Armies of Liberation

Its a powder keg waiting to go off. Its unclear if its a tribal clash or a military one since the Houthis are fighting with “Army backed tribes.”

SANAA — Fighting in mountainous north Yemen between Shiite rebels and army-backed tribes over the past four days have left at least 49 people dead, threatening a fragile truce, tribal and rebel sources said on Wednesday.
(Read on …)

President Saleh has a lot of in-laws from his four wives. Many of these are also major land “owners” having confiscated public and private land. My 2006 list is of presidential relatives is here and includes economic holdings and stakes in corporations. For example, the head of Yemenia airlines is President Saleh’s son-in-law. Aden Press:

Below is a list of some of Saleh’s relatives that control key positions in the Republic of Yemen:

1. Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh – President’s son, Commander of the Republican Guard and Special Forces.
2. Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh – nephew of President, Staff of the Central Security as a successor to his father.
3. Tareq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh – nephew of President, Saleh’s personal Guard Commander.
4. Ammar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh – nephew of President, the official in charge of national security. (Read on …)

An Islah MP gave an interview to al Sahwa following the delay in the parliamentary session meant to discuss the airstrike in Abyan that killed dozens of civilians. Abdul Karim Shiban said that the “al Qaeda” killed in the strike were released from a PSO prison two years earlier. Since then, they moved back and forth from Shabwa to Abyan openly and freely. It was known by the security forces who would have been able to capture them easily. In fact, the men used to chew khat with security officials and received an allowance from the state.

al Sahwa Those targeted in the strike were closely linked to power (Read on …)

After years of delay during which this bill was brought forth and then rejected by Parliament, Yemen passed a counter-terror financing law. The argument against the law was that it would hamper efforts to fund “legitimate resistance” movements like Hamas and other charitable giving. Also recall in 2005, when the UN circulated a list of 144 bank accounts associated with al Qaeda and/or the Taliban, Yemen closed one and took no further action in subsequent years. See also my category Parliament.

SABA: The parliament ratified on Tuesday the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism.

Concluding its second session for the second term of the seventh annual round, the parliament also approved a law draft against money laundering and terrorism financing as well as a law draft of amending some articles of the civil procedures law.

Ratifying the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism by the parliament comes within the state efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms.

The veneer of legitimacy is wearing thin. AFP

SANAA — A shootout erupted on Thursday at a separatist rally in southern Yemen, killing one civilian, while a senior police officer was injured in clashes in a neighbouring province, witnesses and police said. (Read on …)

Now that they voted themselves another two years in office, they are getting a bit more outspoken. Actually theres some members of Parliament including GPC members who see the disaster unwinding but they have little power to do anything, considering they all take their orders from Saleh. Firing the heads of all the ministries and replacing them with neutral technocrats might have a good effect but it would be limited by the hyper-politicization of everything in Yemen and by the fact that the real power isn’t in the ministries either.

Yemen Post: MPs have urged to withdraw the confidence from the government, with MPs describing the current cabinet led by Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawar as corrupt and ‘ reckless’. (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.

A spot on report: Corruption, the government cannot survive without it. The Houthi rebellion, Southern uprising and al Qaeda’s increasing infiltration are all rooted in corruption. The Yemeni regime is structurally reliant on corruption. Its a mafia more than a government.

SANAA, Sept 2 (Reuters) – A Yemeni tank unit fighting rebels is said to have run out of ammunition after its commander stole his men’s wages, telling them to make money selling spent shell casings instead — so they blasted away at anything that moved.

True or not, Yemenis readily believe the tale.

Corruption is rampant in Yemen, whether defined as the abuse of public office for private gain, or in the form of patronage, the diversion of state resources to seek political quiescence.

Its tentacles stretch from top to bottom of the government, with powerful tribes and the military-security establishment among the main beneficiaries, according to a 94-page assessment by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Efforts to fight the scourge, notably the creation of a Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption (SNACC) in 2007, have made little headway, Yemeni and foreign experts say. (Read on …)

The financial disclosure law was passed in 2007, and its a great concept, but it lacks enforcement mechanisms. Two of 301 MP’s submitted the required form to date. This is not a Parliament that’s going to take the tough position of standing against “the powers that be” for reform, transparency or equal rights. There’s a lot of mafia types. Parliament is an institutionalizaton of tribal authority structures. The Parliament is a tool of Saleh with little autonomy, but a lot of latitude. Crimes are rarely punished and flourish. The Parliament is somewhat more outspoken lately but is not even remotely a counter-balance to the executive. Yemen’s decision makers are a shadow government (Saleh and his family and cronies), and the public has no mechanism of acountability.

Update: Yemen Times “There are around 36,000 officials who are included in the public sector and are obliged by the financial disclosure law to admit their financial disclosures every two years,” she (Vice-Chairman of the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption Dr. Bilkis Abu Osba’) continued. “Since we created the financial disclosure sector, around 10,000 financial disclosures have been received.”

al Tagheer: Mohammed Al-Matari, head of the financial disclosure the Anti-corruption “Parliament” still ranks high on the list of backward and Late to provide financial disclosure statements. . . لافتا في تصريح لـ”الوحدوي ” إلى أن من بين 301 عضو هم عدد أعضاء البرلمان , تقدم فقط عضوان اثنان بإقرارات الذمة المالية . He noted in a statement to “unitary” to that of the 301 members are members of Parliament, the only two members of financial disclosure.

مبديا أسفه واستغرابه من عدم وجود تفاعل وتعاون من قبل البرلمان في هذا الشأن لما يمثله من سلطة دستورية وقانونية عليا في البلد . He expressed his regret and surprise at the lack of interaction and cooperation by the Parliament in this regard because it represents the authority of the constitutional and legal positions in the country. في حين لم تتلق الهيئة سوى 12 إقرارا بالذمة المالية من مجلس الشورى لعدد But it has not received the recognition of only 12 financial disclosure of the Shura Council of the number

أثنا عشر عضوا من أصل 111 عضوا هم عدد أعضاء مجلس الشورى .. Twelve members of the 111 members who are the number of members of the Shura Council ..

because he’s destroying Yemen… Hamid has a reasonable plan, the VP steps in until early elections, but the issue of the electoral reform is still unresolved. But Hamid is right that the continuation of Saleh’s dictatorship is a failed strategy and progress requires some change, if not an administrative purge.

Hameed Al-Ahmar (the Son of Abdullah Al-Ahmar), who is a member of the Yemen Parliament as well as of the Islah party, gave an interview on 05/08/09 with Al-Jazeera.
He openly and honestly spoke of the condition and events in Yemen, and pointed the blame directly to the Yemeni president Ali Saleh for the country’s failure.
He also gave a direct message to the president to step down from the Presidency and and hand it over to his vice president Al-Ariani, while carrying out immediate elections for a new president.
He also accused the Yemeni President of defying the constitution by giving all the governmental and military posts to his sons and relatives, and not giving the Southerners a chance, thus accusing the president of being a traitor.Hameed condemned what is happening in the South of Yemen and what is being done to the Southerners from oppression and ill-treatment.
Hameed spoke very boldly about the situation, and when asked by the t.v presenter whether or not he was going to return to Yemen, he replied with a bold “Yes”! Explaining that his tribe is going to protect him, and will not let anything happen to him.

Reported: Rasha Rashed

His tribe is also Saleh’s tribe.

Update: Abdelmalik al Houthi is taking it as a Saleh-enduced call to dialog and responding with a bit of bluster.

Update: Al Sahwa has a write up:

Sahwa Net – Yemen’s opposition senior leader and Member of Parliament Hamid al-Ahmer has urged Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, hand over power to his vice-president Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi and set an appointment to elect a new president.

(Read on …)

Click here for the full story.

Sahwa Net – The human rights committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union has demanded Yemen’s parliament to provide explanations on the attempt of abducting the Member of Parliament Ahmed Saif Hashid and how to guarantee his safety.

The committee also asked the reasons behind the closing down of his website ( Yamanat) and the ban imposed on his newspaper (Almostaqila). It also asked to give reasons of preventing him of visiting jails.

The committee pointed out to defamations and crackdowns imposed on Hashid as a result of his work as a human rights activist.

The relationship between Yemen and China is quite strong and well established. Yemen balances its external relations in a similiar manner to its internal affairs. Yemen’s alliance with the US is offset by its relation with China, Russia, Iran, even Cuba. Yemen supports the Chinese position on Taiwan, and China never pressures Yemen on Human Rights issues, of course. First up, we have Yemen quite understanding of the Chinese crackdown on the Uighur’s and insisting its some conspiracy, which is the standard line for the Yemeni government regarding civil unrest in Yemen.

