Armies of Liberation

Yemen on Line:

Amnesty International expresses concern about human rights situation in Yemen

Yemenonline-Nov 12,2008- In its submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review in the Fifth session of the UPR Working Group of the Human Rights Council on May 2009,Amnesty International expresses concern about human rights situation in Yemen.

The report criticized continuing pattern of serious human rights violations, including the extensive use of the death penalty; restrictions on the peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly; and discrimination and violence against women, which would be exacerbated if the proposed new laws and amendments to existing laws .IntroductionThrough its executive, legislative and judicial branches the government is in the process of preparing new laws and revising current laws. This process will impact on the framework of protection of fundamental human rights. Some of the proposed new legislation fails to conform to the requirements of international human rights law and, if implemented, could seriously undermine the many positive features of the human rights framework in Yemen. These proposals also have to be seen in the context of existing laws and practices that are in violation of Yemen’s obligations under international human rights law. B. Normative and institutional framework of the State: Failure to bring laws into line with international standards The government has initiated a review of the Constitution and a number of existing laws and has proposed new draft laws, including to counter terrorism. Laws put forward for review include the Penal Code (PC)[1] and the Press and Publication Law (PPL).[2] The new draft laws include a Counter Terrorism Law (CTL) and a Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Law (MLFTL). Human rights defenders in Yemen perceive both threats and opportunities in these legislative proposals. The new laws could be used to undermine the many important human rights achievements in the country since the establishment of the Republic of Yemen in 1990 (following unification of the then People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen and the Yemen Arab Republic) and Yemen’s adherence to its obligations under international human rights law.

Yet, Yemeni human rights defenders also see the proposed new laws as providing an opportunity to enhance the protection of human rights framework, which has seen the state’s ratification of many key international human rights treaties;[3] general respect for freedom of expression, association and assembly; criminalization of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture; and legal protection of the right to fair trial. Concerns that the legislative proposals may impact negatively on the current human rights framework are based on the assessment that they would expand the scope of the death penalty, criminalize legitimate freedoms, extend executive powers and the use of special procedures, and further entrench discrimination against women. The death penaltyIn addition to proposing an expansion in the scope of application of the death penalty, the new draft legislation would decrease further the few safeguards provided in the PC. Currently, the PC prescribes the death penalty under Shari’a law (Islamic Law) for murder (Qisas) and Hudud (divinely prescribed fixed offences and punishments), including for apostasy and adultery (where the punishment is death by stoning) and Hiraba (rebellion, unlawful war, spreading disorder on land), in addition to numerous capital offences related to state security. All of these capital offences are retained under the draft legislation and nine additional capital offences have been proposed; three as amendments to the PC[4] and six in the new CTL.[5]

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A great article in The National dealing with enormous obstacles for disabled in Yemen.

There are no accurate figures for the number of disabled people in Yemen, or on their demographic breakdown, but the government has estimated that there were about 380,000 in 2004, a figure rights groups say is grossly underestimated.

In a conservative society such as Yemen, where women have few rights, being physically disabled is doubly difficult, said Jamalah al Baidani, the Challenge Society director. “People look at disabled women as useless and a heavy burden on their family. Some families force their disabled daughters to beg, or sell wheelchairs or hearing aids to other disabled people; some even take the money their children earn.”

Ms Baidani said lack of awareness is the main reason why society is so intolerant of people with disabilities and that removing the social stigma would take a greater contribution from the government and media.

(Read on …)

These are astounding and heartbreakiing figures, over 90% physical violence and over 40% sexual abuse, rates of boys and girls are similiar.

Yemen Times:
Nearly 94 percent of Yemeni children aged between two and 14 years old are subject to psychological or physical violence from their parents or guardians, according to the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted by Ministry of Public Health and Population in September 2006.

The results of the survey, which took place over a period of 21 days, were made public at a workshop held last month. They show that 82 percent of these children are subjected to physical punishments, of whom 44 percent were boys and 38 percent were girls.

The survey shows that 25 percent of children aged between 2-9 years are affected with at least one type of disability, the more widespread being delayed motor skills and slow cognitive development in that order.

The results also reveal that early education in Yemen is rare as only 3 percent of children aged between 3 and 5 years old attend early education institutions and only 40 percent of children attend first grade of elementary school when they are six years old.

Up to 68 percent of children aged from 6 to 14 attend elementary school, of which 76 percent are boys and 60 percent are girls. On average, only 24 percent of adolescents aged between 15 and 17 years old attend secondary school, with 32 percent for boys and 15 for girls.

As for illiteracy among mothers, the health ministry’s survey shows that on average 35 percent of married Yemeni women aged between 15 and 24 are literate, with 59 percent of married women in urban areas and 26 percent of married women in rural areas being able to read and write.

The study, which involved 4,000 families across the country, reveals that only 22 percent of children under the age of 5 years of age were registered at birth. The widespread reason for this low statistic was the unawareness of the importance of obtaining a birth certificate for one’s child.

With regards to vaccination, around 38 percent of children aged between 12 and 23 months old had been completely vaccinated during the period the survey took place, and that 18 percent of them have received all vaccinations before reaching one year of age.

The study reveals that 34 percent of children aged under five years old had diarrhea during the first two weeks of the survey, of which nine out of ten children have received oral re-hydration salts to help them get better.

