Armies of Liberation

Killed while in police custody in Ma’alla

Aden News Agency:

Local sources in Aden – one the largest cities in the south of Yemen- have declared that the political prisoner ( Faris Zeid Abullkareem Tamah ) was killed by the police of Al-Malla’a city in Aden, after being kept there for days, while the circumstances of his death still unknown until this moment. (Read on …)

As HOOD inaugurates its Human Rights Award, it is a good time to note the contribution that HOOD itself has made to the human rights environment in Yemen.

The primary focus of the HOOD Organization, the National Organization for Protecting Rights and Freedoms, is the defense of human rights in Yemen. HOOD raises public awareness of legal rights and mobilizes public support for the victims of human rights abuses. HOOD works within the judicial system to protect and defend the victims of human rights abuses. HOOD also encourages governmental bodies to secure human rights and civil rights as granted by the Yemeni constitution and international protocols.

HOOD holds the police, security forces, judiciary and other public institutions to account for violating human rights. Often victims of human rights abuses in Yemen are subject to a second wave of targeting after their claims are documented and publicized. However, once the HOOD organization adopts a case of human rights abuse, its support remains steadfast regardless of the ensuing danger and harassment. (Read on …)

In other news, the UK raises its alert level prior to the Yemen conference, the US is searching for Western female suicide bombers trained in Yemen, and Carlos Bledsoe says his lethal attack on a Arkansas recruiting station was jihad, justified by Islamic law and that he is linked to AQAP.

Sahwa Net – Thousands of people in various areas of South Yemen have taken into streets on Thursday, protesting the release of detainees of what is called the Southern Movement and calling the London Conference to be held on next Wednesday to consider their grievances.

In Radfan city, thousands of people took into streets shouting anti-regime slogans, calling in the same time, the London conference to put and end to violations against newspapers and journalists in Yemen.

During the protest, one person was wounded and other 25 were arrested by the Yemeni authorities which shot fire and heavily used tear gas to disperse the protests.

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called an international conference in London to discuss how to help Yemen to tackle extremism.

Human Rights Watch

Allegations that the Yemen-based branch of al Qaeda was behind the attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up a US airliner on Christmas Day 2009 have dramatically increased international attention to the threat of terrorism emanating from Yemen.

To be effective, international counterterrorism policy in Yemen should take into account the lessons from the response to al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan: military tactics such as airstrikes that cause high civilian casualties, and arbitrary arrests and abusive treatment of suspected militants undermine efforts to reduce local support for al Qaeda. The Yemeni government has engaged in all of these actions against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Second, engagement with Yemen must also address the serious human rights problems that have turned large segments of Yemeni society against the government, and thus reduced the government’s ability to fight terrorism effectively. Ongoing human rights violations by the state security forces (particularly the Central Security Forces, the Political Security Organization, and the National Security Organization), risk providing an even more fertile base of support for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Yemen’s most serious human rights violations arise in the context of two pressing internal conflicts-the government’s war with Huthi rebels in the north of the country, and its repression of a secessionist movement in the south. Officials have recently warned against “internationalizing” these two conflicts, but it would be a mistake if international efforts to assist the government ignored the grievances underlying those conflicts. Yemen’s military and policing approaches have resulted in numerous violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, which have alienated large segments of Yemeni society.

Most Yemenis do not see AQAP as a threat to them. They are more concerned about the government’s repressive practices and rampant corruption, as well as the lack of jobs for the country’s booming population, a looming water crisis, and rapidly depleting oil reserves, the main source of revenue, along with the conflicts in the north and south. Resolving the human rights grievances underlying those two conflicts and strengthening human rights protections generally is critical to creating a more stable government in Yemen and empowering it to address the country’s economic and development problems.

Recommendations to Yemen’s allies:

1. Increase development aid to Yemen, ensuring a cohesive strategy in collaboration with the appropriate UN agencies, and use aid to address human rights concerns that drive instability.

2. Support establishment in Yemen of a human rights monitoring mission by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights with a mandate to publicly report on human rights abuses by all parties to Yemen’s conflicts, and press the government of Yemen to cooperate in the establishment of such a mission.

3. Add effective human rights components to any bilateral aid for security forces, such as law enforcement and military training and equipment, including non-lethal methods of crowd control, respect for the laws of war, measures to combat torture, and internal accountability.

4. Stress the importance of an independent judiciary with the resources and competence to address accountability for human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and torture.

5. Urge the government to ensure that impartial humanitarian agencies have access to all places of detention in Yemen, and end the use of private or unauthorized detention sites.

6. Ensure that no assistance goes to units of security forces implicated in unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, torture and other serious human rights abuses. Publicly speak out when such violations occur.

7. Assist the United States and Yemen in repatriating or resettling Yemenis held without charge at Guantanamo, including the 40 Yemenis that the US government has already cleared for release.

1. Do not turn Al Qaeda’s enemies into its friends (Read on …)

Amnesty International: Yemen must set aside prison sentence on female journalist, 19 January 2010

Amnesty International has called on the Yemeni authorities to set aside a three month prison sentence imposed on a woman journalist after she was convicted of defaming President ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Saleh.

According to media reports, Anissa ‘Uthman, a journalist working for al-Wassat, a weekly newspaper, was prosecuted because of articles she wrote criticizing the arrest and imprisonment of human rights activists. (Read on …)

The PSO is one of President Saleh’s main instruments of terror and intimidation of civil society, journalists and the forces of progress. Lets not forget about the Mohammed al Maqaleh disappeared since August, the closure of al Ayyam and the recent arrest of several of its editors and the continuing detention of Salah Alsagalde, Fuad Rashid, and Ahmed Alzubairi and the continuing ban on several newspapers, and the destruction of News Yemen, and the blocking of dozens of political websites in Yemen (but not the jihaddis ones).

Threats to liquidate the managing editor of Sahwa Net:

إشارة إلى الموضوع أعلاه، فإن مدير تحرير الصحوة نت الزميل محمد العلواني تلقى تهديدات هاتفية بالتصفية الجسدية من الرقم (777128007) من شخص قال بأنه يعمل في الأمن السياسي. A reference to the above subject, the managing editor of Sahwa Net colleague Mohamed al-Alwani, received telephone threats of physical liquidation of the number (777128007) from someone who said that he was working in the Political Security. (Read on …)

Such total garbage, but its a good example of how the Yemeni government spins every event for the western audience.

Free Media : VIENNA, 7 Jan. 2010: The arrest on 6 January of the editor and publisher of Yemen’s Al-Ayyam newspaper, Hisham Bashraheel, has reinforced concerns that Yemen’s high-profile clampdown on militants is being used as a pretext to further suppress media freedom. (Read on …)

I lost the link! I think its from the Yemen Times, I have to check it.

Governmental offices’ corruption cases are totaling to more that YR1.5 trillion in illegal transfering, equivalent to the current state’s budget, said a first draft report by Yemen Journalists Against Corruption (Yemen JAC), in collaboration with the Journalists Without Chains Organization.

The report registered 126 corruption cases last year. The oil sector, registering 19 cases, was at the top of the list, with more than YR700 billion in corrupt deals. Aden Oil Refinery Company illegally bought oil products worth YR300 billion alone without announcing bids. “This contradicts the Bid Act by which all companies should abide,” said Nabeel Abdurab, one member of Yemen (JAC). (Read on …)

The Christmas airliner plot that originated in Yemen brought renewed focus on Yemen’s counter-terror efforts, but not on the crimes against Yemeni citizens systematically committed by the Yemeni government.

Let’s see what Yemeni President Saleh is getting a pass on, in exchange for temporarily going through the motions of hunting al Qaeda. There’s the collective punishment of civilians in the Sa’ada war, this includes indiscriminate bombing and intentional starvation. Then there’s the mass arbitrary arrests of political opponents, Hashemites and often relatives of wanted persons. In the south we have the repetitive murder of protesters by security forces and more arbitrary arrests. And, as you’d probably expect, widespread torture in prisons. Last on our list, the violent repression of the media. It is these practices that are at the root of the instability in Yemen, which Ms. Clinton referred to yesterday as a global threat. The Yemeni oligachy also loots the public budget and officials facilitate a variety of regional criminal enterprises including drug and weapons smuggling.

The civil rights protest also centered on the the kidnapping of journalist Mohammed al Maqaleh in August after he reported on a government air strike on a refugee camp in the northern Sa’ada province that killed 87.

The extreme clamp down on the press in Yemen coincides with the increasing frustration of the citizenry, which among other things, provides a greater pool of recruits for al Qaeda. The incredibly corrupt Yemeni government is quite inefficient at running the country and providing basic services but quite good at 1) mis-appropriating public funds and b) devising propaganda on the state controlled media.

Yemen Times In a similar activity, organized by the ‘Women Journalists Without Chains’ organization, in Sana’a, on Tuesday, Dec, 22, the organization protested for the 27th time to release the Al-Ayam newspaper that was confiscated and banned from publishing in April and release the disappeared journalist Mohamed Al-Maqaleh. Mohamed Al-Maqaleh disappeared in August.

It is worth mentioning that this year witnessed the biggest campaign against the press in Yemen that included the confiscation of around eight local newspapers and seizing international newspapers at the airport such as the Al-Quds newspaper.

After it lost YR40 million

News Yemen calls press freedom advocates to support it against attack
News Yemen website has set up an old webpage for limited usage after the web experienced a horrible piracy last November 28th. The webpage will be available temporary.

News Yemen apologizes for being unable to post more news stories but coverage of the consequences of the piracy and robbery against the web and efforts the web staff and its partners are exerting to solve technical and material problems.
On Saturday, the website Editor-in-Chief, Nabil al-Sofi, received a promise from the Minister of Telecommunication, Kamal al-Jebri, in a meeting on Saturday to provide all necessary information on the web hacker and to ask for assistance of international experts. Al-Jebri confirmed that anyone from the ministry proved involved in the attack on News Yemen would be punished.

According to the hosting company, based in the United States, the ID of the hacker was for Yaser al-Emad, the director of the Internet Department in the Ministry of Telecommunication, but the minister al-Jebri said the government respects the performance of newsyemen. (Read on …)

Its so brutal. Click here for first hand testimony from tortured prisoners.

Amnesty International
PUBLIC STATEMENT
27 November 2009
Index: MDE 31/017/2009

Yemen: Government should announce commitment to tackle ‘widespread’ torture
(Read on …)

What follows is the Arab Sisters Forum press release on the escalating attacks on Amal Basha, head of the organization. She was repeatedly threatened, had a liquid sprayed in her face on the street, the headquarters was broken into and trashed, and the brakes on her car were cut in an assassination attempt.

Triggers for the attacks include advocacy for arbitrarily detained prisoners and a report on torture in Yemen submitted by several Yemeni human rights organizations to the UN which contributed to the UN’s findings on November 19th, expressing “grave concern” and calling for an investigation of unlawful killings (murder) by security forces.

Its actions like these that belie the Saleh regime’s commitment to both democracy and stability and expose the administration as a thuggish mafia whose only goals are staying in power and stealing money. (Read on …)

The Twenty-Fourth Sit-In to Demand the Release of Alayyam Newspaper and Journalist Mohamed Almaqaleh and journalists Alsaglade and Rashid

On Tuesday 17/11/2009 hundreds of lawyers, politicians , journalists and relatives of kidnapped and forced hidden people, sit in the twenty-fourth protest in Freedom Square to demand the release of Alayyam newspaper and the release of journalist Mohamed Almaqaleh and journalists Alsaglade and Fouad Rashid, and for the lifting of the violations of Almasdar and Aldiar newspapers.

In the sit-in called by the Organization of Women Journalists Without Chains Sultan Alsamaee the parliamentary spokesman for the Movement for Justice and Change said the express of solidarity with freedom of expression, and with all the journalists against violations under scrutiny, and emphasized the importance of continuing the peaceful sit-ins in order to reach the rights and punish those who violated the rights of the people of this nation; journalists, jurists and citizens. (Read on …)

Kidnapped September 18th and held incommunicado by security forces after publishing news of a military strike on a refugee camp that killed 87 civilians.

Its amazing the way all these authoritarian regimes use similiar tactics to inhibit power sharing. A press release from the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights noting Mohammed Al-Maskati, its President of BYSHR, is on trial (again) for working in a civil society organization without it being registered.

6 months Imprisonment and/or 500 BD should he be Found Guilty
The need to amend Laws related to the work of Societies

11 November 2009 www.byshr.org

The President of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, Mr. Mohammed Al-Maskati, 22 years, is facing up to 6 months in jail and/or a fine of BD 500, should he be found guilty of violating the controversial Bahraini Societies Law which has been found restrictive by numerous international human rights organizations including Amnesty International, the FIDH and Human Rights Watch. (Read on …)

Good!

News Yemen The U.S. Embassy in Sana’a has reaffirmed its support for freedom of press in Yemen.

On November 3, the U.S. Ambassador Stephen Seche met with al-Masdar Chief Editor Samir Jubran at the Embassy and discussed with him the recent ruling by the Special Court for Press and Publications against Jubran and the Yemeni-American journalist Munir al-Mawiri, a press release by the U.S. Embassy saidm on Monday. (Read on …)

The funny thing is Lawzi is insisting there is a free press in Yemen. The media is understood by some as a tool for use by political powers, not as a mechanism of transparency against them.

RSF: Convictions and bans pile up against journalists amidst unacceptable indifference

Reporters Without Borders today strongly condemned the decision of a court specialising in press offences that sentenced journalist Munir Al-Mawari of independent weekly Al-Masdar in his absence to two years in prison for libelling President Ali Abdallah Saleh and also banned him for life from working as a journalist. (Read on …)

They were only 10 years late on the first report.

Committee against Torture

The Committee against Torture this morning considered the second periodic report of Yemen on the efforts of that country to give effect to the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, in the absence of a delegation.

Serving as Rapporteur for the report of Yemen, Committee Expert Nora Sveaass, began by noting that the initial report of Yemen had been considered in 2003, 10 years’ late; that there had never been replies to communications regarding follow-up to the Committee’s concluding observations on that report (although the report before them did undertake to respond to them); and that there had been no reply from Yemen to the Committee’s list of issues, sent to the Government six months ago, despite repeated reminders sent. They were now considering the report of Yemen without a delegation from the State party – a situation that was far from ideal.