CNN: The July 5 riot in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is an internal affair of China, the Yemeni ambassador to China said on Wednesday. Yemen supports China’s efforts to defend its national sovereignty, to safeguard its social stability, and the people’s security and property, Abdulmalek Mualemi said in a written interview with Xinhua.

The riot in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, left 197 people dead and more than 1,680 injured….

“Considering the grave loss of lives and property caused by the violence, we believe the incident did not happen spontaneously as some people have claimed, instead, it was premeditated and organized,” he said.

AQAP may target Chinese interests in Yemen- report.

Bloomberg: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said it will target the 50,000 Chinese workers in Algeria and Chinese nationals and projects across northwestern Africa, said Stirling Assynt, which has offices in London and Hong Kong….“Some of these individuals have been actively seeking information on China’s interests in the Muslim world which they could use for targeting purposes,” Stirling Assynt said, adding locations included North Africa, Sudan, Pakistan and Yemen. Other militant groups may make similar threats and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula “could well target Chinese projects in Yemen,” according to the report.

More from Yemen Observer and al Sahwa.

Next: Chinese investment in Yemen, the overt kind. China needs to secure energy supplies and is one of Yemen’s main trading partners.

July 14 (Saba) – Yemen and the Chinese Commercial Vessel Building Company reviewed on Tuesday benefits and investment opportunities provided to investors in Aden Free Zone (AFZ).

Vice-chairman of the General Authority for Free Zones, and Head of the AFZ Abdul-Jalil al-Shuaibi re-invited, during his meeting with deputy general director of the company, Chinese investors to invest in Yemen, especially in establishing a factory for Chinese cars in the country.

Finally the Chinese massage parlors in Sana’a targeted by the Virtue and Vice Commission. The Chinese girls trafficked to Yemen as sex slaves were left crying on the street.

Al Arabyia: Yemeni religious police were out in force Tuesday in a major crackdown that saw many massage parlors and Chinese restaurants in the capital Sanaa shut down for allegedly promoting prostitution and vice.

The Yemeni religious police, modeled after Saudi Arabia’s Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, targeted popular tourist areas in Sanaa.

Authorities dragged Chinese women working in several spas and restaurants to the streets and sealed the businesses after posting a sign reading “closed by the authorities,” an eyewitness told Al Arabiya.

The number of Chinese restaurants and spas in the capital has increased significantly in the capital despite the fact that none of them have a legal work permits or Ministry of Health authorization, said an official who supervised the clampdown but spoke on condition of anonymity. (Read on …)

The Yemeni government announced several times that reconstruction aid would go first to “loyal” villages. Doesn’t sound very conciliatory to me. But it seems that even the pro-government personalities aren’t getting their due. The Houthis have said repeatedly that nothing is happening on the ground and all the announcements are propaganda. Ya think?

Yemen Observer

YEMEN – Four of Sa’adah governorate’s prominent ruling General People’s Congress party (GPC) members submitted their resignation to the President, the General Secretary, and the party’s block leader.

The three MPs, Othman Mujali, Abdulsalam Saleh Hashool Zabiah, Faiz Abdullah Saleh al-Ojiri, and Faisal Iraij, resigned from the GPC as a “first step”, according to the message which the three members signed and submitted to the president.

In a message to the President, the resigning members attributed their dissatisfaction to repeated failures to implement promises and the governorate’s development matrix in Sa’adah, “the negligence and lack of interest by the government in all of the events and the sufferings of the people of the area”, as well their belief in a government agency conspiracy against all of the governorate’s crucial issues. (Read on …)

Some women in Yemen believe they are subordinate to men. Some don’t. One time one of the “hard Muslims” as he called himself, told me that women have only half a brain. So I asked him if he ever met a smart woman and a stupid man, was it possible a woman’s half brain could be larger than a small brained man? He didn’t have an answer for that or the question, why would God give women talents if not to use them? He just started ranting he loved Osama bin Laden and offered to send me a book

State report on women issued
SANA’A, June 11 (Saba)- Woman National Committee (WNC) issued its recent state report on challenges facing women, empowering her and future tendencies to promote her in different fields, political, economic, cultural and social.

Granting the two sexes equal opportunities to get work based on equity in all issues included in the report.

Women limited and weak political participation, women parliamentarian representation, enacting with quota demand, woman lower participation in the work, illiteracy spread, increasing mortality percentage among woman and false conceptions on woman’s issues are the main issues the report talked about. (Read on …)

Its just an absolute zoo in every area. The primary problem in Yemen is the state does not obey its own laws.

Yemen Observer: The Commercial Court in the capital, headed by Judge Nabil Abdul Habib threatened to force the Parliament, represented by its Spokesman Yahya al-Ra’ai, to comply with the court sentence that orders the parliament to pay the amount of YR 340 million in rent and compensation to Mohammed Hassan al-Matari. The court, in a letter to the parliament, called for speedy implementation of the sentenced fine, and payment of rent without failure within the legal time limit of 45 days. (Read on …)

Since he returned from a trip to Geneva to the International Parliamentarians conference, independent MP Ahmed Saif Hashid’s website is blocked in Yemen and his newspaper was confiscated. He is excluded from Parliament. He has been sujected to religious incitement as well.

Recently he went to his car and it was out of service, but there was a taxi waiting right there, so he took it. The taxi driver took a detour and then said he was out of gas. After Hashed left the taxi, it drove away. Then Hashid was assaulted by an angry mob and someone pulled a gun. As he escaped on a bus, he was followed by the car. So he got into a different taxi. The car intercepted the taxi and the men tried to drag him out of the car and pulled a knife. He was punched and assaulted during a kidnapping attempt, but a crowd gathered. He knows who the people were but they are not arrested.

Hashed is a noted civil rights activist and often focuses on prisoner rights. He was awarded the Yemen Times Person of the Year award for his efforts.

Subject: Kidnapping and attacking

on May 29, at about 11pm, my sister called me by mobile to come to her home because she was sick. When I came out of my house, after about half an hour, I surprised that my car was broken-down. So, I was obliged to ride a taxi that had apparently been waiting for me.

On the way, however, the driver changed the direction of my destination after he has had a conversation on his mobile, claiming that it was a call from his family which lives in a nearby location, “it is an urgent matter and will not take more than a few minutes”, he said. While he veered about a kilometer away from the way, he stopped the taxi claiming that the petrol was over. It was a minute after I left when I see the taxi running away and about six or seven people, including a child, were approaching claiming that I molested the child. One of them pointed pistol at my face, and then the car of those offenders arrived. Then a person came out from his home nearby that place, the group confused. The person asked me about my identity and I gave them incorrect information which helped me, with the help of that person, to escape from the grip of that ambush.

I walked about 500 meters and I rode a bus which spent a distance of three kilometers; meanwhile, I saw that car still following me. So, I left the bus and rode another taxi, however, the car intercepted the taxi, a group of people came out to attack me, forcibly pulled me and tried to take me to the car. Moreover, one of them tried to stab me using a knife called, jumbia, some others also punched my head with lot of boxes in order to oblige me riding the car, but I resisted strongly. I appealed and screamed “they will kidnap me …I will die here …I will not ride the car “. The people gathered and intervened to prevent me from being kidnapping by the offenders’ car. The police was informed, then, it came to the scene where it detained the car and captured three of the attackers only, while neither the rest of the attackers, nor those who are behind were arrested by police.
(Read on …)

Amazing.

al Sahwa, Hadhramout – The Yemeni authorities arrested on Wednesday a top leader of Al-Haq party and the Joint Meeting Parties in Hadhramout province Yamin BaYamim, and attacked a member of parliament and the head of the Islah party Mohsin Basora.

For its part ,JMP condemned the acts, demanding the authorities to swiftly release Ba-Yamin.

Ba-Yamin and Basora were protesting in solidarity with journalists and eight independent newspapers that are facing a raid by the authorities due to their covering of the South incidents. They are also accused by the government of expressing views favorable to southern secessionists in their coverage of recent protests.

Yemen Post: President Saleh’s call for local ruling system has met the southern mobility leaders’ rejection and criticism. Moreover they doubted its credibility and considered it as sweet promises for external consumption.”We don’t believe in Saleh’s promise for local ruling system as it has no credibility,” said a field leader in what has become known as” southern mobility”, Nasser Al-Fadhli.

