Armies of Liberation

Niiiiice, long time friend of this website, Yemen and me personally, Naser al Weddady gets a nice write up in the Atlantic recognizing his work and his amazing contribution to supporting freedom and civil rights in some of the darkest corners of earth, the Middle East. Naser helped me a lot with strategy, advice and moral support for both of the campaigns for al Khaiwani (2005, 2008) and his door is always open when I’m confused (or furious). A very smart guy, Nasser is dedicated to changing the world and is actually doing it. Read it all at the Atlantic.

Thats funny, so I thought maybe I should stop gushing about Naser for a minute and read the entire article (I got the link off twitter) before I posted it and there I was too:

Testifying to the global reach of the cyber activists, Jane Novak, a New Jersey housewife, has established herself as a highly-regarded source on all things Yemen, even, at one point, consulting with the U.S. State Department. Her Twitter feed and blog, armiesofliberation.com, are consulted by activists and journalists. She is well-known among policy makers, activists and reporters in the country’s besieged capital, Sana’a. And she has never been to Yemen.

“She doesn’t speak a word of Arabic, she hasn’t set foot in the Middle East, but she still became an authority,” Weddady says. He claims her influence helped secure the 2008 release of Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khawaini, who had been convicted of defaming President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

To clarify, I gave a 2008 presentation at the Carnegie Institute, at the invitation of State, on media repression in Yemen. I said many of the attacks on press freedom are retribution for journalists who exposed mass corruption at the highest levels of the US allied Saleh regime.

Its funny that Naser describes the fact that I don’t speak Arabic or visit Yemen in a positive light, when the na-na-nana-na crowd always tries to use it to depreciate my work and me personally. My ten thousand Yemeni friends don’t hold it against me though.

Yemen’s Theater of the Absurd: The regime pays al-Qaeda to cause trouble, bringing more international aid to the regime, my article at PJM. Here it is in Arabic at Mareb Press.

My article from PJM at al Mostakela:

اوباما يفقد السيطرة على اليمن

تخاطر الولايات المتحدة بتمكين القاعدة في اليمن وتنفير الشعب اليمني عن طريق إحباط تغيير النظام هناك

كتبت – جين نوفاك

يعتبر اليمن بلد معقد، فقد ظل يرزح تحت وطأة اضطرابات كبيرة، كما أن فهم اليمن يخبرنا الشيء الكثير عن الشرق الأوسط المعاصر، والسياسة الخارجية لإدارة اوباما، واتجاه “الربيع العربي”.

فبينما يعتقد الأمريكيون أن السياسات الأخيرة لحكومتهم وقيادتهم قد جعلت الولايات المتحدة أكثر شعبية في المنطقة [الشرق الأوسط]، إلا أن الحقيقة – كما أظهرتها صناديق الاقتراع- هي عكس ذلك بشكل عام.

تكمن سياسة إدارة أوباما في دعم الديكتاتورية القائمة هناك أو على الأكثر مساندة تغيير شكلي في النظام، وفي هذا المنوال تساءلت صحيفة الصحوة الأسبوعية التابعة للمعارضة اليمنية بالقول: “لماذا أمريكا صامتة عن استخدام قوات مكافحة الإرهاب ضد الشعب اليمني؟”

انه سؤال جيد. فمنذ شهر فبراير، تحولت الاحتجاجات الشبابية في اليمن إلى ثورة أجيال على طول البلاد وذلك من أجل إسقاط الرئيس علي عبدالله صالح وكل أقربائه، بعد ثلاثة وثلاثين عاماً من تولي السلطة. قال المحتجون إنهم يريدون مجلساً انتقالياً مدنياً ليشرف على دستور جديد وانتخابات عادلة، وتحقيق غايتهم القصوى في دولة ديمقراطية مدنية. وبالمقابل، قتلت قوات الأمن التابعة للدولة حوالي ألف مدني في كل أنحاء اليمن.

