Armies of Liberation

Yemen Times:

Wide areas of agricultural lands in Yemen are exposed to deterioration, said official report published last week.

According to the report, which was issued by the Centre of Natural Resources at the Ministry of Agriculture, 85 percent of the agricultural lands are subject to deterioration due to natural causes such as water shortage and desertification.

The report said that the percentage of deteriorating lands increases by 5 percent because of human expansion and 3 percent because of desertification annually.

These numbers are very significant especially that only 13.6 percent of Yemeni land (about 6.2 million hectares) is fertile. Moreover, only 1.2 to 1.6 hectares is actually used in agriculture. (Read on …)

Yemen Observer

World Bank Country Manager, Sana’a, Yemen
Qat (Catha edulis) plays a major economic role in the Yemeni economy. It accounts for around 6 percent of GDP, 10 percent of consumption, one-third of agricultural GDP, and provides employment for one in every seven working Yemeni. As the predominant cash crop, the income it generates plays a vital role in rural economies. But it also depletes scarce water resources and has crowded out production of essential food crops and agriculture exports.

Until the 1960s, qat chewing was an occasional pastime, mainly for the rich. Now, it is chewed several days a week by a large segment of Yemen’s population. Widespread qat consumption has grave consequences: its use is linked to widespread child malnutrition and household food insecurity since spending on it pre-empts expenditures on basic foods and essential medicines. The adverse health effects of qat are many and include high blood-pressure, under-weight children (when pregnant women chew qat), cancer (from consuming pesticide residues), and dental diseases. Consumers spend, on average, nearly 10 percent of their income on it, and the physical act of using the drug requires several hours in a day. The culture of spending extended afternoon hours chewing qat is inimical to the development of a productive work force, with as much as one-quarter of usable working hours allocated to qat chewing.
(Read on …)

A comprehensive article from ISN

Yemen nuke deal may not hold
As Yemen signs a reactor deal with a US company, doubts remain whether autonomous nuclear generation is feasible in this impoverished country racked with security problems.

by Dominic Moran in Tel Aviv for ISN Security Watch (26/09/07)

Yemen signed a five-reactor deal with a US nuclear company this week, but significant doubts remain concerning the future prospects for the nascent Yemeni atomic program.

The pact with Houston-based Powered Corporation envisages the establishment of a 1,000MW reactor by 2012, with four others to follow within a decade, bolstering Yemen’s total generation capacity by 5,000MW, according to Energy and Electricity Minister Mustafa Bahran.

A US$3 million feasibility study jointly funded by Powered Corporation and the government would be quickly followed by the initiation of work on the first reactor in early 2009, Bahran told Agence France Press. He added that all atomic activities would be conducted with full oversight from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The agreement appears to fit into a previously announced atomic generation strategy involving the establishment of privately owned, for-profit reactors on Yemeni soil, with the state buying electricity from the generating company for an indeterminate period before purchasing the facilities. (Read on …)

This is very good stuff.

President Saleh has forwarded a series of constitutional amendments to Parliament which include the following: local police ( very important), local control of revenues and expenditures, direct elections for the heads of the local councils (note: there has to be a clear delegation of authority between the governors and the local council heads), 15% female quota fixed by law for parliamentary seats.

Not good, the president appoints half of the SCER, but that’s better than all. Shorter terms for the President and Parliament, good. It would be nice if the governors were also directly elected from the local populations, whose needs they understand.

If implemented (a big if), this proposal could go a long way in a) reducing tensions in various governorates b) spurring local economies c) increasing popular participation and public accountability.

However the regime needs to lay off the journalists and let them do their job which is critical. This plan cannot succeed without a free press. Corruption cannot be controlled without a free press. Democracy cannot exist without a free press. Its just that simple. (Read on …)

How excellent is this?

American and Canadian of Yemeni origin in North America are submitting a letter to members of Congress in both countries about human rights violations and repression of peaceful demonstrations in Yemen

We are Americans and Canadians of Yemeni origin submitting this letter to our representatives in the Congress of the U.S.A. and the Canadian, to the government and the representatives of the major parties in the two countries, to the human rights protectors, to who it may concern about the freedom of expression and the press which violated in Yemen since the control of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the illegal President of Yemen, on the reins of the government by the gunpoint on July 17, 1978, to this day.

We believe it is our national, ethical and human duty to submit this letter to deliver the oppressed cries of the Yemeni people. Who are searching for salvation, emancipation, and liberation from the iron grip of the corrupt, terrorist, and dictatorial regime in Yemen . We put you in front of historical and human responsibilities to help the people of Yemen who need the help of the free world to make the changes possible. They do not have hope to see changes accept from outside sources because of the nature and brutal mentality of the Yemeni regime.

We have followed, with regret and concern, the bloody tragic events that are occurring in Yemen on daily basis. When the people of Yemen are almost out of a war even the dictatorial regime enters them into a new war, because the mentality of the regime, which relies on the wars and the instability to survival for the longest possible time in government, so the regime could loot more of the public money, as happening in this time. These wars are destroying the Yemeni economic, infrastructure, and building the military force that are no longer national troops, but it belongs to the ruling family of Yemen .

The interest of building a military force comes on the expense of education, health and social services of the Yemeni people. The result is obvious that a royal family controls the government by military force, looting and robbing the public money, violating the human rights, war crimes, crimes against the humanity. Uneducated people whom lack of health and social services are suffering from poverty that lead to product a hotbed of the frightening terrorism, which is what actually happened in Yemen in this time. This hotbed will remain a time-bomb. However, our governments have to dry up the source of the international terrorism that exists in the Yemen regime and his traditional allies before explosion.