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 …)

Also Parliament postpones vote on extending it’s term. The discussions on the constitutional ammendments on the proportional list etc. are in their infancy. It would be nice to rationalize the electoral system but hard to imagine it will occur. Nothing happened after the 2006 presidential election when there was a explicit agreement to reform and international input. If I were to lay odds, it would go 50% that a few minor revisions occur within the two year window, 20% chance of real reform and 30% that Yemen doesn’t see another election within the decade.

al Sahwa – Yemeni citizens were surprised on Saturday as they saw persons sell ballot boxes belonging to the Supreme Commission of Elections and Referendum. One seller said that he along with his friends vended some 22.000 boxes at various markets in Sana’a. He further pointed out that the demand of purchasing ballot boxes increase , particularly by farmers.

The SNACC is going to bring it to the President’s attention. There is no information if there are irregularities in the forms submitted. Also Parliament is asking for prosecution of officials who stole YR72 billion in 2007 through corruption

Yemen Observer: The Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption (SNACC) is taking legal procedures to refer 3 ministers, 8 governors, and 40 ambassadors to the judiciary, pursuant to article 24 of the second chapter of Anti-Corruption Law, according to SNACC member Ahmed Qurhesh. (Read on …)

Ahmed Said Hashid Interviewed by Sarah Mersch for das Parliament. He’s a bright, couragous and patriotic man and addresses a wide range of topics:

Q1-Can you talk about parliamentary work in Yemen in terms of its constituents the electoral system that is adopted and the rights and duties of the elected parliament member?

Ans-There are two councils in Yemen, one is the elected House of Representatives, and the other is the Shura council which is wholly appointed by the president of the Republic. Both councils share a number of tasks with each other, such as approving plans of development, treaties and agreements concerning defense, alliance, reconciliation, peace, boundaries and other issues which the president considers as necessary to be discussed by both of the councils.

The House of Representatives is entitled to theoretically question the government and to withdraw the confidence the government has, but the reality is totally different, for the great majority of the government affiliated to the ruling party (Saleh’s General Peoples Congress), controls decision making in away that turns the parliament into a controlled rather than controlling agent.

The majority of the Parliament as well as its chairmanship protect any official figure from being investigated, however the violations which deserves questioning are clear. So throughout its life time, the parliament has never been subjected to any investigation.

The parliament presidency also avoids discussing any crucial reports that he committees of the House may submit. This can be demonstrated by the fact that the report on Yemeni child trafficking to neighboring countries and sexually abusing them ,was deliberately not discussed with the representatives, however, it had been completed since more than four years by the committee of the rights and freedoms, of which I am a member. As for the president of the Republic, he is nominated by the constitution as the higher leader of the armed forces and is fully authorized to do many tasks including releasing the House from its authorities, declaring the emergency situation if necessary and he can not be controlled by the Parliament unless he commits the great infidelity (that of the homeland) but such an authority remains, in all standards, a theoretical one. (Read on …)

News Yemen

A parliamentary committee in-charge of inspecting facts about detention of an MP over an official murder has demanded the MP release, but prosecution refuses.

MP Ahmad al-Barati, who is being held at the Central Prison in Taiz over the murder of director of Khadeer district Ahmad Mansour al-Shawafi, was not at the scene at that time as the General Attorney and head of Taiz Prosecution have claimed, said the committee in its report to the Parliament on Sunday. (Read on …)

In Yemen, appointing Sheiks to Parliament and local councils (and have no doubt they were appointed not elected) has had the result of tribalizing the government, rather than impacting tribal norms. al Sahwa

Sahwa Net – There are as many private prisons as literacy schools in Hodaida province , according to Alsahwa Newspaper correspondent Abdul-Hafeedh al-Hattami who managed to visit a number of these private prisons.

Al-Hattami said in a prolonged report that powerful sheikhs (chiefs of tribes), sons of lawmakers and local councils members imprison and torture people in Hodaida, the poorest governorate in Yemen and impose taxes on them .

” Five years ago , Badr Zohar from Al-Zohra district , Hodaida, was imprisoned in a jail which is called al-Mitiana in night to be extradited to his dad in day as a corpse” said al-Hattami indicating to the absence of judiciary or security or any public services in these remote areas .

Tribal chiefs who a majority of them are members of the ruling party , parliament or local councils practice repressions, tortures and all kinds of violations against their subjects, and loot their lands and prosperities, according to the report.

No not yet, al Motamar

On the other hand members of parliament received today a letter signed a number of religious men, t the forefront of who is the member of the Higher Body of the Islah Party, the President of Al-Eman University Sheikh Abdulmajid al-Zandani. The message mentioned that limiting girls marriage is a restraint f what the Sharia permitted , considering the amendment of the article in the law of personal status on determining marriage age by 17 years is unconstitutional a the Islamic Law id the source of legislations , according to the constitution of Yemen.

It is worth to mention that the amendment that the parliament has previously approved has been returned to parliament for more deliberations in response to proposal by MPs from the specialized committee and the Islah bloc.

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 …)

There is a very good book by IFES, it could be 2005, but everything in it is still true, and one article gives the stats of tribal Sheiks in Parliament and its high. In effect, the “democratic institutions” in Yemen reinforce patriarchal norms and undermine egalitarianism. al Sahwa notes a study that concludes many MP’s have a grammer school education, a result of this patronage system.

A working paper on the common measures of forming the parliamentary elite in Yemen has demonstrated that the ruling party , the General People Congress, always nominates incompetent candidates for parliament, pointing out that most of its parliament’s members do not hold secondary school certificates. (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 …)

a traitor to the resistance, they say

Sahwa Net – Nearly 60 Yemeni lawmakers demanded on Saturday the Yemeni government to not receive what they called the outgoing Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Yemen, pointing out that he betrayed the Palestinian issue and conspire against the national resistance.

The deputies also asked the government to not receive any Yemeni assistance to all those Palestinian officials who stood against the resistance.

Kuwaiti lawmakers had urged their government to bar the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from an Arab economic summit taking place in the Gulf state in protest at his stance over Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

The Reality of Female Participation in Public Institutions

Yemen Times

Despite the presence of women in elections, their contribution in decision-making is still weak. In the legislative field, there is a single seat for women in the entire parliament, from a total of 301. In the Shura Council, women occupy only 2 of 111 seats. On the level of the executive authority, only 2 of 33 ministries are directed by women. There are 39 women deputy ministers and assistants compared with 1210 men in similar positions. Out of 44490 general directors in Yemen, only 168 of them are women. In the diplomatic field, women represent a mere 10 percent of all diplomats, and in the judiciary field they represent 7 percent.

Female participation in the parliamentary elections of 1993 was low as they represented only 18 percent of the total voters. In 1997, this level of participation increased to 27 percent, and by the 2003 elections, the level of women participation increased to 42 percent of the total voters.

Interestingly, it is true that the number of women candidates decreases whenever the number of women voters increases. In the 1993 elections, women candidates represented 1.3 percent, yet in 1997 the percentage of women candidates was down to 1.4. This trend has continued, as in the 2003 elections the ratio of women candidates was only .8 percent.

The GPC attains the highest ratio of women votes, such as in the 2003 elections where it captured 60 percent of the female vote – 43 percent of the total votes for that party. The Islah party received 22 percent of the female vote, which represented 40 percent of the total votes for that party. Only 5 percent of female votes went to the socialist party, which represented 39 percent of the total votes that the party attained. The Nasserite party gained 2 percent of the women’s votes, which represented 39 percent of the party’s total.

Voting for parties is not based entirely on their programs. It is right that women in the Yemeni society have a negative view of the extremist religious powers and their rigid stance toward women. However, votes are also affected by other issues. The presence of women in these parties affects the distribution of votes. For example, women represent 31 percent of GPC members, which may account for its popularity among women voters. In the GPC’s General Committee, women represent 12.8 percent of its members, and 9.1 percent of its Permanent Committee.

In the Islah Shura Council, women represent 9.1 percent, and in its General Secretariat they represent 6.3 percent of the total members. Women represent 9.01 percent of the total members in the Socialist Party’s Central Committee, and 10.52 percent in the General Secretariat.

Kudos to IFES for speaking plainly. Yemen Post

The ruling party allocated almost YR 60 billion to buy votes in the 2003 parliamentary elections in an attempt to increase its election opportunities in Parliament, an international expert specialized in the election affairs said.

Chief expert of political finance at the International Foundation for Election Systems IFES Dr. Marshen Walky, however, expressed regret over using such sum in what he described as political and electoral corruption while the sum was rather to used to implement infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals and roads.

