from Xinjiang has yet to pass the US Senate.

Several international brands including Adidas, Gap and Nike have been accused of using Uighur forced labour in their textile supply chains, according to a March report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

© 2020 AFP

Asteroid samples leave Japan scientists 'speechless'

Issued on: 15/12/2020 - 

Scientists in Japan said they were speechless at how much asteroid dust was delivered by the Hayabusa-2 probe   Handout JAXA/AFP

Tokyo (AFP)

Scientists in Japan said Tuesday they were left "speechless" when they saw how much asteroid dust was inside a capsule delivered by the Hayabusa-2 space probe in an unprecedented mission.

The Japanese probe collected surface dust and pristine material last year from the asteroid Ryugu, around 300 million kilometres (200 million miles) away, during two daring phases of its six-year mission.

This month it dropped off a capsule containing the samples, which created a fireball as it entered the Earth's atmosphere, and landed in the Australian desert before being transported to Japan.

Scientists at the Japanese space agency JAXA on Tuesday removed the screws to the capsule's inner container, having already found a small amount of asteroid dust in the outer shell.

"When we actually opened it, I was speechless. It was more than we expected and there was so much that I was truly impressed," said JAXA scientist Hirotaka Sawada.

"It wasn't fine particles like powder, but there were plenty of samples that measured several millimetres across."

Scientists hope the material will shed light on the formation of the universe and perhaps offer clues about how life began on Earth.

The scientists have not yet revealed if the material inside is equal to, or perhaps even more, than the 0.1 grams they had said they hoped to discover.

Seiichiro Watanabe, a Hayabusa project scientist and professor at Nagoya University, said he was nonetheless thrilled.

"There are a lot (of samples) and it seems they contain plenty of organic matter," he said.

"So I hope we can find out many things about how organic substances have developed on the parent body of Ryugu."

Half of Hayabusa-2's samples will be shared between JAXA, US space agency NASA and other international organisations.

The rest will be kept for future study as advances are made in analytic technology.

But work is not over for the probe, which will now begin an extended mission targeting two new asteroids.

Press freedom: Journalists end up in jail for reporting on coronavirus crisis

Hundreds of journalists are in prison worldwide for not giving in to government censorship, according to the German chapter of Reporters Without Borders. The findings were published in its annual report on press freedom.




Five countries were responsible for more than half of the jailed journalists recorded by RSF in 2020

At least 387 people working in the media industry around the world had been imprisoned by December 1 of this year, the German office of the press freedom NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced in its annual report on Monday.

Five countries were responsible for over half of all convictions: China led the pack with 117 jailed journalists, followed by Saudi Arabia (34), Egypt (30), Vietnam (28) and Syria (27).

While the majority of imprisoned press workers were still men, the number of women arrested in 2020 increased by a third to 42.

Dangers of reporting on the COVID pandemic

Since the outbreak of the global coronavirus pandemic early in the year, over 130 members of the press, be they journalists or otherwise, have been arrested for reporting on the crisis. Some 14 of those were still in jail at the time of the report's publication, said the report.


"The high number of imprisoned journalists worldwide throws a harsh spotlight on the current threats to press freedom," said Katja Gloger, the head of the RSF German office.

Gloger condemned the response of far too many governments to protests, grievances or the COVID-19 crisis with repression against the "bringers of bad news."

"Behind every single one of these cases is the fate of a person who faces criminal trials, long imprisonment and often mistreatment because he did not submit to censorship and repression," she added.

Her colleague, Sylvie Ahrens-Urbanek, highlighted one particular example of reprisals for reporting on the coronavirus pandemic — the case of investigative journalist Hopewell Chin'ono from Zimbabwe, who was arrested for reporting on the government's sale of overpriced COVID-19 medication. He was "brutally arrested," said Ahrens-Urbanek, and spent a month and a half in prison. Release on bail was repeatedly refused.
Worsening situation in wake of restrictions

Reporters Without Borders gave particular attention to Belarus, where at least 370 journalists have been arrested in the wake of the contested presidential election on August 9. Although most of those were released after a short period, the crackdown on journalists represents a reduction in press freedom.