Those traditional allies are the terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda, the Islamic Army of Aden-Abyan, and the Wahhabi movement in Yemen which led by AbdullMajid Al-Zandani (spiritual father of Osama bin Laden). The UN Security Council ordered a decision to arrest AbdullMajid Al-Zandani, and to freeze his property for his financing and relationship with the international terrorism organizations. However, the Yemeni regime opposed this decision, and Ali Abdullah Saleh called to take off the name of the terrorist AbdullMajid Al-Zandani from the blacklist. As we know, AbdullMajid Al-Zandani issued a (Fatwa), a religious statement, against the regime opponents. Same fatwa took the lives of hundreds of human beings in Yemen , Iraq , Afghanistan , Chechnya and elsewhere.

If you ask AbdullMajid Al-Zandani about his view on the tragedy events of September 11, 2007, he will not hesitate to describe what happened as a holy struggle and a great victory against the enemies of God (Allah) in the U.S.A. that is are providing support and assistance to the Yemeni people from the taxpayer’s money.

We are the Americans and the Canadians of Yemeni origin caring about the security and safety of this country that gave us freedom, hope, dream, life of dignity, and human rights. However, because we are Yemeni origins we are aware that the Yemen regime has produced a scary hotbed of the international terrorism and export it internationally. In fact, more than one incident happened in Yemen that proves our knowledge towards the involvement of the Yemeni Regime that supports terrorism and trains the terrorists in the regime camps in order to send them to Somalia , Iraq , Lebanon and elsewhere. One is the terrorist attack on the warship USS COLE, and the killing of the Spanish tourist in the city of Marub . Also, the terrorist incident of killing the three Americans doctors who served in Yemen for more than thirty years, providing medication and treatment for free.

We look at the Congress valuable report that assessment the Yemeni regime and will proximately declare Yemen as a failure State . We believe that the proportions of the poor people who are living under the poverty line are 80% and it is not 40% as stated in the report. Also, we greatly appreciate the President of USA, George W. Bush, for his greetings to the Yemeni people for the democracy, but the question that raises our curiosity is there a real democratic regime in Yemen ? Or is Ali Abdullah Saleh claiming democracy to the world. But when he returns to Yemen , he orders his army to suppression and killing all the raising voices that demand legal rights. On top of that the Yemenis people go on strikes day after day to adopt the peaceful struggle, through sit-ins and demonstrations facing the military forces of Ali Abdullah Saleh and his family.

Today, we are witnessing how the regime is beating, arresting, and killing the Yemeni people with iron fist, here are some examples:

1. The Brigadier General Nasser Al-Noobh, the Board Chairman of the Associations Of Retired Military and Security Civilian and Forcibly Demobilized, and his friends were sent to prison. They will be charged for treason in front of the military court which may lead them to death penalty. Because they were demanding to regain their political and historical rights and to return to their jobs from which they were expelled by the Yemeni regime as a result of the war in 1994. They also were adopting

2. The journalist Abud Al-kareem Al-Kiwani was put in jail, because he said that Ali Abdullah Saleh will bequeath the power in Yemen . Al-Kiwani showed that the president and his family are the commanders of the army, security, air force, and marine. They also own the companies, banks, and trade in Yemen .

3. Dr. Ali al-Fakeeh, professor at the University of Sana’a , had been beaten with a brick that deformed his face, because he criticized the Yemeni regime.

4. The failure attempt to assassinate Fahd Al-Karni, because he criticized the regime by the satirical songs. He and his friend Aladrahi gained popularity fame, because they expressed the feelings of the people towards the terrorist and dictatorship regime.

5. The killing of the child Al-Qahoum and his colleagues in Hadramawt, because of their request to freedom and a better tomorrow, and the scene repeated itself in the Yemen Provinces such as: Taiz, Aldalla, Shabwa, Abyan, Aden , Al-bayda, Yafaa, Sa’dah and others.

So, where are the democracy and the human right; that Ali Abdullah Saleh is claiming, and receiving the international assistance for these commitments.

We ask our government to put an end to this regime and provide peace and safety for all, can you please take the following requests into considerations.

First: Drying the source of terrorism in Yemen , in assistant the Yemeni people to salvation, liberation, and emancipation of the dictatorial and terrorist regime, in the context of the international war on terrorism.

Second: Stop supporting the Yemen regime; financially or morally, but continue supporting the Yemeni people away from the hands of the Yemeni regime. However, it can not be a democratic regime that relies on military force and oppression to control over Yemen , nor can it fight the corruption and the terrorism, because it is corrupt and terrorism regime.

Third: Declare that the existing regime in Yemen is not a partner in the fight against the terrorism. Since we believe in the freedom of speech and press we can not put our hands and cooperate with the dictatorial and terrorist regimes.

Fourth: Pressure the dictatorship regime to extradite AbdullMajid Al-Zandani, and to freeze his property because of his relations to the terrorism organization.

Fifth: Pressure the regime to release the political prisoners, such as the Brigadier General, Nasser Al-Noobh, and his colleagues, and the journalists, Abud Al-kareem Al-Kiwani.

Sixth: Pressure the regime not to closure the opponent newspapers and websites, and not to prevent the legitimate peaceful demonstrations. That reflects the Yemeni citizens’ demands to their national and historical rights that were taken away by the ruling family in Yemen .

Thank you for your help to the international community and the new orientation towards a world free from dictatorship and terrorism.