He said that a report by the IDEA Organization on democracy building in Yemen revealed that the ruling party in Yemen had allocated between YR 40-60 billion during the 2003 elections to buy votes.

At a press conference in Sana’a on Wednesday Walky said though the Yemeni election law bans buying electoral votes and using the public funds in elections, there is no observation or control of the spending of public funds on electoral campaigns.

He likened Yemeni legislations to Swiss cheese full of holes.

He urged that candidates must exercise transparency to disclose resources to fund their electoral campaigns.

Walky said political corruption linked to financing electoral campaigns is a threat to the whole development and the development of democracy in particular in any country as some businessmen endorse candidates in return these businessmen can ensure they can get back what they paid for electoral campaigns through obtaining contracts and investment tenders through winning candidates they endorse.

Walky brought up the misuse of the public funds during elections saying that international monitors judged the electoral process in 2006 was not totally fair due to exclusive use of public funds.

He said the EU mission, which observed the 2006 local and presidential elections in Yemen, found out that many officials used the country’s resources such as buildings, cars and ceremonies to succeed their electoral campaigns.

Walky said changing the electoral system will not solve the problem of political corruption; however, he said the Party-List system is the best solution to restrict buying votes, even if it will not tackle the problem completely.

He urged media to play a vital role in establishing awareness to curb illegal spending of candidates so that only efficient and right winners come to power.

(Read on …)

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Democracy Reporting International (DRI), in cooperation with the Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC), released on Wednesday a report comprehensively assessing the electoral framework of Yemen. The report highlighted some shortcomings in the electoral system in Yemen and offered recommendations in light of the current political crisis between the ruling part and opposition. Here is an excerpt of the report:
The 2009 Elections: A Potential Step Backwards?

Elections for the 301 seats in parliament as well as local elections for 21 governorate councils and the 333 district councils are scheduled for April 2009. A new electoral commission has been appointed and election preparations are already underway yet there is still no political agreement on the rules for the election. (Read on …)

Yay finally an article lists the pre-conditions that the regime reneged on: These included barring government officials from using influence to affect the vote, confining the registration of voters to their place of birth or residence and guaranteeing the impartiality of public financing and state-run media during election campaigns. There’s also the issue of the proportional list and obtaining a soft copy of the voters list (theres more male voters than men in Yemen).

SANA’A // The General People’s Congress, Yemen’s ruling party, said it will not postpone parliamentary elections scheduled for next April if the country’s political parties fail to reach an agreement over the poll, despite being advised to do so by the US National Democratic Institute.

The GPC and the Joint Meeting Parties, an opposition coalition of five parties that includes Islah, Yemen’s main Islamist party, have so far failed agree on an electoral committee to administer the elections.

“The central committee of our party decided in its extraordinary meeting last Thursday to go ahead with the election in its constitutional due time. The opposition is trying to cripple the election and we are not ready to postpone it to satisfy them,” said Tariq al Shami, a GPC spokesman. (Read on …)

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. (Read on …)

The US financial assessment team found efforts to counter money laundering are in their infancy, or non-existent. Parliament is stalling the bill because it will restrict the transfer of charity funds and/or to “legitimate resistance” like Hamas.

SANA’A, July 23 (Saba) – Plans the Yemeni government has taken to fight money laundering and terrorism finance and preventing the establishment of unlicensed currency exchange companies helped revive the currency exchange during the last ten years, a report has said.

The report issued by the Yemen Central Bank noted that the exchange companies number has more than doubled in a decade. This number increased from 210 to 528. The improvement came as the government introduced a new law for combating money laundering and terrorist finance that is yet to be approved by the parliament.

According to the report, the Yemen Central Bank makes it compulsory for exchange companies to present detailed information about their banking services. The bank increased these companies capital to YR 20 million to increase their annual fees to YR 1 million and the individual institutions to YR 150.000.

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.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, July 2 — Parliament last Tuesday approved suspending discussion on a project to amend a law regarding the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum in order to achieve political agreement between Yemen’s main parties within the formation of such committee.

The government proposed a project last November to amend the election law to stipulate that committee members be judges, which caused reservations within the Joint Meeting Parties, who demanded the committee be comprised of politicians, based upon party-agreed principles. However, the ruling General People’s Congress suggests the committee be formed in accordance with the number of voters in the April 2003 parliamentary elections.

The state-run Saba News Agency reports that the Yemeni Parliament – in which the GPC holds 229 out of 301 seats – approved suspending discussion of the project to amend the public election law “out of its belief regarding the importance of political agreement and achieving the nation’s supreme interests, as the involved parties and political organizations continue the process of political dialog.”

It also pointed out that Parliament expressed its sorrow at the absence of JMP parliamentary bloc members from Parliament sessions, claiming they changed their decision regarding boycotting Parliament.

JMP parliamentary bloc members have been boycotting such sessions since June 9 in protest against the amendment project’s placement on Parliament’s schedule.

Update: And they’re back.
Changed their minds, made a deal: Sahwa Net –parliamentary blocs of the Yemeni opposition have declared ending of their boycott to the parliament’s sessions in return of the ruling party abandoning to discuss a draft which through it was intending to pass an election law solely using its majority. They achieved consensus on 60% of the issues the GPC reports.

The numbers are all wrong, and the scenario espoused doesn’t fit the physical reality. There was an IED, not a pipe failure, and the amount spilled could never amount the the numbers presented in Parliament. If there’s 420,000 barrels of oil missing, its probably on a tanker, not in the ground.

al-Sahwa

Sahwa Net – A Yemeni parliamentarian, Abdul-Karim Jadban, accused on Tuesday the French company, Total, of wasting 420,000 barrels of oil worth 11 billion and 700 thousand Yemeni rials, affirming in the meantime, that the firm manipulated international standards of oil pipelines which, in part, led to leak amounts of oil in March 2008 and spoil environment.

On the other hand, Jadban further revealed that the UK firm Dove Energy had embezzled 11 billion and 423 million Yemeni rials, asking the Oil and Minerals Minister about the realities of referring the firm to a public fund court.

How do we go from 1000 barrels leaked to 420,000 barrels wasted, ’splain please.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Member of the Parliament Abdul-Karim Jadban asked at the Parliament’s session on Tuesday the Minister of Oil and Minerals about 420,000 barrels of oil that he claimed wasted by the French TOTAL last March.

Jadban accused TOTAL of “playing with international specifications of oil pipelines that led to the explosion of a pipeline that has been linking block 10 to block 14 last March 14, 2008.”

Jadban said the explosion cost Yemen YR 11.7 billion and that the production stopped from March 27 to April 5, 2008. He added that a quantity of oil estimated at 1000 barrels leaked out and that “may destroy the environment.”

Protesting the hegemonic ruling pary’s unilateral decision to form the SCER (electional oversight) from appointed judges.

Sahwa Net – Yemen’s opposition, the Joint Meeting Parties, has been boycotting the parliament session, opposing the ruling party insistence to form the Supreme Committee of the Election and Referendum according to their own agenda, stressing that such act could exacerbate political and social tensions and end the remainder of the democratic margin.

It further affirmed that such steps are early inclinations to counterfeit the parliamentary elections to be hold in the early of the next year, demanding to reform the election system as a whole in accordance with the agreements singed between both sides regarding SECR and recommendations suggested by the EU Election Observation Mission.

The opposition’s parliamentary bloc had boycotted the parliament sessions a week ago protesting a draft presented by the ruling party to amend the election system individually.

SANA’A,NewsYemen: The majority of the Parliament voted on Saturday for lifting the immunity of MP Yahya Badraddin al-Houthi, brother of rebels’ leader in Sa’ada Abdul-Malik al-Houthi for “forming an armed group and supporting rebellion and spying for foreign countries”.

Head of the General People’s Congress’s bloc in the Parliament Sultan al-Barakani said the reasons of lifting al-Houthi’s immunity remain at the time being and that Yahya al-Houthi is still behaving out of law.
The MP for Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) Edarous al-Naqeeb demanded more explanation about the reasons of lifting al-Houthi’s immunity and asked about the foreign country that al-Houthi spied for.

The MP Jafar Ba-Saleh said there is no justification for lifting the immunity of al-Houthi since he is still outside the country.

The Parliament voted for lifting the immunity of MP Yahay al-Houthi in February 2007 but the decision of lifting the immunity was canceled.

YT

Houthi’s parliamentary immunity rescinded

The Yemeni Parliament has approved a decree rescinding the immunity granted to Member of Parliament Yahya Badraddin Al-Houthi, who has been residing in Germany since early 2005. The government accuses the MP, who is the brother of Houthi field leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, of leading and inspiring the fighting in Sa’ada area, which has raged since June 2004.