Ms. Sveaass observed that the Committee had received reports on a lack of openness and transparency with regard to torture cases in Yemen, in particular a lack of willingness to receive information on allegations of torture, to undertake transparent investigations and to hold perpetrators accountable. According to the information before the Committee, draft laws and security laws were at the heart of that matter. In the course of the anti-terror war many persons had been detained and protests and demonstrations were very seriously met. There was also the issue of the practice of incommunicado detention, which appeared to be upheld under Yemeni law, as well as a number of reports of detentions without charges, or prolonged detentions without trials. Also alarming was that there appeared to be no mechanism to enforce the rights of detainees. A concern included hostage taking – reports that family members were abducted and held to ensure that a person sought would give themselves up.

This insane sentence is not only a punishment for the two journalists, Yemeni-American Munier Mawari and Samir Jubran of al Masdar, for daring to question the God-like wisdom of Field Marshal Saleh. Its also a message to the other journalists as was the kidnapping of Mohammed al Maqaleh. (The Committee to Protect Journalists has an article profiling Tawwakol Karaman and the drive for press freedom and civil rights in Yemen.)

News Yemen: The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to end the intensifying judicial and media campaign to silence critical journalists and eradicate press freedom.

On Saturday, the newly established Press and Publications Court in Sana’a sentenced Munir Mawari, a Washington-based Yemeni journalist and contributor to the independent weekly Al-Masdar, to two years in prison on charges of defaming the president, journalists told CPJ.

The court also barred him for life from practicing journalism in Yemen. The court handed a suspended one-year jail term to Samir Jubran, editor of Al-Masdar, on the same charge and banned him from writing and running his newspaper for one year.

The case stems from a November 25, 2008, opinion piece in which Mawari called Saleh’s leadership style a kind of “weapon of mass destruction. (Read on …)

Among the latest violations by the Yemeni government was snatching Editor Mohammed al Maqaleh off the street over a month ago and continuing to hold him incommunicado. Another sorry designation, Yemen remains in last place globally on the ranking of gender equality.

Yemen Times SANA’A, Oct. 27 — With the latest public protest by journalists last Tuesday prevented by security, the Yemeni government has continued a trend it started in the beginning of this year against press freedom. The journalists were protesting the detention of colleagues.

“This year has been very bad for journalists,” says Saeed Thabet, secretary general of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has ranked Yemen’s press freedom at 167 out of 175 countries it has surveyed this year. This rank is twelve points lower compared to last year and by this not only is Yemen in the list of ten worst countries regarding press freedom in the world, it is also the only Arab country in this margin. (Read on …)

Yes Saleh’s nephew is the de facto head of the National Security. The Yemeni government switched the authority for handling the airports from the PSO to the National Security in 2006 after the planeloads of jihaddis flying out on Yemenia got a bit embarrassing. The National Security in its new role cracked down hard- on opposition politicians, journalists and activists attempting to fly out of Sana’a.

al Sahwa
Yemeni parliament has approved to summon the deputy chief of the National Security Organization Ammar Mohammad Abdullah Saleh, nephew of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, on grounds of violations oppositionists face in the Sana’a International Airport.

Parliamentarians stressed the importance of summoning Ammar considering him the de facto official of the security organization.

The demands of summoning came following the complaints raised by the representative Abdul-Salam Zabia last week as he was interrupted at the airport and prevented from travel by security organization.

Zabia said he was prevented from traveling abroad and he was investigated and threatened by pointing weapon at him.

Abdul-Razaq al-Hajri, MP, considered what happened to his colleague as a dangerous indication of violations Yemenis face in the airport.

It is worth noticing MPs, politicians, journalists and activists are always interrupted and prevented from travel by the National Security Organization.

If Taiz stands up, there’s no sitting it back down… And the government response to the protests is what happens every time the citizenry attempts to influence government through peaceful means- either the people are ignored or arrested and shot. But the blatant racism of those who call this “instability” while lauding Iranian and Lebanese popular movements is astounding. (But then again, Obama did throw the Iranian protesters under the bus.) What is the logical outcome of quelling the civil rights movement in Yemen, and maintaining the status quo? Stronger al Qaeda, more regional crime and smuggling, and an impoverished, illiterate and angry nation.

Yemen Post: Dozens were arrested on Thursday by the Taiz authorities when many people attended a rally to declare the popular movement for justice and change.

Head of the preparatory committee for the movement MP Sultan Al-Same’e expressed astonishment over imposing an emergency state in the province in western Yemen as well as suppressive security measures. (Read on …)

URGENT ACTION, YEMENI JOURNALIST ABDUCTED

A male Yemeni journalist, Muhammad al-Maqalih, has been abducted in the capital, Sana’a, after criticizing the government over continuing armed clashes in Sa’da province, northern Yemen. Muhammad al-Maqalih’s whereabouts are unknown, and his life is at risk.

Muhammad al-Maqalih, a 49-year-old father of seven children, was abducted from a street in Sana’a at 11pm on 17 September. Eyewitnesses told his family that he was taken by a group of men who arrived in a white minibus, which had its licence plates obscured. The men took Muhammad al-Maqalih, and deflated one of the tyres on his car, which was nearby. There has been no news of Muhammad al-Maqalih since.

Muhammad al-Maqalih is a journalist and a member of the Yemeni Socialist Party. Human rights activists in Yemen suspect that he may have been abducted by plain-clothes security forces personnel because of his criticism of the government, in particular with regards to the clashes between the army and followers of a Shi’a Muslim cleric in Sa’da. His comments criticizing the army’s killing of civilians were published on the Yemeni Socialist Party’s website (http://www.aleshteraki.net).

Abduction of political opponents and critics of the state by security agents is a known practice in Yemen, particularly during political crises such as the clashes in Sa’da. Those abducted are often tortured or otherwise ill-treated.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Arabic, English or your own language:
n Calling on the authorities to clarify Muhammed al-Maqalih’s whereabouts and to release him without delay if he is being held solely for his criticism of the government;
n Noting that, if this is the case, Amnesty International would consider him to be a prisoner of conscience; (Read on …)

Muamar Mohmmed al-Abdali a 34 year old human rights activist was arbitrarily arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department of Aden province on July 13, and immediately transferred to the National Security Office in Sana’a. He spent nearly a month there during investigation of the vague charge of “harming the National Security of Yemen.” He then was transfered to the Political Security which continues to deny Mr. al-Abdali is in their custody. (Read on …)

Theres a lot of conflicting reports, but HOOD has credibility.

Sahwa Net –Hood, a Yemeni human rights organization, has warned of a humanitarian crisis for children displaced to refugee camps in Saada due to the ongoing war between the government and Houhi rebels.

In an interview with al-Hiwar satellite channel, the executive director of Hood Khalid al-Anisi explained that Saada children are dislodged in camps in large numbers, emphasizing that children are mistreated and used as human shields by Houthi rebels.

He further mentioned that children are recruited by both the military and al-Houthis, citing that the numbers of children recruited by the rebels are more.

For its part, Seyaj Organization for Childhood Protection has warned from a humanitarian crisis against Saada children displaced in camps and villages.

The organization expressed deep concern over the recruiting of juveniles by Houthi rebels, warning form using children and civilians as human shields.

It never ends. You can’t change reality arresting the journalists who report the news. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate stopped advocating for jouranalists since the last YJS election.

Referred the political security file colleague Fouad Rashid, editor of Al-Mukalla Press on behalf of the state security, Rashid was arrested on 5 – May forum Alkhisp cultural Mukalla and deposited the Political Security Prison in Al-Mukalla and Sana’a, transfer to 23.6.2009 and since his relatives were allowed to Sanaa yesterday 2/9/2009 visit did not allow non-relatives, journalists and activists to visit him or visit the rest of the detainees at the disposal of mobility in the southern governorates
On the same level appealed to the family of our colleague Iyad Ghanem, who has been in prison since the patience of the province of pilgrimage 1/7/2009 (Read on …)

Well thats good. I’ll go back and update the prior post also. Odd that the Yemeni government was praising Kuwait’s decision, well not that odd.

News Yemen: A diplomat source in the Kuwaiti embassy in Yemen denied press reports that the Kuwaiti government had shut down the Yemeni Suhail TV.

The Kuwaiti diplomat said in an interview with Anneda independent newspaper that Kuwait has not issued a license to Suhail TV to broadcast from Kuwait and has not banned it.

Local press reported last week that the Kuwaiti authorities had banned Suhail to broadcast from Kuwait.

“We welcome this positive decision by the Kuwaiti authorities as Suhail TV’s programs incite sedition in the country,” media cited an unidentified Yemeni official as saying.

Minister of Information, who is also the spokesman of the government, praised the Kuwaiti decision and relations between the two countries.

Suhail TV, which is owned by Hamdan al-Ahmar, brother of well-known opponent Hamid al-Ahmar, denied any political involvement and affiliation with any political organizations.

A source in Suhail TV said it would resume broadcasting from a western country.

Arabic below the fold.

The Human Rights Institutes and Human Rights defenders for Human Rights expressed its profound concern as regards the Yemeni authorities’ detention of the eminent human rights defender, Yasser AL-Wazier a member of the Yemeni organization for Defending Human Rights, Democracy & freedoms – AL-Wazier had been forced disappearance for three months than continued his detention for a year, those measures taken against AL-Wazier are closely related to his eminent role in defending the victims of human rights violations in Yemen and all norms’ of discrimination, accordingly security bodies decided to punish him for his human rights activity and his professional life as a teacher and fighting all norm of discrimination done by the government against Zaidiah as the main consequences of Sa’adah War.

While stressing utter condemnation of AL-Wazier detention we deems the arrest a threatening message to all human rights defenders who boldly work on monitoring the daily violations of the Yemeni authorities against citizens. It is also an attempt to hush the victims’ voices that are heard by the world via Yemeni human rights organizations, despite the non-stop Yemeni oppression and the legislative arsenal that aims at terrorizing and undermining all government critics and opponents and all those seeking freedom and respect of human rights.

We calls upon the Yemeni authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Yasser AL-Wazier and Mr. Alezi Rajah, Mohammed,Ahmed, Abdulelah, Abdulrahman AL-Syani, Ahsan AL-Madani, Mohammed AL-Taiab,Mohammed AL-Kawoly, and Mohammed AL-Zubairi , stop all pressures exerted on human rights defenders, and set free all opinion prisoners religious. (Read on …)

Update 8/30/09: Kuwaiti diplomat denies the station even asked for a license and thus Kuwait never pulled it despite Yemeni government statements to the contrary.

Original post: Yemen is trying to shut down speech that they find too illuminating everywhere- including here in the US. Did Zindani ever get his programing up and running? That initiative was welcomed by Saleh but Hamid Al Ahmar’s satellite channel was fought vigorously through diplomatic channels. There was some prior tension between Yemen and Kuwait when Sana’a set up mourning tents for Saddam.

Kuwait government’s decision of closing down Suhail TV Channel, welcomed
Tuesday, 25-August-2009
al Motamar
Almotamar.net – A Yemeni official information source on Tuesday welcomed a decision taken by the Kuwaiti government on closing down transmission of Kuwait-based Suhail Satellite TV Channel owned by Hamid al-Ahmar.

The source said that positive decision has been received with big welcome by by the yemerni people’s circles owing to what that channel was broadcasting of programmes promoting to oisons of sedition , division and delusion of the public opinion and offending the reputation of the Yemeni people.

The source has , meanwhile , praised the brotherly relations between yemen and Kuwait and that of their two political leaderships in addition to the steady development of those relations in interest of the two Yemeni and Kuwaiti peoples.

Yemen also regrets the Iranian media “provocative campaign.”

Al-Marsad and Hemayah Human Rights Organizations demand release of human rights activist Sadiq Al-Sharafi in Yemen.

An important figure at a human rights organization protested that the human rights activist Sadiq Al-Sharafi is still in the prison since 14th of July when the security authority took him to the jail of the National Security before taking him to the Political jail.

” Al-Sharafi’s family members and relatives did not feel any progress in his case except changing his prison from the National to the Political” said Abdulmutaleb Al-Shami- the responsible figure for the legal affairs at Hemayah for Human Rights Organization. (Read on …)

The Director of South Youth Forums recieved death threats here in the US.

Raed Qasim Ismail is a political activist and director of the forum and website of the South Youth of Aden, Shababshaib, editor of the Algnoub Alhur Magazine.

Mr. Ismail was threatened during telephone calls, emails and messages received from anonymous persons who ordered him to stop his journalistic activities and close down the South Youth website. The callers said “they” knew where he lived in the US, were monitoring his movements and his continued activity would result in harm to himself and his family both here and in Yemen.

Mr. Ismail said said he is accustomed to such threats, adding that there were attempts by unidentified bodies to hack the website several times.

Despite the death threats by email and telephone, Mr. Isamil confirmed that he will continue to exercise his right of free speech, adding that he is not afraid of such threats, and nor will he be deterred from continuing his career with his (Southern Yemeni) people until their independence.

Mr. Ismail is concerned by the threats that were received by his family in Yemen, noting that the Sana’a regime and his men bear the full responsibility for any harm to him or any one of his family members.

The existance of Yemeni intelligence operatives here in the US is well known, and numerous Yemeni-Americans in the US have been threatened by Yemeni operatives for engaging in their legally protected rights of assembly and speech in the US.

Acting as an undeclared agent of a foreign state is illegal.

Seyaj is a good organization that does excellent work on behalf of children, but they are underfunded and overwhelmed by the number of kids who need their help.

SEYAJ organization for childhood protection has launched stage 1 of “Dignity Preserving Campaign” to raise funds for psychological and legal assistance for children against crimes and violence, spreading awareness of the importance of countering violence against children, and setting up networks involving all concerned .

Monitoring and legal & psychological assisting unit’s director, Miss Nora Al-Amodi, had argued businessmen and beneficent to donate in “Dignity Preserving” fund which will use in providing psychological support, advocates and promote the unite role.

“SEYAJ is receiving donations into its account No (357475) at Tadhamon International Islamic Bank – Hasba Branch, confirming that the money will be used for the purpose” she added.