Americans and Canadians of Yemeni origin:
1- Ahmed Hussein Ghalib
2- Ahmed Ali Saleh
3- Ameen Ali Al Houri
4- Ahmed Mohamed Aldkine
5- Idris Al-Darwish
6- Al-Din Ahmed Hussein
7- Borkan Al-Askari
8- Bakil Ahmed Ghalib
9- Hajaj Ali Al Houri
10- Hasinon Ahmed Ghaleb
11- Joshua Ahmed Ghalib
12- Daniel Al-Darwish
13-Wagdi Suleiman
14-Fawzi Omar
15-Abdullah Haider
16 – Saleh Mohamed Alriashi
17-Sanad Abdullah Haider
18-Muhammad Ali Al Houri
19-Abdullah Ba-abbad
20-Ali Abdulkhader
21-Abdul-Ghani Al-abbadi
22-Omar Saleh
23-Saleh Abdullah
24-Muhammad Aldkine
25-Ali Hussein Al Houri
26-Musaad Ali
27-Ghassan Ahmed Ghalib
28-Ali Musid Ali
29- Alliah Al-Darwish
30-Washington Ali
31 – Mohamed Ahmed Hussein
32-Ali Haider
33-Maher Ahmed Hussein
34-Mazen Ahmed Ghalib
35-Zeid Darwish
36-Abdullah Al-Rubaie
37-Hakim Almfulihy
38-Abd-Alallah Musaad Ali
39-Sharifah Ahmed Ghaleb
40-Safia Al-Darwish
41-Saleh Almfulihy
42-Muhsin Muthanna
43-Shallah Ahmed Hussien
44-Muhammad Ali Haider
45-Hammam Saleh Almfulihy
46-Nasr Ahmed Ghalib
47-Fahd Musid Ali
48-Zaid Ahmed
49-Faheem Saleh Almfulihy
50-Kathleen Ali
51-Chris Al-Darwish
52-Majed Ahmed Ghalib
53-Abdulfattah Musaad
54-Muhammad Al-Darwish
55-Yousra Ahmed Ghaleb
56-Moussa Ali
57-William Algabri
58-Ali Al-Derwish
59-Nagi Amer
60-Yousef Amer

SANA’A, News Yemen:

Yemeni women have stated they are angry with political parties after the later said they do not prefer the quota system that women are fighting to get it realized since four years to be able to occupy high posts.

A group of women, members of the so-called “The Country Alliance”, formed by lead Yemeni women, have stated that women were planning to organize protests against those parties’ anti-quota statements, but said the advent of the holy month of Ramadan has prevented them.

We will organize such protests to pressure parties to give women members chance to be found in decision-making positions, said Intesar Senan.

We were embarrassed to hear about the position of the Yemeni Socialist Party against quota despite it has assured before the latest presidential and local elections that it supports quota system, Senan added.

Last Saturday, the leader in the Yemeni Socialist Party Mohammad al-Makaleh announced at a meeting of Arab Sisters Forum that YSP does not agree with the quota system and that the party “will be against the system in case it is applied”, asking women to support an initiative by parties to apply the party-list proportional representation system as an alternative.

Women’s frustration came early before the Parliamentary elections scheduled in 2009 as they found themselves between two challenges. They are unable to achieve their goal, the quota system, without the help of parties and they are prevented by the constitution to form their own party. In addition, the Yemeni community still refuses the political power of women.

Thus, Yemeni women have to continue attempts to convince parties they affiliate with to agree to give women an appropriate quota before the coming elections.

Women see that “parties’ abrupt objection against quota means that parties do not admit women as partners in making decision”. (Read on …)

“No wonder that the biggest threats to the national unity are the acts of looting, land plundering, waste of public money and state’s property, political nepotism, destroying the national economy and discriminating among citizens. All these acts are exercised by the government officials.”

From the Yemen Times, a spot-on oped by Dr. Abdullah Al-Faqih

It is impossible for the National Unity Protection Law, which the government declared to present to Parliament for approval, to be discussed very soon. The law is a heavyweight joke coming from the black comedy.

If the government brought a group of horses, took them into a stable and named this stable “Parliament”, and then presented to it the draft National Unity Protection Law, it would be impossible for the horses to put their hoofs on this Law. So, how the situation will look like when the draft law is presented to a parliament made up of 301 members, among them sheikhs, scholars, patriots and strugglers. It is impossible for any Yemen citizen, irrespective of his circumstances, to accept the political paganism, nor will he accept the political slavery, which the Yemenis got rid of in 1962.

As there are many people who say that the law aims to prosecute some of the prominent symbols in the regime, a speech like this makes us reject the draft law twice and not once. Any laws or legislations that target certain individuals or groups usually turn to target everyone without an exception.

No wonder that the biggest threats to the national unity are the acts of looting, land plundering, waste of public money and state’s property, political nepotism, destroying the national economy and discriminating among citizens. All these acts are exercised by the government officials. But, it is true that these officials are over the Constitution and the Law. If they are not over the Constitution and the Law, they would have been prosecuted since a long time ago in conformity with the Constitution and the Law, particularly as they commit crimes known to everyone and tread the constitutional articles with their foots.

The problem of such a draft law that was cloned from the Egyptian Fault Law, which was enacted by the former Egyptian President Mohammed Anwar Al-Sadat in 1980, is that it has been designed in a loose manner. This manner gives the chance to anyone, having the desire to sentence the Yemeni people to death, to do so under the cover of the Constitution and the Law.

Under this law, Taiz locals may be named criminal regionalists if they claimed a water project, their share of government jobs and good living with no starvation, which Taiz suffered a lot more than any other Yemeni governorates.