This is the second time Parliament has voted to rescind the ruling party member’s immunity, as the Qatari-brokered mediation late last year between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels canceled a previous parliamentary decree issued in early 2007 that rescinded Al-Houthi’s immunity.

This most recent decision came after Yemen’s minister of justice submitted a letter to Parliament asking to rescind the MP’s immunity, accusing him of participating in forming an armed gang, spurring armed disobedience and inciting noncompliance to the law.

For his part, Yahya Al-Houthi describes the Joint Meeting Parties’ position toward the nation’s turmoil as both “national and honest.” He says to the opposition coalition, “Because you favor national interests, you’ve refused to back the authority against us and you’ve refused to join the government-initiated dialogue, which is expected to be an exchange of accusations and nothing more.”

He continued, “We support your position and we want to join you in peaceful struggle to persuade the regime to cancel its military dictatorship and acknowledge a peaceful transfer of power via free and fair elections.”

An article about corruption, wouldn’t ya know.

Mareb Press

The Yemeni House of Representatives filed today a lawsuit in the press and publication prosecution against the partisan Al Shoura Newspaper for publishing an article including insults and abuses against some members of the parliament in the issue no.613 in April 6.

The chairman of the legal committee in the parliament Hezam al-Daghbashi said the lawsuit is primarily based on the article no.80 of the constitution providing for that a member of the House of Representatives shall not be held responsible for facts he comes across or matters he raises in the House or any of its committees, or for his voting pattern in open or closed meetings.

He added the expressions and words used in the newspaper are immoral and extraordinary.

“The role of newspaper is to spread ethics and facts and to protect public principles and morals,” he added.

He pointed out that Al Shoura Newspaper published articles accusing some members of parliament of ‘prostitution’ and describing them as ‘foundlings’.

He added that the newspaper accused the local administration of corruption.

Constitutional ammendments on Shoura Council will enhance the power of the ruling party: Yemen Times:

And yes, I am dumping posts straight into history.

Over two weeks ago, the ruling party: the General People’s Congress approved a number of amendments to the constitution, which the party proposes to present to the parliament for endorsement. The majority of the members of parliament are members of the GPC and so endorsing these amendments are just a matter of time.

The amendments include shortening the presidential term from seven to 5 years, and the parliament term from six to 4. This will only be affective once the current terms are over.

The most significant amendment is the inclusive of the Shoura (consultative) council as a legislating power in Yemen side by side with the Parliament. The way things are today is that only members of parliament or the government can propose any new laws or legislations, which are then forwarded to the parliament to be accepted or rejected.

There are 301 members in the Yemeni parliament elected directly by the people every six years. The last elections were in 2003 and the coming will be in 2009. Whereas the Shoura council was an advisory board established in 2001 and made up of 111 members appointed by the president. Their tasks are to propose suggestions and ideas to help the president and the government rule the country and make the right decisions.

What will change once the proposed amendments are endorsed is that the Shoura Council will perform legislating duties jointly with the parliament. Both councils will be responsible for approving laws, general budgets and closing accounts. The regulation of the parliament and the shoura council will be changed and a new system will be created to adapt to this change.

Moreover, the number of members of the Shoura council is to increase to 151 members representing various governorates.

As it is the situation today is that there are at least 200 members of the parliament from the GPC, comprising a 66 percent majority. Only 150 members of the parliament need to congregate in order to discuss any new amendment and only 76 (50 percent +1) of them have to say yes in order to pass any new legislation. Now with the Shoura council members having the same power the idea of a balanced legislating power is turning to be a joke.

It will be a one party system wearing a multipartism mask. It will be impossible to pass something that the president or the government does not want, and it will be impossible to protect opposition and independent movements or members from the wrath of a majority who disapproves of the other.

With the system as is, it is almost certain that there is nothing we can do about the situation and that Yemen’s constitution will be changed. The only thing to do is that we raise awareness on the significance of such amendments and hope that someone with influence will care enough to stop this from happening.

Yemen Times:

The attacks came after Salah Al-Shanfarah, a Parliament member and prominent leader in the Yemeni Socialist Party, threatened to resort to armed struggle and revolution against the state authorities. In a statement last Friday in Al-Dhale’, Al-Shanfarah said, “We shall announce revolution and armed struggle in the mountains of Al-Dhale’, Yafei, and Radfan.”

“They [state's leaders] should know that our areas are not like those of Sa’ada and our men are not like Al-Houthi’s, whom we highly respect. We have military plans that are accurate and scientific that can destroy their [state's leaders] army,” he added.

He further noted that if the blockade continues and security forces conduct attacks on citizens’ homes arbitrarily, then locals of Al-Dhale’ province will carry out operations that target high-ranking figures in the state.

“Al-Dhale’ city is about to see a large humanitarian crisis if southerners do not move now,” said Al-Shanfarah. “You southerners go to your positions in Radfan, Al-Dhale’, Yafei, Al-Mahfad, Mukairas, Baihan and all the cities bordering northern Yemen that occupied our land and country,” he said.

Interior Ministry asks Prosecution to lift immunity of MP al-Shanfara
Monday, 07-April-2008
Almotamar.net – The Yemen Ministry of Interior on Monday requested from the Yemeni General Prosecution lifting the parliamentary immunity of MP Salah al-Shanfara. Deputy Premier, the Minister of Interior Dr Rashad al-Alimi said in a parliament closed-door meeting on Monday the Ministry requested the lifting of parliamentary immunity of MP al-Shanfara in order to arrest him and refer him to justice over his involvement in the destruction and riot acts happened in Al-Dhalie city recently.

26september.net has quoted a security source as saying al-Shanfara is accused of being involved in the riot and sabotage acts in the city of Al-Dhalie in the past days and for his behaviour and statements that are considered a violation of the constitution and the law. In his statements he has called for an armed revolt for confroinmgting the state’s authorities and instigating sedition, rousing hatred and threatening the national unity in addition to his threatening of suicide operations and targeting armed forces and security.
It is to be recalled that al-Shanfara is among the most wanted persons over the acts of riot and destruction in Al-Dhalie and he is still at large while security authorities are chasing him for arrest and sending to judiciary authorities.

Security forces have on Monday seized 52 pieces of weapon, among them snipers when some sabotage elements attempted to storm a security checkpoint on Dhalie-Qataba road. One soldier was killed and other four were wounded in addition to injury of two persons in confrontation between security forces and a group of young persons in unrest act carried out by those persons.

al-motamar

Almotamar.net – Yemen’s General Prosecution is preparing two files on the two MPs Salah al-Shanfari and Nasser al-Khabji for lifting their immunity to arrest them and send them court.

A source at the General Prosecution said Saturday that the prosecution in the mid of last week a request from the Ministry of Interior on lifting immunity from the two parliament members al-Shanfara and al-Khabji due to their involvement in acts of riot and sabotage happened in some towns in Yemen recently.

The source expected that the two files during this week and delivered to the Ministry of Justice that would submit with the Interior Ministry to the parliament to decide the demand. The source indicated that among the accused is also the former MP Ahmed Bamalam on whom the prosecution is preparing a file for his arrest and sending to court.

The three persons are accused of impinging upon the national unity and agitating mutiny against the existing authority according to the constitution and their secessionist calls and fomenting acts of unrest and destruction.

Deputy Premier, the Minister of Interior Dr Rashad al-Alimi had last Monday informed the parliament in a closed-door meeting that the Ministry of Interior tendered a request to the General Prosecution for lifting the parliamentary immunity of the MP Salah al-Shanfari in order to arrest him and send him to justice authorities.

Yemen Times

Reviewing the legislative system of Yemen for the first time, one gets the impression that the laws are well-drafted and ensure the rights of both men and women. Upon analyzing and dissecting those laws and regulations, one will inevitably realize that certain elements of this system, which regulates private and public relationships, involve a considerable degree of discrimination against women. This conclusion is supported by the legal teams formed by the National Women’s Committee (NWC), which have been working since 2000 to examine Yemeni laws for gender bias.

The NWC wanted to ensure this system complies with the Islamic tenets and principles as the main source of legislation, with the Constitution and with the international conventions ratified by the Republic of Yemen, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The legal review teams came up with proof that there is flagrant discrimination embedded in some provisions, most severely in the Personal Status law, the Nationality law and the Penalty law.

