Not long after midnight on Sept. 18, 2020, Adel Al-Hasani knelt down with a blindfold over his eyes and his hands tied behind his back and thought about where he had seen fellow journalists in that position: in Islamic State videos, broadcast as chilling propaganda.

Al-Hasani, 34, pictured his three sons and his pregnant wife. He silently asked God to forgive his misdeeds. Like the journalists captured by ISIS, he expected to be murdered. He had already imagined that his body would be found on a beach days later; though he wasnt certain where he was, he could smell sea air.

But his captors had a different plan. A guard grabbed him by the right shoulder and took him to an interrogation room. At one of the two detention facilities Al-Hasani had already passed through that night, he had faced dozens of questions while being kicked and beaten for hours. This time, he only had to provide his name and address. Then the guard searched him and led him to the cell that would be his home for the next three weeks: a tiny space filled with mosquitoes and bottles of urine where the lights were kept on all night and no fresh air could temper the September heat.

Al-Hasani ultimately spent six months detained in the custody of the Southern Transitional Council, the U.S.-linked militia that has taken over southern Yemen amid the countrys ongoing civil war. The organization which receives American weapons and other support from one of Washingtons closest partners in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates never fully explained why Al-Hasani was detained, and a local judge ultimately determined that he had to be released.

In Al-Hasanis first interview since his release in March, he said he sees a clear reason for his six-month imprisonment: The group wanted to silence him.

As a reporter and fixer for international news outlets, Al-Hasanis work has been vital to global awareness about the devastating humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where fighting has killed thousands of civilians and forced millions of people to live in famine-like conditions. He has contributed to groundbreaking stories, including work that has won an Emmy , and been nominated for an Oscar and a Peabody Award , while almost never receiving public credit for the work.

In the U.S., that reporting has sparked a furor over Americas role in Yemens suffering. Since 2015, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have used American support to fight a Yemeni militia called the Houthis whose chief ally is the longtime U.S. bugbear Iran. American-backed forces have killed civilians, targeted political opponents and restricted access to vital supplies. Al-Hasani helped CNN produce a 2019 package on illegal Saudi and UAE weapons transfers to extremist militants and other Yemeni partners that prompted a congressional uproar and a Pentagon investigation.

Bipartisan pressure and intense activism ultimately led to former President Donald Trump cutting off aerial refueling for bombing runs by the Saudis, the UAE and their allies in 2018, and to President Joe Biden ending most other assistance.

Biden now says that ending the war in Yemen is a top priority. But Americas partners there are still making peace and stability less likely.

Al-Hasani, who experienced intimidation by representatives of the UAE and the Southern Transitional Council firsthand, believes those forces are suppressing independent voices so they can behave as ruthlessly as they want, with ongoing U.S. support .

Journalism in Yemen is being slaughtered from ear to ear, he told HuffPost.

And its not just journalists who suffer its millions of people trapped in conflict who are losing their best hope of holding their rulers accountable.

Representatives of the UAE and the UAE-backed southern council repeatedly tried to bribe and bully Al-Hasani, he told HuffPost. Although he was released this spring, after HuffPost revealed his detention and the Biden administration pushed the UAE for his release, Al-Hasani still fears for his safety and for the fate of the country he has now fled.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed to HuffPost that the U.S. advocated for Al-Hasanis release, the first time the agency has done so.

Targeting journalists for doing their jobs is unacceptable, the spokesperson wrote in an email. We will continue to advocate for the immediate release of anyone arbitrarily detained, including with partner governments like the UAE, and urge all parties to the Yemen conflict to respect human rights.

If the Biden administration is serious about maintaining that standard and getting Yemen on a path to recovery U.S. officials will have to work to make Americas partners change course.

They dont want the reality to come out, Al-Hasani said. They are doing their best to make Yemen a big prison.