Armies of Liberation

a fractured party to start with

Almotamar.net – It is scheduled that central committee of the Yemeni Socialist Party to resume Wednesday discussion of the agenda of its 5th ordinary session that is expected to discuss a number of issues related to the party’s situations. It is particularly so the party is experiencing a state of conflicts between trends of contradictory visions on matters connected to party issues and the party’s stands towards national issues.

In his address the party’s secretary general Dr Yassin Saeed Nouman pointed out that the committee’s session is a one of reform an rectifying the party’s internal situations, he also stressed that realization of that objective necessitates that each member of in the central committee should work hard to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem and in the manner guaranteeing achievement of the goals targeted by this session.

Against that members of the committee unanimously refused proposal by the secretary general Dr Nouman that was related to rotation of the secretary general post of the party every two years, considering the proposal as implied resignation from his post, according to News Yemen.

According to an YSP source the secretary general was aiming at effecting change in the leaderships with new bloods and rotation of all lading positions in the party so that they would not change into centres of tension preventing the process of change and working for deepening the party’s internal crises.

The YSP crisis has aggravated with the emergence of a trend calling for correcting the track of the unity that adopts secessionist ideas rejected by the party leadership and considers them a an attempt to cancel the party’s unionist history embodied by its participation with the General People’s Congress party in the reunification of Yemen in 1990.

The YSP has not throughout its history transferred power peacefully and the process of attaining the party leadership remained dependent on the criterion of bloody overthrowing, the latest one of which was the massacre pf 13 January 1986.

Whoever has the biggest gun and the most men normally wins.

Almotamar.net – More than 400 inhabitants of Lahj governorate from Al-Uzaiba tribe on Tuesday gathered around a tent erected in front of Lahj governorate building. The gathering was in protest t what they said that the son of Abdulwahab al-A’nisy, secretary general of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah) party is leading a gang that plunders their lands in the district of Tabn.

The gathering people raised placards condemning the gangs that seize others’ pieces of land. And in a memorandum they handed over to the local authority of the governorate they demanded the formation of a committee from the local council of the governorate and the district to make a field visit and see the aggression acts. The memorandum also included a demand for removing all results of seizure of the lands in the nearby area.

They have also dispatched a memorandum to the deputy premier, the minister of interior and other concerned authorities demanding implementation of the president of the republic’s directives on Monday to the government to stop any aggression on others’ lands.

It is to be mentioned that accusations were sent against the Islah party secretary general of seizing a poultry farm located on the road between Aden and Lahj.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Syrian government has agreed to supply Yemen with 50,000 tons of wheat as a part of the quantity Yemen has demanded from the Syrian Cereals Corporation.

Yemen has demanded 150-200 thousand tons of wheat form the Syrian government to cover the shortage of wheat in Yemeni markets, said the general director of the Yemeni Economic Corporation Ali al-Kohlani.

Yemen has recently signed contracts with many country to buy wheat according to orders of president Saleh to the government to increase imports of necessary food materials and sell them to people in all governorates with cost price.

Meanwhile, al-Kohlani has revealed that three directors in his cooperation have been referred to justice for violations related to wheat sales. He said also that other directors have been given final warnings.

Al-Kohlani said the corporation would punish anyone plays with price of wheat or violates duties.
“This point is not arguable. Anyone who neglects the responsibilities will be severely punished,” said al-Kohlani.

On the other hand, an official in the Economic Corporation’s office in Taiz said that wheat demand is increasing. However, Al-Habari Group, the biggest wheat importer said it would stop selling wheat until the Ministry of Trade and Industry determines the pricing list.

Micromanaging at its finest, Saleh refuses passport request.

al-Sahwa

Due to political reasons, Yemeni authorities rejects issuing passports

August 21, 2007-Yemeni businessman resident in Dubai has accused the Yemeni authorities of not reissuing him a passport due to political reasons .