The Personal Status law does not specify an appropriate age of marriage, which as a result, inadvertently permits early marriage among young females – an especially common problem in rural areas. Early marriage in turn affects girls’ ability to continue their education. With early marriage comes early pregnancies, which can cause problems like fistula (a condition that causes incontinence) or even to death during childbirth. (Read on …)

What a good analysis, worth a read, Yemen Times

Yemeni society suffers from a faulty overall structure that has enabled the worst aspects of the past and present to emerge and become firmly established. Now we perceive the yoking of the worst values and practices of both bygone and contemporary times. New institutions have surfaced, modern in appearance but traditional in essence. They are “disfigured creatures,” borrowing from the tribe the most objectionable conventions and customs, such as vengeance killing, which is a phenomenon being transformed into political and partisan vengeance practiced in Sana’a and other Yemeni cities and villages. The “it-is-easy-to-resort-to-arms-and-violence” habit has been increasingly adopted to settle scores instead of resorting to the culture of dialogue and tolerance. (Read on …)

The chairman of the Political Development Forum Ali Saif Hassan expressed his fear that the amount of those persons (MP’s) knowledge of religion as much as their knowledge of the laws. heh

al-Motamar: almotamar.net – Assistant Secretary General of Yemeni Writers Union Ahmed Naji Ahmed warned from rendering the parliament of Yemen for a council for fatwa and accusation of infidelity and said in a symposium that the legal opinions that are unleashed at the parliament might entail terrorist acts.

Mr Ahmed called, in a symposium on Takfir (accusation of infidelity) and its negative impact on the democratic system organized by the Writers Union of Yemen and Al-Mustaqila Forum Wednesday, on the wise people in the parliament to possess a real vision for protection of freedoms. (Read on …)

26September Net

SANA’A, (26SeptemberNet) – The candidate of the ruling General People Congress party for the post of the new Parliament Speaker Yahya Ali al-Raei won in the internal election with 186 votes against 69 of votes for his opposition rival Ali Hussein Ashal.

The ruling party has 229 of 301 seats of the parliament while the opposition parties have 58 seats and the independent parliamentarians are 14 members.

The parliament will also nominate new members for its presidency board, which was chaired by the late speaker Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein al-Ahmer who died in late December.

Ahmed Said Hasid is an editor, activist and Member of Yemeni Parliament. In a televised session, extremist members of Parliament labeled Mr. Hasid a “disbeliever”. He expects to be killed by militants as a result.

The Jawa Report published testimony Mr. Hashid collected from prisoners describing torture, near starvation, children jailed and illegal private prisons. Links below are to the witness testimony and my interview with Mr. Hashid. Hashid was also named the Yemen Times Person of the Year in recognition of his humanitarian work.

Yemeni Parliamentarians forwarded a lawsuit to the prosecutor demanding that Hasid’s parliamentary immunity be revoked so he can be prosecuted. They also demand that the newspaper that Mr. hasid founded, Al-Mustaqilah, be closed down. Yemen’s Parliament has taken no steps to rescue the children in jail, the victims of torture or persons illegally detained in tribal prisons.

In a telephone interview, Hashid told the Yemen Times, “I was considered a disbeliever due to some articles recently published in my newspaper, one of which reported a meeting with an insane person who said, ‘Allah was not fair to me.’ Another issue related to one of the ladies who inquired about a fatwa related to prayer and adultery.”

Prisons in Yemen: Torture by Acid and Electricity, Children Housed with Adults, Hostages, Political Prisoners, No Food for Some

Ahmed Saif Hashid: Yemen Times’ Person of the Year

Witness Testimony From the Dungeons of Yemeni Prisons

(Read on …)

Opposition nominates Ashal as new speaker of parliament
Saturday 09 February 2008 / Mareb Press

The Member of Parliament sheikh Hemyar Abdullah al-Ahmar, son of the late speaker of parliament , would stand for deputy head of the parliament, sources close AlAhmar said Saturday.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties, the Joint Meeting Parties, said they would nominate the Member of Parliament Ali Ashal for the head of parliament.
The JMPs Members of parliament bet on winning of Ashal because he has good reputation and good relations with everyone, they said.

On his part, head of YSP block in the parliament Dr.Aidrous al-Nakeeb told Mareb press, “We nominated the MP Ali Ashal because he has a good reputation and everyone respects him, so he will get a lot of votes.”

It’s worth mentioning that the parliament will elect a new speaker on next Monday.
The ruling People’s General Congress (PGC) had nominated Yahya al-Raey for the post of head of parliament.

But some members of parliament from PGC have not agreed on nomination of Al Raey

Yemen Times

SANA’A, Jan. 6 — Born in 1962 in Lahj’s Qabbaita district, Ahmad Saif Hashid is the founder and owner of Al-Mustaqella newspaper. A prominent parliamentarian with a high interest in human rights issues, Hashid was selected as a member of the Parliamentary Public Freedoms and Human Rights Committee and Rapporteur of Independent MPs’ Caucus.

Hashid chairs Change, an organization for defending rights and freedoms, and is a member of the Civil Community Coalition known as OMAM. He graduated from the Sana’a-based Higher Judicial Institute in 1996, and prior to that obtained a postgraduate diploma in international politics from the Faculty of Commerce and Economics in Sana’a University. He also obtained a license in law from Aden University in 1989 and a diploma in military sciences from the Aden Military College in 1983, and recently has attended training courses on social and human rights issues.

Between October 1997 and February 2003, Hashid served as Chief Judge of the Central Area’s Preliminary Court. From 1990-91, he worked as head of the Judicial Investigation Department.

Hashid was appointed chairman for the coalition of “Independents for Change” following Yemen’s presidential and local council elections on September 20, 2006. He was a central contributor to founding and establishing the Charitable Cooperative Society in the Qabbaita district and later became the society’s secretary-general. He served as editor-in-chief of “Qabbaita Newsletter” since its establishment in December 2000 until it was shut down by the Ministry of Information in October 2004 after publishing its 49th issue.

The parliamentarian has demonstrated a key role in organizing multiple social activities within and beyond the Qabbaita District, participated in several symposiums, discussions and workshops and has written various published and unpublished studies and essays.

“Yemen’s Madmen”, containing popular conversations with commoners, is one of the famous books produced by Hashid, who is also preparing a book on intellectualism, due to go to press soon.

Hashid is committed to equality in constitutional and legal issues, a fact demonstrated through his positions and advocacy of rights and freedoms. Such actions exposed the man to a series of attacks and legal violations, as well as arbitrary procedures by the authorities. In 2003, he escaped an assassination attempt after writing a news report disclosing the miserable conditions of prisons and prisoners in Yemen. The incident left his driver dead.

The MP was detained in the political security jail in October 2006 without any respect for his parliamentary immunity over his solidarity with a sit-in staged by local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in front of the political security’s premises. Hashid joined a protest against the government’s detention of the human rights activist Ali Al-Dailami, the executive director of the Yemeni Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms.

Throughout the years of his service as MP, Hashid criticized the Parliament, describing it as “The worst Parliament ever formed since 1990.” He said the current Parliament “doesn’t play an active role in discussing citizens’ issues and sufferings, nor does it have an influence on decision making processes.” According to the parliamentarian, Yemen’s democracy is ailing and backward. He slammed the current Parliament, saying it falsely paints a positive image of the authority, legalizes corruption, supports oppression and makes democracy in Yemen appear foolish.

Hashid’s activities in 2007

The MP published the first edition of his book “Yemen’s Madmen” in early 2007, and along with a constellation of human rights activists and politicians, founded Change, being elected leader for the organization during its staff’s first meeting.

Hashid conducted a series of field visits to many prisons in different governorates, with the aim of examining prisoner conditions, verifying whether jail conditions meet humanitarian and legal standards or not, and contacting relevant government agencies, including jail administrations, prosecution offices, court security departments, police stations and criminal investigation bureaus. In addition, he established contacts with NGOs, human rights groups and media institutions. During his visits to security jails in Sana’a, Hodeidah, Dhamar, Al-Beidha and Hajjah, the activist disclosed to the Yemeni public and international community flagrant human rights abuses exercised against inmates. While doing his humanitarian work, Hashid was exposed to several physical and verbal attacks.

In July 2007, guards at the Passport and Immigration Authority jail in Sana’a arrested Hashid, tied his hands and threatened to kill him over his visit to this jail after he learned about the death of an Eritrean inmate, named “Abraham”. The Eritrean victim suffered tragic conditions in the jail, where multinational inmates, suffering inhuman treatment, are also held captive. The parliamentarian was prevented from touring the military police jail in Hodeidah, and was subjected to badmouthing and contempt by the jail’s prison guards. He was also prevented from visiting the Political Security jail in Dhamar in late 2007.