“One of the campaign’s main goals is to give the opportunity to all society people to participate in helping children and be partners against violence and crimes which children face. Businessmen and beneficent are most welcomed to be in the lead of donators” Al-Amodi said.

“The rate of crimes against children in Yemen is pushing all peoples to take serious stand as a common responsibility and provide support” she added.

Worth to be mentioned, that about 500 assistances were provided by SEYAJ for abused children – most of them from girls – since establishing the unit late of 2008.

The campaign shall run till the end of October, 2009.

More on SEYAJ

There’s a list no one can publish that names dozens of women who went into a specific jail and then had a baby more than a year later. The abuse (is that word strong enough?) of female prisoners is systemic and in some areas, organized. Its really very depressing, some of these are young girls.

Update: The post seems to be generating some response, including shock, so here’s a bit of our earlier coverage of the topic: Women Raped and Babies Sold from Jail, a report by the Sajeen Organization; Rape Victim Victimized a Second Time by the State, the cases of Susan M.S. Al-Mudhla’ and Anisa al-Shuaibi; Witness Testimony from Yemeni Prisons, heartbreaking stuff there; and CID Investigated on Rape Charge, not much happened…

The following is a bit from the current report from the Yemen Times:

Hodeida jails house large-scale human rights abuses, including rape, illegal detentions, overcrowding and shortages of food and water, according to a new report prepared by the National Forum for Human Rights.

The worst abuses take place when male guards are in charge of women, said Abdulhafidh Mu’jab, who prepared the report after a team of nine lawyers toured Hodeida detention centers.

“Women located in these unsafe places encourages violations or rapes,” he said.

And many women in Hodeida are detained before trial longer than is legal or humane, in facilities that are inadequate for female prisoners, he added.

“They should work on procedures to release women from prison and makes these procedures as fast as possible,” Mu’jab said.

According to Khalid Ayash, who heads the organization, women do not to report sexual assaults in jails because they fear the severe social stigma associated with rape in Yemen. (Read on …)

To follow, al Tagheer published published an Arabic statement by al Ayyam detailing the chronology of the events surrounding the closure of al Ayyam, the confiscation of its papers, assaults on its drivers and vendors, the violent police siege on the offices, the later arrest of protesters, and the prohibition of its editors from leaving Yemen, although the elder Mr. Bashrahil requires urgent medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.

(This is the CPJ statement from May; things just got worse after that. )

التغيير – صنعاء : Change – SANAA:

أصدرت صحيفة “الأيام” بيانا وضحت فيه مجمل الأحداث التي تسببت في توقفها عن الصدور ، والذي قالت إنه بمثابة بلاغ منها إلى الرأي العام في الداخل والخارج وإلى المنظمات الحقوقية والصحفية العربية والأجنبية لتوضيح حقيقة الأوضاع التي فرضتها عليها قوى في الداخل ، مشيدة بكل من تضامنوا معها من أشخاص وجهات ومؤسسات . Issued the “days” a statement setting out the overall events that caused the suspension of the publication, which said it was a communication to the public opinion at home and abroad and to human rights organizations and Arab and foreign press to explain the fact that conditions imposed by the forces in the home, built in all of them have shown solidarity the views of persons and institutions. (Read on …)

Al Sahwa

Sahwa Net – The correspondent of Sahwa Net and Alsahwa newspaper in Hodeida province Abdul-Hafeez al-Hattami was attacked by gunmen on Wednesday, while he was covering tribal disputes on lands.

Hadi Heij, an opposition leader in Hodeida hold the authorities responsible for protecting journalist, pointing out that some security members were available as al-Hattami was attacked , but they did nothing, according to him. (Read on …)

I think President Ali Saleh is insane,a delusional dissembling megalomaniac who believes his own lies. Perhaps he’s a “borderline personality.” That would fit, considering his disconnect with reality, the perpetual claims of victimization and his complete failure to take responsibility for the outcome of any of his actions.

al Sahwa – The supreme council of the Joint Meeting Parties condemned what it called “fierce media attacks” and threats against its spokesman Naif al-Qanis.

JMP demanded that authorities to bring repeated media intimidations against its spokesman and Al-Haq party to an end, bringing the authorities responsible for al-Qanis’s safety.

JMP’s supreme council discussed arrests carried out against political activists including Moamad al-Obdil who was arrested Sunday in Aden and Abdul-Rahman al-Sharafi who was arrests on Tuesday on Sana’a, expressing its solidarity with the activists.

Deviants he calls them…

Al Motamar

Al-Zandani calls for clear stabs towards calls for apostasy
Wednesday, 08-July-2009
Almotamar.net – Sheikh Abdulmajid al-Zandani called Wednesday on those reciting the Holy Koran to translate it on the ground. In a ceremony honouring 550 persons finishing a course in Koran recitation held by Al-Hikma al Yamania Society in Yemen this morning, al-Zandani said the entire nation is in need of competing the structure through learning Islamic sciences. He clarified the reality of the Yemeni nation is divided into two realities; an honourable reality and a deviant reality. The deviant reality calls for colonization of Yemen and calls on world countries to “invade us and impose guardianship on us.” He asked was not what happened to Iraq because of some deluded ones who called long time in Iraq, questioning what the result was after occupation. One million martyrs and two million wounded. (Read on …)

Here we go, finally getting to the reason I’m back on the blog today- Sami Ghalib on trial for reporting the news… I’m temporarily speechless; its just that stupid.

The Yemeni government ratched up its campaign to bankrupt, imprison and intimidate the non-governmental media in Yemen. There’s over 200 journalists out of work. Sit-ins in solidarity with al Ayyam newspaper are being broken up by force.

The regime was effective in muzzling the coverage of the Sa’ada War by excluding journalists from the governorate. Now its apparently looking to take down the entire industry to keep quiet the incredible level of unrest in the south, with nary a peep from the donors.

The case against al Needa began in 2006 when the paper disclosed accusations of corruption in the Hajj department of the Minstry of Endowments, demonstrating the reform and accountability meme is a sham, as if there was any doubt. Many of the violations against journalists occur when they uncover corruption.

Yemen Times SANA’A, July 12 — Amid international cries for freedom of expression and rising concern for Yemen’s press, the government’s special “press court” held its first hearing for a journalist on Saturday.

The defendant is Sami Ghalib, editor-in-chief of Al-Nida newspaper. A special press prosecution has been investigating Ghalib for more than two years.

The court is to look into about 150 press-related cases forwarded by courts of first instance.

Journalists, lawyers and human right activists, however, have described the court as illegal, and as a government attempt to control the independent press.

The government decided to set up the special court in May to deal exclusively with press-related offenses following the media coverage of the unrest in the south of Yemen.

In December 2006, the former deputy Minister of Endowments Hassan Al-Ahdal requested the prosecutor investigate Ghalib, after his newspaper published a story in which private travel agencies accused the Hajj and Umrah sectors at the ministry of corruption. (Read on …)

frm the Yemen Post:

Like Ali, thousands of Yemeni women work in unpaid jobs and these jobs include farming, herding, collecting firewood, etc. They are denied any rights. They receive no medical care or education.
Compared to women of rural areas who work in unpaid jobs, the unemployment rates hit high among urban area women. There is just a small number of women who work in public and private sectors.
According to official statistics, women’s unemployment rates reaches 39 percent in Yemen while it is just 16 percent among men. (Read on …)

Followg the first statement of the Southern Womans Union, ( see here) Yemeni security raided the home of Zahra Saleh Abdullah, the president of the Union.

Second statement by Southern Yemeni Womans Union:

Our fighting sons and revolutionist brothers,

We as southern women believe in the right to restore our land, the land of law and order, The Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen.

We came to protest in front of the Ayyam newspaper, the paper that provided the truth, and acted as a torch of light and liberty in the darkness that the occupation made us live in. We reject the repression of freedom that was given to us a right in all the constitutions and international covenants. (Read on …)

The Yemeni government has shut down seven independant Arabic language newspapers and established a new press court for trials of journalists. Now the government is taking aim at the English language Yemen Post, warning the paper not to cooperate with international media- or else.

From the Yemen Post

Over the last two weeks, the Yemen Post received numerous threats from different sides due to its coverage of the foreigners that were kidnapped and killed. The Yemen Post was the main independent source for 90% of the international media. Its comments were even given priority over the government and what it announced.
Last week, meetings took place between the Yemen Post and leading figures of the government. In the meetings, The Yemen Post was firmly asked not to work with international media outlets and to limit its self to local media. Direct threats were given. The option on the table was to agree to cooperate with the government whether it was right or wrong in what they announce. In the end, the Yemen Post refused.
It is sad that these people don’t understand that the job of media is not covering what it is asked of it to cover, but to cover the truth.
Yemen has not yet understood the difference between independent and governmental media, and the Yemen Post has vowed to show everyone the difference.
What I clearly want to say is that the Yemen Post is doing what it was established to do, and that is lead Yemeni media, raise its standards, and through its sources throughout the country, be able to serve not only Yemen, but the international community with concrete information about what is really happening.
Even with the threats we are given, the Post will not soften its stance and will work to be the most trusted local and international news source in Yemen.

Its very good of the CPJ and RSF and other journalists organizations are staying on top of the assualt on the Yemeni media, but why are the donors so quiet on the issue that is so clear cut?

From News Yemen:

Six newspapers the Ministry of Information have suspended since a month have lost Yr 80 million (almost $400,000) and as many as 200 staff lost their income sources due to the suspension and suppression against those newspapers, said a press report prepared by journalist Mohammad al-Hakimi.

A source in the Aden-based al-Ayyam daily said the newspaper lost Yr 181 million until now, approximately Yr 21 million per a week. He said the paper continues to lose money. It added that 1185 vendors who used to circulate the paper have lost their income resource due to the suppression against the paper.

The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the government of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to end censorship of independent newspapers and to identify and prosecute those who assaulted Al-Jazeera journalists on two occasions in the south of the country.
Fans of the suspended newspapers organized in Karesh district in Lahj last Thursday a protest to the government’s policy against newspapers.

More from the Yemen Post:
(Read on …)

Lets see if Mujawar can get his orders implemented and if the Ministry of Information recognizes his authority. Government journalists to get a raise. Meanwhile the non-governmental media has been crippled.

Mujawar order to transform journalists’ inspiration into action SANA’A, June 25 (Saba) – Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawar on Thursday ordered the relevant authorities to implement the March 10 cabinet decision on the journalists job description as soon as possible.

The project calls for job description and classification at the media institutions including the Yemen News Agency Saba, the General Radio and Television Corporation and the military media institutions.

The PM’s order comes in reply to notes sent by the Yemeni Journalist Syndicate in which the government was urged to transform the idea into a concrete action as well as providing necessary funds for the media sector within the next year’s budget.

Mujawar also ordered to give back money cut from the budget allocated for the journalists and approve salary increases ordered previously.

He also called on the Ministry of Public Health and Population to care of the journalists and their families through enabling them to get special treatment at the public hospitals.

The PM also called on the Communication Ministry to provide free internet services for the journalists, asking them to go after many Arab countries.

He also ordered the Information Ministry to continue publishing national newspapers at the al-Thawra Printings according to contracts signed with papers.

What is that? One office for every newspaper that they want to drive out of business?

Yemen Post

As Ministry of Information has recently been transformed to a new site, President Ali Abdullah Saleh paid a short visit to the new ministry building earlier this week. News about the visit has two different sides.

The state-run news agency “Saba” reported that the President congratulated the ministry employees for the new building, and urged members of various media organs, audio, visual and print media, to improve and upgrade the information content and provide a meaningful messages that help the country towards progress and advancement adding that he inspected the various facilities of the ministry, the ongoing work as well as the work plan of the various institutions and organs of the ministry, however informed sources said that the President’s visit had a completely different aim.

Sources at the Ministry of Information said that during his visit to the ministry building, the President directed the ministry leadership to vacate the new building of the Ministry.
“Due to the huge size of the building compared with the small staff number of the ministry, President directed that the ministry should be moved again to the previous building giving no more details about any other body that might receive the building instead ” the source said.
The new six-store building of the Ministry of Information was inaugurated in March 19 2009 at a total cost of YR1, 899,984,000.

The building contains 142 offices; set In 264.43 square meters .It includes a kindergarten for the employees’ children, a hall for events, activities and workshops, in addition to two gardens, inside and outside car parks for more than 300 cars.

Yemen Post

Yemeni vice-president Mr. Abdu Rabou Mansour Hadi ordered fifty six prisoners, who were arrested after taking part in the protests that took place in Al-Sheher province, to be released.

According to the Information Center of the Interior Ministry, the prisoners were released after they vowed not to come back to riots, disorder, vandalism and acts of lawlessness that threaten civil peace and social tranquility. The center added that three prisoners, who were said to be accused of inciting riots and violence, are still arrested.

Meanwhile, about 70 others, who were arrested for protesting in the 21st of May, are still in jail in Aden province.

On the same regard, Mr. Lahasson Saleh Musleh, Deputy-governor of Al-Dale’e province, said that 43 people were arrested on charges of separatism, chanting anti-unity slogans, destroying public and private property during the demonstrations, during which one person was killed and 13 others injured.
Lahasson added that the elements opened fire and threw hand grenades at the security forces in three separate places, one of which hit a number of security personnel.
For his part, Mr.Yahya Al-Raei, the head of the Parliament, attacked the elements and described them to be imbued with apostasy, separation and hatred, demanding them to stop their hostile and subversive acts against the people and the country.

Politically speaking, the opposition parties represented by (JMP) attacked the speech delivered by President Saleh in Taiz province early this week. “Saleh’s statement contained serious signs, descriptions and charges against various political forces. It included implicit messages of violence, showing that the situation may be further aggravated in the future and the consequences may not be safe. This had negatively the Yemeni public opinion and increased the level of tensions and anxiety,” they said.

Probably every one of the 22 newly licensed papers is pro-regime and Tawwakol Karaman (WJWC) didn’t get her license yet. I would love to be wrong, really I would.

Al Qaeda can publish magazines and statements on the internet, but not civil society. Whats up with that? Everybody is blocked in Yemen except al Qaeda? The newspapers are inciting hatred but not Wahishi? Such garbage.