In the same period, 13 percent of under-fives were suffering from acute respiratory tract infection. Dangers of the infection in Yemen have increased due to the use of solid cooking fuel, which is used by 30 percent of families in urban areas and 52 percent in rural areas.

The mortality rate for children under five years old in Yemen decreased from 102 per 1000 during the five years before the survey to 78 per 1000 cases after conducting the survey.

The results of the survey also reveal that the mortality rate among newborns has dropped to 37 per 1000 in comparison to 69 per 1000 during the five years before the survey. Fifty percent of newborn mortality in Yemen occurs during the first month of age, which means that nearly one child in 15 dies before reaching one year of age.

Conducted upon directions of the World Health Organization (WHO) toward achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals, the study indicated that 28 percent of married women use contraceptives or birth-control and 47 percent of women receive health care during pregnancy, but only 24 of them deliver at health centers.

The results show that the fertility rate in Yemen is 5.2 deliveries to every woman. They show that the fertility rate in rural areas is higher than that in urban areas, with 6 children per woman in rural areas and 4 children per mother in urban areas.

The survey also reveals that 59 percent of Yemenis use improved water resources -74 percent in urban areas and 52 percent in rural areas- and that 52 percent of Yemenis live in houses with improved sanitation facilities, while 31 percent lack this basic service.

Similar surveys that have been carried out in 50 countries across the world with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Arab League’s Pan Arab Project for Family Health.

There’s massive corruption in the Heath and Medicine Ministry. A lot of donated and state funded drugs and equipment gets stolen from the ministries shelves. A real doctors union could put some pressure to increase health care standards. But no, what’s been produced is another clone. Similarly, if its impossible to get even a fair union vote, what do we think of the upcoming Parliamentary vote?

YO
The Yemen Observer recently published an article about the results of elections to the Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat Branch during a subsidiary meeting on October 16. The purpose of these elections was to choose an administrative authority for the syndicate. Yet oddly enough, another meeting was held October 30 to conduct new elections to choose the administrative authority of the same Yemeni Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat branch.

Last week in a simple hall used for wedding ceremonies, the first sub-conference of the Yemeni Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat branch elected Dr. Mohammed al-Surmi as a Chairman of the syndicate. His election took place in the presence of a large number of Yemeni doctors. Yet, the first sub-conference of the Yemeni Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat branch was again held in the Al-Shawqani Hall of the Policemen Faculty to elect a new leader and administrative authority.

(Read on …)

The full report is here and it very good. The report makes many good observations including:
The government failed to implement its part of the peace deal(s)
The mediators were arrested
The regime replaced Zaidi preachers with Salafi preachers
Arbitrary arrests included family members of suspected rebels, critics, journalists and children
The media black-out

LAT

Observers are concerned that the current cease-fire won’t hold, especially since an earlier truce failed because, critics charge, the government reneged on its promise to release Houthi loyalists. That fed growing anger against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is also a Zaidi but has largely allied himself with the country’s Sunni Muslim majority.

“They’re not knocking heads to stabilize the country,” said Christoph Wilcke, the Human Rights Watch researcher who wrote the report. “It’s having the opposite effect. This is a futile conflict. . . . Continuing the war is undermining stability both in terms of resources and the growing anger at the government.”

Wilcke, who spent two months researching the report, said he met Thursday with National Security Council officials in Washington in hope of influencing efforts to draft a new Yemen policy. A Sept. 17 car bomb explosion targeting the U.S. Embassy in Sana, the Yemeni capital, killed at least 16 people, mostly bystanders. He said U.S. officials are concerned that the practices of the Saleh government may be undermining broader security concerns.

Huge development

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Fawaz Ba-oam, son of Hassan Ba-oam, leader in the Yemeni Socialist Party, said that 10,000 armed men participated in a rally organized Saturday morning by his father in Yafe city of Lahj, south of Yemen.

Fawaz said that the public rally was successful and armed men did not shoot a single bullet.

Some reports said that thousands of armed tribesmen gathered when security forces surrounded a house in Yafe and tried to detain Ba-oam. Press reports said that security forces had to leave the area to avoid confrontations with armed men.

Security Director of Yafe Omer Saleh al-Kasad denied in a statement to NY that security forces were trying to detain Hassan Ba-Oam. Al-Kasad said the security forces had to stop “an unlicensed” protest led by Ba-oam.

Security source said no one in the city hosted Ba-oam or his fellows.

Yemeni authorities released Ba-Oam last September after President Saleh pardoned him. Ba-oam was detained for months for organizing protests in Aden authorities said against the unity.

The rally was held in Yafe on the occasion of killing four people in previous rally last October 2007.

Ba’oum hunted, after he was released from jail last month

Yemen Post: Local sources from Yaf’e, a mountainous area in the southern of Yemen, said that tribal men from Yaf’e’s Nakheb region managed to transfer Hassan Ba-Aum, a leader in the Southern Movement to a safe place, where he could avoid governmental forces who were searching for him.

Ba–Aum’s son told media that hundreds of tribal men have managed to protect his father from armed forces that wanted to arrest him and take him back to prison.

Sources mentioned that the armed forces are believed to have orders from higher authorities to arrest those who were released from prison lately by President Saleh.

Security forces have been distributing the names of those who were released to all police stations throughout the country in an effort to arrest them again.