Hashid is an active attendant and participant of all public and human rights functions, such as the recent sit-ins and protests that took place in Sana’a, Taiz, Al-Dhale’, Lahj and Aden. During these demonstrations, he gave speeches aimed at increasing civil awareness among protestors. He was intercepted at a security checkpoint and his car was thoroughly searched while on his way to Al-Dhale’ governorate to attend the funerals of Menasat Radfan’s victims.

Hashid has lavishly enriched many human rights functions with his effective remarks and comments concerning human rights issues in Yemen. He presented and reviewed many of his writings during such events, notably the one entitled “Why do we object to the death penalty?” in which he highlighted common limitations and violations in the judicial system.

Hashid created a unique way of easily conveying information to the general public in his newspaper Al-Mustaqella, by using popular conversations and field interviews, which all aim at expressing solidarity with citizens suffering from human rights abuses. This helped his newspaper gain prestige and popularity from among local newspapers. Thanks to its editors’ efforts, the newspaper now prints between 60 and 70 thousand copies per issue.

Hashid proved to be brave enough to reveal hidden facts and information during his interviews with journalists, thereby forcing ruling party MPs to demand the Parliament’s presidential board to withdraw his immunity. Deputy Parliament Speaker Yahya Al-Ra’ie transferred the demands to the Parliamentary and Media Committee for judgment.

Yemen Times

SNACC demands cooperation from top officials

The supereme national authority for combating corruption (SNACC) has demanded that top officials within the government to submit the total net worth disclosure statements in accordance to law number 30/2007. SNACC has received only 167 disclosure statement, while over 2,000 disclosure templates has been sent to various government agencies.

A Yemeni Parliamentary committee issued a report in 2006 naming 26 persons who illegally profited from land confiscated in Aden following Yemen’s 1994 civil war. The list includes Members of Parliament and the Shoura Council, military and security force commanders, current and former judges and ministers. The Parliamentary committee recommended that the land owners receive compensation for their losses, however none has been paid.

The following is a translation of the document that includes a description of the individual’s position in brackets for the readers’ benefit:

LIST OF THE NAMES AND AREAS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO RECIEVED CONTRACTS FROM THE GOVERNORATE LEADERSHIP AND PREVIOUS MANAGER OF INTERIOR TRADING CORPORATION (HUSSEIN NASER OMAYER), ACCORDING TO THE (PARLIAMENTARY) FIELD SURVEY.

NAME (CURRENT POSITION) AREA DISPOSITION

1 NASER MANSOOR HADI
(The brother of Yemeni Vice President, Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi, and Agent of Political Security Forces of Aden,Lahj and Abyan governorates)
received 4.6 ACRES,
sold to ALI SOLAIMAN DAHSH 2 ACRES, and ALAWADHI 3 ACRES

2 HUSIEN NASER OMAYER
(Previous general manager of Interior Trading Company in south)
received 20 ACRES
SOLD TO Gamal Qasem 7 acres, Salem Balfaqeh 2 acres, Abdul baset 1 acre

3 MUHAMMED SALEH AL-MOHAMMADI
received 3.0 ACRES
SOLD TO SADEQ ABDO MOHAMMED 3.0 ACRES

4 MOHAMMED SALEH TUREIQ
(General Manager of Sa’ada Security Forces, former GM of Aden Security.)
received 5.3 ACRES
SOLD TO GAMAL QASEM 5.0 ACRES

5 BELAL ALI MOHSEN
received 4.8 ACRES

6 MOAAD TAHA GHANEM
(Son of the former governor of Aden) Taha Ghanem
received 3.7 ACRES SOLD TO ALI AL-YAMANI

7 ABDULLA AHMED GHANEM
(Member of al-Shoura Council, formerly Minister of Legal Affairs)
received 8.3 ACRES
SOLD TO ALI AL-YAMANI

8 TAHA HUSEIN NASER OMAYER
(Son of Hussain Naser Omayer )
received 2.1 ACRES
SOLD TO ALI AL-YAMANI

9 WALEED AL-FADHLI
received 3.0 ACRES
SOLD TO ALI AL-HAG AHMED AND HIS PARTNER

10 ALI SHEIKH OMER
received 2.8 ACRES
SOLD TO AL-QERN TRADING CORPORATION

11 MOHAMED ALI SALEM AL-SHADDADI
(Member of Parliament)
received 3.3 ACRES

12 HUSEIN MOHAMMED ARAB
(Member of al-Shoura Council, previously the Minister of Interior Affairs)
received 2.7 ACRES
SOLD TO ALI SALEH AL-AWADHI

13 FAISAL RAGAB
(High ranking military commander)
1.0 ACRE SOAM + WALL

14 ABDUL-QAREEM SHAEF
(General Secretary of conference party in Aden governorate)
offered 1.0 ACRE SOAM + WALL
REFUSED

15 FAHEEM ABDULLA MOHSEN
(Chief Justice of Sana’a Commercial Court, previously Chief Justice of Aden Commercial Court)
1.0 ACRE SOAM + WALL SOLD TO NOR AL-DIN FAKHRI

16 RASHEED HOWAIDI
(Justice serving on the Republic High court, previously Chief Justice of Aden Appeal court, )
received 1.2 ACRES SOAM + WALL
SOLD TO ALI GAMAL QASEM

17 SALEH AL-AMMARI
(former judge in Aden Appeals Court)
received 1.1 ACRES SOAM + WALL
SOLD TO MOHAMMED BA-HASHWAN

18 NOR AL-DEEN FAKHRI
(former General Manager of Yemeni Port Authority)
received 0.9 ACRE WALL + VILLA

19 MOHAMED AHMED ALKHAILA
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

20 MOHAMED ABDULLA AL-BATANI
(Member of al-Shoura Council, previously Minister of Interior)
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

21 AHMED ABOBAKER AL-SOMAHI
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

22 ALI AHMED AL-SEIAGHI
(Vice minister of trade)
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

23 FARID MOGAWAR
(previous General Manager of Fish Wealth)
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

24 MAHDI ABD AL-SALAM
(General Manager of Taiz Education, previously General Manager of Aden Education)
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

25 MOHAMMED GOMEA AL KHADHER
(previous General Manager of Aden International Airport, dismissed)
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

26 MANSOOR SALEH BASORRA
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

27 SHADWAN AL-MOHAMADI
received 2 ACRES WALL

TOTAL 80.4 ACRES

ADDITIONAL REMARKS ABOUT LIST OF 26:
1. ADDED NAME OF SHADWAN AL- MOHAMMADI IN AREA (2) ACRES TO LIST OF (26).
2. THE TOTAL AREAS ACCORDING TO FIELD SURVEYING (ON FIELD = 80.4 ACRES).
3. THE AREAS ACCORDING TO THE LIST OF INSTRUCTION = 102.0 ACRES.
4. THE DIFFERENT BETWEEN FIELD SURVEYING AND INSTRUCTION

Quite an iconic figure in Yemeni history.

Yemeni warrior dies after life full of glories

[29 December 2007]

SANA’A, Dec. 29 (Saba) – The Parliament speaker Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein al-Ahmer, 74, has died at the Specialized Faisal Hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Al-Ahmar who was born in 1933 was arrested in 1950s in Hodeidah province by the ruler of Yemen Imam Ahmed and was jailed for three years until the revolution in 1962.

Sheikh al-Ahmar held several positions during his career. In May 1964 he was nominated a Minister of Interior and held that position under three sequent governments.

In 1969, he was named a head of the national council which was tasked with the formulation of the Yemen Arab Republic’s constitution, and in 1975 chairman of the Shoura Council till the work with the constitution was suspended.

During 1979-1190, he served as member in the Consultative council. In 1990, he was nominated a head of the Higher Preparatory Committee of the Formation of the Islah Party (Yemeni Congregation for Reform) and served as the party head until his death.

In April 1993, al-Ahmar could gain the trust of the Yemeni people to win at his constituency, and in May of the same year he was nominated the speaker of parliament, the first parliament under the united Yemen.

He was re-elected as speaker of the parliament in 1997 and 2003.

Al-Ahmar made contributions to protect the revolution, unity of Yemen and Arab interests through the posts he had held such as head of the Public Committee for Defending al-Aqsa and Palestine, head of the parliamentary committee of Palestine and Quds and member of the Trustees Council of the Islamic International Mission Organization.

Al-Ahmar was deputy of the Quds Trustees Council in Yemen, head of branch of the Quds Organization in Yemen, and head of the Public Committee for Supporting the Kuwaiti People after Iraq invasion of Kuwait.

