US State Dept Report on Human Rights in Yemen
This report has really gotten much more accurate in the last five years.
US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices Yemen Summary:
Significant human rights problems persisted. There were limitations on citizens’ ability to change their government due to corruption, fraudulent voter registration, and administrative weakness. There were reports of arbitrary and unlawful killings by government forces, politically motivated disappearances, and torture in many prisons. Prolonged pretrial detention, judicial weakness and fiat, serious corruption, and poor prison conditions were also problems. During the year excessive government force was reportedly used against participants in public demonstrations. Arbitrary arrest and detention and other abuses increased, particularly of individuals with suspected links to the Zaydi Shia al-Houthi movement in and around the northern governorate of Saada and to the series of political demonstrations in Lahj governorate in the southern part of the coutnry.International humanitarian groups estimated that in the summer there were as many as 75,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of the Saada conflict. By the end of the year, about 6,000 persons were living in refugee camps in Saada. Academic freedom was restricted. Restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, and peaceful assembly increased, and harassment and intimidation of journalists and oppositionists continued. Pervasive and significant discrimination against women continued to occur, as did child labor and child trafficking. The right of workers to associate was also restricted.
Its very good. They nailed it. Some of what may seem to be under-reporting on the number of people killed or arrested probably results when the USG is unable to verify the reporting, and not a deliberate error as some habitually suggest. This is why its important to document abuses with dates, names and places, not poetry.
The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the government generally did not observe these prohibitions. Enforcement of the law was irregular and in some cases, particularly those involving suspected security offenses, was nonexistent. Ouch!
The True, Sad and Bizarre:
-Other unauthorized private prisons reportedly existed at the National Drug Company, the Yemen Television Corporation, the MOI, and the Ministry of Religious Guidance.
-According to HRW, among those released in August are former mediation committee member Shaikh Salih al-Wajman, who had been jailed at the MOI for two years…
-In June 2007 the government suspended the text message news service sponsored by Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC). The head of WJWC, Tawwakul Karman, unsuccessfully appealed the decision. The government instead suspended all text message news services, eventually restoring all except those of WJWC and the Islah-affiliated Nass Mobile Service. Karman staged sit-ins throughout the summer of 2007 in an attempt to overturn the ruling.At year’s end WJWC’s news text message service remained suspended, despite a parliamentary order allowing it to be reestablished, according to WJWC.
-There were no new government cloned newspapers during the year.
-On March 30, a sit-in in Dhale’ of more than 200 young men protesting the lack of acceptance of southerners into military service was broken up by security authorities with live bullets and tear gas.
-(This is a first for the report I think.) After the 1994 civil war, the northern government forced thousands of southern military and civilian officials to retire. These individuals have continued to demand reintegration compensation and other redress and were especially active in 2007. Their movement expanded throughout the year with significant southern political support.
- The MSAL also refused to register Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) or HOOD, both NGOS that were often critical of the government.
-Unlike the four previous years, the government allowed the people of Saada to celebrate Ghadeer Day, a holiday celebrated by some Shia. However, media outlets reported that government officials used the occasion to arrest individuals allegedly associated with the Houthis.
-(This has been irking me since 2005. Somethings are hard to wrap your head around as an American, forced conversion among them.) The government also… reassigned some imams who were thought to espouse Shia ideology or Zaydi doctrine, replacing them with Shafi’i or Salafi preachers—There were credible reports that authorities banned publishing of some materials that promoted Zaydi-Shiite Islam. (But but but, President Saleh is a Zaidi! I’m joking, people used to tell me the targeting of Hashemites was impossible becasue Saleh is a Zaidi.)
-Local NGOs also alleged that deceased citizens were registered as voters.
-The headquarters of the Union for Popular Forces was seized by armed men and the party was forcibly recreated under dubious circumstances.
-Many government officials received salaries for jobs they did not perform or multiple salaries for the same job.
-The rape victim was often prosecuted on charges of fornication after the perpetrator was set free…According to the law, a woman may not refuse sexual relations with her husband; accordingly, spousal rape is not criminalized.
-The MOHR announced in April 2007 it was launching a nationwide hotline to receive complaints on abuses of human rights; it was unclear how many domestic violence cases the MOHR hotline received. Hotline service was interrupted due to technical difficulties.
-(Exactly!) The MOI and PSO tolerated and unofficially facilitated prostitution and sex tourism through corruption for financial and operational gain.
-Most women had little access to basic health care.
-The government lacked the political will and necessary resources to ensure adequate education, health care, and welfare services for children.
-Women’s groups reported FGM rates as high as 90 percent in some coastal areas, such as Mahara and Hodeida
-Two inflammatory government newspapers, Al Dostor and Akhbar Al Youm, continuously published propaganda for the purpose of slander and incitement to discrimination or violence.
- CHF 2007 estimated that approximately 52 percent of male children between the ages of 10 and 14 were in the workforce, compared to 48 percent of female children in the same age group.
-Local observers reported that half or more of the fighters involved in armed conflict between the al-Osaimat and Harf Sufian tribes in Amran governorate, which broke out in November, were boys ranging from 12 to 15 years of age.
Really a good report, comprehensive and accurate.
If I was going to pick, the only thing I could say is the internet section could have been a little more detailed. There’s over 40 blocked political websites and many online journalists harrassed. The following is not entirely correct but its the UNHCR’s report: Some IDPs were able to return to their homes, but thousands remained in camps for fear of retaliation from the al-Houthi rebels, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). But all in all, they covered all the topics rather well.