Meanwhile, specialized penal court started trialing Hassan Ba-Aum, Ali Monasser, and Yahya Khaleb as they are suspected to be behind actions that would harm the unity of the country.

Last month, President Saleh ordered the release of 864 demonstrators arrested during protests in the southern part of Yemen.

As Yemen was doing a good job in hunting down Al-Qaeda elements across the country and managed months ago to end the ongoing war in Sa’ada, the southern issue opened the door for new erupting problems in the country.

Former military generals, unemployed professionals, and disgruntled youth across the south claim that the north is economically more developed than the south, and that northerners are favored by the government in Sana’a.

released, returned to jail for refusing to sign pledge refraining from political speech…

Sahwa Net – Popular comedian and artist Fahad al-Qarni was incarcerated again after he was released on Thursday in the wake of issuing an amnesty by the president.

“I decisively refused to abandon one of my political rights guaranteed by the state-constitution, and preferred to stay in jail” said al-Qarni.

Al-Qarni had been released and moved to the office of Taiz governor Hamould al-Sofi who asked him to commit in writing that he would not practice any political activities.

It is worth nothing that al-Qarni was arrested on April 5 by members of Taiz political security forces while he was on his way to a festival and was charged with inciting against Yemeni unity and insulting the Yemen president.

Meanwhile, many local and international human rights bodies had considered, in statements, that al-Qarni was arrested as a result of his work to promote democracy and campaign against corruption in Yemen.

Not still in jail? But he’s the highest profile political prisoner… I hope Dear Leader is not holding a personal grudge. It shows though the limited power of the JMP canbe effectively deployed when there is international attention, like on the upcoming parliamentary “elections”.

President asks to set al-Qarni free

SANA’A, Sep. 11 (Saba)- President Ali Abdullah Saleh gave orders on Thursday to set Fahd al-Qarni free after getting promises from him that he will comply with law and national principles.

Tazi court has found al-Qarni is guilty in change of calling for riots and resistance against the state. The court sentenced him one year and half in prison and have to pay half million as fine.

News

Opposition and human rights sources initially said a senior socialist figure, Hassan Baoum, remained behind bars, but opposition politicians later said he was freed on Thursday evening.

The official website of the Yemeni defence ministry said Saleh pardoned 12 people who were released after pledging to uphold the law, including Baoum, a member of the political bureau of the Yemen Socialist Party (YSP).

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HR Minister doing good stuff.

YT

SANA’A, Sept. 4 — Human rights’ violations, lack of medical care and insufficient nutrition plague the Central Prison in Sana’a city, the House of Social Guidance and Dar Al-Amal for female juveniles. This is according to a revealing report, released last week by the Minister of Human Rights Dr. Huda Al-Ban, who visited the prisons between June and July 2007.

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United Nations Secretary and the human right organizations

On behalf of the Mr. Baoom family, I , Dr. Saba, the daughter of the political prisoner , the prisoner of thoughts Mr. Hassan Ahmed Baoom, the prisoner in the Intelligence prison , in Sana’a – Yemen Arab Republic , and his colleagues prisoners, in the same prison, my father and his collogues have been kidnapped since April 2008, such act done by the authorities of Yemen Arab Republic.

My father is detained in a cell measured 2 meters , in under ground cells, he is now 70 years , and his medical status is serious, he is suffering from Diabetes ,hypertension , serious blockage in coronary arteries and short activity of the Kidneys.

My father and his colleagues illegal arrest , was due to their political peaceful activities , and their struggle to get the rights and free way of living of the people of South Yemen , and to re gain back all the right of the people. We are requesting you in the name of Human rights to justify the demands of the people.

We are requesting you to help in releasing my Father and his collogues , with the Yemen authorities, my Father is facing a serious medical status, additional to that we are requesting to stop all illegal arrest, accusation and illegal prosecutions against political peaceful activities.

your support highly appreciated

Dr. Saba Baoom

A mechanism of diminishing civil rights the opposition charges, allows interception of phone and email

Yemen Observer

The Yemeni Parliament debated the anti-terror law on Sunday 3 August, and referred it to a special committee for further examination before it is returned to the Parliament for a vote. In the debate, members agreed to omit the provisions that contradict the Yemeni constitution.

In the session held on Sunday, the members of parliament (MPs) entrusted a parliamentary committee composed of several parliamentary subcommittees to study the anti-terror draft law and to present an informative report to MPs.

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Yemen Observer

The newly established vice and virtue committee elected Sheikh Abdulmajid al-Zindani as a president of the committee, Sheikh Sadiq Bin Abdullah Bin Hussein al-Ahmar vice president and Sheikh Hamoud al-Tharihi as a Secretary General, said Sheikh Hamoud al-Tharihi.

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Yemeni Security Forces has kidnapped the Journalist and Human Rights activist; Loui Al-Moaid on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. and he was taken to The National Security building. Loui is infected with Hepatitis B virus (active) and we are concerned about his life since he might be tortured severely and there is no health care at all. (Read on …)

These figures of property damage in Sa’ada were first released in July 2007, so the totals are certainly much higher now after the fifth war. In the mean time, prominent activists including al-Khaiwani remain in jail. Another is Mohammed al-Miftah, who is on a hunger strike after being disappeared by the Interior Ministry.