Zawya Yemen granted licenses for 22 new newspapers including 14 local newspapers, three newspapers for civil organizations and five for political parties in accordance with legal procedures, said Deputy Minister of Information Mohammed Shaher. Shaher said that there were further requests for issuing newspapers which are under studying by the ministry.

Currently around eight newspapers in Yemen were banned by the information ministry from printing and are accused of inciting hatred and indiscrimination in the country after covering what is happening in the southern governorates. Many local and international organizations have demanded that Yemeni government stop violating the rights of newspapers and freedom of the press.

Previously, Minister of information Hassan al-Lawzi said in a press conference that all Yemeni newspapers must take into consideration the national principles and the common interest of the nation when they are dealing with their press coverage.

Habeleen, Lahj May 27, 2009: A protester is draped in the flag of the formerly independent South Yemen which merged with North Yemen in 1990.

On the heels of earlier bloody protests in Aden on May 21 that resulted in ten deaths and nearly a thousand arrests, last week saw continuing unrest in south Yemen in most provinces. New arrests and civilian injuries were reported in several cities. Several times when the Yemeni government forced pro-unity demonstrations, the crowds instead began chanting pro-independence slogans, and the gatherings turned into clashes. In some cases, the protests were in reaction to the earlier arbitrary arrests of protesters in south Yemen. The institutional media blackout continues in an attempt to limit national and international awareness of the southern independence movement.

May 25 There was a demonstration was in Abyan, reportedly attended by tens of thousands. Tareq al Fadhli addressed the crowds.

May 27 A large anti-government rally was held in Dahlie

May 27 Radfan, one of the hot spots of the protests since 2007, held another large protest.

May 27 Habeleen in Laehj saw demonstrations as well.

May 28 A protest in Al-Shehr in Hadhramaut resulted in many injuries and about 30 arrests when the police opened fire on protesters.

May 28 Several demonstrations were held in Lahj including a large gathering in the capital, al Houta. The regime had organized a forced pro-unity demonstration supporting President Saleh, but the people began repeating slogans for calling independence and a republic with its capital Aden. Hundreds were arrested in Lahj, among them dozens of students.

May 28, Also in Lahj, in Yafea, demonstrations were held in Al Maflehi and Alasadi cities.

This is amazing stuff right here and could change the Middle East quicker, more cheaply and with a better outcome than anything else going on.

Yemen Times

CAIRO, May 16 — A new tool to circumvent website censorship named “Alkasir” was released today in its BETA version 1.0 and is now in the public domain. The release comes after the software was publicly revealed for the first time in Cairo yesterday during the first day of the “Blogging the Future” summit organized by the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research.

The software, whose name originates from the Arabic word ‘alkasir’, meaning ‘the circumventer’, is now accessible and according to its developer, Walid Al-Saqaf, an be downloaded directly from the web at http://alkasir.com/download. (Read on …)

Where are the donors? The UN? Ah yes, the UN praised Yemen’s HR record and the donors are interested in al Qaeda and in stabilizing the criminalized regime of Ali Abduallh Saleh. What kind of moronic, shortsighted 9/10 type of thinking is that? Not a creative, pragmatic or forward thinking individual in the bunch. To the extent that the circumstance in 2009 was predictable in 2004, averting the looming disaster on all fronts certainly cannot be a function of more of the same reactive policies.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, May 17— The government has prevented the distribution of seven independent newspapers for the second week running and charged its journalists with attempting to harm supreme national interests, triggering widespread condemnation from media and human rights organizations worldwide.

Up to 30 editors and journalists from newspapers Al-Share’, Al-Masdar, Al-Diyar, Al-Nida’, Al-Watani and Al-Ahali, as well as Al-Ayyam, have been accused of inciting their readers to armed insurrection and posing a threat to national unity.

Based on a request by the Ministry of Information, the Press and Publication Prosecution last week questioned journalists from these newspapers, before charging them with, among others, provoking sectarian strife among Yemenis. (Read on …)

A paper by parliament member, Ahmad Saif Hashid, presented at the media women forum, on freedom of the audio & visual media.

The real situation of the media in Yemen is still a bad one and suffers great guardianship and forbidding either implicitly or explicitly. For example, possessing satellite channels is absolutely not allowed as well as the mobile short news messages service is subjected only to desire of the government, while about twenty electronic media news websites are veiled. The print media is overloaded with a great deal of materials that are prohibited, to be published, by disgraceful law. The Illegal acts committed against the press and journalists are beyond calculation and the worst is that such acts are practiced daily or semi-daily. (Read on …)

Not one group in Yemen is capable of putting out a press release in English, sorry, so here we have more bad google translation:

Press release

We, the heads of editors of the independent newspaper the undersigned express our condemnation of the serious action taken by the Ministry of Information recently, which is an explicit reversal of the Constitution of the Republic of Yemen, and the most important pillars of the state unit, which celebrates the anniversary of the Yemeni after 19 days. (Read on …)

The disappointing thing is not that the dictators club in the UN praised Yemen, but that the Western democracies were too intimidated to speak the truth. Pathetic.

From the Cairo Institute of Human Rights Studies

Yemen: A leader in Human Rights?
Yemen’s repressive government praised by UN Human Rights Council

On May 11 and 13, 2009, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) debated and adopted a report on the human rights policies of Yemen. Despite the dire human rights situation in this country, the vast majority of states involved in the process offered praise for the government’s human rights policies, or failed to make substantive recommendations on how to improve the situation. (Read on …)

Not to mention kidnapping, death threats, license refusal etc etc

Yemen: Halt Crackdowns on Newspapers
Censorship by Printing Ban, Military Assault and Special Court

(New York, May 16, 2009) – Yemen’s government should immediately cease attacks on independent newspapers and scrap plans for a special court to try media cases, Human Rights Watch said today.

“These actions are a clear effort to silence independent voices in Yemen,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “President Abdullah Ali Saleh needs to end this campaign of intimidation and censorship.” (Read on …)

the internet is already blocked….

What they mean is any paper that publishes news of the southern unrest is violating the press and publications law which prohibits articles based on the effect they have on the public, and one outlawed effect is “undermining unity”. It shows how draconian the law is. There should be something along soon in English.

from al Thawra, govt paper:

وزارةالإعلام : الصحف التي تمس بالوحدة الوطنية سيجري ايقافها And Zarpalialam: newspapers, which affect the national unity will be stopped
الإثنين – 4 – مايو – 2009 – الثورة نت Monday – 4 – May – 2009 – Net Revolution

قالت وزارة الإعلام انه سيتم تطبيق القانون بحق الصحف التي تمس بالثوابت الوطنية والدينية , وقال محمد شاهر وكيل وزارة الإعلام انه سيتم ايقاف كل الصحف التي تمس بالوحدة الوطنية, ودعا محمد شاهر الإعلام الوطني الرسمي والحزبي والاهلي والمستقل بكل أنواعه سواء منه المرئي أو المقروء او المسموع في اليمن الى الارتقاء بنفسه الى مستوى المسؤلية الوطنية وعدم المساس بالثوابت الوطنية أو الدينية وقال وكيل وزارة الإعلام ان أي وسيلة إعلامية ايا كان نوعها أو طبيعة عملها الإعلامي تقوم في ممارستها الإعلامية على المساس بوحدة الوطن فهي بذلك تخالف قانون الصحافة والمطبوعات والنشر وسيتم مباشرة التصدي لها من قبل وزارة الإعلام بحسب ما هو مخولا لها قانونيا واتخاذ الإجراءات الصارمة بحقها . Ministry of Information said it will be the application of the law affecting the right of the newspapers that national and religious principles, “said Mohammad Shaher and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information he will stop all the newspapers, which affect the national unity, and called Muhammad Shahir national media and party official, al-Ahli, independent of all kinds, whether it video or audio, or reading in the Yemen to promote himself to the level of national responsibility and not compromising the principles of national or religious, said Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information means any information of any kind or nature of work in the media briefing on the exercise of prejudice to the unity of the homeland are so contrary to the law of the press and publishing and printing and will be directly addressed by Ministry of Information as it is legally empowered to take strict measures against them.

Ok here we go, English. Thank goodness the CPJ is on it at least, but how pathetic another news blackout like Sa’ada. We know what that means- its going to get bad. What a shame that they stopped printing, the regime should be ashamed at this thuggish behaivor but they are the psychotics of governance, no conscience at all:

Yemen On Line Government seizes newspaper offices in Yemen
After confiscating thousands of copies of a critical independent newspaper, authorities laid siege today to the paper’s offices in Aden, Yemen. The daily, Al-Ayyam, has been covering the ongoing conflict in the country’s southern region. (Read on …)

I have to check the vids but there were no deaths or injuries, always a very good thing, and no arrests but some property damage. (Update: 25 arrests in Hadarmout). Aden, Hadramout and Dhalie protests were blocked by security but in Abyan, it went off (see vid below). There were expectations that the protest in Zanjibar would be huge, since al Fadhli called for it. The whole scenario is odd.

Saleh’s rhetoric is heated, as one would expect from him, and the attempt to extradite the former leaders from Saudi Arabia and Oman is a typical Saleh move. But where is (al Fadhli’s brother in law and Saleh’s half brother) Ali Mohsen al Ahmar standing amid all reallignment?

Sahwa Net – Security forces in Aden province dispersed on Monday dozens of protestors who demanded political rights at al-Hashimi square.

Confrontations between the security and protestors did not result in any injures , according to Sahwa Net correspondent . However, many sellers closed down their shops in the wake of security deployment at al-Hashimi square.

Meanwhile, strict security measures are still taken in the entrances of Aden and Abyan provinces in a bid to prevent comers who intend to take part in southern protesting rallies.

Update: The videos show good sized marches. Here’s one:

Update: Official source ridicules Tariq’s speech and calls him a terrorist, thug and thief, a plunderer of public property, a mentor of bin Laden, and fails to recall he was Saleh’s ally until last month:

al Tagheer: The source said in a statement to the Yemen News Agency (Saba), “It is strange and ridiculous to talk about Fadli invaders land and wealth, which I Alnhab of land and wealth through what he has done illegally on the territory of the vast territory of the State in the province of Abyan and other extended from the area of Zanzibar, and even science , and gave itself the right to own and dispose of them illegally with false documents and .. in addition to what he has done for the rape of some public property Balrdm and some private housing to citizens of all methods of using fraud and thuggery, terrorism and violence to seize those homes for himself and without any right to become as a result One of the rich and big land owners .. who returned home after the blessed unity in the 22 May 1990 and has maintained his dignity and his life after he had been living in exile sent Creda despoiled of everything, to suffer hardship and humiliation of homelessness, both in some Ooi Gulf cities or in the mountains of Afghanistan, where he is a hobby of terrorism and murder as well as mentor and leader in the terrorism of Osama bin Laden. “

Islah condemns rioting:

Sahwa Net – The Yemeni Congregation of Reform ( the Islah Party) in Abyan governorate has said the best way to have rights and freedoms is the peaceful struggle, condemning riots and sabotage acts occurred at Zongbar city of Abyan.

The Islah demanded to control security , protect citizens and their assets ,and bring the assaulters accountable.

Car and shops had been attacked in Mukla and Zongbar following a rallies to mark a civil war in 1994 . Yemeni police clashed with protesters on Monday , but no causalities were reported .

Asharq Alawsat “Say No to Sucession in Yemen”, Therefore, we must help Yemen eliminate the concept of secession; not in the sense of providing financial aid but by taking decisive stands against separatists and spurring the Yemeni state to find solutions to the unresolved issues between the people of one nation. Ah. Saleh just needs a good talking to…

Update: the Yemen Times has a whole other spin on the incident. The father is a rapist/murderer and the mother a prostitute, not that the charges justify mob rule.

Original: The fanatics killing people in Ja’ar were no anomoly. Salafis destroying satellite dishes in Tharmar and Hodeidah.

Yemen Post: People destroyed the three-storey house of a citizen who they accused of tearing and stepping on the holy book of Quran in Sana’a on Tuesday night.
Eyewitnesses said the man tore the Quran and treaded on it before citizens but the reason for the transgression has not been identified.
Some people in the area called the police and informed them about a person who insulted the Quran. (Read on …)

Just one of the many targets though…

Bloomberg

April 20 (Bloomberg) — Yemen is in danger of losing what’s left of its Jewish community, which has called the country home for more than 2,500 years and provided its kings for a century.

Growing intimidation and violence are pushing the 300 Jews left in the Arabian Peninsula country to flee to Israel or the U.S. Four months ago, a Muslim extremist gunned down Jewish- studies teacher Moshe Yaish Nahari, a father of nine, in the town of Raida, north of the capital of Sana’a. (Read on …)

Further damage control on the son of the Yemeni president being a thief according to US federal courts: here here and here

al Motamar

US State Department reports are political targeting: Human Rights Minister
Tuesday, 14-April-2009
Almotamar.net – Yemen Human Rights Minister Dr Huda al-Ban has on Tuesday revealed a government tendency for engaging civil society organisations working in human rights field in the reply to international reports issued by the US State Department, Amnesty International, Freedom House and others, so that the reply would be a national one instead of official. She has accused report by the US State Department of inaccuracy, reshuffling cards and fabrication of non-existing realities. She added that 95% of the issues and incidents the report has tackled had been literally mentioned in previous years. (Read on …)

(Update: My post 12/12/06: Ali al Dailimi’s testimony at a HOOD press conference about being tortured and beaten by the PSO, and 6/3/08 witness testimony of children and adults imprisoned and tortured in relation to the Sa’ada War.)

Some of these prisoners have been in jail for years, snatched off the street and never charged, suspected of Houthism because they are Hashimites:

al Sahwa

Sahwa Net –The Front Line organization has expressed concern over the safety of a Yemeni activist Ali Hussein al-Dailami after he received direct threats and nuisance calls due his role in the ongoing campaign for the release of the detainees related to Saada conflict .

” These threats and harassment are an attempt to hinder his legitimate and peaceful activities in the defence of human rights, especially the rights of the detainees” said Front Line.

