Armies of Liberation

She’s doing well and going in the right directions (for example closing private prisons) but the question is whether she will be allowed to cross the red lines or thwarted by ye ol powerful and guilty persons even though they have immunity. On a related note, on e report holds that Gen Kiran got a false passport and is planning to escape Yemen. Beyond his recent crimes against protesters in Aden and Taiz, Kiran also has a court case pending for the death by torture of Ahmed Darwish in an Aden prison cell.

Yemen Post: Yemen Human Rights Horia Mashhoor said on Wednesday that an independent commission will be formed with the aim of investigating violations committed against human rights since the outbreak of anti-regime protests in last February.

“Probes about killing of protesters in Sana’a , Taiz and Abyan lack transparency, and Yemen’s judiciary lack enough fairness,” she added.

In her meeting with Middle East and North Africa director of the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy(NED) Abdul Rahman Al-Jubouri, she made clear that Yemen needs special legalizations that cope with international laws.

Mashhoor revealed that the ministry seeks to hold a national dialogue conference to solve Yemen’s problems and come up with joint national views on human rights.

She revealed that Human Rights Ministry would be shifted to an independent supreme authority which enjoys impartiality.

For his part, Al-Jabouri stressed that NED seeks to help Yemen in the field of enacting legislations of the constitution and election laws, pointing out that NED would support and train the consultative body belonging to the Human Rights through Ministry.

In an interview with the state-run 26 September newspaper, Mashhoor made reference to the existence of a big gap between laws and their application on the ground.

Mashhoor has said she seeks to shut down private custodies (ed-private prisons) run by some officials and tribal leaders, stressing that the existence of such custodies contradicts Yemen laws and international conventions.
Mashhoor has vowed to release all political prisoners held in security forces.

Separately, Mashour stated that Yemen’s high-ranking officials take over 90 percent of allowances and benefits allocated to government ministries while low-ranking employees get nothing.

She affirmed that Yemen’s financial systems encourage corruption, demanding to carry out significant financial reforms.

Yemen Post reports the demands are money and the release of imprisoned terrorists, but the demands themselves and the timing of the kidnapping, following a French call for Saleh to step down, the odd video without any al Qaeda characteristics, the tension with (if not expulsion of) the French ambassador for his remarks, the bombing of TOTAL’s pipeline and the pending UN resolution may all indicate the statement is yet another attempt by the Sana’a regime to spin the media away from the slaughter in the capital.

The situation echos that of the German hostages, a crime thought committed by Saleh loyalists linked to drug smugglers and al Qaeda. As the recent West Point paper pointed out, many of the security officials murdered by al Qaeda were in fact counter-narcotics agents, and that’s another area where the footprints of al Qaeda and the Sana’a regime overlap.

Obama should grab that sleazy slimy mass murderer rat Saleh by the throat and throttle him until he gives up these and all the Yemeni hostages. Dozens more severely wounded Yemenis were kidnapped by security forces in the last days, including women, but likely the Yemenis will get much less publicity. The regime has got to go.

Yemen Post: French Hostages in Yemen Face New Challenges

On May 28th, 2011, 3 French aid workers were kidnapped in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut as they were conducting a field trip near Sayyun. (Read on …)

Through the years, I would see a Reuters article that made my head spin because it mis-characterized events entirely, and the article was usually written by Presidential employee Sudam. Nonetheless, I am waiting for the widespread denunciations by the Yemeni protesters of this tactic by Mohsen’s forces, if thats what happened.

Gulf News: Sana’a: Mohammad Sudam, Reuters correspondent in Yemen, was kidnapped on Saturday night in Sana’a by forces loyal to defected general Ali Mohsin Al Ahmer, Yemen ministry of defence announced on Sunday.

Sudam, who is also working as a translator to the Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh, was arrested at a checkpoint run by Al Ahmer’s forces when he was en route from Sana’a airport to his house.

There has been no comment yet from Al Ahmer’s office. Yemen Journalist’s Syndicate condemned the arrest of Sudam and called for his immediate release.