رأي توماس كراجسي، سفير سابق للولايات المتحدة في اليمن، سياسة بلاده كما يلي: “إن علي عبدالله صالح هو قناتنا الرئيسية لكل شيء نحاول فعله في اليمن”.

إن الهدف الأساسي للولايات المتحدة في اليمن هو التغلب على تنظيم القاعدة، وتعتقد إدارة أوباما أن صالح أو على الأقل جهازه، هو وحده القادر على فعل ذلك.

وهذا هو بالضبط النهج القاصر الرؤية الذي انتقده أوباما حينما عزاه للسياسات السالفة تجاه الشرق الأوسط. ففي ظل نظام صالح، نجد أن التعذيب منظم، والاختطافات السياسية شائعة، والقصف المدفعي بمثابة معالجة مستمرة للاحتجاجات المناوئة للنظام. كما نجد أن الفرص الاقتصادية، والسلطة السياسية والسلطة المحلية تتوفر فقط عبر العبور من بوابة صالح وأسرته. فالفساد ونهب عائدات النفط والمساعدات الدولية أنتج غياب شبه تام للخدمات الأساسية. فقد بلغ الجوع وشحة المياه سابقاً مستويات حرجة، وبينما توشك الأرضية الاقتصادية على الترنح، فالوضع أضحى سيئاً.

فبعد أن قتل قناصة 58 متظاهراً في شهر مارس، استقال الكثير من إدارة صالح، وطلوا الثورة بالزنك. فاللواء البغيض علي محسن الأحمر، قائد عسكري قوي والأخ غير الشقيق لصالح، أنزل الفرقة الأولى مدرع لحماية المحتجين، وعرض بأن يغادر البلد سوية مع صالح. وفي شهر مايو أعلن صادق الأحمر، أكبر شيخ لقبيلة الرئيس القوية “حاشد” عن دعمه للمعارضة، واصفاً صالح بالسفاح. وكان هذا بعد قيام قوات الأمن بإحراق عشرات من النائمين في الخيام حتى الموت.

تبرأت أحزاب اللقاء المشترك المعارض في البداية عن الثورة الوطنية وذلك خوفاً من انتقام النظام، ونتيجة للضغط الغربي، ومن أجل تعزيز الانشقاق بين المعارضة الرسمية والشباب الثائر.

وفي شهر يونيو، ضرب انفجار القصر الرئاسي مخلفاً إصابة الرئيس صالح بجروح بالغة. ابتهج الملايين عندما غادر صالح إلى السعودية لتلقي العلاج، مخمنين أنه لن يعود أبداً. ومع ذلك لا السعودية ولا الولايات المتحدة تريدان تغييراً كبيراً في البلاد، وهكذا صادقت إدارة أوباما على نائب الرئيس عبد ربه منصور هادي كقائد للمرحلة الانتقالية بالرغم أن هادي رفض تولي الرئاسة بحسب ما يستلزمه الدستور اليمني.

عارضت حكومة الولايات المتحدة مطلب المحتجين لتشكيل مجلس انتقالي، وعوضاً عن ذلك راحت لدعم خطة معيبة جداً صاغها مجلس التعاون الخليجي. وتدعو الخطة الخليجية إلى أن يسلم صالح السلطة إلى نائب له ويستقيل مقابل حصانة من المحاكمة. وتقترح حكومة وحدة وطنية من الحزب الحاكم المهيمن ومن أحزاب المعارضة غير الفاعلة (أحزاب اللقاء المشترك). ويتبع هذا النهج انتخابات سريعة قد تعيد ترسيخ نظام صالح. ووافق صالح ونكث عن موافقته ثلاث مرات. حيث استفاد من أسابيع من المفاوضات لإفراغ البنوك، وتهريب النفط، وإعادة مركزة قواته.

وبينما دعا حوالي نصف الحكومة ونصف الجيش ومعظم الشعب بتغيير النظام، ساندت الولايات المتحدة تذرع صالح بالشرعية في شهر مارس.