Naji al-Jaifi said that he asked the Yemeni ambassador in the United Arab Emirates, Abdul-Wahid Farai, to renew his passport and he, in turn, referred him to the Yemeni consulate in Dubai.

However , he was told in the consulate that there are presidential orders of stopping all his procedures.

Al-Jaifi appealed all human rights organizations to interfere and do best in order to prevent containing his own freedom .

Thats funny.

26 Sept

The First Sana’a Forum for Democracy in the Arab World is inaugurated its agenda on Wednesday which will be held, under the patronage of President Saleh, over two days under the title “towards better democratic future”.

This forum is considered the pillar of the Arab Democratic Association’s activity which was announced its nascence by Arab politicians elite in Sana’a mid-last June. The forum is organized by the Association in collaboration with the Forum of Bridges Cultures, the National Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development, Oman Center for Human Rights Studies and the Arab Union for Arab Women.

This forum is gaining a special importance relating to the topics which will be discussed to crystallize the strategy of the Arab Democratic Association that can contribute effectively in promoting democratization in the Arab world in various directions, and activate the role of Arab civil society to stabilize principles and notions of democracy, the head of the Forum Bridges Cultures and chairman of the Arab preparatory committee for the forum, Dr. AbdulKarim Al-Aryani. (Read on …)

The weapons ban inthe capital and closing the shops wont have much effect on the weapons trade without clamping down on the imports which often wind up diverted to the black market.

Ceshenovitny

Czech companies have imported weapons worth 0.5 million euros to Nigeria, AI says, pointing to extra-court executions, torture and looting taking place in Nigeria where civilians are killed, for instance, during regular road checks.

AI says that the exports of Czech arms to Columbia reached 438,000 euros and 581,000 euros to Venezuela. Arms exports to Vietnam reached 2.7 million euros and to Jemen 3 million euros last year.

Almotamar.net – The Yemen interior ministry on Thursday announced it will from today morning prevent carrying firearms inside the capital, indicating it will set stores at entrances of the capital and provincial capitals of governorates for keeping guns and give their owners receipts for them.

The ministry added it will beginning of next month carry out a decision preventing carrying licensed firearms, confirming that security authorities would arrest anyone carrying weapons in violation of the announcement and confiscate his gun.

An announcement issued by the interior ministry, a copy of it received by almotamar.net, mentioned that it is categorically prevented carrying weapons inside the capital and provincial capitals of governorates. The statement attributed that decision to increase of crimes and incidents resulting from the use of guns and to the negative impact which carrying firearms cause to development and investment as well as to tourism. It added that the aim is to protect the citizens life and achieve general security and safety for the citizen, social peace.

The statement mentioned that bodyguards of senior officials of the state and members of parliament and Shoura and local council will be allowed to carry only guns in an invisible way.

The interior ministry asked all political, security, military and administrative leaderships to commit to carrying out the decision, calling upon political parties and organisations and citizens to cooperate in implementation of the decision and report on any violations.

disrupting the profits of the slave trade

sometimes the threateners come in uniform

Yemen Observer Kirubel Belete Lemma, an Ethiopian man who is the project coordinator for the project of the United for the Improvement of Domestic Works, has reported receiving persistent threats from anonymous people demanding that he stop his work. The threats began one month ago, and continue to this day, said Lemma. “I have received phone calls from unknown people that advise me to stop working in these issues,” said Lemma. Lemma is working to defend the rights of domestic female workers of all nationalities. Many mysterious people have also come to his house to ask his guard about him, and then left.

“A female secretary working with those illegal agents has warned me that those illegal agents are angry,” he said. By illegal agents, he is referring to the men who bring immigrants to Yemen, promising them good jobs. Then, when the workers get here, they don’t get the jobs or salaries they are promised, and their passports are often confiscated. Lemma said that he reported the threats to the police. Lemma suspects that the threats against him are being made by the illegal agents.