The organization cited that al-Dailami received threats from an officer of the Political Security Apparatus(PSA) that he would be detained soon because he went too far in crossing the red lines.

According to the Front Line , al-Dailami had filed a complaint to the Interior Minister and provide a list of telephone number from which he had been receiving threats…Al-Dailami who is the director of the Yemeni Organization for Defending Rights and Democratic Freedoms was imprisoned and tortured in 2006.

If Saleh ordered the Sa’ada prisoners released on 12/08 and they are still in jail, then its either a ploy or he can’t get his own directives implemented.

The presidential order:

The hand written order:

Its an organization focused on the protection of children. And they do very good advocacy work.

Naba News
هاكرز يلحقون دماراً كاملاً بموقع منظمة سياج لحماية الطفولة Hackers wreak havoc in full the location of the fence for the Protection of Children
الخميس, 09-إبريل-2009 Thursday, 09 – April -2009
نبأ نيوز – News report –

دانت منظمة سياج لحماية الطفولة بشدة جريمة القرصنة الإلكترونية التي تعرض لها موقعها على شبكة الانترنت ( www.seyaj.org ) والتي أدت إلى تدميره بكافة محتوياته ومواده الصحفية. Denounced the fence to the protection of children seriously the crime of piracy against the electronic website (Www.seyaj.org), which led to the destruction of all its contents and press articles. (Read on …)

Nice, a list. There’s so many attacks lately I lost track…

Recent attacks and threats on journalists and editors in Yemen
Yemen, Politics, 4/6/2009, Arabic News

The organization ARTICLE 19 said last Monday it is monitoring with great concern the most recent pattern of threats and attacks on journalists in Yemen.

“No journalist should be arrested or attacked because of his/her work and opinion,” says Dr. Agnès Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. “Authorities should immediately investigate these incidents and provide effective protection to journalists under threat.”

Some of the recent incidents include:

- Managing Editor of Mareb Press, Mohammad Salhi, was abducted on 19 March 2009 by security officers and imprisoned for eight hours before his release. Salhi was arrested for allegedly trying to take photos of the scene where four South Korean tourists were killed and three others wounded in a terrorist attack in the city of Shibam on 14 March – On 23 March Abdel Malek Shrai, journalist for the independent Al-Ayyam daily, was attacked during his coverage of the murder story of the general director of Khdair governorate. He was beaten up, slandered and banned from writing about the case – Mohammad Shar’abi, an editor at the independent Al Diyar newspaper, has received life threatening messages because of his critical writings and opinions. On 24 March his house in Taiz governorate was bombed. Shar’abi had also been attacked before when unknown assailants shot at his house in November 2008 while his family and children were inside – Associated Press correspondent Ahmad Al Haj has also received threatening messages on his mobile phone from a private unknown caller who described him as an agent and mercenary – In addition, independent journalists in Yemen are being prosecuted for simply doing their job. There are six legal cases against the Nasserite newspaper, Al Wahdawi, for publishing stories related to corruption and investigative material

The one positive note in this negative atmosphere is a speech delivered at the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate General Assembly in mid March by Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh in which he instructed the government to grant licenses to satellite broadcasting channels and to allow the transmission of private radios to any party who requests it.

Yemeni-American analyst Munier al Mawari wrote an article that was published in Yemen and he has been declared a fugative for not showing up in court. He’s in DC. The concern of course is for the editor in Yemen who is also facing charges. There’s a few journalists beaten, arrested and harrassed lately, but they are doing a very poor job in getting the information out in English. I’m trying to make a master list.

al Eshteraki Court postponed its secretariat in the West on Monday morning to consider the issue of the source until 20 April next لإتاحة الفرصة للنيابة إبلاغ الصحفي منير الماوري بقرار الاتهام. For the opportunity to inform the press on behalf of the Maori Munir’s decision to charge. (Read on …)

These are not random cases of rape. Its an organized system of forced prostitution. In Taiz, there’s a substantial number of babies born to women who were in jail for more than a year.

Yemen Post

Newborns of female prisoners at Yemen’s central jails are subjected to be sold, an organization interested in prisoner affairs said on Saturday.
The Sajeen Organization said at a symposium on female prisoners in Yemen that most prisoners are tortured at jails and sometimes raped.
And when they try to protest maltreatment and illegal acts they are threatened by officials at the jails.

Chairman of the organization said a daughter, named Muntaha, was sold in August 2008 for YR 15,000 that went for her mother and $5000 for her father who works in Sana’a.

Many others abuse issues of female prisoners in the country go unreported, lawyer Abdul Rahman Berman said. Female prisoners face difficult moments during investigations as they are prevented from hiring lawyers.

For her part, Amal Al-Basha, Chairwoman of the Sisters Forum said violations against female prisoner rights take place with permission from the leadership.

She added that human rights organizations and activists are prevented from meeting female prisoners in the country, criticizing arrest and imprisonment measures.

Many are jailed over honor charges and when a female inmate ends her term she finds none to help here and house her. As a result, many female inmates turn into bad community assets.

Related, in Yemen if you don’t have someone to bring you food or money in jail, then you don’t eat

Sahwa Net – Yemeni human rights groups have demanded the Yemeni government to lift suffers of Yemen’s prisoners resulted in by government reducing to food and care expanses allotted to them.

In a letter to President Saleh, the groups which included HOOD , the Arab Sister Forum , Prisoner Organization and human rights activists demanded to grant prisoners all their rights guaranteed by the constitution and law.

The students have been demanding for over a year that the military be withdrawn from the campus.
The National

SANA’A // The shooting of a student at Sana’a University in Yemen by a soldier has sparked protests on the campus and raised concerns about the increased presence of the military at the institute.
(Read on …)

How nicely edited this one is and it includes good goverance as a goal…

Cultural Association of Iraqi Youth
established in 2005 to help a generation Iraqis reap the benefits of democracy

General Information
Address: Cultural Association of Iraqi Youth,
Abdelbari i 2, Kut City, Wasit Province, Iraq
Phone: 009647702625845.
E-mail: asd_bad2001@yahoo.com
Registration: General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, Office to assist Non-Governmental Organizations, Registration No. 1z40800, dated 21/9/2005
Target group: Iraqis twelve years and old of both sexes
Funding: Self

The Objectives of the Organization
1- The organization seeks to enfranchise young people in the Iraqi civil and political system by teaching them the technical, administrative and leadership skills necessary to utilize the democratic process.
2- The organization seeks to develop the next generation of national, regional and local leaders with an entrenched set of egalitarian values far from sectarianism, racism, nationalism and geography.
3- The organization seeks to defend the civil rights of Iraqi youth and help them develop strategies to protect and enhance their civil liberties.

Mission Statement
“Awareness of young people and the consolidation of democracy in Iraq opened the way for the growing participation of Iraqi youth in determining the governance and the future of Iraq.” (Read on …)

Keeping with our regional theme today:

www.byshr.org, full report

Introduction

The Kingdom of Bahrain, since 2004, has been waging a campaign against the defenders of human rights in Bahrain. It started this campaign by closing down the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and forbidding the establishment of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights. This campaign has continued in an escalating manner, until the “Bandar” report appeared – Salah Al-Bandar is the former government adviser – where the report pointed out that there is a continuous plan to target human rights defenders and their organizations.

Since the issuance of the report – Bandar – the authorities started to wage organized campaigns against the defenders of human rights, and the campaigns intensified with the death of the activist Ali Jassim, who died in mysterious circumstances after his participation in the annual demonstration organized by the National Committee of Martyrs and Torture Victims in December every year.

From that moment onwards, the defenders in Bahrain are being caught in the midst of the danger of torture in the investigation centers – Criminal Investigation Bureau – and the danger of arrest and imprisonment, where the Bahraini authorities accused the activists of committing capital crimes against the country. The Public Prosecution, however, was only able to prove those accusations after it had practiced extreme torture against all the defendants in criminal cases with the help of the National Security Service.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights had filed several complaints to the Special Rapporteur for the Defenders of Human Rights in the United Nations, and had also filed complaints to the Special Rapporteur for Arbitrary Arrest.

The BYSHR believes that the international organizations and panels should pay more notice to the cases of human rights defenders, especially in the period which is the focus of the report – December 2007 until February 2009 – due to the increase of torture, arbitrary arrest and unfair trial incidents for the defenders.

The BYSHR extends an invitation to the Special Rapporteurs – Arbitrary Arrest, Torture, and Defenders of Human Rights – to visit Bahrain and to have a close look into the situation of human rights defenders, and to meet the different segments of society, in addition to the human rights organizations.

Note: The methods of torture that will be mentioned in the report were taken from the complaint forms submitted to the Special Rapporteur against torture and degrading treatment.

For more information: Mohammed Al-Maskati – president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights
+973-36437088 or mohdmaskati@byshr.org

Nader Al-Salatna – Vice president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights
+973-39596196 or naderalsalatna@byshr.org

Lets recall that al Khaiwani was arrested as a personal vendetta by Saleh, beat up, his kid slapped, interrogated for a week, released and then kidnapped and really beat up badly, convicted and imprisoned for months, pardoned and re-convicted and now pardoned again. (This is not even counting what happened to him in 2004/5.) Its like battered wife syndrome translated to the national level, yes its nice the abuse stopped momentarily but its important not to lose sight of the over-riding fact that it never should have occurred in the first place.

And the announcement about freeing the broadcast media is getting old also; its about the fifth time I heard that in the last five years, nothing happens. More talk, headlines and propaganda and when the dust settles, journalists are still getting beat up, no new licenses or as we saw recently, the new TV channel goes to al Zindani… So it would be nice if true but Saleh’s words are meaningless, so lets see what happens before celebrating this announcement.

Alarab

Yemen pardons opposition journalist facing jail

Yemen’s president said on Saturday he had pardoned an opposition journalist facing a six-year jail sentence for links to armed rebels. A Yemeni court last year convicted Abdelkarim al-Khaywani, editor of opposition newspaper al-Shura, to six years in jail after he was found carrying images and statements of the rebels.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced the pardon in a speech to a journalist union’s conference, in which he also called for new legislation to allow private television and radio stations and easing rules for the launch of new publications.

Battles with the Shi’ite Muslim rebels, which had raged on and off since 2004 in the north of the poor Arab country, subsided last year. Hundreds of people have been killed in the conflict and thousands have fled their homes.

Sunni Muslims form a majority of Yemen’s 19 million population, while most of the rest are Shi’ite Zaydis.

Update: Yemen Times

In the last minutes of the nomination process, three candidates for the chairperson position withdrew, decreasing the total number of candidates to five. All five of these nominees work with government media establishments as every opposition newspaper and independent candidate withdrew. Two of the five candidates standout: Dr. Raufa Hassan, university professor and director of an NGO, and Yaseen Al-Masoudi from Al-Thawra state run newspaper.

If elected, Dr. Raufa Hassan will be the first woman to chair the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate. She emphasized the necessity of meeting the journalists’ demands. “I will take it upon me to achieve the recommendations which the fourth conference for journalists will bring about,” she said.

Original Post: The last head of the YJS was the head of the state news agency SABA and was a total tool. The regime’s choice for this term is the vice at al Thawra, and there is a lot of contention about the regime’s strong arming the union to select and “elect” its candidate. (See Almotamar.net article for regime endorsement.) The non-governmental journalists are concerned with several important issues as the following Yemen Times oped explains:

Political parties are focusing their attention these days on the upcoming Yemen Journalists Syndicate (YJS) general assembly meeting to elect a new board and chairman. Being the most effective and important civil society organization, both tae ruling party and opposition have been conducting intensive meetings, trying to mobilize journalists to vote for their candidates. The ruling party, in particular, has been mustering journalists working for the state-run media to vote for a selected list representing the party. Heads of these media outlets have used their positions to influence their journalists to vote for a specific group of journalists. This demonstrates how these parties are keen to control the YJS and manipulate it to serve their own political agenda.
(Read on …)

So how are they supposed to get their back pay?

Yemen Post: Tens have been arrested when police broke up on Tuesday a strike by the employees of the Aden branch of the Yemen oil company.

Many other employees and people of those whose homes are close to the company complex, including children, were injured when police fired live bullets and used tear gas to disperse the protesting workers who began a full-scale strike last Saturday demanding financial rights. (Read on …)

Not just the journalists barred at the gate, poor Najoud can’t leave either. The idiot regime doesn’t realize that her story is one of courage and progress and reflects very well on Yemen, or how stupid they look saying she is too young to get on a plane when Parliament hasn’t ratified the change in the law for the minimum marriage age.

VIENNA — Yemen has barred a former child bride from being honored in Austria, saying she is too young to travel alone. When she was less than 10 years old, the girl was forced to marry a man at least three times her age. After being raped and abused by him, she successfully filed for divorce and traveled abroad to talk about her ordeal.

(Read on …)

The more there is to report, the more the journalists get beat up. Yemen Times:

SANA’A, Feb. 24 — The fourth press freedoms report recently issued by Women Journalists Without Chains indicates that press violations in Yemen are on the rise.

In 2005 there were 53 violations and in 2006 the number reached nearly 67 violations. In 2007 the violations increased to 112, and in 2008 the number shot up to 248 violation cases, which is about five incidents in one week. (Read on …)

Lets see what happens. The odds are 87% (96%?) in the favor of the Yemeni government going the smoke and mirrors route, like with the governors “elections”. However, even grudging reforms are still reforms. The JMP has a lot of work to do internally.

Yemen Online

Yemen: Provisions of the agreement between GPC and JMP.
YemenOnline. Feb 25 – After several dialogues that the President called for between representatives of the General People’s Congress GPC and the Joint Meeting Parties JMP represented in the Council, and given the requirements of the national interest in carrying out free, fair and secure elections under a favorable political environment in which all political spectrums participate, all of the political parties represented in the Parliament hereinafter undersigned – the General People’s Congress, Islah Party, the Yemeni Socialist Party, the Unionist Nasserite People Party and the Arab Ba’ath Socialist Party – request from the Parliament Presidency to take necessary constitutional procedures to amend Article 65 of the Constitution related to the Parliament duration in accordance with the law, allowing the extension period of the present Parliament for two years due to the lack of sufficient time for implementing the following reforms:

Firstly, parties, political organizations and civil society organizations should be given the opportunity to carry out the constitutional amendments necessary for the development of the political and electoral systems, including the Quota.