فالبيانات الصادرة عن الولايات المتحدة، على وجه الخصوص وزارة الخارجية تحث على الحوار بين الأحزاب السياسية لحل “الأزمة السياسية”.

خصص الرئيس اوباما سطراً واحداً لليمن في حديثه عن الشرق الأوسط في شهر مايو، حيث طلب من “صديقنا” صالح أن يمتثل لالتزامه بنقل السلطة. حذر مسئولو الولايات المتحدة خلال زيارة قاموا بها في شهر يوليو أحزاب اللقاء المشترك من توسيع الاحتجاجات أو تشكيل مجلس انتقالي. حيث حث فقط مسئولو إدارة اوباما صالح لأن يقبل بالمبادرة الخليجية، التي هي في الحقيقة تشير إلى التسامح نحو النظام.

إن مئات الملايين من الدولارات الخاصة بتمويل مكافحة الإرهاب المخصصة لليمن منذ 2006 تُدار من خلال ابن صالح وأبناء أخيه (مشهورون محلياً بـ البلاطجة الأربعة)، والذين يرأسون الأجهزة الأمنية ووحدات مكافحة الإرهاب، وقوات أخرى.

وهم الذين يسرقون المساعدات، حتى أنهم في أوقات يساعدون تنظيم القاعدة. فمنذ فبراير والبلاطجة الأربعة مشغولون جداً بمهاجمة الشعب اليمني، متظاهرين بتحدي القاعدة. فبعد تحذير من سيطرة القاعدة، سحبت الدولة قوات من أبين وتحركت القاعدة بسرعة للسيطرة على مدينة زنجبار. يجزم اليمنيون بشكل موحد من خلال واقع تناسق الأحداث بأن نظام صالح يحضا تاريخياً بعلاقات حميمة مع القاعدة.

وهكذا تهدف السياسية الأمريكية إلى الدفاع عن نظام قمعي فاسد وغير شعبي لأسباب هي أنه يساعد في مكافحة الإرهاب، والمشكلة أن النظام ليس فاعلاً في القيام بذلك.

كما أن السعوديون يدعمون النظام ويرونه بأنه متراس ضد المتمردين الحوثيين. والسخرية هي أنه بينما تحضا القاعدة بدعم شعبي قليل جداً في اليمن، نجد أن سياسات الولايات المتحدة والسعودية قد تنتهي إلى تقوية مطالبة جماعة القاعدة والأراضي التي تسيطر عليها، وذلك من خلال تدمير أي بديل سياسي، ودعم الحكومة التي هي في الحقيقة لا تحارب القاعدة.

“By thwarting regime change in Yemen, the United States risks empowering al-Qaeda and alienating a nation,” my article at PJM.

Yemen is a complex country that has been under considerable turbulence. Yet understanding Yemen tells us a great deal about the contemporary Middle East, Obama administration foreign policy, and the direction of the “Arab Spring.”

While Americans may think that their government’s recent policies and leadership have made the United States more popular in the region, the truth — as polls show — is generally the opposite. Obama administration policy is to support the existing dictatorship or at most to back a relatively cosmetic change in the regime. Thus, the Yemeni opposition weekly al Sahwa asked, “Why is America silent about the use of `counter-terror’ forces against the Yemeni people?”

It’s a good question. Since February, youth protests in Yemen morphed into a nationwide and intergenerational revolution to overthrow President Ali Abdullah Saleh and all his relatives, after 33 years in office. Protesters said they wanted a civilian interim council to oversee a new constitution and fair elections, with the ultimate goal of achieving a civil democratic state. In response, state security forces have murdered nearly 1,000 citizens around the country.

Thomas Krajeski, former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, summed up the policy as follows: “Ali Abdullah Saleh is our main conduit to everything we are trying to do in Yemen.” The U.S.’s primary goal in Yemen is to vanquish al-Qaeda. And the Obama administration believes that Saleh, or at least his apparatus, is best able to do that.