Sahwa Net – The head of Al-Haq Party’s shoura council Mohammad Miftah has been going on a hunger strike since two months. Miftah who was kidnapped by gunmen belonging to the Interior Ministry on May 21, 2008, said he would not suspend the hunger strike until he is released…It is worth noting that the authorities suspect that Miftah belongs to the al-Houthi movement in Saada.

This is the same Miftah who Amnesty International called a prisoner of conscience. A Zaidi cleric Mohamed Miftah was released in May 2006 apparently after receiving presidential pardons. He had been serving an eight-year prison term.

And Ali Mohsen surfaces…

Mareb Press: The governmental committee assigned to evaluate and count the damages caused by the rebellion in Sa’ada province returned today to the Sa’ada, chaired by the Minister of Local Administration, Abdul Qadeer Hilal, and the Deputy of Prime Minister for Security and Stability affairs, Rashad al-Alimi, Minister of Defense, Mohammed Ahmed, and commander of the Eastern North region, Ali Muhsen al-Ahmer.

The committee will visit military and security units in the province to inspect the condition of soldiers.
Meanwhile, the cabinet studied yesterday the initial report on counting the damages caused by the armed rebellion in Sa’ada province, prepared by the committee chaired by Abdul Qader Hilal, Minister of Local Administration.

The cabinet directed the committee to carry out field visits to Bani Hushiesh district in Sana’a province to evaluate and count damages caused by the rebellion and including its findings in the report to be raised to the government.

A total of 4141 houses, and 88 farms were damaged in Northern Province of Sa’ada during the war between the Al Houthi rebels and the government troops, said a primary official report on Tuesday. The report which was carried by the state-run news agency Saba said some 201 public installations including 116 schools, 36 health utilities, and 26 mosques were also either wholly of partially damaged.

Source: IRIN

A recently formed government committee has faced problems assessing damage to buildings and property in conflict-hit Saada Governorate, northern Yemen.

Committee members had to return to the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, after being intercepted in Mashor village Saada Governorate, by pro-government tribes who said they, not the al-Houthi rebels, should have priority when it came to government assistance. The pro-government tribes did not want the committee to start assessing the damage in “pro-al-Houthi villages”, demanding instead that the government give them priority assistance as a reward for fighting on the government side.

However, a few days later, on 6 August, the committee went back to another part of Saada Governorate on the orders of the Cabinet, to try and complete its assessment.

Minister of Local Administration Abdul-Qader Hilal, who chairs the committee, said: “We will work in accordance with the president’s orders and the state’s strategy to promote peace and reconstruct Saada.”

An interim report by the committee, which was set up on 22 July, said 4,141 houses and 88 farms (including 24 poultry farms) had been damaged in the past two months alone, due to the fighting. It also said 201 public buildings were damaged, including 116 schools, 36 health centres and 26 mosques in the same period.It is unclear to what extent a ceasefire in mid-July - following a deal between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and representatives of the rebel leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi - was holding. Local media have reported continuing sporadic clashes between the two sides.

Meanwhile, local media reports indicate that some army leaders were reportedly not happy when Saleh tried to end the fighting before they could defeat the rebels.

Rebel allegations

A statement by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi’s information office on 3 August said some army leaders were trying to violate the ceasefire deal: unidentified army officers had set up four military checkpoints on the main road to Har Sufian, a pro-al-Houthi area in Amran Governorate. It said there were other violations, which had resulted in the killing of a number of citizens.

In November 2007, a government committee said 3,375 properties had been damaged in five of Saada’s 15 districts, but the assessment was cut short by the fighting.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands displaced during the clashes in Saada Governorate since 2004. According to the 2004 population census, Saada Governorate has 81,568 houses and a population of some 700,000.

There are thousands of political prisoners, preventative detentions or arbitrary arrests relating to the Sa’ada war. Witness Testimony, Click Here Today IRIN reported, “Abdul-Rashid al-Faqih, head of Hiwar Forum, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO), said about 3,000 people had been arrested by the authorities for supporting al-Houthi. Of these, 500 detainees are known. The rest are unidentified because their families are scared of reporting their fate. Their whereabouts are unknown, he told IRIN.”

About 3000 sounds right and then there are the southern political prisoners, Al-Sahwa:

Sahwa Net-Several activists have stressed the importance of opposing the arbitrary arrests, affirming the illegality of what is named the State Security Court in which southern leaders and activists are trying.

Mohammad al-Mikhlafi , head of the Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights, said that the political prisoners number amounted 864 from March up to-date, pointing out that all of them are from the southern provinces except the comedian Fahad al-Qarni.

He added in a seminar organized by YOHR on Wednesday in Sana’a that such trials ignite hatred against the unification particularly when many political figures are among those who are being prosecuted. Al-Mikhlafi said that the judiciary became an opponent of journalists, indicating that journalists are prevented from attending public hearings and prosecuted.

Of all the marginalized groups in Yemen, none is more so then black Yemenis who are called akhdam, which means servants, seriously. The Akdam are thought to be of Ethiopian descent and have been in Yemen for centuries, yet to achieve integration or equality. The racial discrimination is so dramatic and engrained its hardly noticed. The reason they work as street sweepers is no one will hire them for anything else. Children are excluded from public schools. They are a sub-caste of society.