Secondly, the political parties represented in the Parliament should be enabled to complete the discussion of topics that have not been agreed upon during the preparation of amendments to the electoral law and integrating what was agreed upon at the heart of law.

Thirdly, the Higher Committee of Elections and Referendum be reconstructed as provided by law.

They have no heart. None. A 92 year old man, think about that.

HOOD online-Translation: Radhia Khairan-Editor: Jane Novak

Yemeni Military Police have detained a 92 year old as a hostage and are refusing to inform his family of his location.

The police and other security forces in Yemen use the tactic of hostage taking to exert pressure on relatives. In this case, the Military Police incarcerated 92 year old Ali Ali Ahmed Shubaih in a bid to pressure his son to turn himself in to the police. His son is wanted in connection with an alleged land dispute.

Mr. Shubaih was arrested on February 3 although he had committed no crime. He was held on remand in Area Number Five at the Security Center in Sana’a. Mr. Shubaih is infirm, suffers from dementia and multiple ailments related to his age. Mr. Shubaih’s relatives filed a complaint with HOOD over the illegal and unconstitutional detention.

One of HOOD’s lawyers visited the detention center Saturday and found that the elderly gentleman was both blind and nearly unconscious. Mr. Shubaih was distraught, infirm and did not know where he was. He was transferred to hospital after HOOD’s visit and later returned to the jail.

Mr. Shbaih’s family reports today that security officials said Mr. Shubaih was transferred to another facility and refused to disclose his location. The family is extremely concerned for his well being.

HOOD sent a complaint to the General Prosecution maintaining that Mr. Shubaih’s detention is against law. HOOD seeks an investigation of the incident, the immediate release Mr. Shubaih and the prosecution of those responsible for this egregious act.

This was by no means the first incident of its type. In a similar case, 82 year old Sheikh Isshaq was detained as a hostage for two months in the Political Security’s center.

Editor: Jane Novak

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.

There’s not much difference between a nine year old bride and a slave, however in this case the sale of a grown man was documented in a Yemeni court.

News Yemen
Yemen Observatory for Human Rights disclosed a slavery case formally approved in a Yemeni court. The YOHR said a man in Hajja province brought another man for Yr 500,000 in 2000. It said that a court in Hajja governorate documented the slavery case. (Read on …)

Blaming democracy not corruption.

Yemen Online

Yemen: “We don’t need a country the government of which doesn’t at all respect its own nationals.” A Yemeni tribe in Al-Jawf stated.
YemenOnline. Feb 22 – A number of Al Heridan – Almahashimah tribesmen in Al-Jawf governorate demanded withdrawal of all the government’s troops and military equipment off their land because they do not need a country the government of which doesn’t at all respect its own nationals. “Yemen Government practices all standards of racism and nepotism against us, and we are being marginalized in every aspect of our own rights.” said Al Heridan – Almahashimah tribesmen in a letter addressed to civil society organizations concerned in human rights issues. Calling on Saudi Arabia to embrace the tribe, the letter confirmed that Al Heridan – Almahashimah tribe does no longer need a system that overlooked them.

Yemen Online

Yemen Should be a Kingdome, seriously said Shiekh Mabkhoot Bin Hadhal.

YemenOnline, Special. Feb, 22 – “Yemen should be a Kingdome, and President Ali Saleh should be a king.” seriously said Shiekh Mabkhoot Bin Hadhal, Marib governorate in a special statement to YemenOnline. “My own point of view, which a huge number of Yemeni people share with me, is that Yemen’s democratic system is to be cancelled. We no longer need any political parties or the Parliament itself due to the fact that those parties proved to be just headache and they caused us a lot of troubles at all levels, even at the family level”, he added.”Huge amounts of money are wasted inefficiently on the electoral process which is in turn corrupt.”, he stated, highlighting the fact that Yemen is surrounded by Gulf Kingdoms and it is much better for Yemen to be a Kingdome too.”This is going to make it a lot easier for Yemen to join Gulf Cooperation Council” he added, expecting a strong denouncement among Yemeni political system and even among opposition parties themselves.”An 18-year of failure is enough to prove that the democratic experience is useless.”, he commented.

The Talabanization of Yemen may have reached a tipping point.
Update: Maybe. Knives not guns?

Yemeni extremists in Taiz governorate attacked motels scattered over Saber Mountain. YemenOnline Feb 22 – A group of masked Yemeni religious extremists with knives and torches attacked small motels scattering over Saber Mountain, and started stabbing inhabitants and setting fire all over the places. While the attackers managed to escape, they left behind some serious injuries and burnt-down places.

It is clear that a wave of religious extremism has spread among young people in Taiz governorate, and that a number of religious parties took advantage of the recent events in Gaza Strip in particular, to serve their political objectives.

Update: One person was seriously injured and 13 other wounded. The location is a resort, not actually a hotel, a casino type resturant. There were about 20 attackers. Several other tourist areas were previously attacked.

Naba

Scenes of bloody terrible, almost a form of Legends of Hollywood .. متطرفون ملثمون يحملون السكاكين بيد، ومشاعل النيران بيد أخرى، ويغزون استراحات سياحية بجبل صبر بتعز مكبرين باسم الله.. Extremists, however, masked men wielding knives, flares and fire, however, and tourist bars invade Mount Ptaz binoculars patience in God’s name .. يثبون على الناس، وبعد كل صيحة “الله أكبر” يغرسون سكاكينهم في الرؤوس، والصدور، وأي جزء من أجساد مَن ظفروا بهم.. Ithbon on people, after all the cry of “Allahu Akbar” Egrson knives in the head, and chests, and any part of the body of them won .. ويضرمون النيران في كل مكان منها.. And setting fire to each place

I posted the story of the murder of the Yemeni Rabbi at another website a while ago, and one of the commenters there said, “This is why there needs to be an Israel”. And its true. Where would they go to be safe otherwise? They used to be safe in Yemen, although assigned to Dhimmitude not equality, an irksome concept. But the rise in fanatacism makes Yemen a dangerous place for a lot of people now. There are fellow Yemenis trying to achieve justice and security for the Yemeni Jewish citizens, HOOD for example, but its quite an uphill battle. Another interesting part of this story is the clandestine airlift. Unnamed Yemeni government sources are saying it was via Eritrea, of course.

Ynet

For Sa’adia Ben-Yisrael in Yemen, the grenade thrown at his family’s home proved the final straw. Under the cover of secrecy, a group of ten Jews, nine of them members of the Ben-Yisrael family, left their Arab homeland for Israel.

Landing in Tel Aviv on Thursday afternoon, Sa’adia, his wife and their seven children seemed overwhelmed by the media attention that welcomed them to their new home. Also waiting for them were representatives from the Jewish Agency, which helped organize the clandestine airlift.

A prominent member of Yemen’s tiny Jewish sector, Sa’adi said ultra-Orthodox members of the anti-Zionist ‘Neturei Karta’ sect tried to convince him not to make aliyah. “But I’m very glad that I cam to the Holy Land, me and my family,” he said….

Ezra Tzubari, Ben-Yisrael’s cousin, said he hoped the family’s decision would encourage others to do the same. “To the people still there in Yemen who are even a little in danger – just come here and see this completely different world,” he said. There are currently 280 Jews remaining in Yemen. Most of them, nearly 230 people, reside in Raida. The rest are in Sanaa.

Al-Khaiwani was convicted after his pardon (??!!), lets see what happens to al Qarni. I can almost hear Rodney Dangerfield: I was pardoned by President Saleh but somebody forgot to tell the judge.

Pardoned Comedian al-Qarni’s Second Trial Delayed:
The Court Awaits Prosecution Paperwork
By: Radhia Khairan-Jane Novak

The Western District Court of the Secretariat circuit Court set March 10 as the date for the Prosecution to bring a copy of Fahd al-Qarni’s presidential pardon. Four other defendants in the case are required to bring an explanatory argument.

In March 2006, the Press and Publication Prosecutor filed charges against Mr. al-Qarni, a well known entertainer and comedian. Mr. al-Qarni was charged with “insulting the Yemeni President” by disseminating two unauthorized cassettes of political humor in the genre of folk songs. The Cultural Ministry sued al-Qarni for producing two cassettes in which he made caustic jokes about the government and the ruling party, presided over by the President al-Saleh.

In the prior session, the Court ordered the Prosecution to bring a copy of al-Qarni’s presidential pardon. In yesterday’s trial, the court did not hear the explanatory defense or receive a copy of the pardon because the Prosecutor has not yet received a response from the General Prosecution.

Health issues prevented the defendant al-Qarni from attending the trial. He was represented by a lawyer assigned by The Allawo Law Firm who asked for a delay.

Interestingly, Al-Qarni had been tried as a fugitive and in absentia by one court while he was on trial in another.

The Western District Court of the Secretariat circuit labeled al-Qarni a “fugitive from justice” although the defendant was on trial in Taiz province. In the Taiz trial, al-Qarni was also charged with insulting the president. The case centered on a live comedy performance that included political humor. The Taiz court issued a guilty verdict and sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment and a fine of 500.000 YR(2500$) . The president granted al-Qarni a pardon after two months. Nevertheless, his case file was opened again later on.

Article19 and HOOD issued a statement calling for closing al-Qarni’s file before the Western District Court of the Secretariat circuit. HOOD seeks the application of the Presidential pardon decision for the second charge as well as the first.

Global Integrity finds a “huge” gap between the law and its implementation.

Yemen earned very weak scores across the board, from civil society and government accountability to business regulation and the rule of law. The country’s executive, judicial, and legislative accountability mechanisms are among the worst assessed in 2008.

Although there are strong anti-corruption laws on the book, the anti-corruption agency is ineffective. Furthermore, political financing is generally unregulated, while civil society organizations are ineffective in fighting corruption. The media, which is subject to political interference, also receives poor ratings. Several journalists have been arrested, harassed, or imprisoned for their corruption-related investigative stories. Government control over private radio is among the most draconian in the world.

Update: Oh Yay, they are referencing my articles as well as this website in the media section. What happens a lot is the original links to Yemeni papers go down and the only copy is here, which is one function of the site, to provide a historical data base for researchers and others by category. The Yemen Observer trashed their entire archives with the last website upgrade, so the only detailed searchable history in English is at the Yemen Times and here.

Update 2: A very detailed and accurate report with excellent footnotes in all categories.

Links at the main page include scorecard:

Yemen: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Overall Score: 46 (+/- 2.81) – Very Weak

Category I Civil Society, Public Information and Media 36 Very Weak
I-1 Civil Society Organizations 47 Very Weak
I-2 Media 35 Very Weak
I-3 Public Access to Information 27 Very Weak

Category II Elections 46 Very Weak
II-1 Voting & Citizen Participation 62 Weak
II-2 Election Integrity 65 Weak
II-3 Political Financing 11 Very Weak

Category III Government Accountability 30 Very Weak
III-1 Executive Accountability 45 Very Weak
III-2 Legislative Accountability 22 Very Weak
III-3 Judicial Accountability 17 Very Weak
III-4 Budget Processes 35 Very Weak

Category IV Administration and Civil Service 44 Very Weak
IV-1 Civil Service Regulations 28 Very Weak
IV-2 Whistle-blowing Measures 21 Very Weak
IV-3 Procurement 57 Very Weak
IV-4 Privatization 70 Weak

Category V Oversight and Regulation 52 Very Weak
V-1 National Ombudsman 53 Very Weak
V-2 Supreme Audit Institution 47 Very Weak
V-3 Taxes and Customs 50 Very Weak
V-4 State-Owned Enterprises 48 Very Weak
V-5 Business Licensing and Regulation 63 Weak

Category VI Anti-Corruption and Rule of Law 66 Weak
VI-1 Anti-Corruption Law 100 Very Strong
VI-2 Anti-Corruption Agency 56 Very Weak
VI-3 Rule of Law 54 Very Weak
VI-4 Law Enforcement 54 Very Weak

Gee wouldn’t a normal press law, following up on the new legislation about the minimum marriage age, go a long way to appease the donors???? There’s seems to be good support in the parliament for the first draft. The second draft criminalizes a wide variety of topics important to an informed electorate and includes a six year jail term as the penalty for writing about anything important.

YT

None of this is reflected in the draft, which stipulates that the release of information should not damage national security, social peace, national unity, Yemen’s interests and its foreign relations, the national economy, public and private economic interests, or trade and financial interests. Any person seeking or publishing information prohibited by this draft shall be sentenced to six years in jail according to article 71. Such open-ended and loose terms make it difficult to decide what is prohibited and what is allowed, for anything at any time can be simply decided as being against the national interest of the country. Again, the time limit for accessing requested information has been put at ten days, but the draft stipulates that the limit can be extended to 60 days. That is a lot of time.

The National

SANA’A // A draft law on access to information that the Yemeni parliament is scheduled to debate this week has already drawn criticism from journalists and democracy activists who describe it as restricting press freedom.

“This draft law proposed by the government is authoritarian and aims to exercise more restrictions, as it prohibits the search for and publishing of information under several pretexts such as the protection of national security, national unity and the like,” said Marwan Damaj, the secretary general of Yemen Journalists Syndicate, a non-governmental organisation. (Read on …)

This is excellent. HOOD

SANA’A, Feb. 11 — Nojood, 10, Arwa, 9, and Reem, 13, are three girls who went through traumatizing ordeals after being forced into marriage by their families. The three girls’ stories have been an issue of debate in social sessions, conferences and the media. But most importantly the matter was discussed in Parliament, where members have finally approved setting the minimum age for marriage for both boys and girls at 17 years old.