This is precisely the short-sighted approach that Obama has criticized when attributing it to predecessors’ policies in the Middle East. Under Saleh’s regime, torture is systemic, political kidnapping common, and artillery fire a frequent remedy to anti-regime sentiment. Economic opportunity, political power, and local authority are available only through access to Saleh and his family. Corruption and embezzlement of oil revenues and international aid mean a near absence of basic services. Water scarcity and hunger were already at critical levels, but as the economy ground nearly to a halt, things are even worse.

After snipers killed 58 demonstrators in March, much of the Saleh administration resigned, galvanizing the revolution. The unsavory General Ali Mohsen al Ahmar, a powerful military commander and Saleh’s half brother, brought the First Armored Division to Sanaa to protect the protesters and offered to leave the country alongside Saleh. In May, after dozens sleeping in tents were burned to death by security forces, Sadiq al-Ahmar, paramount sheikh of Saleh’s powerful Hasid tribe, announced his support for the opposition, calling Saleh a butcher.

The opposition Joint Meeting of Parties (JMP) initially disavowed the national uprising in fear of regime reprisal and due to Western pressure, reinforcing the schism between the formal opposition and the revolutionary youth.

In June, an explosion rocked the presidential palace leaving President Saleh severely injured. Millions rejoiced when Saleh flew to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, assuming he would never return. However neither the Saudis nor the United States want too much change. Thus, the Obama administration endorsed Vice President Mansour Hadi as interim leader although Hadi refuses to assume the presidency as required by the Yemeni constitution.

The U.S. government opposes the protesters’ demand for a transitional council and instead supports a deeply flawed plan drafted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The GCC plan calls for Saleh to pick his successor and resign in return for immunity from prosecution. It proposes a unity government of the hegemonic ruling party and ineffective opposition parties, the JMP. This approach followed by quick elections would re-entrench the Saleh regime. Saleh agreed and reneged three times, using weeks of negotiations to empty the banks, smuggle oil, and reposition troops. The protesters were incensed.

With nearly half the government and military and most of the public calling for regime change, in March, Saleh’s pretense of legitimacy was bolstered by U.S. statements and especially the State Department’s urging dialog among political parties to resolve the “political crisis.”

In his Middle East speech in May, President Obama devoted one line to Yemen, calling on “our friend” Saleh to follow through on his commitment to transfer power. During a July visit, U.S. officials warned the JMP against escalating protests or recognizing a transitional council. Obama administration officials merely meekly urge Saleh to accept the GCC deal, which in fact signals tolerance toward the regime.

The hundreds of millions of dollars in counter-terror funding allocated to Yemen since 2006 ran through Saleh’s son and nephews (known locally as the Four Thugs) who head the security services, counter-terror units, and other forces. The aid is stolen by them and at times they even help al-Qaeda. Since February, the Four Thugs are too busy attacking the Yemeni public to take on al- Qaeda. After warning of an al-Qaeda takeover, the state withdrew forces from Abyan and al-Qaeda quickly moved in to occupy Zinjibar City. Yemenis rather uniformly assert coordination of the events, as the Saleh regime historically has had cordial relations with al-Qaeda.

Thus, American policy is aimed at defending an unpopular, corrupt, and repressive system on the grounds that it helps combat al-Qaeda. The problem is that the regime is not effective in doing so.

The Saudis, too, support the regime, seeing it as a bulwark against Shia rebels. The irony is that while al-Qaeda has very little popular support in Yemen, the U.S and Saudi policies, by destroying any political alternative and backing a government that doesn’t really fight al-Qaeda, may end by strengthening that group’s appeal and the territory it controls.

