Some 15,000 to 20,000 people gathered in the city Aden...

Some 15,000 to 20,000 people gathered in the city Aden to see the execution of three men: 'Abd al-Wareth Saleh Ahmad, Khaled Yahya 'Abdullah al-Yami, and Nasser Muhammad Hiba. 'Abd al-Wareth Saleh Ahmad was convicted of the rape and murder of Saber 'Ali Ahmad, aged 6, whose body was discovered on 16 July 2000. Khaled Yahya 'Abdullah al-Yami and Nasser Muhammad Hiba were convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Mazen Ahmad Qahtan Murshed, who was aged 6 at the time of his abduction in December 1997.
Police cars brought the prisoners to the execution site. The police cars were accompanied by an ambulance which carried the doctor who was part of the execution team.
The first prisoner taken from one of the cars was Khaled Yahya 'Abdullah al-Yami.
The judge read out the judgement to him and asked him if he wished to say anything, but he responded in the negative.
He was then made to lie down flat facing the ground among bags of sands to prevent the ricochet of bullets. The executioner fired three shots, aiming at a sign drawn by the doctor on the body of the prisoner. However when the doctor examined him, he found him to be still alive and ordered the executioner to shoot a fourth time. A further two shots were fired after which the doctor pronounced him dead.
Then from a second car, Nasser Muhammad Hiba Fatli was taken to the execution site where he was killed by four gunshots.
Then the two bodies were carried to the ambulance for removal. The third prisoner, Abdel Warith Salah Ahmad, was executed in a similar manner.
Women from the family of the two children killed were reported by the Yemeni daily Al-Ayyam to have "shown their happiness by 'youyous' [a celebratory noise made in the throat]".
The participation of the physician in executions is in contravention of international medical ethics.
The World Medical Association, for example, adopted in 2000 (replacing an earlier statement from 1981) a resolution on this issue which stated "that it is unethical for physicians to participate in capital punishment, in any way, or during any step of the execution process".