IRIN: SANAA, 21 July 2008 (IRIN) - Police moved into a slum area of Sanaa city on 20 July to try to evict several hundred impoverished people who had moved into the area saying they could not longer afford to pay rent.

Police used a tractor to demolish about 10 tin shacks, according to Saad Ahmed Salem, a slum leader, but did not succeed in evicting any of the roughly 200 families in the slum.

(Read on …)

Having played the terrorism card to exhaustion, Saleh plays the religion card with some trick to divide the Islah party, something to bolster his political capital at a time of weakness. Whatever it is, its a furtherance of the growing Talabanization of Yemen. This is an interesting post by a Yemeni woman entitled “Yemen, Sexual Harassment and Women”, who writes:

The problem in Yemen and Saudi in my opinion stems from the sexual objectification of women and a culture that views them as inferior, not only are they physically weaker but intellectually and morally inferior….The strict segregation is part of the cause as well, it creates lack of interaction and familiarity between the sexes. I consider it unhealthy that relatives for example cannot mingle with each other, instead females retreat hastily in another room if a man is approaching without even a greeting. Curtains are used to separate the sexes when talking to each other, those situations sexualise a perfectly normal environment. Any interaction between the sexes is deemed to be sexual.

The above author concludes , “It’s important that we strike a middle and balanced ground in order to have a healthy society and when pursuing virtue not achieve the opposite.”

An article from the Yemen Oserver notes the attendees of the conference were mostly al-Iman students, so the whole thing is looking like an al-Zindani creation, including the declaration that any women in the work force will lead to chaos in society and sex in the streets. Meanwhile the vice in Yemeni society is concentrated among its elite and leaders who steal food daily from the mouths of starving children. They are the ones who need moral guardians on an hourly basis. As the Italians say, a fish rots from its head. And of course and predictably, the conference focused on villifying journalists in particular.

The Yemen Observer: An alliance of Yemeni religious scholars and tribal leaders has decided to watch and safeguard the morals and values of the society through holding annual meetings rather than permanent committees, which were strongly criticized before being established.

Under the slogan “It’s the guards of virtue who will protect the ship from drowning,” the clerics and tribesmen – the self-appointed guardians of virtue – decided to hold a yearly conference, called “The meeting of promoting virtue and combating vice.” They backed down from a previous proposal submitted to President Ali Abdullah Saleh last May, for establishing virtue committees (religious police) and for monitoring the activities of individuals and institutions by banning any vice-related activity such as selling alcoholic drinks, night clubs, hotels, restaurants, or massage centers.

The clerics and tribesmen retracted from establishing their committees of promoting virtue and combating vice after strong criticisms from journalists, writers and politicians, who viewed the job of such committees as the responsibility of the state.

No single woman attended the one-day meeting held on Tuesday July 15 by the tribesmen and the Sunni religious scholars. The meeting was chaired by the tribal leader, Sadeq Abdullah al-Ahmar – sheikh of Yemen’s most influential tribe, the Hashed – and cleric Abdul Majeed al-Zandani, who is accused by the United States of supporting terrorism.

Most of the nearly two thousands male attendees were students of Al-Eyman University, a religious university run and owned by al-Zandani. The rest of the attendees were Salafi clerics and tribesmen. No prominent politicians from the Islamist party Islah attended the meeting except Sheikh al-Zandani, who has his own Salafi current inside the party. The politicians of Islah refused the demand of establishing committees for virtue, saying that it was only a political trick from the president Saleh to divide the Islah party, the largest opposition party on the one hand, and divide the opposition alliance which includes the Islah Islamists, Socialists and Nasserites on the other.

“Talking about committees for virtue has political reasons behind, aiming to mix the cards and confuse political life in an official attempt to divert the attention from its helplessness and corruption of the government, and thus holding others responsible for its faults including weakening the effectiveness of the official bodies and working outside the constitution and law,” said the alliance of the three parties in a statement issued three days before the meeting of the clerics and tribesmen.

(Read on …)

Yemen Post

The Committee of Islamic Sharia revealed that they refused to make any amendments presented by the government to the decree No. 12 of 1994 on crimes and punishments, adding that the government calls for new amendments to the decree advocating legal equality between men and women in blood money.

The committee’s refusal is justified by the consensus of Muslims over the subject since the era of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

It also added a new text stating one-year imprisonment for an adult man seen in private with a female who is not his close relative. Further, the text stipulated that the woman shall be punished by the same term in case she goes out with that man at her will.

The committee did not change the texts relating to slandering the head of state where the punishment shall be a two-year term. The same applies when defaming a king or president of a foreign country.

In addition to the capital punishment, the committee asked for an imprisonment term (between 5-15 years) for a person who causes harm to war preparations meant for defending the country. Further, the committee did not change the text that punishes a rapist whether male or female with a term of seven years.

Likewise, the committee did not change the text that punishes a person who commits the crime of adultery with a three-year term.

The term stretches to 15 years once the victim is under 18. The same term is applied when the criminal action leads the victim to commit suicide.