When it comes to locals of the southern governorates, who claim the equal citizenship rights that were confiscated in the years following the 1994 Civil War, they may be prosecuted as secessionists and face a tribunal similar to that which their leaders faced earlier.

The sheikhs of Hashid and Bakil tribes will be necessarily sued on suspicion of fomenting tribal conflicts while the Hashemite people are convicted of provoking racism, and what will remain is merely a law formula that permits prosecuting anyone over his identity.

As the law exploits democracy and attempts to change democracy from a man-made system into divine religion, it is impossible for any judicious Yemeni, though madly fund of democracy he is, to accept such ‘Sadati Fool’, which the Egyptians have overcome while their students in Yemen in couldn’t, even it has been more than quarter a century since Al-Sadat passed away.

Yemen is not in need for a law to protect the national unity. What Yemen needs is a collective commitment and abidance by the Constitution and the Law. Such commitment must include President of the Republic, his retinue, influential persons and the ordinary citizens as well. And, any talk about the national unity, in the absence of senior government officials’ commitment to the Constitution and the Law, will only lead to increasing the national hemorrhage.

Thats good.

Maybe al-Zindani can patent his AIDS cure and share it with the world now.

23/9/2007 11:17 GMT
ag-IP-news
Implementing Regulations for Patents Issued in Yemen

SANA’A – Yemen’s Minister of Trade and Industry Yahya Al-Mutawakel issued Ministerial Decision No. 256 of 2007 in respect of issuing the regulations implementing the patent provisions of the Yemeni Intellectual Property Law No. 19 of 1994.

According to a Sunday press release by Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP), the regulations were published in the Altegara Gazette/August 2007 edition, but they have not yet entered into force.

In view of the above, the Patent Office in Yemen is still only accepting filing of patent applications; no further actions such as examination, publication, granting, or payment of annuities are applicable yet.

Since the issuance of the Law No. 19 of 1994, the Patent Office in Yemen has only been accepting filing of patent applications which were held in abeyance pending the issuance of the Implementing Regulations.

The salient features of the Implementing Regulations are as follows: patent applications are examined as to form, novelty, and industrial applicability; a patent shall be protected for 15 years from the date of filing the patent application; and an opposition to the patent application may be filed within 6 months from the publication date.

Any further developments in this respect will be reported to you in due course.

Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property provides an extensive range of intellectual property services from over 60 offices and through over 180 correspondents worldwide.

WB supports Yemen with $194 million
Monday, 24-September-2007
almotamar.net – Yemen’s Deputy Premier, the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Abdulkarim Ismael al-Arhabi on Sunday said the World Bank (WB) allocated 98 million SDR, equaling $194 million for the fiscal year 2008 with an increase of $59 million compared with what was allocated for Yemen in the programme of country assistance.

Al-Arhabi mentioned the increase came as a reflection of the present development Yemen is witnessing in carrying out programmes of reform and the noticeable improvement that happened to the institutional performance.

The deputy premier added that the Ministry of Planning, in accordance of the new allocation rules in the WB, Yemen will receive half of the allocation in the form of a grant and the other half as a very easy loan. He affirmed that that forms an additional privilege for Yemen for the alleviation of the burdens of foreign loan services in the final years.

September 23, 2007 , Al-Sahwa- Military personnel carriers besieged Saturday the house of the Retiree Coordination Council chairman ,the brigade Nasser al-Nowba, and prevented scores of former soldiers from protesting.

RCC had called in a statement all army retirees in Aden province to protest peacefully before al-Nowba’s house. RCC’s statement regarded the sit-in as a protest against arrest of al-Nowba and Hassan Ba-Oam , Ahmed al-Kama who were arrested by security forces last month.

Amnesty International

Yemen: Further information on Incommunicado detention/Fear of torture/Medical concern
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 31/017/2007
04 September 2007

Further Information on UA 198/07 (MDE 31/009/2007, 3 August 2007) and follow-up
(MDE 31/014/2007, 13 August 2007) – Incommunicado detention/Fear of
torture/Medical concern

YEMEN Brigadier Nasser al-Nouba (m), aged in his 50s
Nasser al-‘Awlaqi (m), aged about 40
‘Abbas al-‘Assal (m), aged 42

New names: Ahmed ‘Omar bin Farid (m)
Ahmed al-Qama’a (m)
Hassan Ba’oom (m)
Fadi Ba’oom (m), son of Hassan Ba’oom
Mohsin al-Yazidi (m)

Brigadier Nasser al-Nouba, Ahmed ‘Omar bin Farid and Ahmed al-Qama’a were
arrested on 2 September after taking part in a protest by retired soldiers in
Liberty Square, in central Aden, on 1 September. Hassan Ba’oom, his son Fadi Ba’
oom, and Mohsin al-Yazidi were arrested on 1 September following a related
protest in the city of al-Mukalla in south-east Yemen. According to information
received by Amnesty International, Hassan Ba’oom was beaten during his arrest,
though there is no further news on his health. The men are held incommunicado
and are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

The protests in Aden and al-Mukalla were staged by former soldiers, who were
complaining that their pension payments had not been made, or had been severely
delayed. Brigadier Nasser al-Nouba, Ahmed ‘Omar bin Farid and Ahmed al-Qama’a
were among scores of people arrested on 2 August after taking part in a similar
protest. They and most other detainees were released without charge after a few
days in detention. Nasser al-’Awlaqi and ‘Abbas al-’Assal are thought to remain
held incommunicado without charge after their arrest in August. (Read on …)

Poverty causes the high rate of child labor which keeps kids out of school.