Damn. Its so shocking to see a video like that in Yemen but at least there’s no mention of AQAP or an AQ flag behind them. Article at al Masdar (ar). They were kidnapped after France expressed support for the revolution and urged Saleh to step down immediately.

Update: In French, each said his name and then the man speaks, apparently reading from a paper in front of him, that they were abducted in Yemen. The French man says that he was speaking on the 102 day since the abduction, which means it was registered before five days.

He said that the French government did not do anything for their cause, to free them, and directed his appeal to the French people, before the end of the video cuts off his words.

ah better. English:

ADEN — Three French aid workers feared to have been kidnapped in Yemen appeared in an online video on Monday nearly 11 weeks after they went missing, saying their abductors’ demands have not been met.

Al-Masdar Online, an independent Yemeni news website, posted the video on its website showing a man and two women, and saying that they were the French aid workers taken hostage in the southeast on May 28.
(Read on …)

These 428 were actually released, some after years and many broken pledges, thanks to the good offices of Qatar. There was a second release of several dozen and several hundred remain in jail.

Yemeni government releases 428 Houthis and gets back 10 military vehicles
30/12/2010 News Yemen: The government on Thursday released 428 Houthis who in return freed 10 military vehicles. (Read on …)

Summary: The Houthis captured AQAP operatives and Dammaj “students” -perhaps teachers- Hussain al-Tais and Mashhour al Ahdel in al Jawf in August. Al Tais, a former Gitmo detainee, was active in Saada, associated with General Ali Mohsen and Ammar al Waeli and thought to be involved with the kidnapping of the Germans in June 09. The rebels turned the two over to the security forces. AQAP then kidnapped the deputy director of the PSO in Saada, Ali Hosam, and issued a deadline for al Tais’s release. There was no further news on al Hosam. The two suicide attacks this week on the Houthis are thought to be in retaliation for al Tais’s capture. Yesterday AQAP kidnapped the head of the hospital in Saada to bargain for al-Tais’s release. They took him to the Wadi Abu Jubarah al Qaeda training camp. Ali Mohsen negotiated successfully with the AQAP kidnappers for the doctor’s release, based on a promise of the prisoners’ release, according to al Eshteraki and Yemen Online. Or possibly blacklisted weapons dealer Fares Manna did the negotiating, according to AFP via al Sahwa:

“Dhafer al-Shihri was freed after mediation led by a tribal chief, Sheikh Fares Mannaa,” the source told AFP, on condition of anonymity. He said the kidnappers who seized the doctor on Sunday had agreed to the release after a pledge that one of the jailed men, Abdullah al-Dibai, held for more than a year on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda, would be freed…

“The kidnappers drove the hostage to the region of Wadi al-Ghabara,” 70 kilometres (40 miles) north of Saada, a local official who asked not to be identified told AFP. They had demanded the release of nine members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) imprisoned in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

“Among them are Saleh al-Tyss (ed- a/k/a Hussain al Tais) and Abdullah al-Ahdal (ed- a/k/a Mashhour al Ahdal per an earlier AQAP statement), two leaders of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula held in Yemen, and Saleh al-Shihri, another AQAP leader jailed in Saudi Arabia,” the local official added….

Tension has been rife between the Shiite rebels and AQAP in northern Yemen since the rebels detained five Al-Qaeda members whom they handed over to Yemeni authorities over the past two weeks.

Also the doctor in an interview after his release reports seeing three other kidnapped Yemenis, including a military officer, so that’s a hopeful indication of the fate of kidnapped PSO Commander Hosam.

(Read on …)

Like the USS Cole bombers, all the surviving member of the Aden Abyan Islamic Army who kidnapped 16 western tourists in 1998 were ultimately released. The US is trying to get Abu Hamza to the US to stand trial.

NY Times: A British government ruling stripping the Egyptian-born Muslim cleric known as Abu Hamza al-Masri of his British citizenship was struck down Friday by a special immigration court. But government officials said the court’s action would not affect the government’s plan to extradite the cleric to the United States, where he is wanted on terrorism charges. (Read on …)

On September 20, AQAP issued a demand for the release of Hussain al Tais in exchange for Ali Hosam. details here. The spraying in the face is similar to an incident several years ago against a southern journalist.