“They are big like a mafia; they make lots of money out of this work,” he said. There were some people wearing clothing like that of officers, who asked him to go with them.
“They did not show me their police IDs, and they told me when I refused to go that they know where I am.” Lemma also received many different phone calls from unknown people who told him to stop the working for the foreign maids. The police could not be reached for comment. The domestic workers, most of whom are Ethiopian, are used by the illegal agents who are not recognized by either the embassy or the government. (Read on …)

Yemen Times: Aleshteraki.net reported that an Arab satellite channel is investigating allegations that its Sana’a correspondent is receiving money from the Yemeni government in return for presenting the government’s view on the Sa’ada war.

It added, “Information leaked by the Yemeni Armed Forces indicates that Yemeni correspondents for some Arab channels have received money in return for not speaking about the war in Sa’ada or for reflecting the state’s viewpoint.”

The source maintained that three Yemeni correspondents, including one for a Gulf channel, have received YR 50,000 daily from several military units’ financial departments since the war erupted in January.

Yemeni and Arab viewers of satellite channels and media outlets find it strange that the fourth Sa’ada war hasn’t received its due coverage; however, journalists allege that Yemeni authorities have prevented them from making field coverage of the war there.

However when patronage doesn’t work, and it doesn’t with a few couragous Yemeni journalists, the Yemeni regime resorts to brutality, censorship and/or judicial penalities for bogus charges.

Al-Sahwa

Yemeni sources residing in Cairo told Alsahwa.net that the Egyptian security authorities arrested two Yemenis a month ago under charges of plotting to wage attacks against the state.

“The security authorities in Egypt are expected to begin procedures for investigating over 20 Islamist Egyptians and foreigners, including tow Yemenis” they said.

It said that the number of the arrested reached 23 people.

“One of the detainees is a cleric who had spent time in Iraq as well as two Yemenis .The rest are Egyptians and foreign Arabs”.

The sources also expected that the talks held last weekend between the Yemeni interior minister, Rasahad al-Alimi and Egyptian officials discussed the Yemenis case.

YT
Amran, June 22 — Last Wednesday the First Court vindicated the person accused of raping Susan M.S. Al-Mudhla’, 19 years old. The vindication of the man came due to the lack of evidence according to the court, chaired by judge Abas Al-Washali, in Amran governorate north Sana’a.

The trial was held while the accused man and the lawyer of the victim, Jamal Al-Ja’bi, appeared in person along with human rights activists. After the release of the verdict, the lawyer of the victim requested the appeal.

Susan Al-Mudhala was subjected to sexual abuse when she was eight years old, according to Tiseer Al-Gabali, a lawyer and a human activist, Susan accused the 55-year-old Nasser Ahmed Zid, who denied the accusation, of raping her.

In a statement, the Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights, which adopted this case, described the verdict as “arbitrary”. The statement also said, “This arbitrary verdict that vindicated the accused man came because the trial lacked the justice conditions.” It further explained that a lot of events were not taken into consideration and witnesses did not attend the trial especially the nurses of Amran hospital to which the victim was taken and where a medical report proved the rape case by the Russian doctor, immediately after she was raped.

This case had a large scale of interest among the public and the organizations of human rights over the year. Before the trial, the Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights was afraid of the court verdict. The forum said that the case had engaged the public opinion and it lacked the fair trail conditions because the prosecution could not bring the witnesses to appear in person which is a negligence that revoked the fairness of the verdict that could not bring justice to the victim.

YT

SANA’A, June 13- For 440 days the order of General prosecutor to investigate Anisa al-Shuaibi’s case is still not put into actions. Al-Shuaibi’s situation is unbearable, “Living unsecured without a family or a friend standing beside you is something agonizing especially once it happened for a woman,” said Al-Shuaibi, who claimed she was arrested illegally and raped by the Criminal investigation unit officers.

In a press release, Hood organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms complained of disregarding Al-Shuaibi’s case for 440 days, though the General prosecutor ordered the investigation with the director of General investigation unit in Sana’a; Rizq al-Jawfi.