Mostakela: :: آليات ما بعد ثورة اليمن ينبغي أن تبدأ محلياً
(ترجمه) الكاتبة الأمريكية نوفاك تبادر باقتراح آليات ما بعد الثورة
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2011-يونيو(حزيران)-19

آليات ما بعد ثورة اليمن ينبغي أن تبدأ محلياً

كتبت: جين نوفاك*- ترجمة خاصة بـ “يمنات”

المصدر: مدونة الكاتبة /ورد برس

بعد ثلاثة أشهر من الاحتجاجات الدامية، ما يزال ملايين من اليمنيين ثابتين في الشوارع على طول وعرض البلاد. إنهم يريدون رحيل صالح ونظامه بالكامل. اندلعت مصادمات في صنعاء بين القبائل المُعارضة والفصائل العسكرية، وبدأ الرئيس صالح بشن أعمال عدائية بعد حجز فريق واحد من الوسطاء، بمن فيهم سفير الولايات المتحدة، وقصف فريق آخر من الوسطاء أيضاً. كما أن رفض صالح قبول فرصة ذهبية قدمتها له دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي لم يكن مفاجئاً. فمن اليوم الأول للثورة، يدرك المحتجون أنه سيقاتل حتى آخر قطرة من دمه، وسوف يستخدم أي وسيلة لازمة من اجل بقائه على السلطة.

سينجح الشعب اليمني بالإطاحة بصالح. وبالتالي، يجب على هذا الجيل من الثوريين اليمنيين أن يبدؤوا في اليوم الذي يلي صالح بعمل شاق لبناء اليمن الديمقراطي المدني الذي يلبي مطالبهم. وما أن تنجح الثورة، يجب حمايتها. ولعل واحد من سبل حمايتها يكمن في توزيع السلطة على المستوى المحلي.

وفيما يلي جدول زمني بـ اثنا عشر شهر بعد رحيل الرئيس صالح من السلطة. ويهدف هذا الاقتراح إلى خلق آلية لتحقيق مطالب الشباب اليمني الثائر. وترتكز هذه الآلية على مبدأ الحقوق المتساوية لجميع اليمنيين، حيث يأخذ الاقتراح على عاتقه وجوب بناء هيكل الحكومة المؤقتة من الألف إلى الياء، مع تركيز مطرد على الاحتياجات الفردية لليمنيين. نظراً لأن عملية إعادة توازن السلطة تتطلب ألا تُسوى فقط بين التكتلات المختلفة ومراكز السلطة، بقدر ما تتطلب أن تُسوى بين الشعب وكافة مؤسساته. ذلك أن تحقيق المصير الوطني الشامل يكمن فقط في منح سلطات واسعة على الصعيد المحلي.
(Read on …)

I’m not in Yemen but as far as I can tell the rest of it is correct

Assafikr

أي أثر لمقتل بن لادن على الثورة اليمنية ونظام صالح؟

دنيز يمين
بعد استيعاب العالم صدمة تفجيرات واشنطن ونيويورك في 11 أيلول 2001، كان السؤال المصيري الأكثر إثارة للقلق «إلى أين يتجه العرب والغرب بعد الزلزال المدوّي الذي ترك بصماته عند كل مفصل في حياة العرب والمسلمين وغيّر معالم السياسة العالمية كلها؟». لم تتأخر الإجابة في الظهور بعدما فتح مخطط «الحرب على الإرهاب» الباب أمام الحكومات الغربية ـ الراعية لهذا المشروع والمشاركة فيه ـ لوضع كل القوى المنضوية تحت محور «ممانعة أميركا»، في قفص الاتهام ذاته، بعدما كان تصنيف «الإرهابي» مقترنا بعناصر تنظيم «القاعدة» فقط. أما اليوم، وقد تحقق الجزء الأهم من الـ«بروباغندا» الأميركية لـ«الحرب على الإرهاب» بمقتل زعيم
(Read on …)

Obama snubs Yemen protesters

Protesters in Yemen began a letter writing campaign today, directed toward US President Barak Obama. The protests that began in January seek the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Unlike in Egypt where protests were centered in the capital, in Yemen demonstrations broke out around the country and swelled to the millions with each passing week. On Friday, massive protests were held in 18 of 20 governorates around the country.