News Yemen

The report, released by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, has said that poverty is the key factor of child labor aggravation in Yemen. The report said that children of poor families continue compulsorily working to cover some of their families’ needs. It expected that the phenomenon will remain as long as poverty remains….

The report has also pointed that Yemen has five million illiterate children as the rate of illiteracy in the country is still high, 78 percent, according to the report. It has recommend the government’s education programs to give priority to children under 15 years.

Yemen Times: Al-Dhalie, Aden, Hajja, Taiz, Lahj

SANA’A, September 23 — Hundreds of military and civil pensioners staged a protest in Aden on Sunday, in solidarity with the head of the coordinating council for military pensioners associations Brig. Nasser Al-Nawbah, who is now in prison. The protest took place despite heavy security forces, who tried to disperse the protestors, in vain.

Al-Nawbah was arrested in his home because of his leadership role in the protests taking place in southern governorates since the beginning of this year. Because of his rank, he will be receiving a military trial.

In order to mitigate the situation, President Saleh met end of last week with around 850 officers reinstated recently in their military units. He directed concerned authorities to reinstate all officers suspended from work following 1994 war, while the absence period is calculated as part of service and they will be granted the deserved promotions, bonuses, etc. (Read on …)

Quite correct. Hundreds of men remain in jail on suspicion of having sympathy with the Houthis. Some are boys. None have been charged. Many have been in jail since prior to the resumption of hostilities in January 2007. Their continued detention violates the cease fire agreement negotiated by Qatar in June, and the terms of the prior mediation in 2006.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Dignity Organization for Human Rights has appealed to what it has identified as “field team in-charge of arbitrary arrests” to release 37 detainees including juveniles arbitrarily arrested and detained for a year in al-Noseirya central prison in Hajja.

The Geneva-based organization said in the appeal that the Political Security’s intelligence arrested the detainees and put them in prison without applying legal measures in such cases.

It said that all detainees, who are from Hajja or live there, belong to the Zaidi sect. It said they have been arrested after events in Saada.

“During miserable events in Saada, tens of people were killed in armed confrontations between the state army and followers of Badraddin al-Houthi, one of Zaidi religious figures, who led a rebellion against the Yemeni government and raised slogans against America and was killed in September 2004. according to some sources, one thousand people have been arrested before, during and after those events,” said the organization.

“Many are still in prison after the detention which violated approved legal measures. Some detainees have spent 18 months term like Abdul-Rahman Mohammad al-Abali, case number 36 years, Ali Jaber Ali Masheeb, case number 37,” it said.

Most impressive is that some juveniles, two at 15 years and others at 17 and 18 years, are among detainees at the same prison with adults and suffering the same conditions, said the organization’s appeal.
It said that detainees are accused of having links to al-Houthi or showing sympathy with him.
But their families confirm that the main reason behind the arrests is that they belong to al-Zaidi sect or to tribes that offered support to al-Houthi, it said.

It said that those arrested without a judicial order have not been subjected to any judicial measures so they are not legally charged. It said some of those detainees have been arrested after they responded to calls by security to surrender and some have been raided by Political Security. It said that some sheikhs in the region have eased the arrests due to personal disputes with those detainees.

Abdul-Rahman Abdullah Siba’a was handed over to security by a tribal sheikh called Meshhel, who had personal difference with Siba’a, under the pretext he belongs to al-Houthi, said the organization.

It said that detainees have been subjected to beating and torture during secret investigations. It said that detainees live bad conditions in prison and that some are suffering diseases like malaria and need for urgent medical check. It added that detainees could not get an access to lawyers until now and their families could not visit them.

This is violation of international legal measures, the civil and political rights convention Yemen signed in 9 February 1987 and the international anti-torture convention Yemen singed in 5 October 1991, said the organization.
The organization has urged the team of arbitrary detentions to reconsider the issue of those detainees and to immediately intervene with the Yemeni government to settle the issue and get them released or put under legal protection.

State Dept

Although relations among religious groups continued to contribute to religious freedom, there were some reports of societal abuses and discrimination based on religious belief or practice. There were isolated attacks on Jews and some prominent Zaydi Muslims felt targeted by government entities for their religious affiliation. Government military reengagement in the Saada governorate caused political, tribal, and religious tensions to reemerge in January 2007, following the third military clash with rebels associated with the al-Houthi family, who adhere to the Zaydi school of Shi’a Islam.

Not just prominent Zaidis

During the reporting period, the Government engaged in efforts to ease religious tension between it and some members of the Zaydi-Shi’a establishment; however, public tension reemerged in January 2007, most notably in the media, as a result of government action against the al-Houthi group’s armed insurrection. The Government maintains that the al-Houthis are adherents of Twelver Shi’ism, a variant of Shi’ism which differs from that of the country’s predominant Zaydi-Shi’a. The al-Houthis and the Shabab follow the teachings of the late rebel cleric Hussein Badr Eddine al-Houthi, who was killed during a ten-week rebellion that he led in June 2004 against the Government in Saada. Some Zaydis reported harassment and discrimination by the Government because they were suspected of sympathizing with the al-Houthis. However, it appears the Government’s actions against the group were probably politically, not religiously, motivated.