The new law stipulates:

“No child under seventeen years of age is to be married, unless the marriage is seen in the best interest of the child by the judge. The girl’s guardian who violates this law will be penalized. The judge conducting the marriage has to present the marriage document within one month of the marriage at most to the concerned body and the marriage contract must include related documents such as birth certificate, dowry and identity cards. The guardian of either the wife or husband will be financially penalized if they do not register the marriage certificate within the mentioned period. No marriage is to be carried out at any age without the consent of the woman.” (Read on …)

HOOD

The Amran Criminal Court adjourned the trial of Abdul-Aziz Al-Abdi who is accused in the murder of Masha al-Nahari, a Yemeni Jew. The trial will resume on February 16, 2008 when the court will hear final arguments and receive a medical report on al-Abdi. (Read on …)

Human Rights Watch Report 2008 via UNHCR, rather straightforward:

Events of 2008

The human rights situation in Yemen has deteriorated markedly over the past several years. Yemen had previously made advances in the rule of law, setting out rights in the constitution, the penal code, and criminal procedure code. However, these have been eroded by hundreds of arbitrary arrests and several dozen enforced disappearances, mainly in the context of armed clashes in the north, but also relating to the government’s domestic counterterrorism efforts and crackdown on social and political unrest in the south of the country. (Read on …)

Several international journalists and rights orgs have made similiar statements on al Khaiwani’s behalf.

His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh
President of the Republic of Yemen
Sana’a, Republic of Yemen
3 February 2009

Your Excellency,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum,
which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at the
upholding of a six-year jail sentence against journalist Abdel Karim Al Khaiwani, despite a
presidential pardon having been granted to him in September 2008.
According to reports, on 26 January Yemen’s Special Terrorist Court upheld a 6-year jail sentence
handed down to Mr Al Khaiwani on 9 June 2008. Mr Al Khaiwani, former editor-in-chief of the
Al-Shoura newspaper, had received a presidential pardon in September 2008 and had also
received assurances from the Minister of Justice and other officials that the case had been closed.
He had not been summoned to give evidence to the Special Terrorist Court, nor had he been
notified that the hearing was underway. The court reportedly did not consider Mr Al Khaiwani’s
appeal against the initial sentence. (Read on …)

The poor people. The state comes, knocks down your house and sells your land for a park, and there’s nothing to do about it because the authorities you would appeal to are the ones driving the backhoe.

The concentration of land “ownership” substantial and growing due to the daily confiscation of private property. Its not just political and commercial monopolies.

Yemen Post: Dozens of families in the western province of Hudaida have been left homeless after backhoes that were guarded by many troops destroyed their homes in a north area in the province. Websites said that the area was largely devastated as the backhoes eliminated everything; the people’s homes along with all properties at them.

The people in the area were shocked because they were not notified before that such measure would be taken.

As the backhoes were accompanied by many troops from the Central Security Forces, the appeals of the people were met by oppression.

Influential officials tried many times before to take over our lands in this area and displace us but they failed and now they came supported by government orders to do so, people in the area said. (Read on …)

This guy is on trial??? He’s the one whose house got shot up and one guard was killed after publishing news about the protests in the south. This is absurd. Another poster child for Yemen’s democracy.

On January 18, the Yemeni newspaper Al-Ayyan carried the following report: “Saira first degree court held its first sessions for three publishing cases filed against Al-Ayyam by Journalism and Publications Prosecution, on behalf of Abd al-Salam Shuwayter, head of Central Body for Censorship and Accountability, Hadramawt branch, and Himiar Abd al-Khalik and Adil Asbahi.

“Our colleague Hisham Bashrahil, the editor, and the defence, which comprised nine lawyers, stood before the court. The lawyers include Muhammad Mahmud Nasirr, Badr Salmin Basnid, Munir Abdallah Jaradah, Ali Abd al-Rahman A’uli, Salih Qasim Amri, Salih Ziban, Adnan Shaykh Mansur Jinaydi, Muhammad Abd al-Karim Amrawi, and Jasar Faruk Mikawi. (Read on …)

Are they clamping down on the Hashemites again? What is packaged as mosque reform over the last years has pretty much been outlawing mention of Iman Ali Talib and taking over Zaidi mosques. Meanwhile Abdullah al-Reimi was preaching openly in a mosque in one of the governorates last year, ah, maybe 2007. The guy who murdered Jarallah Omar was the prison’s preacher until he was suddenly executed. There’s many examples. The government, including the courts, defends jihad and civilian murder abroad as long as it is within the confines of “legitimate resistance”. Every little bit helps, but there’s just so much propaganda that its impossible to have confidence in government announcements, especially with Judge al Hittar as Endowments Minister.

al Motamar:

New law regulating mosques work in Yemen
Wednesday, 28-January-2009
almotamar.net – The Yemeni government submitted Tuesday, in its meeting held under chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr Ali Mohammed Mujawar, draft law organizing work of mosques. The draft law was presented by the Ministry of Endowments. The draft law was referred to a ministerial committee headed by Deputy Premier for Economic Affairs, the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation to revise it and refer it t the cabinet for discussion and endorsement.

The draft law aimed to revive the message f the mosque related to faithfulness, education and guidance as well as protection of the mosque sanctity and improvement of its administration and construction for performance of Islamic rites and other of the goals enhancing role of mosques in serving the citizen.

A press Release on the Leading Journalist and Writer, Hussein al-Lasoss’s Attack and Detention

Issued by: HOOD and WJWC

This is a press release issued by both HOOD and Women Journalists without Chains Organization (WJWC), regarding the attack exposed to the journalist and writer Hussein al-Lasoss by al-Baida province mayor’s bodyguards. Mr. Hussien was barbarically attacked and arbitrarily incarcerated with no legal justification.

Press Release

HOOD and WJWC express their deep concerns about the current miserable health status of Mr. Hussein al-Lasoss, as he is reported to have a serious injury in his head and sustain several contusions on his body as well. Mr. Hussien was barbarically attacked and arbitrarily incarcerated with no legal justification.

Al-Lasoss was kidnapped and beaten by the mayor’s bodyguards of al-Baida province. He was dragged last Thursday to the mayor’s house and then transferred to the Security Administration of al-Baida province’s prison and apprehended there to date. Mr. Hussein al-Lasoss is one of the leading journalists and the editor–in-chief of al-Baida Press website.

HOOD and WJWC also condemn this blatant physical assault and reiterate that this attack was due to his writings about corruption in al-Baida province, and believe that it comes under a systematic and organized campaign targeting writers and journalists.

HOOD believes that Mr. Hussein was attacked because of his opinion which is protected by the Yemeni constitution.

HOOD and WJWC, therefore, urge the Attorney–General to do his entitled legal duty in protecting individuals, particularly journalists from attacks and violations. They moreover call upon Attorney–General to issue an executive order of Hussein’s release and start an unbiased serious investigation with the perpetrators.

As they also call upon the Minister of Interior to proceed an investigation with the participation of Civil Society Organizations and Journalists Syndicate on the assaults and threats subjected to activists, journalists and writers by its security authorities and to take a legal action against those involved in such attacks.

HOOD and WJWC hold both the Security chief the mayor of al-Baida responsible for this attack and call upon the local community to investigate their involvement.

Finally, HOOD and WJWC call for instant release of the leading active journalist and bringing the perpetrators who attacked him and those in responsible for his outlaw detention to justice.

Issued by HOOD and WJWC

Sat. Junaury24, 2009

The militants’ murder of three gay men (and the state’s non-response) highlights two trends. One is the continuing loss of physical control by the Yemeni state. Parts of the south have ejected the central government. Large areas in Sa’ada are semi autonomous under control of the rebels. The militants have taken over Jahr to the extent that they burnt government buildings and imposed their own law. The state is letting these areas slip away because it is too weak and too preoccupied to fight for them. A variety of competing groups have taken authority indicating fracturing or the Somalia syndrome. The state is ceasing to exist in some areas as funds dry up. The loudest, most radical groups in these areas are taking over to impose some social control.

Trend two is the accelerating Talibanization or radicalization of Yemen. These militants appointed themselves judge, jury and executioner. The murder of gays is the same as the murder of the Jewish rabbi last month. In both instances, the militants justify their murder of minorities as a public service. The fanatical intolerance fostered by the neo-Salafis requires the extermination of “enemies” where enemies are defined as anyone who holds a different world view or refuses to submit to their totalitarianism. The jihaddists have growing control over various territory in Yemen that is distinct from the “ungoverned tribal regions” often noted as a security concern. The Talibanizaton of Yemen is more than a territorial expansion, its a penetration of government structures and social mores.

Mujahideen are killing young people in Ja’ar on suspicion of sexual “irregularities”, December 28, 2008

Saeed Abdullah was a young 22-year-old Hanan shot dead by the Mujahideen in the city of Abyan province Ja’ar. Well-informed sources said the victim is the third young man is killed by Mujahideen militants in the street in front of Central Market, Ja’ar. He was killed last Saturday night on allegations are that the young man was gay.

Sources close to the jihadists said that the leaders of the armed group is the Islamic Emirate of Ja’ar… noted that among the mujahideen, they have burned police stations and government institutions and attacked military and security patrols during the last period of smuggling and complicity by local authorities concerned for fear of facing liability for the centers, military and political forces in Sanaa, which they roam about the human rights violations outside the law.

Lets wait for the Western outrage, it should be here any minute. Its a hate crime!

Update: Earthtimes reports Islamist militants stormed a prison in Jahr today, killing one guard, in an attempt to free prisoners.

As you may recall, a Yemeni Jewish rabbi, father of nine, was slaughtered last month in Yemen in cold blood after demands to convert to Islam. Yemeni human rights organizations are demanding protection of the Jewish community’s rights. Of course, this stance comes at considerable risk due to agitation by extremists within and out of the government.

The killer’s family is harassing and threatening the victim’s family in court, and Jewish residents have been abused and physically injured since the rabbi’s murder. Plans are afoot to relocate the Jewish community to a secure complex in the capital, but when Jewish families were relocated from Sa’ada to Sana’a, they received no monetary compensation for their property left behind. Also the orgs make the valid point the Jews should be able to live anywhere in Yemen that they choose.

The harassment and targeting of Jews in Yemen is new and a result of the continuing Talabanization of Yemen fostered in part by President Ali Abdullah Saleh who promotes and legitimizes the jihaddist ideology.

Sahwa Net: The National Committee for Defending Rights and Freedoms (HOOD) has demanded the Justice Minister to render the killer of a Yemeni Jew, Masha Yaish, from Amran province into the Capital , Sana’a , in order to have a just trial. HOOD said that relatives of the killer had threatened Yaish’s family, provoked confusion inside the court and assaulted a soldier inside the courtroom.

HOOD Online: The Yemen Human Rights Observatory (YHRO)… said that tens of students at Al-Zahra School in Raida assaulted members of the Jewish minority during a random demonstration in protest against the ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza…

They verbally assaulted Jews, threw stones at their houses, and intimidated their women and children. According to the statement, Jew Zaher Gafri sustained critical injuries, his face swelled up, and his appearance was stained with blood. Other Jewish citizens were subject to various injuries while on the street. The protestors hurled stones at houses of Jews Haim Yaeesh, Shakr Sulaiman, Salem Shaghdari, and Yahya Jaradi, and the houses’ occupants were intimidated.

The human rights organization held the security authorities responsible for what happened to the Jewish citizens in Raida, accusing them of being indifferent toward Jewish minorities. It continued that the authorities only asked Jews to move to Sana’a, which is another violation against their right to settle wherever they want.

HOOD, the YHRO and the others taking this stand are being vilified and threatened in the media and in the courtroom. Public sentiment has become more heated and volatile since the Israel incursion into Gaza; however, the organizations continue to press the ruling authorities and courts for some semblance of justice.

Nashwan Ghanem, Yemeni blogger

A follow up to the story of Nashwan Ghanim who blogged that the Vice President’s media secretary had something to do with the attack on the US embassy in September.

Nashwan has been subjected to three assassination attempts and continued harrassments and violations since September, and he understandably is in fear of his life. I am still putting it all together, so check back later for updates, or just wait for the article. I’m really getting tired of this psychotic, dirtbag regime.

Note from Nashwan:

لا تزال الغرفة مغلقة وحياتي تقترب من نقطة الخطر ,,فإليكم وصيتي الأخيرة

لا تزال الغرفة مغلقة وحياتي تقترب من نقطة الخطر ,,فإليكم وصيتي الأخيرة

لا تزال الغرفة مغلقة وحياتي تقترب من نقطة الخطر ,,فإليكم وصيتي الأخيرة

بعد نشر هذا المقال ،أصبحت الآن في الشارع..عمدت السلطة اليوم إلى إغلاق غرفتي ,وقد تكون كلماتي هذه هي الأخيرة بيننا,سوى عن طريق إغلاق الغرفة أو مظاهرات فلسطين أو عن طريق شقة أصدقائي تحت ذريعة النسا كما قلت لكم من قبل, فما الذي أقوله لكم الآن ؟ هل أقول لكم وداعا دون أي مواعيد مسبقة ؟ هل أقول لكم أنني تحت خط الخطر أو بالأحرى خط الموت العلني ؟ إذآ ماذا أقول لكم ؟ فغرفتي أصبحت ذريعة للسلطة تلجأ لإستخدامها في لحظة تريد من وراءها حصاد جسدي!!
فهل عثر واحد منكم يا عالم على سلطة ٍ كهذه؟ هل وجدتم مثل هذا النموذج القذر الذي يستخدم أسوأ أنواع الأسلحة في سبيل إبادة كاتب مدونة ؟في سبيل التخلص منه بكل الطرق والأساليب الوحشية؟؟ قد أقول لكم وداعا بهذه الكلمات البسيطة !! ولكنني أود أن أقول لكم شيئا يليق بالوداع وبرحلة الكتابة, هذه السلطة تستخدم كل أوراق الضغط لديها في سبيل تحقيق مشروع إبادة كاتب مدونة لا أكثر فعليكم أن تكتبوا وصيتي هذه في كل مكان وفي كل زمان !!!

*نشوان عبده علي غانم
*صنعاء -اليمن.
*مهندس إتصالات.
*10/1/2009م.
*في حضرة الموت ,,

ملاحظة: الغرفة السابقة التي تقع في شارع الستين مقابل جامعة اليمن هي التي تم إغلاقها ,وأنتقلت إلى شقة أصدقائي مؤقتا وعنوانها :خلف مقر التجمع الوحدوي الناصري وصالة المودة للأفراح

(And a bad google translation:)

The room is still closed and my life is approaching the point of danger, you have my last will.