“Millions of Yemeni peaceful protesters are questioning the silence and the insubstantial announcements by some members of your administration and moreover, overt bias in favor of the Yemeni tyrant. The respected Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, announced publicly that protests in Yemen are an internal affair and the primary concern of the United States is instability and diversion of attention from dealing with AQAP… Yemeni women, men, children, and elders are all eager and confident that they will hear from you as the leader of the free world and that you will support their democratic goals now and in the future,” protesters wrote.

In public statements, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates repeatedly stressed the good relationship between the US and Saleh. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “The people of Yemen have the same rights as people anywhere, and we support dialogue as a path to a peaceful solution.” However, the protesters are demanding Saleh’s immediate resignation and the exclusion of his family members from positions of authority.

The US is lobbying to retain Saleh’s son and nephews who head the US trained counter-terror units. President Saleh is seeking immunity from future prosecution of his substantial financial crimes as well as crimes against humanity and other violations of international and Yemen law.

The US Ambassador to Yemen, Gerald Feierstein, has been negotiating between the state and opposition parties. However the opposition party coalition, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), is not the driving force behind the protests and did not join the protests until a month after they began. Protester leaders, representing groups from around the nation, have issued and re-issued their demands and even resorted to Youtube to send a message to the US ambassador in Yemen.

The protesters’ letter highlights their “aspirations to maintain universal values, and to elect a free and democratic government that will guard and respect the achievements and victories attained by the blood of the young martyrs fallen and slaughtered in the squares of freedom.”

State forces, in uniform and in plain clothes, have killed over 100 protesters and wounded hundreds others. Last Friday 53 demonstrators were killed, mostly by shots to the head, when snipers positioned on rooftops opened fire. Over 150 villagers were killed in Abyan this week when an unsecured ammunition factory exploded, an incident many in Yemen have tied to regime attempts to create chaos.

The slaughter, the broad national protests and mass defections from the Yemeni bureaucracy and military are clear indications of the illegitimacy of the Saleh regime, protesters assert. The transition plan calls for civilian leadership by an interim transitional council.

On Wednesday, Ambassador Feierstein said that the economic challenges facing the country are important as the current political challenges.

Indeed decades of corruption, embezzlement and mismanagement under the Saleh regime, and the diversion of revenue of natural resources and foreign aid, have brought Yemen to the brink of economic disaster. Wikileaks revealed that the US is aware that Saleh and members of his family are also engaged in regionally destabilizing criminal enterprises including large scale weapons smuggling. Drug smuggling, currency counterfeiting and human trafficking of women and children are other lucrative enterprises for the Saleh regime.

In 2010, Human Rights Watch called for a UN investigation into whether the actions of the Yemeni military during the Saada War violated international law. The state’s tactics included sustained bombardment of civilians, and the blockade of food, medicine and international aid, which constitute collective punishment the rights group asserted. Over 300,000 were displaced. Residents of Saada joined the national protests calling for a democratic state and have been demonstrating weekly.

Governments in the US, UK, Russia and others have urged their nationals to leave Yemen, as the state continues its indiscriminate violence toward the protest movement.

Yemen entered the fourth week of anti-regime protests with a late night onslaught of state violence against protesters at Sanaa University who were demanding the resignation of long-ruling president Field Marshall Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The attack began two hours ago when security forces opened fire on the protesters. Early conflicting reports indicate three have head wounds and died or are in very critical condition. Over 30 were wounded by gunfire and another 40 were injured after being beaten with clubs or choking on tear gas.

Several witnesses reported the medical professionals rushing to the scene were stopped by police. At the same time, the protesters appealed for blood donations and medical supplies via twitter stating several people are bleeding out near the gates of the university. Two medics were beaten by state security.

The crowd that gathered today, international Woman’s Day, had a larger number of women and girls than on prior days.

Witnesses said members of the Republican Guard opened fired along with Central Security forces. The Republican Guard is headed by President Saleh’s son Ahmed, and has received US counter-terror training, .The Central Security forces are under the command of President Saleh’s nephew.