V&V

Yemen Online

Yemen: Vice and virtues body to organize its first meeting in Sana’a
YemenOnline-July 14,2008- Preparatory Committee of vice and virtue in Sana’a announced that the their first meeting is going to organize tomorrow morning at Apollo Hall in Sanaa. Sheikh Abdel Maguid Al-Zidani member of supreme body of the Yemeni Islah Party said that attending of people to the meeting is a support of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.Through pressure from Abdul-Majeed al-Zindani and his close supporters, the government entertained the idea of a Vice and Virtues police force that would crack down on un-Islamic behavior.The Vice and Virtues police were briefly in operation, but they were quickly taken out of practice by the government. Cities as Aden ,Al-houdieda are known to have a more powerful fundamentalist influence. The fact that the Islamic police have now appeared in Sana’a shows the rise in conservative power, even though the Islamic police force is not yet legitimate.

News Yemen

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) condemned the security authorities’ abusive measures against journalist al-Sabri bin Makhashin, chief editor of the independent Al-Muharer newspaper and almuharer.net.

Bin Makhashin was detained last Tuesday by the Security Department in Mukalla for publishing stories about disclosure of the secondary school exams, said the syndicate.

Bin Makhashin was admitted to hospital last Thursday to be treated of an injury and security authorities refuse to release him, it said. It said that personnel from the Security Department once raided the office of Al-Muharer and arrested bin Makhashin, condemning the hunt of journalists.

The syndicate called for the immediate release of bin Makhashin and held the security authorities responsible for deteriorating his health.

Sahwa Net – Yemeni security forces violated Fuad Dahaba, member of parliament , arrested two journalists Jabr Sabir and Saleh al-Soraimi and abused female activists belonging to the organization of Women Journalists Without Chains while they were protesting an imprisonment ruling against a comedian and signer Fahad al-Qarni on Wednesday .

Yemeni popular comedian and signer Fahad al-Qarni was sentenced to one and half year in prison and a YR 500,000 fine on Wednesday.

Mareb Press: The Article19 expressed its deeply concerned over the deterioration of freedom of expression in Yemen after a Yemeni court sentenced artist Fahd al-Qarni to 18 months in prison and imposed a fine of YR 500,000 (about US$2,500). In another development, the verdict in the case of Abdul Kareem Al-Khaiwani was amended, thus prohibiting appeal. Security forces have also harassed activists protesting against this decision. “

The sentence against Mr.al-Qarni, the change in the case of Mr Al-Khaiwani and the manhandling of protestors are all indicators of an alarming trend in Yemen of increasing harassment of journalists and public figures in the opposition,” said Dr. Agnès Callamard, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, in a statement a copy of which was sent to Mareb Press.

Al-Qarni was sentenced at 6:30am on 9 July, two hours before the start of official working hours, to 18 months in prison and a fine of 500,000 Yemeni Riyals to be paid to the General People’s Congress and the Culture Office in Ta’az. According to a local journalist, al-Qarni called on Yemenis to congratulate him for this sentence. Supporters present in the vicinity of the court were also allegedly harassed.

Al-Qarni was arrested in April this year by the security agents as he was heading to Aden to participate in a festival. The arrest is perceived to be politically motivated and in response to Al-Qarni’s position against corruption in Yemen. In July 2006, members of the Criminal Investigations Bureau arrested shopkeepers in an effort to prohibit the circulation of a cassette by the popular artist. The cassette combines traditional folk compositions with humour and criticism of the government’s policies.

Then theres the transmuting sentence of al-Khaiwani that changes every time you blink:

On a different front, the verdict in the case of Mr. Al-Khaiwani was suddenly amended earlier this week to include the phrase “expedited implementation”, which according to local reports prohibits appeal and release pending appeal.

ARTICLE 19 joins the Sisters’ Arab Forum, the Dialogue Forum, the Change Organisation for Human Rights, the Media Women Forum, and the Democratic Social Forum in their appeal to Mr. Esam al-Samawi, the chairman of the High Judiciary Council, for clarification regarding the change in verdict.

(Read on …)

Mareb Press

A Yemeni popular signer was sentenced to one year and half in prison on Wednesday for allegedly abusing senior officials including head of the state the president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The primary court in Taiz province sentenced the comedian Fahd al-Qarni to one year and half in jail and fined him about 500.000 Yemeni rial (300.000 for the ruling party, and 200.000 for the cultural office in Taiz Governorate).

“The verdict will add a real dimension for my peaceful struggle,” Al-Qarni said commenting on the court verdict. He called the people to congratulate him.

The court session was held at early 6:30 in the morning before the working hours. The security force blocked all the streets leading to the court hall.

After the issue of the verdict, a number of citizens gathered protesting against the al-Qanri court verdict.

The riot police and the central security forces opened fired to disperse the protesters, the local sources said.

The sources added the police men beat the protesters including Faud Dahaba, Member of Parliament and a number of journalists.

The police men also arrested a number of journalists.

Al-Qarni was arrested on March 1 for allegedly abusing senior officials and he was also accused of triggering secession and of threatening the national unity in his latest cassettes. Al Qarni has been criticizing the policy of the government through his ironic songs.

Yemeni security forces blanket Aden on war anniversary
By Jane Novak LWJ July 11, 2008 8:03 AM

In the early morning hours Monday, Yemeni army units supported by Central Security forces blanketed Aden City, the former capital of southern Yemen, in advance of a planned civil rights demonstration.

By the end of the day, the 14th anniversary of the end of Yemen’s civil war, government forces had arrested more than 300 in Aden and detained numerous reporters. Security blocked all the routes to the public square at al Hashimi station, the site of the planned sit-in.