Following the publication of this article, (the authority) is now in the street … (they) have the authority to close the day in my room, and it might be my last day.

What I say to you now? Should I say goodbye to you without any pre-dates? Can I tell you I am under the threat of death or rather the line of the public? What if I tell you?

Have one of you found any authority of such a world? Do you find such a model, which dirty the worst types of weapons used in the extermination of the blogger? For the disposal of all the barbaric methods and techniques?? You may say goodbye to these simple words!!

But I would like to tell you something worthy of a trip goodbye and writing, this power is used all the papers of the pressure to have in order to achieve the extermination of the blogger, you have nothing more to write than wills at all places, all the time!!!

* * Nashwan Ali Abdo Ghanem
* * Sana’a – Yemen.
* * Communications engineer.
* M 10/1/2009.
* * In the presence of death

So of course as a side issue is his allegation that promted such a brutal and vindictive response from the regime. Going to dig up the name, BRB…

(Update: “He claimed that Yahya Al-Arasi, whom he said was the press secretary of the Vice President of Yemen, was directly involved in the attack.” )
(Read on …)

Jan 22, 2009

Yemen sets up rehab center for Guantanamo returnees, Arab News

SANAA: Yemen is setting up a center where more than 100 Yemenis are to undergo rehabilitation after their expected release from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, state media reported yesterday.

The center is being built in Sanaa with US government assistance, according to the weekly newspaper 26 September, a Defense Ministry mouthpiece. (Read on …)

President Saleh or should I say Marshal Saleh has no sense of humor apparently.

Sahwa Net – The Yemen Observatory for Human Rights has expressed its denunciation at the authorities’ procedures aiming at prosecuting al-Masdar newspaper on charges of insulting president Saleh, stressing that al-Masdar did not violate the state-constitution or laws.

YOHR also condemned threats of closing down the paper with feckless excuses, saying that such act is clear crackdown of the expression freedom.

The Press and Publications Court has summoned the editor-in-chief of al-Masdar newspaper Samir Jubran and the Yemeni-American journalist Munir al-Mawri on charges of publishing an article which insults president Saleh.

A suit was filed by the ruling party, GPC, against al-Masdar due to the article written by al-Mawri , according to the paper’s lawyer Khalid al-Anisi.

This was the offending article written by Yemeni American journalist Munier al-Mawari:

Dear Marshal Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of the Republic of Yemen:

I hesitated to address you with that title because I did not know that there still existed in this world someone holding the rank of “Marshall” — or Mushir as you say it in Arabic. I thought that “Field Marshal Idi Amin” was the last Marchalat in the developing world. Vice President Elect Joe Biden, who is expert in foreign affairs, however, assured me that there are still several field marshals in the countries of the Middle East, some of whom have never participated in any war to defend their people and country, but who, instead, got their titles fighting internal wars against their own people within their own territory! This delivered quite a surprise to me; one learns a lot from Joe Biden.

At any rate, Dear Marshal Saleh:

We are following carefully what is happening in your country, and we know very well that you have recently waged five wars against a part of your country, which now enjoys semi-autonomy in the north-western part of Yemen. We also know very well that the provinces in the entire southern part of your country have expelled the representatives of the election committee you placed there, rejecting in advance a sham election that does not reflect the true democracy.

We also know that al-Qaeda is alive and well in Yemen, and that the attack on our Embassy was only the latest terrorist act.. It killed 12 of your innocent people, including a number of the brave Embassy guards. We also know that you are trying to hold a parliamentary election without the opposition parties, who claim with some credibility that the upcoming election is simply a tool meant to reproduce the same faces – and the same anti-democratic forces – that have occupied your parliament for the last 30 years.

We also know that chaos and instability are prevailing in many parts of your country because of the lack of a real local government system which would allow citizens to elect their representatives and manage their own affairs. We are afraid that the discontent in Yemen now will not only prevent the holding of elections, it might even force the international community to make some tough choices leading to the acceptance of a new state or states in the region.

Such new states might show more willingness to combat pirates on land and at sea; such new states might demonstrate real support for efforts to combat terrorism and corruption. The governments of such new states might actually arrest known terrorists and hand them over to the offices of international justice, thus ensuring the safety and prosperity of the citizens, and maintaining their property on their land. Such new states might be devoted to protecting their people against the possibility of falling under the control of destructive ideologies.

These possibilities exist for the future of Yemen, make no mistake about it.

Mr. Marshall:

Finally, I apologize that I cannot accept your offer, which we have received through two U.S. university scholars, to solve the Guantanamo dilemma by adopting a Yemeni System that could invoke only gales of mockery and genuine horror on the part of any civilized people: I speak of the system of releasing detainees while arresting and keeping their innocent relatives as hostages in your prisons, to be funded by the United States taxpayers! Any high school civics student in American would call that idea “retarded.”

We are the nation that protected the relatives of Osama bin Laden, the day after the attacks of September 11th 2001; we sent them back to their own country safely, realizing they were not to be held culpable for the act of their relative. How dare you, Marshall, ask us to help you legitimize a manifestly unjust system of keeping innocent people hostages in your abusive facilities? Are you not aware that this disreputable system was one of the main reasons that the Yemeni people revolted in 1962, and John F Kennedy recognized the new regime set up at that time for that very reason?

Aw, come on, thats hysterical and if its true, well then the problem is not with Munier or the newspaper.

Sponsored by Hands Across the Middle East Support Alliance and the American Islamic Congress. From what I can gather, al-Khaiwani is a judge, that’s neat.

الممثل خالد أبو النجا والخيواني ضمن لجنة التحكيم
مسابقة “الحلم المؤجل” الرابعة … جوائز للشباب عن مقالات الحقوق المدنية..
تنظم منظمة للعام الرابع على التوالي مسابقة الحلم المؤجل الذي تقدمها منظمة المؤتمر الاسلامي الأميركي للشباب دون سن السادسة والعشرين في الشرق الاوسط يتنافس فيها شباب المنطقة على كتابة مقالات عن الحرية والحقوق المدنية ووصف احلامهم المؤجلة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط التي تصفها الأمم المتحدة بأنها أقل مناطق العالم حرية.
ووفقا لقواعد المسابقة فإنه ينبغي على الشباب الكتابة في احدى ثلاثة محاور: الأول الرد على سؤال لماذا تعد الحقوق الفردية مهمة بالنسبة لك؟ يستعرض فيها الكاتب تجربة شخصية منعته فيها القيود من التعبير عن نفسك – كموقف منعه فيه الخوف من الحديث بصراحة, أو كنت منعه من الإطلاع على معلومات كونها ممنوعة بأمر من الرقابة, أو أنه كان هدفاُ للتمييز العنصري بسبب الهوية, وينبغي على الكاتب أن يناقش هذا السؤال من خلال تناول تأثير القمع على المجتم و على حياته الشخصية, مستعينا بأمثلة حية لشرح وجهة نظره، ويمكنه قراءة قصيدة الحلم المؤجل (عنوان المسابقة) لانجستون هيوز لمزيد من الإلهام.
المحور الثاني : كيف تستطيع كفرد دعم الكفاح من أجل الحقوق المدنية؟ على الرغم من تفشي القمع, تتاح الآن فرصا جديدة للتعبير عن رأيك و الوقوف في وجه الظلم, فإن توافرت لك الوسائل التكنولوجية الحديثة و الإنترنت و مساعدة الآخرين في الدول الأخرى المهتمين بالقضية, كيف يمكنك أخذ المبادرة العملية لإصلاح مجتمعك, أطلعنا على أفكارك الخلاقة بشأن الحملات و البرامج الهادفة إلى حماية الحقوق الفردية.
المحور الثالث: ما هو “حلمك المؤجل” أي رؤيتك لمجتمعك حيث يمتلك فيه الكل حقوقهم المدنية؟ أعرض أفكارك حول مستقبل يخلو من القمع. صف ما يجري الآن في الشوارع و النقاشات في الفصول الدراسية و النقد العلني للزعماء في وسائل الإعلام. صف كيف يمكن أن تؤثر المساواة في الحقوق للمرأة و الأقليات على مجريات الحياة اليومية. إن كنت تريد، أجب السؤال بكتابة مقال صحفي في سنة2010 معلقاً فيه على حدث جذري.
ويشترط للدخول في المسابقة أن لا يزيد طول المقال عن 2000 كلمة ولا يقل عن 600 كلمة، لا تدخل فيها الهوامش والاقتباسات، وبإمكان الراغبين في الاطلاع زيارة موقع مبادرة همسه للحقوق المدنية للاطلاع على المقالات الفائزة في العام الماضي لكسب المزيد من الالهام وذلك على الرابط التالي: http://www.hamsaweb.org/essay/ar-index.html، وعبر ذات الموقع يمكن ارسال المقالة..
وتعرض المقالات على هيئة التحكيم التي تضم عددا من المهتمين أبرزهم زينب السويج رئيس منظمة المؤتمر الاسلامي الأميركي، والممثل السينمائي المصري ومقدم البرامج خالد أبو النجا، والصحفي اليمني عبدالكريم الخيواني والمفكر العالمي الدكتور توم بالمر من جامعة كاتو، وآخرين..
وتقدر الجائزة الأولى بمبلغ 2000 دولار لأفضل مقالة، والثانية 1500 دولار، والثالثة 500 دولار، بالاضافة إلى عدد من الكتب والاصدارات المتعلقة بالحقوق المدنية، كما سيكون أصحاب المقالات من بين المدعوين لحضور فعاليات وانشطة منظمة المؤتمر الاسلامي التي تقام سنويا في بعض دول الشرق الأوسط كالأردن والمغرب ومصر، وآخر يوم لتقديم المقالات هو التاسع من يناير 2009.

The implication here is the British Embassy was responding to pressure from the Bahraini authorities not to issue the visa, or else the embassy is totally incompetent and “forgot” to process the application despite the fact the guy was calling every day. Activists in the Middle East are under tremendous pressure, and they are willing to endure a lot to gain their rights. We in the West need to ensure that our governments help them as much as possible or at least do not support the efforts of these repressive governments to censor their voices.

Due to his Participation in a Human Rights Symposium in the British House of Lords:

The British Embassy in Bahrain prevents a human rights activist from getting a visa

Manama, Oslo – 17 December 2008

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights -BYSHR and the Arab-Euro Center for Human Rights and International Law-AECHR express their deep concern regarding the measures the British embassy in Bahrain took in delaying the procedures of obtaining a visa for entering the British lands for Mr. Mohammed Al-Maskati – president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights – in order to participate in a symposium held by Lord Eric Avebury – member of the British House of Lords [[i]] – regarding human rights issues in Bahrain. Mr. Avebury had extended an invitation to Mr. Al-Maskati to participate with a paper on human rights issues in Bahrain on 18 December 2008 at the headquarters of the British House of Lords in London.

Mr. Al-Maskati stated that he received the invitation on 30 November 2008, and on 4 December he applied for a visa and he attached the letter addressed to the British embassy in Bahrain to facilitate obtaining the visa. For 13 days he continuously and for several times kept checking with the people in charge of extracting visas, and he also checked with the visa department in the British embassy. This continuous follow-up did not give any results whether with a rejection or approval, nor did the embassy even ask for additional documents other than the invitation letter that was attached to the visa application. (Read on …)

1-10-09

Front Line

Front Line protection of Human Rights defenders welcomes the release of human rights defender, Khalid Abdul-Wahab El-Sharif from prison on Friday 19 December. He had been detained since 5 July 2008 in the Political Security Prison, Sana´a, where he had been denied legal consultation, regular visits and was never officially charged. Despite his release, Front Line remains deeply concerned about the ongoing detention without charge of human rights defenders, Mr Yasre Abdul-Wahab Al-Wazeer and Mr Mu’een Ibraheem Al-Mutawakel.

On 1 July 2008, Ali Ali Yahya Al-Emad was arrested and placed in incommunicado detention in the Political Security Prison, Sana´a.

According to reports received, Ali Ali Yahya Al-Emad´s family was never informed of his whereabouts and believed that he had been “disappeared” until his release on 2 December 2008. During his detention, he was allegedly tortured and subjected to ill-treatment. On 27 May 2008, Mu’een Ibraheem Al-Mutawakel was detained, while Yasre Abdul-Wahab Al-Wazeer on 1 July 2008, and Khalid Abdul-Wahab El-Sharif on 5 July 2008.

All are currently being held in the Political Security Prison, San´a, where it is feared that they may be subjected to torture and ill-treatment. They have been denied legal consultation, regular visits and have not been officially charged. The three men had been detained for at least six weeks before their families were informed of their whereabouts by the authorities.

On 12 September 2008, the Yemeni President, Field Marshall Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered the release of all prisoners related to the Sada conflict who had not been convicted. However, it is believed that at least 69 individuals related to this conflict, including the aforementioned human rights defenders, remain in detention without charge.

Front Line believes that Ali Ali Yahya Al-Emad, Yasre Abdul-Wahab Al-Wazeer, Khalid Abdul-Wahab El-sharif and Mu’een Ibraheem Al-Mutawakel were targeted as a result of their peaceful human rights activities, specifically those who campaign for judicial reform and the rights of prisoners. Front Line is particularly concerned by the trend of incommunicado detentions in Yemen, a practice which violates International norms and has been known to facilitate torture and ill-treatment.
Source: www.frontlinedefenders.org

WOMEN JOURNALISTS WITHOUT CHAINS EXPRESS IT’S SOLIDARITY WITH STUDENTS MOVEMENT ACTIVISTS AND CONDEMNS VIOLENT AGGRESSION ON JOURNALISTS AND CITIZENS EXERTING THEIR RIGHTS OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLING AND MOVEMENT EXPRESSION.

Women Journalists Without Chains ( WJWC) pursue the frightening degradation of rights and freedoms in Yemen, on its frontage students freedoms and opinion and expression freedoms in its twins press freedoms and freedom of assembly and movement expression.

While WJWC condemns what is facing the students movement in the universities of Sana’a, Aden and Taiz, such illegal arresting and aggressions by security institutions due to political working, WJWC also detest security systems surrounding students the settled students in collogues of Aden University today 29-11-2008 for participating the anniversary of 30th of November and pointing fire guns at their faces. (Read on …)