Muhammad Naj Allawo, the director of Hood organization said that al-Jawfi will be submitted to the trail of Al-Shuaibi’s case on Sunday 17th of June.

Barman said that referring al-Jawfi to the trail while he is still occupying his job is another violation of the law. He must stop working, before he is referred to the judicial proceedings.

Al-Shuaibi questioned the reasons behind neglecting her case, “All people deserted me even my mother and close friends. Is that because I am asking for my simple rights which is to protect my rights and live in dignity among my family.” “Is it hard for the woman to talk about such issues? Do they want us to keep silent even once they are abused and raped?,” said Al-Shuaibi.

Al-Shuaibi in the previous two months moved with her two children Harun and Ream to three houses hoping to live safely in a place which no one knows her. She came back lastly to her own house because of the dare circumstances she lived in, “For more than five months I have no salary. Even the money for transportation I lacked it,” said al-Shuaibi. Abdul Rahman Barman, the attorney who is in charge of al-Shuaibi’s case, confirmed that al-Shuaibi is threatened everywhere. And, since the accusers are still free and faced no penalty, al-Shuaibi’s situation will be as it is.

Moreover, instead of investigating her case, her salary is cut and there is no a forward step in the case, each responsible person tries to cover the truth and slow down the case, according to Barman.

“The promises of aiding al-Shuaibi and protecting her were a lot at the beginning of the concerned case, however, this call is about to disappear,” said Barman.

again, still, as usual

NY

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Yemeni citizen Mohammad Qaed al-Osabi, who is emigrant in Saudi Arabia, came to Yemen to vote for Mohammad Saleh al-Nahiya in the parliamentary elections in 1997 and offered him a temporary stay at this house in Sana’a.

Al-Nahiya could win the Parliament’s membership at last and had immunity, so he thought he could do what he wants under the immunity.

When al-Osabi came to Yemen in 2002 and told his candidate that his sons would come back to study in Yemen and should stay at the house, the MP refused to leave it and continued to escape the owner’s requests and attempts to convince him to leave the house for his sons. (Read on …)

Comparatively, its not a lot. They could up “child heath and survival”.

CNS
The list (U.S. military aid programs) also includes countries such as Kazakhstan ($2 million), Nigeria ($1.35 million) and Yemen ($4.676 million), all of which the State Department says have serious problems with human rights.

US weapons sales: CNS

Source: UN Register of Conventional Arms

Year Receiving Country Number of Weapons Systems Weapons System
2006 Yemen 30 M113A2 APC
2006 Yemen 2 M577A2 Command Carrier

CDI

Military assistance dropping

2003 $3,901,960
2004 $18,738,000
2005 $19,591,000

2006 $15,706,000
2007 $13,461,000

State Dept request for 23 milion for State Department and USAID Bilateral Assistance

page 524
YEMEN
Developing
Obstacles and Opportunities for Advancing Transformational Diplomacy
Yemen continues to be an essential U.S. partner in the war on terrorism. While the U.S. and
Yemen have made great progress in uprooting the al-Qaida presence in the country, Yemen
requires continued U.S. material support to be successful in its ongoing counterterrorism efforts.
The Government of Yemen (GOY) has undertaken significant strides toward opening its multiparty
political system to full public participation, and to include women. Yemen is evolving into
a multi-party democracy and is slowly taking necessary steps to move its economy away from oil
dependence. U.S. assistance to Yemen is critical to ensure that these policies continue on track
and serve as an example to other countries in the region. (Read on …)

It used to be the US and Canada, now its Fwance

Yemen’s energy minister said on Sunday that international companies would build a nuclear reactor in the impoverished Arabian peninsula state, the official Saba news agency reported.

“International companies will undertake building… the nuclear reactor that Yemen aspires to own for peaceful purposes of producing electricity,” Mustafa Yahia Bahran said.