Watch video Press freedom falls victim to pandemic

The report also highlighted the detention of the Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, currently in Belmarsh high-security prison in the UK. RSF claimed that the conditions had become much worse following a coronavirus outbreak in the prison and that Assange had been placed in de facto isolation.

The report expressed concern for the health of those imprisoned journalists who have not received proper medical attention during the pandemic and who have been subjected to the psychological effects of increased isolation.

Five journalists were facing death sentences as of December 1, one of whom — Iranian journalist Ruhollah Zam — was executed on December 12. The other four were in the custody of the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Watch video Murder highlights plight of female reporters in Afghanistan

RSF counted 54 media workers who had been kidnapped in Syria, Iraq and Yemen; some of them have not been heard from in years. Another four journalists disappeared under unexplained circumstances in 2020 — one in Iraq, one in Congo, one in Mozambique and one in Peru.

The NGO began issuing its yearly report in 1995. It includes cases of journalists and other professionals working in the field of journalism. The compilers only include data if it can be carefully confirmed, which sometimes leads to certain countries, such as Turkey, showing lower numbers than reported elsewhere.

EU's rights agency warns on AI threat to rights

Fundamental human rights could be at risk if AI technologies are used without due caution, the EU's rights agency says. It said AI can lead to discriminatory biases and perversions of justice if safeguards are lacking.


Artificial intelligence technologies are being employed more and more across the world

More attention should be paid to the possible negative effects on people's fundamental rights of technologies based on artificial intelligence, the EU's rights agency said in a report issued on Monday.

"AI is not infallible; it is made by people — and humans can make mistakes," said Michael O'Flaherty, director of the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), in comments cited on the agency's website.

"The EU needs to clarify how existing rules apply to AI. And organizations need to assess how their technologies can interfere with people's rights both in the development and use of AI," O'Flaherty said.
Neglected rights aspect

The FRA report, entitled "Getting the future right — Artificial intelligence and fundamental rights in the EU," identifies areas where it feels the bloc must create safeguards and mechanisms for holding businesses and public administrations accountable in their use of AI.

It points out the many sectors in which AI is now already widely used, including in decisions on who will receive social benefits, predicting criminality and risk of illness and creating targeted advertising.

The report says that much of the focus in developing AI has been on its "potential to support economic growth" while the aspect of its impact on fundamental rights has been rather neglected.

Facial recognition technology is one use of AI that has aroused considerable controversy

Call for accountability

It is possible that "people are blindly adopting new technologies without assessing their impact before actually using them," David Reichel, one of the experts behind the report, told the AFP news agency.

Reichel told AFP that even when data sets did not include information linked to gender or ethnic origin, there was still "a lot of information than can be linked to protected attributes."

One example used in the report is employing facial recognition technology for law enforcement. It says even small error rates could lead to many innocent people being falsely picked out if the technology were used in places where large numbers are scanned, such as airports or train stations. "A potential bias in error rates could then lead to disproportionately targeting certain groups in society," the report says.

The report calls for more funding into the "potentially discriminatory effects of AI" and for any future legislation on AI to "create effective safeguards."

Above all, it says, the use of AI needs to be more transparent, more accountable and include the possibility of human review.

VIDEO The two faces of automatic facial recognition technology https://p.dw.com/p/3mi0X

Australia says China coal ban would be clear 

WTO breach

Issued on: 15/12/2020 - 
Australia's economy has seen solid growth in recent decades on the back of supplying the raw materials for China's emergence as a modern economy WILLIAM WEST AFP/File
3 min
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Sydney (AFP)

Australia on Tuesday decried China's reported ban on its coal exports as an obvious breach of World Trade Organisation rules, as tensions between the two countries flared again.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Chinese government had yet to confirm state media reports that Australia's multi-billion-dollar coal exports are now subject to an informal ban.

Nationalist state-run tabloid the Global Times reported on Sunday that Chinese power plants are being steered toward buying their coal domestically, as well as from countries other than Australia.

"If that were the case, then that would obviously be in breach of WTO rules," Morrison said. "It would be obviously in breach of our own free trade agreement and so we would hope that is certainly not the case."