Original: We all remember abu Jabarah in Saada, where the al Qaeda training camp is, under the direction and protection of Ali Mohsen al Ahmar, who was also seeking to negotiate in Lauder. The al Tais family pop up regularly as hard core jihaddists with close connections to Ali Mohsen. The Yemen Observer notes: The Sa’dah Deputy security director (Ali Abdulhusam) was kidnapped by armed gunmen after being spraying him with an anesthetic and taken to an unknown place..This case is similar to that of the kidnapping of the German doctors who were found dead in one of the Governorate’s directorates.

Earlier on Abu Jubarah and the German hostages.

Saada Online – Special
Friday, August 27th, 2010 م

Revealed local sources in Saada province for “Saada Online” for important information about the kidnapping of Deputy Director of Political Security in Sa’ada, “Ali Hussam,” saying that the armed elements had abducted Thursday from his home in the neighborhood of “officers” in the center of Sa’ada, and signs that fingers point to the family of “Al-Tais” known by their affiliations to the extreme and of being officers in the Northern Command Bank and living in the valley of “The Abu Jabara,” said a local resident that the kidnapping may have been due to demand, “Al-Tais,” the release of a relative with detainees at the political security.

It is noteworthy that the abduction “Ali Hussam,” is very similar to the details of the abduction of German doctors and indications are that and also their views of “The Abu Jabara,” especially since the kidnapping was the center of the city of Saada, where there are military units, military and security services intensively , reported media sources confirmed that two men stood in a jeep, Morocco, on Thursday in front of the home of Colonel Hussam, and roads door and when he went out to them they fired on his face spray anesthesia and he fainted and they carried him to the back of the jeep, which was brought down the curtain on the rear to block the vision of her own Customs . Sadah Online

Full text of the YO story below:

The Sa’dah Deputy security director was kidnapped by armed gunmen after being spraying him with an anesthetic and taken to an unknown place.

The kidnapping story of Sa’dah deputy security director is still mysterious.

As the security authorities decline to give any information, the local council’s General Secretary Mohammed al-Emad showed reservation when speaking to News Yemen.

This case is similar to that of the kidnapping of the German doctors who were found dead in one of the Governorate’s directorates.

The deputy security director Ali Abdulhusam was kidnapped by unknown gunmen while he was leaving his house for afternoon prayer in the officers’ area in the middle of Sa’dah city last Thursday.

Sources say that gunmen in a jeep intercepted him and took him to an unknown place.

The sources also said that two men standing in front of Abdulhusam’s house sprayed

an anesthetic on his face and took him unconscious into the jeep’s box, covering the rear of the car to conceal the plates.

The source said that the Jeep was seen crossing al-Gablat road south east of Sa’dah and that is it took Atwah road heading to Nashor area.

The state’s failure to release the prisoners as required by the truce itself, not to mention the May 22 amnesty announcement, was predictable. It happened in every cease fire since 2005. Similarly, little reconstruction occurred over the last five years despite all the funds donated and numerous announcements. Of the 3000 political prisoners, the breakdown is roughly 1000 entirely innocent (arrested for suspected sympathy with the rebels), 1000 rebels and 1000 southerners arrested during protests or during night raids on activists’ homes. Also several journalists. There’s still about 2200 in jail and its a continuing source of friction and a bargaining chip against the larger populace, but as the RAND report correctly notes, the truces are a tactic of war, not a method of peace.

SANAA, 24 June 2010 (IRIN) – Abdulmalik al-Houthi, leader of the Shia rebels in the northern governorate of Saada, has accused the government of reneging on amnesty promises made by President Ali Abdullah Saleh on 22 May.

Saleh had announced an amnesty for all imprisoned southern separatists and Houthi rebels in the north during a speech to commemorate unification in 1990.

“Instead of releasing our fellow citizens in line with President Saleh’s amnesty, security authorities in the government are launching new arrest campaigns against our men,” al-Houthi said in a statement on 22 June.