The clashes marked a year of near continuous civil unrest in southern Yemen. The movement is spearheaded by former southern military officers, the Military Retirees Coordination Council (MRCC), who demand equal opportunity for southerners.

“The security forces directed by the Sana’a regime were not satisfied with closing up the exits and entrances to al Hashimi square, but in addition they launched a random arrest campaign targeting anyone near al Hashimi square and took them to military prisons,” a member of the MRCC leadership commented on Monday’s events to this reporter.

Demonstrations were held throughout southern Yemen on Monday. In Lahj, dozens were arrested. In Dhalie, 80 miles from Aden, a grenade wounded eight when police moved into to break up a demonstration. Protests in Dhalie have previously drawn tens of thousands with protesters’ arrests and deaths sparking more demonstrations.

Security forces arrested reporters from Al Jazeera TV, Marebpress.net, Alhadath.net, and Elaph newspaper and held them incommunicado for several hours until the crowds had broken up.

The demonstrations marked the 14th anniversary of the 1994 capture of Aden by President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s northern military forces, which ended a bloody two-month civil war.

Some activists charge the South has since been treated as the spoils of war, with jobs, scholarships, and leadership positions denied to Southerners, and land and natural resources plundered by the victors for over a decade. The unity of North and South Yemen, President Saleh’s crowning achievement, is described by some in the South as a military occupation that contravenes the UN resolutions governing the cessation of hostilities in the civil war.

Officials in Aden last week warned against unauthorized demonstrations and against persons from outside Aden coming to the city to disturb the peace. The central government defends its tactics as necessary to maintain stability. Dozens of protesters have been killed by security forces since 2007. Earlier in the year, the regime announced that deaths or damage that occur during a protest are the liability of the protest organizers.

In May, Hassan Baoum and other Socialist Party officials were charged in state security court with instigating civil disorder, a death penalty offense, for speaking at a demonstration where police later killed several protesters.

Prominent opposition leaders, newsmen, and activists are among the nearly 1,000 arrested since the protests began in 2007, and many remain in jail. “All of these acts which were committed by the Sana’a regime never frighten us,” the MRCC source said, commenting on the government’s tactics. “We will continue in our peaceful struggle until we get all our legal rights.”

At an afternoon press conference held on Monday, Dr. Mohammed Saleh al Qubati, spokesman for the opposition Joint Meeting Parties, demanded an official, impartial inquiry into the day’s events, saying Aden has become “a military checkpoint where citizens cannot go out for shopping.”

Seven people injured in blast in al-Dhale province
Monday 07 July 2008 14ouMon, 07 Jul 2008 14:00:48 +0300 02 PM / Mareb Press

About Seven people were injured on Monday in an explosion in al-Dhalae province, south of Yemen, during a peaceful march carried out by political movements in al-Dhalae.

The Islah party website, al-Sahwa quoted the source as saying that at least seven people were injured in explosion resulted from a bomb thrown by an unidentified person during the peaceful march.

The security men dispersed the demonstrators. The political activists in al-Dhale called for peaceful silent march on the occasion of the 7th of July protesting the continuous detention of the political leaders in the South.

Its really sickening that arresting, beating and shooting are not enough, now its grenades. But the Yemeni government has no concern for any of its citizens anywhere in the nation, so its also unsurprising.

SANAA (AFP) — Six people were wounded in a grenade explosion in southern Yemen on Monday as police tried to break up a protest against high living costs in one of the poorest countries on the planet, witnesses told AFP.

Two of the wounded were taken to hospital in the port city of Aden after the blast in Dhaleh, some 130 kilometres (80 miles) away, they said.

The state news agency Saba said three people were wounded, including a policeman, and that a suspected assailant was arrested.

Police also intervened in Aden itself where dozens of demonstrators were rounded up as they tried to organise a protest in the centre of town, witnesses said.

The protests mark the first anniversary of widespread demonstrations in Yemen’s southern and eastern provinces to condemn the soaring cost of living and to demand better public services.

There has since been a spate of demonstrations in southern Yemen to call for greater state aid for the more than 60,000 people retired early from army or civil service jobs following a 1994 bid to restore the south’s independence. South Yemen united with the north in 1990. The bid to end the union four years later sparked a deadly civil war.

Almotamar.net - The Aden Security Committee held Thursday its regular meeting chaired by governor Dr Adnan al-Jifri and discussed the topics on its agenda and reports related to security situation in the governorate. A statement issued by the committee said it has considered some reports in a newspaper concerning the intention of elements from some parties and a number of other groups of holding unlicensed and law-violating gatherings on the 7th of this month.

The statement added that in the light the responsibility dictated o the state apparatuses for keeping of the social peace and non-aggression on public and private property and commercial activities and for securing continuation of development movement in the city, as well as to stave off what hose illegal gatherings might cause of riot acts, the committee decided to prevent any gatherings or demonstrations having no official license. The committee also decided prevention of any groups or persons from outside the governor rate of holding any activities that disturb public peace and comfort of the city’s inhabitants. It has also warned and held responsible for any results all those who violate the law.

Blocking the roads again:

Sahwa Net –There have still been strains between the security and the Committee of Political Coordination which intends to hold a peaceful march in Aden. The organizers of the march say it is their right to hold a march to express their opinion refuse the current situation, demand to release all political prisoners from security jails and condemns the consequences of 1994 civil war.