Government actions to counter an increase in political violence in Saada restricted some practice of religion. In January 2007, for the third year, the Government banned the celebration of Ghadeer Day (a holiday celebrated by Shi’a Muslims) in parts of the Saada governorate. During the reporting period, the Government also reportedly intensified its efforts to stop the growth of the al-Houthis’ popularity by limiting the hours that mosques were permitted to be open to the public. The Government closed down what it claimed to be extremist Shi’a religious institutes, reassigning imams who were thought to espouse radical doctrine, and increasing surveillance of mosque sermons. The Government abolished the Zaydi-affiliated al-Haq political party in March 2007, reportedly for not meeting political party law requirements. Many members of the party, however, believed the party was inappropriately dissolved because of its links to the al-Houthis and Shabab movement.

During the reporting period, the Government continued its efforts to prevent the politicization of mosques and schools, and to curb extremism, and increase tolerance. The Government’s efforts concentrated on monitoring mosques for sermons that incite violence or other political statements that it considered harmful to public security. Private Islamic organizations could maintain ties to international Islamic organizations; however, the Government sporadically monitored their activities through the police and intelligence authorities.

During the reporting period, the Government also continued efforts to close unlicensed schools and religious centers. By the end of the period covered by this report, more than 4,500 unlicensed religious schools and institutions were closed. The Government expressed concern that these schools deviated from formal educational requirements and promoted militant ideology. The Government also deported some foreign students found studying in unlicensed religious schools. The Government prohibited private and national schools from teaching courses outside of the officially approved curriculum. The purpose of these actions was to curb ideological and religious extremism in schools.

There were reports that both the Ministry of Culture and the Political Security Office (PSO) monitored and sometimes removed books that espoused Zaydi-Shi’a Islamic doctrine from store shelves after publication. There were also credible reports from Zaydi scholars and politicians that authorities banned the publishing of some materials that promoted Zaydi-Shi’a Islam. The Government denied that the media was subject to censorship by any security apparatus.

During the reporting period, security officials arbitrarily arrested and detained some individuals suspected of proselytizing. There was also a credible newspaper report that claimed security officials harassed and detained a Muslim carrying missionary publications in Taiz. Unconfirmed reports attributed such incidents to followers of conservative Salafi Islamic doctrine within the security apparatus.

Since 2001 the Government has detained several hundred Islamists who returned to Yemen from Afghanistan and/or Iraq “for questioning.” Although most persons were released within days, some reportedly continued to be detained beyond the maximum detention period as terrorist or security suspects.

In May 2006 President Saleh pardoned two imams, Yahia Hussein al-Dailami, who was sentenced to death, and Muhammed Ahmad Miftah, who was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. The two were originally convicted of establishing contacts with Iran for the purpose of harming the country. The two men publicly opposed the Government’s action in Saada and formed the Sana’a Youth Organization, a Zaydi religious-based group that supported the al-Houthis. Both men maintained that they only advocated peaceful dissent against government action in Saada.

During the same month, the Government released more than 200 al-Houthi rebel detainees in an amnesty. It was unclear how many of those detained participated in the renewed March 2005 rebellion against the Government. Although some of those detained were held for their support of the al-Houthis’ religious teachings, the arrests appeared to have been more politically than religiously motivated.

Religiously motivated violence was neither incited nor tolerated by the Islamic clergy, except for a small, politically motivated clerical minority, often with ties to foreign extremist elements.

During the reporting period, there were sporadic reports of violence initiated by Salafi elements attempting to take control of moderate and Sufi mosques around the country. There were also unconfirmed reports that followers of Ismaili Islamic teachings were occasionally harassed and forbidden entry to mosques affiliated with Salafi followers.

Yemen on the Brink of Civil War?

Tensions simmering since the Yemeni civil war in 1994 have flared into violence that may engulf the nation.

“We want equal rights,” retired Brigadier General Ali Moqbel stated. The simple declaration expressed the sentiment of tens of thousands of Yemenis who have repeatedly clashed with security forces in Aden, Makallah, Dahlie and other towns in southern Yemen since the spring.

General Moqbel organized and leads the Yemeni Retired Military Consultive Association (MCRA), an association of “retired” former Southern military officers. “The goal of the MCRA,” Muqbel said, “is to return all southerners to their previous employment in the same positions, both civilians and soldiers, who were referred to retirement after the war in 1994,”

The northern Yemeni Arab Republic (YAR) and southern People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) unified in 1990 to form the Republic of Yemen. After southern forces were vanquished in Yemen’s civil war in 1994, the ruling northern elite treated the south as the spoils of war. The following decade perceived by many Southerners as occupation not unity, and characterized by institutionalized discrimination, engineered poverty, widespread looting and political exclusion.

A Decade of Inequality?

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s victorious northern regime discharged well over 100,000 southern military and civil workers after the civil war. The southern protesters charge it was an illegal and punitive measure. Regime officials termed it as bureaucratic streamlining. The pensioners allege their pensions are lower than their northern counterparts, below a sustenance level and contravene national law.

“All of our achievements in the South were lost upon unity which was announced May 22, 1990. We demand compensation for all persons without exception who sustained material losses at the hands of the state during these years,” Moqbel explained

The MCRA began peaceful demonstrations in Aden last May. The movement spread to Makallah, Dhalie and other cities. In August, security forces arrested several hundred protesters in Aden, prompting more demonstrations, which were countered with live fire. Three people were killed, scores were injured and rioting ensued. Protesters blockaded roads and sympathetic tribesmen seized governmental oil tankers.

Twenty of the protesters will be charged with treason, a death penalty offense, the Defense Ministry announced. Movement leader Brigadier General Naser al-Noba and the head of the Nasserite Unionist Party in Hadrmout have both been arrested. Protests are ongoing throughout the southern governorates.