According to local media reports, fewer than 800 of the more than 3,000 prisoners believed to be covered by the amnesty have been released.

Asked why the government had not released all of the prisoners under the amnesty, Interior Ministry official Lutfi Nisari said only: “This is a presidential affair.” (Read on …)

Quite a fascinating interview at Naba News with the American Ludmila Yamalova after she was freed from her kidnappers in Yemen.

1. Your feeling as a woman when tribesmen kidnapped you, did you think that they may kill you or being raped?

a. Answer. Yes, after the first half-hour of denial that this nightmare was happening and the intense conviction that it was going to end …the fear of physical violence kicked in. I started remembering previous hostage situations, which had ended tragically. Images of rape and killing kept crossed my mind for the next fifteen or so minutes… These fears were further perpetuated because for the first hour or so, we had no idea what was going on and what the agenda was. There was a lot of screaming, yelling, talking on multiple mobile phones, anger, angst and, what seemed like, confusion. It was difficult to tell how I fit into the whole picture and what their motives were against me, individually, and us, as a couple.

2. How did they treat you during the period of hostage? (Read on …)

Oh yes and its a democracy too! The local elections were stupendous, the media is free and the anti-corruption efforts are zooming right along. They lie and lie and lie some more. The problem with reform efforts in Yemen is that no one in the Saleh administration will acknowledge basic realities. Illegal, retaliatory and arbitrary arrests are among the main drivers of instability and civil unrest. Political prisoners include journalists, children and activists as well as persons officially designated as “hostages” by the state, a particularly abhorrent practice of imprisoning an individual in order to pressure a wanted family member. The comments came at a “Friends of Yemen” technical meeting, held in the hopes of instigating judicial reform, but if the state insists the judiciary is perfect, then there’s nothing to discuss.

SABA: No political prisoner in Yemeni jails, says minister

No political prisoner in Yemeni jails, Minister of Justice Ghazi al-Aghbari re-confirmed on Wednesday. In his meeting with the technical team of Yemen Friends Group over justice and security, the minister said that there are only detainees on charges of committing crimes and outlaw acts based on the 1992 law of punishments.

He pointed out to the outlaw elements that blocked roads, looting and burning public and private possessions under pretext of asking rights and freedom of expression, saying no law in the world authorizes to do such crimes.

The minister reviewed needs of Yemen that might friends of Yemen could support in field of judicial reforms in the country.

No surprise there. Update: When I wrote the last article, I wasn’t sure of the break down between the rebels and the arbitrarily arrested, but if we take Abdelmalik’s figure of 1000 rebels in jail and Hassan Zaids figure of 1000 innocent civilians plus 500 disappeared, we come up something around HOOD’s figure of 2000 imprisoned in relation to the war.

Yemen rebel group asks government to free 1,000 detained members, Earth Times

Sana’a, Yemen – A Shiite rebel group that fought the national army in northern Yemen for more than five years called upon the government Friday to free around 1,000 members of the group captured during the conflict that ended in February. (Read on …)

Not one word from the international community or Madam Secretary in reference to freedom of the press.

RSF

The 66-year-old editor of the daily al-Ayyam, Hisham Bashraheel, was arrested on 6 January, the day after the security forces lifted a 24-hour siege of his newspaper in Aden. One of his sons, managing editor, Hani Bashraheel, was also arrested at the same time. Another son of Hisham Bashraheel, Mohammed Hisham Bashraheel, was arrested on 5 January. It is not known where they are being held or what the charges against them are.

The JMP is dithering about whether to attend or not… Saleh is excluding southerners and the rebels. The RAY party (al Jifri) says the political prisoners should be released first including Mohammed al Maqael (and the hundreds if not thousands of others.) Yemen Times

SANA’A, Dec. 16 — President Saleh invited all political parties, civil society organizations and community leaders to the dialogue table in order to reach solutions for the crises the country is going through currently.

He did so three days ago as a response to escalating conflicts on more than one front in Yemen, and yielding to pressure from international powers that have called on the Yemeni government to reach peace settlement with various rebellious movements. (Read on …)

Yay. Still missing five Germans and a Brit since June 09.