He did not give details about the plan but said nuclear power would ensure the long-term energy security of Yemen, which has few oil deposits compared to its neighbours such as OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia.

Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh has backed Iran’s right to acquire nuclear technology for peaceful ends.

During a visit to France in June, Saleh discussed possible cooperation over nuclear energy production with President Nicolas Sarkozy, Yemeni officials said.

Al-Motamar

Almotamar.net – Yemeni-Ethiopian Joint Ministerial Committee concluded meetings of its 4th session in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Monday. The committee’s meetings over two days were co-chaired by Yemen’s foreign minister Dr Abu Bake al-Qirbi and his Ethiopian counterpart Seyoum Mesfin.

Yemen and Ethiopia have stressed their keenness on development and expansion their cooperation in all areas. The two countries signed an agreement allowing Yemeni and Ethiopian diplomats into each country without the need for visa. The meetings also resulted in approving a programme on cultural cooperation for the period 2007-2009 and another programme in tourism covering the same period.

Minutes of the Yemeni-Ethiopian common committee also included agreements on enhancing cooperation in economic, investment, cultural, tourism, media, health, higher education, specifications and standardization fields in addition to agricultural, mining and energy areas.

The two sides have also agreed to form a follow-up committee for implementation of signed agreements to hold its meeting every six months.
In their closing statement the two sides emphasised the significance of doubling efforts for developing follow-up mechanisms in both countries. The two sides completed their discussion over a number of draft agreements and protocols of cooperation as well as executive programmes and memorandums of understanding. Among those draft agreements on establishment of a council for Yemeni and Ethiopian businessmen, an agreement on regulating Ethiopian labour in Yemen and an agreement for establishing a free zone including Yemen, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia.

Missiles? Where does one get missiles for export?

YemenTimes al-Wahadi

- Border guards foil attempt to smuggle consignment of weapons from Yemen into Saudi Arabia

According to the weekly newspaper, Media reports said on Monday that Saudi border guards at the Najran region on the Saudi-Yemeni border foiled an attempt to smuggle a consignment of weapons to the Kingdom. “The would-be smugglers, along with the consignment of weapons, fled back to Yemen,” the weekly paper quoted a Saudi official as saying.

The Saudi Okadh paper reported that Assistant Commander of Border Guards positioned in Najran said the consignment contains 16 missiles, 16 armored covers, five anti-tank mines and 3,000 bullets of heavy machineguns. The military official added that the rear border guards and patrols recorded the suspicious movements of unidentified individuals and found quantities of explosives and ammunition hidden beneath rocks. The official went on to say that the traffickers fled the scene toward Yemen after they were prevented from trafficking the consignment into the Saudi territory.

Thats good. The issue of judicial remedy for governmental human rights violations remains problematic though.

Almotamar.net – An official source in the Human Rights Ministry said Sunday the ministry received about 400 legal complaints from citizens since the beginning of the year until the present month.

The source told almotamar.net the complaints were from citizens and jurists in addition to legal complaints the ministry received from civil establishments.

According to the source the subjects of complaints varied between citizens suffering from arbitrary measures by influential persons, either through depriving them their rights or attacking them in addition to Yemeni workers working for trading companies exposed to arbitrary sacking without justifications given. According the source among the subjects of complaints is that some journalists and legal activist were subject to violations and harassments by security men.

The source said the ministry has exerted steady efforts for solving those issues and managed to settle 200 issues though communication and contacts with concerned parties and succeeded in giving them back their rights or sent to prosecution along with the ministry follow-up of the results.

SANA’A, Aug. 19 — An official study showed that 77 percent of the juveniles are detained in the Yemeni prisons without any verdicts. However, 23 percent of whom are detained by the prosecution and the primary courts with under imprisonment verdicts ranging between six months and one and a half year, according to the study.
(Read on …)

thats excellent, really good news

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Ministry of Oil and Minerals along with the World Bank held on Sunday a meeting on “an initiative to set up a Yemeni transparency council” in light of Yemen’s joining to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

Yemen was the first Arab country to join the EITI, said the minister of oil and minerals Khalid Bahah. It is number almost 23 in the EITI members list, he said.