Dr. Abdullah Al-faqih, Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department of Sana’a University traced the unrest to the south’s political and social exclusion after the civil war. He noted that because of the former PDRY’s Marxist economic system, “Southern Yemenis were totally dependent on the state. The situation continued up to 1995 when economic reforms in the unified Republic of Yemen began,” Dr.Al-faqih explained.

“While the northerners accustomed to the dynamics of a free market economy were able to survive to some extent, the southerners found themselves living on the margins of the national economy. In fact, the economic system became something resembling a colonial economy where the purchasing power and the economic benefits follow one direction—from the south to the north.”

Heated Rhetoric

The exploitation of the PDRY after the civil war was a “red line” for years in Yemen, a known but unspeakable truth. However, some of the protesters are openly calling for the succession. In response, the head of Saleh’s dominant General People’s Congress Party, Abdel Kader Bajammal, said, “I will arm the people to face them (secessionists). For the sake of the state and its unity we will re-introduce weapons to confront those corrupt people,” to the Emirati paper Al-Khaleej. Yemeni governmental media have described the 1994 war as an “apostate” war.

Responding to the protests, President Saleh formed a committee which returned hundreds of former soldiers to their posts; however tens of thousands were not. Instead the government announced it will reinstate the draft. Saleh recently called the protests, “a tempest in a teapot.”

Yemeni officials have blamed the opposition parties for exploiting the pensioners issue for partisan ends. Yemen’s next parliamentary election is scheduled for 2009. Regime official have also warmed that external forces are encouraging the unres,t a charge not without merit. The Yemeni Southern Democratic Conference (TAJ), an opposition group in the UK, declared “(TAJ) is determined to confront these bloody crimes with further escalation of struggle towards the full civil disobedience until we inflict the overwhelming defeat to the criminal dictator and assassin, the Yemeni president Saleh.”

National Challenges

Perched at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen is one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations. Mountains, beaches, historical sites and unique architecture make Yemen one of the most world’s beautiful nations. It is also one the world’s poorest, outside of sub-Saharan Africa. Unemployment is high. Medical and educational facilities, where available, are largely dilapidated. Only half the nation receives intermittent electricity. Half have access to clean water.

Yemen is one of the most water scarce nations in the world, another trigger for instability. The two million residents of Taiz city get public water every forty days. Other days, residents pay for their drinking water from private vendors. An August protest against high prices and governmental corruption in Taiz drew ten thousand who held aloft water bottles and bread.

Oil revenues account for 70% of governmental funds. However, Yemen’s oil is expected to deplete within a decade and production is down 42% in 2007 from 2006 levels. Much of the government budget is dedicated to military spending. A significant portion is lost to corruption.

The word “kleptocracy” was invented to describe Yemen and is aptly defined as “government by, for and of thieves”. Yemen is firmly in the grip of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. His relatives lead the military and security forces, another trigger for instability. Giant posters of Saleh adorn the streets and shops of Yemen’s cities. Also omnipresent is a network of regime informants and security thugs who are believed to regularly target regime critics, activists and journalists.

A Yemeni editor described the key to Saleh’s longevity. “To preserve the loyalty of tribal leaders and senior military commanders, Saleh kept on ignoring many of their ill practices. Saleh has been busy pleasing his cronies with the country’s wealth and senior positions just to remain in power for as long as possible.”

The future of Yemen

Yemen’s use of using the courts, the media and the security forces to repress its citizens may trigger a civil war as the public loses hope in gaining equality through peaceful means. One Southern columnist wrote in the Yemen Times, “The use of force against protestors in Aden was not for the sake of protecting the National Unity. Instead, the force was used to protect and harbor the acts of lootings that have been so far exercised by influential persons in the southern governorates since the 1994 Civil War… Searching (for) rule of the law, the protestors faced rule of the tank standing in their way to claim their legal rights.”

At one extreme, President Saleh may declare a state of emergency and largely suspend civil rights. At the other is reform. “Only profound reforms can save Yemen from descending into a total chaos similar to that experienced by Somalia and Lebanon before that,” Dr. Al-faqih remarked. And several cabinet ministers and their staffs have undertaken authentic measures to combat corruption and increase government efficiency. However the lack of intra-governmental cooperation and the counter-veiling weight of the powerful corrupt limit the ability of even the earnest patriot.

Moreover, reform in Yemen is often a show of style over substance. An electoral reform measure decreed that the electoral commission overseeing elections would henceforth be selected by President Saleh; previously commission members were nominated by the parties to the election. Like other measures, the “reform” further concentrates authority in the executive and ruling party.

President Saleh recently announced that governors, whom he currently appoints, will in the future be elected by the (GPC dominated) local councils. However direct gubernatorial elections, with strict two year term limits, could go a long way in reducing tensions in Yemen, by enhancing political pluralism and enfranchising a vast portion of the Yemeni public who currently have little way to impact their political system and hold government officials accountable for their actions and inactions.

A related concern is the decentralization of security forces. Likewise direct control of local budgets and increased fiscal transparency would likely bring tangible benefits to each governorate. The Yemeni public has participated in numerous Parliamentary, Presidential and local elections, garnering praise from international and local observers for their political maturity. There is little reason to withhold direct gubernatorial elections, beyond fear of the results they may bring.

Thats good news.

7000 pieces of weapons seized and prevented in 20 days
Friday, 14-September-2007
almotamar.net – A security source at the interior ministry of Yemen affirmed Friday that the ongoing campaign on weapons in the capital Sana’a and provincial capitals had led to curb the acts of land illegal seizure by 80% since the beginning of the interior ministry application of its decision of preventing entrance of weapons to Sana’a and provincial capitals on 23 of last August. (Read on …)

First of all, several people have been killed and it is just unseemly for a president to be so dismissive.