Related: Germany Hearts Yemen

BERLIN, Nov. 23 (Saba) – German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle hailed Monday Yemen’s democratic approach as well as the level of distinctive relations between Yemen and Germany. (Read on …)

Update 2: Released unharmed, November 24.

Update: The governor of Sana’a says he is still with the original group of tribal kidnappers and negotiations are underway. Yemeni officials do not have a great record of telling the truth but in this case I hope its true.

If the imprisoned tribesman is 22, then he was 14 when he went to fight in Iraq??
“Sources at the Inferior Ministry confirmed that he person from Arahab tribes because of who was the kidnapping incident is accused of his affiliation to al-Qaeda organisation, who is Hussein Abdullah Hussein Qoub, fought in Iraq for two years and settled in Syria for one year and in Lebanon for another year and he was arrested after his return from Iraq four years ago.”

Original Post: Damn. An earlier report here. As an aside, the reason the 22 year old was held by the state without charges after fighting in Iraq is that jihad (murder) abroad is not illegal in Yemen and is often encouraged by the President on national TV, for example during the Lebanon crisis.

Hammoud Mounassar, AFP Al-Qaeda gunmen have seized a Japanese engineer from his tribal kidnappers in Yemen, a tribal source who has been seeking to negotiate his release said on Saturday.

“The hostage was seized by elements of Al-Qaeda, who took him to an unknown destination in the Maarib region,” east of the capital, Sanaa, one of two tribal mediators told AFP on condition of anonymity. (Read on …)

Tribesmen in Yemen have kidnapped foreigners for years in order to pressure the government for the release of family members, often held as official hostages by the state or as a result of a tribal dispute. The Yemeni government cares not a whit about kidnapped Yemenis, ergo its the foreigners who get snatched. In this case, the Japanese engineer is being held as ransom for an al Qaeda member, and the Yemeni government lied (again, no surprise there) about the success of the negotiations. The regime’s lack of a counter-terror posture and prior accommodations to terrorists only encourages this behavior. At the same time, the lack of equitable redress in the form of a functional legal system is the fundamental root of the kidnapping phenomenon.

Yemen Post According to sources close to the Japanese engineer who preferred to be anonymous, the kidnappers didn’t release the Japanese engineer yet.

“There were conflicting reports about the release of the Japanese engineer kidnapped in Arhab and I confirm that tribal mediation did not succeed so far in the release of the kidnapped Japanese”, the source said. (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.

These are not accused of being complicit in the kidnapping of the nine foreigners in June, six of whom are still missing. Yemen Post

Yemeni Interior Ministry announced that 101 suspects were arrested in Yemeni governorates in connection with kidnapping Yemeni and foreign people during the middle of last year till July 2009.
Interior Ministry said that arrests aimed to catch outlaws to bring them to justice, ”most of the suspects handed down in Yemeni courts in different cases related to broken laws” Interior Ministry explained.
101 suspects were arrested in different governorates, including 50 in the capital, 8 Aden, 7 Taiz, 8 Hadramout, 9 Hodeida, 3 Abyan, and 10 in Dhmar governorate. (Read on …)

Un Young Sun, South Korean nurse murdered in Yemen. You can really see her beautiful spirit through the photo.

Source: Yemen Post, I put an asterick next to the three poor souls whose bodies were found stabbed and shot.

The family:
Johannes H. (36)
Sabine H. (36)
their kids Lydia (4), Anna (3) and Simon (1)

The nurses:
Anita G. (24)*
Rita S. (26)*
Anthony S. (british)
Young-Sun Ium (korean)*

So what we have still out there is two men, three children and their mother. It says a lot.

DBA: Sana’a/Berlin – Security forces in Yemen continued their search Tuesday for six of nine kidnapped Westerners, a day after the mutilated bodies of three of the hostages were found…Yemeni officials said the bodies of the South Korean and two German nurses were found in a dry river valley in Wadi Nushur, 12 kilometres north-east of the city of Saada in the north-west of the country. They had been killed with pistols and daggers. (Read on …)