Sahwa Net was informed that security forces in Aden deployed its members in Aden entries in order to prevent outside participators form coming to the governorate. It has used to do such measures before arranging protests, marches and sit-ins in Aden since 2007. Aden has witnessed many protests which claimed several lives in the current year.

A humanitarian truce, a good idea.

Peacekeepers to disengage the warring sides is another one, but that won’t get any traction.

Sahwa Net- The United States has expressed its concern over human consequences caused by the conflict in Saada . American officials in Sana’a urged infighting sides, Houthi rebels and the government to let food, fuel and other necessities arrive to civilians.

An American official affirmed the authenticity of reports saying that the U.S. refused to designate al-Houthis among terrorist movements, pointing out that the designating is a complicated process based on strong evidence that an individual or a group is involved in terrorist acts.

As for the Yemen-U.S. relations crisis, the U.S. official said that U.S. believes that Jmal al-Badawi , the mastermind of the 2000 bombing of USS Cole bombing that killed 17 American sailors and has t Jaber Elbaneh , a Yemeni-American convicted of planning attacks on oil installations in Yemen, have to be extradited to U.S.

Update: Like Christian Bibles, apparently 12er books are illegal in Yemen: (Ithna Ashari is the official religion of Iran that Saleh recently desribed as racist . Twelvers constitute ninety percent of the modern population of Iran and fifty-five to sixty percent of the population of Iraq. Twelver Shiites are the majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and also have substantial populations in Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, India, Afghanistan and Bahrain.)

Yemen Observer:
A group of 8 Yemeni men accused of supporting the al-Huthi tribe’s armed rebellion against the Yemeni Government has been held in the southern harbor of Aden, official sources said on Thursday.

“The 8-member cell was running a printing press for printing and distributing leaflets promoting the dark, backward, and terrorist ideas of al-Huthi,” A spokesman for the ministry of interior said in a statement. The printing press was seized by the authorities, the spokesman added.

The men were running the printing press with the purpose of distributing publications promoting extreme, marginal Shiite ideology called Ethna Ashari, which says rulers of Islamic nations must be decedents of the prophet Mohammed.

The 8 men were among those wanted by the security authorities, whose pictures and names were given out to security checkpoints on charges of supporting the al-Huthi armed rebellion in Sa’adah.

Late last June, also 8 leading rebellion supporters were arrested in Al-Jawaf, Sana’a, and Amran provinces as part of the crack-down by the government on supporters of rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Sana’a refused to classify the al-Houthi rebels as terrorists, saying that classification of terrorist groups is a very complicated process which needs to based on hard evidence. “Until now, such evidence does not exist in this issue,” said an embassy statement published in Al-Sahwa newspaper on Thursday.

The embassy also expressed in that statement its concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sa’adah because of the armed conflict between rebels and government troops. It urged the two warring parties to secure the food, water, and fuel necessary for the civilians being affected by the war.

Yemen Observer:

A number of press journalists have filed a lawsuit against the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) represented by the head of the syndicate, his agents, the secretary-general, his aides and members of the executive council, demanding an end to the syndicate and the closure of its headquarters.

The syndicate’s council member Marwan Damaj said that the syndicate grants membership to those who comply with its requirements: holding a university degree and being an editor-level employee rather than a technician in a newspaper. “It is the right of any person to resort to the judiciary, and we do not prevent any person from pursuing this right,” Damaj stated.

The lawsuit filed at the court demanded to speed the judicial procedure to the Ministry of Social Affairs and to force it to form a preparatory committee and an internal system of the syndicate according to the Press and Publications Law No. 25 of 1990 and under judicial supervision of the court.

The journalists who filed the lawsuit against the YJS are Ismail Abdel-Hafiz al-Absi, Abdul Hakim Tarsh al-Mogales, Ahmad al-Makosh, Ahmad Ghailan, Fadhel Saleh, Mohammad Dahan, Mohammad al-Gofi, Abdul-Qader al-Shater, Hanna Me’yad and others. They are known in the press field as they claimed in the lawsuit, and have all legal conditions to obtain journalist profession cards stipulated by the press law and which can be obtained through the YJS. The YJS, through what has been termed an alleged internal regulation, revised the definition of the journalist profession and the press, for the definition of the YJS was partially contrary to the definitions, meanings and connotations specified in the press law, the lawsuit claimed.

Initial Report on attacks of Yemen regime against Altagheer members

Introduction:

Al-tagheer Organization for Rights and Defense is a Yemeni comprised of a number of rights activists; politicians, media men, parliament members and other important social groups. The Org. has been active for more than a year, held founding conference on 19th Feb. 2008.

The purpose of the organization is to enhance respect towards human rights, defense law, constitution and freedom of speech, stabilize basics of equal citizenship, establish concepts of wise ruling, oppose violence and revive culture of tolerance and contribution in democratic change.

The Org. is currently facing strong opposition by the regime, which is embodied in a series of attacks targeting the leadership and the founding members, as follows:

Dr Nasser Al-khubbagi:

Dr Nasser Al-khubbagi , a member of the House of Representatives and a founding member of Al-tagheer , is threatened with an arrest and has been prevented from going to the House since 13th Oct2007, for having protested against firing on