The assault began late in the evening, about 11:00 as protesters were mostly hunkered down for the night or trying to set up new tents. Central Security officers were spotted removing their uniforms before entering the university square. The officers had arrived in government vehicles, witnesses report. The situation remains tense as it nears 1:00 am in Sanaa and the wounded have yet to receive treatment.

Widespread protests

The deaths in Sanaa were preceded by fatalities among protesters on Monday in outlying the provinces of Ibb, Aden, Dhamar when state forces opened fire on protesters. In Ibb over 70 were reported injured with bullet wounds at a protest that drew several hundred thousand. Protests have spread as far as Socotra Island. Sanhan, President Saleh’s home village was marked with anti-regime graffiti.

The war torn Saada province saw the resignation of Faris Manna from the ruling GPC party, the latest of over a dozen high profile allies to desert President Saleh. Manna, a long time regime ally, was the state’s mediator to the Houthi rebels. A major weapons dealer, Manaa was sanctioned by the UN in 2010 for smuggling arms to Somalia. Along with Manna, an estimated 300 ruling party officials also resigned leading to what a partisan site called “the emancipation of Saada from the corrupt regime.”

Military deploys in cities

The violence came after a meeting between Saleh and his relative, General Ali Mohsen al Ahmar, perhaps the most powerful man in the military. After the meeting last night, military units were deployed in Sanaa, Taiz and Aden today. Large scale protest were held in 12 provinces.

In Sanna, Al Masdar Online reported the “widespread and unprecedented presence of armored vehicles.” The day’s violence marked the first time soldiers had shot at the protesters in Sanaa. Previously the Saleh regime used paid thugs as deniable proxies as well as members of the security forces including the National Security.

Prison Riot

A riot at Sanaa Central Prison left at least three dead and four injured. Prisoners were chanting anti-government slogans, which led to an assault by guards. Authorities say they shot tear gas and fired over the inmates’ heads and acknowledge one prisoner was killed, but the prisoners report three fatalities and several serious injuries. The prison guards withdrew from the prison and are massed outside the gates along with security forces.

The prisoners have indicated they wished to make a peaceful surrender in a statement that read in part, “Prisoners of the Central Prison in Sana’a appeal to international organizations to intervene and save them from a real massacre which might take place today after guards retake control of the prison.”

Media Manipulation

The Yemeni state-owned ISP blocked al Masdar Online last week, the latest among dozens of independent Yemeni news websites to be blocked within Yemen. Internet access is strictly controlled by the state. Yemen Online was hacked by pro-regime operatives. Dozens of what appear to be government operatives have flooded pro-revolutionary Facebook groups. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate detailed 53 cases of attacks on journalists including assaults, threats against their children, expulsion and in one case, arson.

“Beating up journalists is a blatant attempt by the authorities to prevent the Yemeni people and the world from witnessing a critical moment in Yemen,” Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division, said in a statement.

A Reuters report today quoting an individual in Sanaa who “heard” that in Aden southern protesters threatened to burn schools in Mallah and al Mansoura was hotly denied by dozens of residents in those neighborhood when contacted. The residents also pointed out that the state has forced school children to participate in pro-regime rallies for years without parental approval. It is well documented that students who refused were denied sitting for their exams along with other punitive measures.

Yemen’s history of crimes against civilians

The atrocities against protesters that have garnered global attention are a continuation of the pattern of Yemen’s inhumane treatment of its citizens since at least 2005. In 2009, human rights organizations began calling for an investigation into the Sana’a regime’s potential war crimes and crimes against humanity. The military actions during the Sa’ada Wars and with regard to the southern protest movement are well documented but did not draw condemnation from the Obama administration or the EU. Some of these habitual patterns include:

- Punitive denial of medical services to injured civilians

- Arbitrary arrests

- Incommunicado detention

- Shooting unarmed protesters

- Use of deniable proxies including tribesmen to harm citizens

- Shelling residential areas

- Denial of food as policy

- Denial of access by international humanitarian groups to internal refugees

- Targeting journalists and rights activists

- Torture in jail

Jane @ Examiner.com