"We are seeking clarification on this," Morrison said, although ministerial-level contacts between the two countries are said to be non-existent.

Ties between the two countries are at the lowest ebb since the Chinese government's 1989 killing of pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square, with Beijing rolling out a string of economic sanctions against Australian products.

Each dispute has been billed as a technical issue, but many in Canberra believe the sanctions are retribution for Australia pushing back against Chinese influence at home and in the Asia-Pacific.

At least 13 Australian sectors have been subjected to tariffs or some form of disruption, including barley, beef, copper, cotton, lobsters, sugar, timber, tourism, universities, wine, wheat and wool.

Suggestions of a coal embargo had been the subject of rumours for some time, with many Australia shipments reportedly already blocked at Chinese ports.

But even an informal ban would be a dramatic escalation, targeting one of Australia's most valuable exports -- worth up to US$3 billion a year -- and a sector that Morrison's conservative government has been keen to champion, despite objections from environmentalists.

Australia has long hinted that it may seek WTO intervention in the disputes, but a resolution could take years, open Australia up to retaliatory claims and worsen relations with Beijing further.

There has so far been little indication that Australia's political allies in the United States or Europe have been willing to step in and offer support.

The dispute with China has called into question Australia's decades-old model for stellar economic growth -- namely supplying the raw materials for China's breakneck emergence as a modern economy.

Morrison said both nations had benefited from close trade relations over previous decades and called for "mature discussions" about the disputes.

"Australia has always participated in China's economic development," he said. "We always have been a proponent of China's economic growth. We are not one of those countries that have sought to contain their growth."

© 2020 AFP

Japan's wasabi producers farm 'green gold'

Issued on: 15/12/2020 

Fresh wasabi is known as 'green gold' in Japan; it is difficult to farm, and therefore an expensive delicacy Charly TRIBALLEAU AFP

Izu (Japan) (AFP)

If you've eaten sushi, you might assume you've tried wasabi. But chances are it was an artificial version that Japanese growers say is a world away from their 'green gold'.

Unlike the spicy neon concoction familiar to many fans of Japanese cuisine -- which is in fact made from horseradish -- real wasabi is pale-green and offers a complex, mildly piquant flavour.

But even in Japan, it's not common fare. That's because the knobbly root is so difficult to grow, and consequently expensive to buy, with most of it snapped up by wholesalers

"The most important requirement is crystal-clear water, in abundance," Yoshihiro Shioya, 62, told AFP as he pulled a wasabi root from the sodden soil at his lush, green mountainside farm on Shizuoka province's Izu peninsula.

"It's absolutely necessary that the water temperature stays between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius, year-round," added Shioya, whose family has cultivated wasabi in the region for seven generations.

Patience is key -- each wasabi crop can take a whole year or even 18 months to mature in the large man-made terraces, which serve a particular design purpose.

"The water flows down from the top of the mountain, which has terraces built into it covered with layers of pebbles and sand that filter and purify it," explained Yasuaki Kohari, of Izu's agricultural cooperative.

Once ready, the long roots, topped with a plume of round green leaves, are harvested by hand. The leaves are stripped off and the root, known as a rhizome, is carried away in baskets.

About half of the 550 tonnes of fresh wasabi grown in Japan last year came from Shizuoka, southwest of the capital Tokyo.

Wasabi grows naturally there and has been used in local cuisine for centuries.

Legend has it that it was especially loved and popularised by 17th century shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, a military ruler who was one of the unifiers of Japan.

These days it is mostly purchased by high-end restaurants in Tokyo and Osaka.

- 'Spicy, but with sweet notes' -

Wasabi is prepared by grating the root, usually on a small square device with fine metal teeth or topped with coarse sharkskin -- a process done almost immediately before consumption, as its piquancy fades after about 20 minutes.

Its spiciness is produced by a chemical called allyl isothiocyanate, which also gives mustard, radish and horseradish their pungency, and which scientists say has antibacterial properties.

It is usually served as a complement to raw fish, or alongside buckwheat soba noodles.

Toshiya Matsushita, a sushi chef at a restaurant in central Tokyo with a month-long waiting list, would never dream of using imitation wasabi.