Baha praised the role of the EITI as an international tool to enhance transparency and eliminating the global corruption and increasing accountability.

“The EITI was set up to increase the level of transparency in all oil-rich countries so that people can know exactly oil, gas and mining revues,” said Bahah.

“This enable those countries to improve the management of such revenues to have strong sustainable economics and fight poverty”, Bahah added.

The minister said that the new Law of Tenders and Auctions, the National Anti-Corruption Authority and having free media and interactive civil society organizations and the Central Organization for Controlling and Auditing (COCA) are all means to establish a good governance.

The World Bank’s representative Anowar al-Warak has talked about the WB’s support to the Yemeni transparency council project, pointing that EITI enable societies to get accurate information about the revenues of oil, gas and other resources as well as the way the governments expend them.

Al-Warak said after joining EITI, Yemeni people could know more about the revenues of oil, gas and mining and the way they are being run. The initiative supports accountability and transparency of the government revenues, he said.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) supports improved governance in resource-rich countries through the verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas, and mining. The Initiative works to build multi-stakeholder partnerships in developing countries in order to increase the accountability of governments.

Good governance is a precondition for converting large revenues from extractive industries into economic growth and poverty reduction. When transparency and accountability are weak, the extractive industries may instead contribute to poverty, corruption, and conflict- the so-called “resource curse.” The EITI is an important step in defeating this “curse.”
The primary beneficiaries of EITI are the governments and citizens of resource-rich countries. Knowing what companies pay and what governments receive is a critical first step to holding decisionmakers accountable for the use of revenues. Resource-rich countries implementing EITI can benefit from an improved investment climate by providing a clear signal to investors and to international financial institutions that the government is committed to strengthening transparency and accountability.

For more information about EITI, please visit: www.eitransparency.org

educational opportunity like everything else is politicized

Saada War
The Southern protests
Tribal tensions
Taiz and other cities protests
The students

SANA’A, August 19 — Strong clashes occurred between soldiers and students enrolling at Sana’a University last Sunday in the yard of the Faculty of Trading and Commerce.

An eyewitness confirmed that soldiers and students fired shots during the enrolling process. One student, Ameen Al-Shubati, was injured and taken to the hospital after a soldier beat him in the head with the back of his pistol. The eyewitness indicated that the incident occurred in sequence with student protests against the enrolling committee at the Faculty of Trading and Commerce, accusing the faculty of unfairly distinguishing between students in the enrolling process. The eyewitness added that four of the soldiers were carrying weapons and about four others carried cudgels.

The General Union of Yemeni Students condemned the firing of shots and bashing of students with cudgels during the enrolling process. Redhwan Mass’oud, head of the General Union of Yemeni Students considered these acts as terrorism against university students and asked the concerned authorities to transfer the soldiers to the judiciary to be punished and to substitute the military guards with civil guards.

Abdul Malek Al-Sayiaghi, head of the General People’s Congress (GPC) at the Faculty of Trading and Commerce, considered that Mass’oud’s demands were geared toward clearing the university yard of security in order to encourage fighting and to attack university guards attempting to quell ensuing violence.

Al-Sayiaghi affirmed that the incident occurred when a group of Islah-affiliated students started distributing some enrollment forms and partisan slogans to students. He added that one of the Islah-affiliated students was the first to fire shots.

Al-Sayiaghi expected further incidents in the future and considered such incident the result of a lack of awareness among students of enrollment procedures.

There were more than 1,000 students and only one committee to receive students’ documents while there were three committees last year.

It is expected that Yemeni universities, in which the enrolling period started Saturday, August 18, will receive about 65,000 students for the 2007 – 2008 academic year.