Second of all, the regime’s inability to reconsile with its former opponants is an ongoing problem.

On the third hand, Saleh is correct in saying the events of today echo those before 1994 war, and now as then, the ruling party is facing legitimate grievences with force and propaganda. He says the problem is solved. Wow. Somebody needs to tell the security forces that.

‘No need for demonstration and marches’ as Yemeni president calls for unity
Gulf News

Sana’a: President Ali Abdullah Saleh urged all Yemenis to protect the national unity and stand up against any activities harmful to it.

In a speech on the occasion of Ramadan, Saleh said “fabricated crisis” would never harm the unity.

He said that the recent demonstrations are similar to the crisis that preceded the civil war in 1994.

“Fabrication of crisis similar to those of 1993 and 1994, with the same trend, mechanism and strength, do not serve the national interest and social tranquillity and national unity. The nation belongs to all of us and we all are responsible for it,” said Saleh in reference to protests in the south where demonstrators demanded better living conditions.

Saleh said the demonstrations were only “tempest in a teapot”.

“There is no need for demonstrations and marches which are not more than than a meaningless tempest in a teapot.

“There is no worry from them especially after the problem of retired people was solved and after issuance of instructions to treat unsolved problems of the 1994 war with regard to the retired people,” Saleh said.
(Read on …)

How totally absurd when every branch is headed by a close personal relative of President Saleh

Security:

Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, Special Forces and Republican Guards Commander, is the eldest Son of Saleh

Yahya Mohamed Abdullah Saleh, Commander Of Security Central Forces, is Saleh’s nephew.

Colonel Tareq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, Commander of the Special Guards, nephew

Colonel Amar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh , Chairman of the National Security Organisation, nephew

Military:

Brigadier General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, commander of the north western military zone, is the cousin of President Saleh.

Brigadier General Mohamed Saleh Al-Ahmar, commander of the Air Force, is President Saleh’s half brother.

Colonel Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, commander of the Republican Guards and commander of the Special Forces, is the son of Saleh.

Brigadier General Ali Saleh Al-Ahmar, chief of staff of the general command is the half brother of President Saleh.

Brigadier General Mehdi Makwala, commander of the southern military zone, is from Saleh’s village, Sanhan, as is Brigadier General Mohammed Ali Mohsen, Commander of the Eastern Military Zone.

Who heads the Air Force?

Nepotism in the leadership of the military and security forces is perhaps the most destabilizing factor in Yemen bacause they are partisan and have little command and control.

Abdulmalik al-Fohidy Almotamar.net – Statements and stands of the parties of the Joint Meeting (JMP) and their leaderships towards the military and security establishment arouse fears of the political vision those parties bear for this national establishment.

Fears increase alongside with escalation of hostile campaign the JMP launch against this establishment, a campaign which began even before the presidential and local elections held in Yemen last year and has been highly escalated in the recent months.

The JMP hostile stances towards the military and security establishment reached an extent that it leaderships decline from attending military and security activities as happened last week when they did not attend a graduation ceremony batches from the military academy. They have taken that stance despite the fact that the law prohibits party action inside the military and security establishment as well as statements and stands of the political leadership that repeatedly affirm that the military and security establishment is the homeland party. (Read on …)

The Public Works Ministry had a re-shuffle in July and implemented some measures to thwart contractor corruption. Which of course is excellent and shows how some of the Cabinet Ministers are really trying to make a positive change. However their efforts are often diminished by the lack of cooperation from other ministries and of couse, ye old influential persons.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Minister of Public Works Omar al-Korshomi has stated his ministry is preparing to set up 2500 housing units and 298 blocks with a cost estimated over USD 16 billion.

He said the project, to be implemented in five years, targets the needy and limited-income people and solving the housing problem in the country.

The Al-Ekariya magazine said that the ministry is planning to construct 298 buildings in the capital Sana’a, Hadramout, Aden, Hodeidah and Taiz with a total cost as much as $12 billion for 4768 limited income families. Every building will be consisted of four floors containing four apartments in each, said the magazine.

The magazine said the families could own the apartments and pay back for the apartments during 15 to 20 years.

According to al-Korshomi, the 2500 housing units, of more than $3 billion, will be distributed for needy families in Haradh and Abs cities of Hajjah governorate, Bajil city in Hodeidah, in addition to Aden, Sana’a, Taiz and Hadramout.

The General Corporation for Social Insurances said it has prepared plans and proposals to invest the insurances surplus in establishing housing units in Aden, Sana’a, Taiz, Hodeidah and Hadramout after directions of president Saleh and a decision by the cabinet in this regard.

These unemployment figures seem a tad understated, bringing into question all the official figures, like the fisheries.

Under-employment is also an issue in Yemen.

Yemen Observer

Officials from the Ministry of Planning estimate that the unemployment rate in Yemen has risen to around 17 percent, up slightly from the 16.3 percent recorded in the 2004 census results of the total labor force. It is highest among women, at 39.5 percent compared to 13.1 percent among men.

Yemen’s labor force is estimated at around 4.1 million people. The large unemployment rate is one of the main challenges to development, according to the Ministry of Planning. Particularly, when taking into account that the population is growing by 3.5 percent per year and that Yemen is rapidly depleting its limited natural resources.

“In Yemen, as in many other developing countries, unemployment is synonymous with poverty. The unemployed are poor because they don’t get a penny from the government las is the case in developed countries,” said Executive Director of the General Union of the Chamber of Commerce Dr. Mohammed al-Maitami….. (Read on …)