"It feels powdery in your mouth and doesn't have much flavour," he said.

"Fresh wasabi not only masks the smell of the raw fish, but also heightens its flavour. It is spicy, but with sweet notes."

But it doesn't come cheap. He spends more than $700 a month on wasabi and uses one whole root a day, which he grates freshly for each order at his restaurant, Sushi Matsushita.

"The taste, the texture and the spiciness are different according to the way it is grated," he said.

- Not just a condiment -

Despite its enthusiasts, wasabi remains largely the preserve of restaurants like Matsushita's -- but these have suffered along with the rest of the hospitality industry during the coronavirus pandemic.

So wasabi growers have been prompted to think of ways to expand their market.

Wholesalers have been selling their stock to supermarket chains, hoping to acquaint new customers with the taste of the unique product. But the high price continues to be a barrier, the farmer Shioya says.

Others, like Yamamoto Foods, around an hour's drive from Shioya's farm, offer wasabi-based products that go beyond the root's status as a condiment.

"You can also eat the stalks, the flowers, the leaves. We use all the parts, so people can really get to know this delicious product," said store manager Mayumi Yasumori.

The firm offers wasabi-infused olive oil, salt and mayonnaise, as well as shavings of wasabi to sprinkle on rice -- and even wasabi-flavoured ice cream.

"Wasabi shouldn't just play a cameo in the kitchen," said Yasumori. "It can also take the leading role."

© 2020 AFP

California wants pandemic cases info from Amazon

Issued on: 15/12/2020 -

The state of California has accused Amazon of failing to adequately comply with subpoenas demanding details about coronavirus cases and protocols at its facilities

 David Becker AFP/File

San Francisco (AFP)

California on Monday accused Amazon of failing to adequately comply with subpoenas demanding details about coronavirus cases and protocols at its facilities here.

State attorney general Xavier Becerra filed a petition calling on a California judge to order the e-commerce colossus to provide the information being sought, according to his office.

"It's critical to know if these workers are receiving the protections on the job that they are entitled to under the law," Becerra said, referring to Amazon employees in California.

"Amazon has delayed responding adequately to our investigative requests long enough."

The petition to the court argues that the e-commerce giant has not provided information being sought as part of an investigation into Amazon's coronavirus protocols and the status of COVID-19 cases at its facilities.

Subpoenas were issued by the California department of justice four months ago, according to Becerra.

"We're puzzled by the Attorney General's sudden rush to court because we've been working cooperatively for months and their claims of noncompliance with their demands don't line up with the facts," Amazon said in response to an AFP inquiry.

"The bottom line is that we're a leader in providing COVID-19 safety measures for our employees – we've invested billions of dollars in equipment and technology, including building on-site testing for employees and providing personal protective equipment."

Information sought by state attorneys included Amazon sick leave policies and cleaning procedures, as well as raw data on the number of infections and deaths at their facilities in the state.

Seattle-based Amazon has seen sales, and pressure on its logistics network to deliver, soar during the pandemic as people shop online to reduce health risk.

'Terrified' survivors recount attacks on civilians in Tigray


Issued on: 15/12/2020 

Shelling from both sides tore open the walls of concrete homes 

and destroyed mud homes altogether EDUARDO SOTERAS AFP

Bisober (Ethiopia) (AFP)

The first shells landed before dawn, crashing through tin-roofed mud homes and sending Jano Admasi's neighbours fleeing for the cacti-dotted hills around her village in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region.

Jano, a soft-spoken woman in her sixties, tried to escape as well, running with her eldest son, 46-year-old Miskana, along a dirt road leading out of the village.

But on the way, she says, they encountered Ethiopian government soldiers who turned them around, forcing them into a nearby house with two other terrified families.

What happened next, described by three eyewitnesses but denied by the Ethiopian government, casts doubt on Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's claim that his military offensive in Tigray has been prosecuted with special care for civilian lives.

In an apparent rage, the soldiers accused Miskana and two other men in the group of aiding the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), whose leaders are the target of the military operations ordered last month.

"They asked us who we were, and we said we are just farmers and elderly women," Jano told AFP. "They came back again and said 'Get out', and separated the men from the women."

The soldiers made the men including Miskana sit down and, before Jano fully realised what was happening, shot them dead with Kalashnikov rifles.

A 15-year-old boy who leapt in front of a bullet in a futile bid to save his father was also killed.

The killings -- which took place on November 14, 10 days after Abiy announced the offensive -- represent just one incident of civilian suffering in Bisober, a farming village home to roughly 2,000 people in southern Tigray.

In the three days it took federal forces to wrest control of the village from the TPLF, 27 civilians died, according to local officials and residents: 21 from shelling and six in extrajudicial killings.

The government has tightly restricted access to the region, making it difficult to assess the toll of a conflict the UN warns is "spiralling out of control".

But AFP recently obtained exclusive access to southern Tigray, where residents of multiple towns and villages accused both government and pro-TPLF combatants of, at best, putting civilians in harm's way -- and, at worst, actively targeting them.

Survivors told AFP they dreaded how many civilians could have died across Tigray.

"If in just this one area you have this much destruction," said Bisober resident Getachew Abera, "then imagine what might have happened generally."

The military did not respond to a request for comment.

Ethiopia's democratisation minister Zadig Abraha told AFP that any claims that Ethiopian soldiers killed civilians were "false".

- Village warfare -

In retrospect, Bisober residents say, the first sign of the conflict came seven months ago, when members of the Tigray Special Forces took over the village's elementary school, which had been emptied because of the coronavirus pandemic.

By early November, when the first shots were fired, some 250 pro-TPLF troops were encamped there, digging trenches behind classrooms and storing weapons in what was once the principal's office.

The Tigrayan fighters' decision to base themselves in the centre of Bisober helps explain the carnage that ensued, said Getachew Nega, the village administrator.

"The TPLF lost hope and they came and put heavy weapons and other weapons in this village. They shouldn't have done this," Getachew said.

Once the fighting started, Tigrayan combatants broke into abandoned homes from which they fired on Ethiopian soldiers, witnesses said, inviting massive damage.

Across Bisober, shelling from both sides tore open the walls of concrete homes and destroyed mud homes altogether, leaving only metal roofs behind.

"The conflict was a sudden act. Both parties had their missions, and we were caught in between," said Said Idriss, a member of a newly-formed command post trying to restore order in the area.

"They could have asked the people to leave earlier."

- 'Like spilt water' -

Today Bisober is relatively calm, with many residents labouring in nearby sorghum fields, trying to salvage this year's harvest.

Security is provided by special forces from the neighbouring Afar region, who use rags to clean their guns while lazing under acacia trees in a makeshift camp on the outskirts of the village.

Abiy declared victory in Tigray in late November after federal forces reportedly seized the regional capital Mekele, but the TPLF has vowed to fight on and the UN has recently reported persistent clashes throughout the region.

Human rights organisations are calling for thorough, independent investigations of the violence -- though Abiy is resisting the idea.

Government spokesman Redwan Hussein told a press conference last week that outside investigators would be allowed in only "when the Ethiopian government feels that it failed to investigate" on its own.

Ethiopia "doesn't need a babysitter," he added.

Jano, for her part, has little time for such debates.

She can't shake the memory of watching soldiers shoot her son in front of her, and of waiting in the street with his body for two full days, unsure what to do.

"We didn't cry. We were too terrified. We were trembling with fear," she said.

Instead of worrying about whether the perpetrators will be held to account, she said she is focused on trying to rebuild her life and care for Miskana's three children.

"I already lost my son and he's not coming back," she said.

"It's like spilt water, you cannot get it back."

© 2020 AFP

Most in Japan oppose holding Olympics in 2021: polls

Issued on: 15/12/2020 -
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A majority of Japan's public continues to oppose holding the coronavirus-postponed Olympics next year Philip FONG AFP/File

Tokyo (AFP)

A majority of Japanese people oppose holding the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics next year, favouring a further delay or outright cancellation of the massive event, new polling showed Tuesday.

The new data shows public sentiment has shifted little since the summer, when surveys in Japan also found only a minority backing plans to hold the Games next year, despite the imminent arrival of new vaccines.

A poll released Tuesday by national broadcaster NHK found just 27 percent of respondents support holding the Games next year, with 32 percent backing cancellation and 31 percent favouring a further postponement


The remaining respondents said they were unsure or gave no answer.

Olympic organisers and Japanese officials have ruled out any further delay of the Games, which are the first in history to be postponed during peacetime.

They have insisted Tokyo 2020 can be held even if the pandemic is not under control by the new opening date of July 23, 2021.

But the Japanese public do not appear convinced.

A poll published on Monday by the Jiji press agency similarly found 21 percent favouring a cancellation and nearly 30 percent a further delay.

And a Kyodo news agency poll published December 6 also found a total of 61.2 percent opposed to holding the Games next year.

The figure comes with just over seven months to go until the postponed Games are scheduled to open.

The start of vaccination campaigns in some parts of the world has boosted the confidence of organisers that the Games can go ahead, though innoculation will not be mandatory for athletes or spectators.

But even as the vaccines are being rolled out, new waves of the virus are surging in many places, including Japan, which has seen a comparatively low toll from the outbreak, recording fewer than 2,600 deaths so far.

Postponing the Games and devising coronavirus countermeasures has proved a logistical nightmare for organisers, and carries a steep price tag.

The delay and health measures will add at least an extra $2.4 billion to the existing $13 billion budget for the Games.

Organisers are due to release an updated budget later this month, but their figures for the cost have been hotly disputed, with an audit report last year estimating the national government spent nearly 10 times its original budget between 2013-2018.

Organisers countered that the estimate included items not directly related to the Games.

Overcoming war and disability: Yemen's women basketball players hit the court

Issued on: 15/12/2020 - 

Five all-women teams were part of in the wheelchair basketball competition in the capital Sanaa this month Mohammed HUWAIS AFP

Sanaa (AFP)

In Yemen's capital Sanaa, women in long-sleeved athletics shirts raced down a basketball court in wheelchairs, dribbling and passing as a small crowd cheered them on.

"If the Yemeni people are suffering from the war, then those with disabilities are suffering twice as much," said Amal Hizam from the sidelines, herself also in a wheelchair.

The Arab world's poorest country is devastated by conflict, the novel coronavirus and a humanitarian crisis that the United Nations has called the world's worst.

But all that didn't stop a local wheelchair basketball championship going ahead in Sanaa this month.

Five all-women teams were part of the competition, only the second of its kind, including Al-Erada -- Arabic for "The Will", and Al-Mustaqbal, or "The Future".

Tens of thousands have been killed in Yemen since 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition intervened to support the government after Huthi rebels took control of Sanaa the year before.

A UN-brokered agreement reached two years ago between the government and the Iran-backed Huthis offered some hope, but a peaceful settlement has yet to materialise.

The female players, some wearing face coverings as well as their headscarves, jostled and shot baskets from sports wheelchairs painted red and light-green at the indoor court.

Hizam, assistant director of Yemen's sports federation for people with disabilities, said initiatives such as the tournament were "practically non-existent".

- 'A gift, not an obstacle' -

"I wish society wouldn't look down on those who are disabled, and that it would see our capabilities," said one of the Al-Erada players, 28-year-old Tahani al-Omari.

"Disability is a gift, not an obstacle," she told AFP, wearing her team's striped orange vest.

Teenage girls in the bleechers squirmed with excitement, throwing their arms into the air to cheer on the players.

Yemen's conflict has displaced some 3.3 million people, and around 80 percent of the population needs humanitarian aid and protection, according to the UN.

There are estimated to be around four million people with disabilities in Yemen, according to World Health Organization data.

"Millions of people with disabilities in Yemen have not only endured years of armed conflict but are also among those most excluded," rights group Amnesty International said last year.

"What we want is inclusion and support, and we can be involved in any field," Omari said.

"We need special wheelchairs equipped for playing and, most importantly, moral support."

A coach of multiple teams, Abdo Mohammed Zayed, said Yemen's lack of clubs and facilities for players with disabilities presented another challenge.

The goal of the tournament, he said, was to "offer social and moral support to those with disabilities, and allow them to showcase their capabilities and creativity."