SANAA, Dec 29 (Reuters) – The speaker of Yemen’s parliament, Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, has died in Saudi Arabia after a long illness, officials said on Saturday.

It was not clear who would succeed Ahmar as head of the Yemeni parliament, a position he had held since 1993, or as head of the main opposition Islah (Reform) Party.

Born in 1933, Ahmar was head of the powerful Hashed tribal confederation and has played a key role in the turbulent politics of the impoverished Arab state for almost half a century.

Ahmar took part in elections through his Islah party, which combines tribal and Islamic elements, following the unification of northern Yemen with the communist south of the country in 1990 after years conflict.

Yemen mourns death of Sheikh al-Ahmar

[29 December 2007]

SANA’A Dec. 29 (Saba)- Yemen announced a official three-day mourning starting from Saturday on the death of Parliament speaker Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein al-Ahmar.

Al-Ahmar died Saturday morning in the Saudi capital Riyadh at the age of 74 years after a long-term suffering from an acute illness.

An official source told Saba that the funeral will be next Monday morning in his cemetery in the capital Sana’a.

almotamar.net – The Yemen’s Presidency has on Saturday mourned the death of late Speaker of the parliament sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein Al-Ahmar who died in Riyadh Saturday the capital of Saudi Arabia at age of 74 years after suffering from a chronic disease.

A presidency statement sadly announced the death of the parliament Speaker Sheikh al-Ahmar Saturday to the people of Yemen and the Arab and Islamic nation following a long life of struggle he spent serving the homeland, the revolution, the republican regime, unity , democracy, development and service of the issues of his Arab and Islamic nation.

The statement said the deceased was one of the great national symbols and strong pillar of the revolution and the republic as well as a prominent nationalist and Islamic personality that served his homeland and, the Arab and Islamic nation. Sheikh al-Ahmar played a great role in the outbreak of the Yemeni revolution and the march of defending it at its various difficult and historical stages.

Yemen Online

After Al Ahmer: Expectations – Al Ra’ei to Lead the Parliament; Yadoomi to Lead Islah Party , & Sadeq to lead Hashed Tribes
The opposition Islamic Party Islah considered that selecting a successor to Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al Ahmer is “GPC business which is the owner of the majority of votes”. Expectations indicate that Vice Chairman of Islah will chair the party “temporarily”.

Vice Chairman of the GPC bloc in the Parliament Yaser Al Awadi said to Yemenonline that the party will choose someone from GPC to replace late Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al Ahmer who died last Saturday in one of Saudi hospitals in the Saudi capital, Ryadh.

Al Awadi added: “it is too early to talk about a successor to Sheikh Abdullah; however, the upcoming chairperson for the Parliament will be from GPC since it has the majority of votes.”

Vice Speaker of the parliament for organizational and technical issues, Yahya Al Raei, is the luckiest candidate to succeed Sheikh AL Ahmer, especially when he has been practically heading the Parliament during the past two years 2006 and 2007 after the deterioration of the Chairman’s health.

Al Ra’ei has occupied the post of assistant secretary general for economy and services in GPC since December 2005.

A responsible source in Islah Party said that selecting the successor of Sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein Al Ahmer to chair the parliament is “an issue that concerns GPC since it has the majority of votes in the Parliament.”

The chairman of the Islah bloc Mr. Abdulrahman Ba Fadl, said in a statement to Marib Press, commenting on Al Awadi statement, “the current Parliament presidency could continue the legal period of the Parliament which ends in April 2009, indicating that Islah will not object to Al Ra’ei nomination but will not nominate him.”

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al Ahmer, chairman of the Islah Party chaired the Parliament which has 229 seats for GPC out of 301, 58 seats for all opposition parties together, and 14 seats for independents.

The Parliament in 2003 elected Al Ahmer as a Chairperson by consensus, after the announcement of Mr. President, Ali Abdullah Salleh, in a TV speech that Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al Ahmer is the candidate of GPC for heading the Parliament (because he is the link between all parties).

On the other hand, a responsible Islah source, expects that Vice Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Islah, Mohamed Al Yadoomi, to chair the party “temporarily” until holding the general conference of Islah in February 2009.

The source said in a statement to Yemenonline, who asked not to reveal his identity, that electing a chairman for the Supreme Committee does not take place without a general conference and he thinks it is unlikely to be hold currently. He indicated that it is not in the power of the Supreme Committee or the Shura Council to elect a chairperson for the party. He also added: “I think the Vice Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Islah will chair the party until holding the general conference next year.

Some sources are indicating hundreds of thousands attended the protest. al-Jazeera journalists were prohibited from attending. Also one MP stopped en route.

Al-Sahwa:

Amid strict security measures, Thousands gather in Aden for funeral of Radfan martyrs

December 10, 2007- Tens-of-thousands of people gathered Monday to participate in the funeral of Radfan martyrs who were buried in Aden governorate amid strict security measures.

The funeral was attended by senior leaders of the joint Meeting parties and citizens from various Yemeni provinces.

In a statement, civil society organizations and political activities affirmed the continuation of peaceful struggle until the real killers are tried.

The statement also stressed its solidarity with marches and protests demanding freedoms and rights, denouncing, in the meantime, all forms of repression, arrests and terrorism.

MP prohibited from attending:

al-Sahwa: Parliamentarian’s immunity violated by security forces

December 10, 2007- Member of Parliament, Ensaf Mayo, was subjected to search by security forces while he was heading to Radfan, Aden, in order to participate in the funeral of the martyrs of October 13th.

For his part, senior leader of Islah party, Sayed Shamsan condemned this act, considering it a violation against the parliamentary immunity and the constitution, demanding to immediately hold the involved accountable.

Moreover, the Islah party denounced the act, describing it as arbitrary and provocative, calling upon, in the meantime, the authorities to respect the constitution and law which criminalize such acts.

al-Jazeera:

In related news, sources in the Sana’a-based Al-Jazeera office confirmed that its representative, Fadhle Mubarak, was detained by the security personnel in Dar Sa’d in Aden governorate, preventing him from covering the funeral procession.

This is the fourth action undertaken by security authorities against Al-Jazeera since mid-October, preventing it from covering the JMP’s activities.

On October 14, security authorities in Sana’a, under high-level directives, prevented the Al-Jazeera team from airing the October 14th anniversary rally staged by military retirees in Radfan in Al-Dhale’. They also threatened to block the Sana’a-based Al-Jazeera office in case the rally was aired.

Likewise, on October 28, security authorities in Hadhramout governorate besieged Al-Jazeerah’s team, where transmitting devices and cell phones were confiscated.

They also detained Ahmed Al-Shalafi, Al-Jazeerah’s correspondent, for more than four hours, preventing him from covering news.

The Yemen Times, SANA’A, Dec. 8 — Last week, the Yemeni Parliament agreed to rescind Parliament member (MP) Ahmed Saif Hashid’s immunity, claiming that Hashid paid visits to prisons and revealed illegal actions that go against the constitution, Yemeni laws and international conventions.

Previous activities made by Hashid resulted in his arrest in the political security prison, followed by imprisonment under the Immigration and Passports Authority. Hashid’s chauffeur was also killed in the street, with his camera and cell phone confiscated. Referring to these incidents, Hashid asked, “What kind of immunity are they talking about?”

Many MPs affiliated with the ruling party (GPC) demanded last week to rescind Hashid’s immunity. The parliament agreed to do so. Hashid considered the revoking of his immunity by Parliament an action targeting him and his human rights activities.

Jane Novak, an American researcher, interviewed Hashid, addressing issues related to human rights, freedom, prisons, and inmates in Yemen. The interview was downloaded onto many news websites, enraging a lot of people.

You would think Parliament would be enraged by the torture of Yemeni children in jail, not by the guy who is trying to save them.

The Banned in Yemen tee shirts say “Ali Saleh is Afraid of a Blog”, but really they are afraid of the truth.

Take a look at the category, Prisons. The offending interview is there, as well as a lot of other reports.

Wow

Military expenditures are a line item usually. But its illegal to report on the military anyway. I’d like to see a break down and what’s allocated to healthcare.

al-Sahwa
JMP refuses, ruling party’s majority approves 1.5 trillion as 2008 budget

November 27, 2007- Opposition and the independents blocs has declared its refusal to 2008 budget, saying that this ostensible budget does never reflects real incomes nor real expenditures and that it is full of falsities and negatives.

They further affirmed that the budget is unable to present the basic requirements for citizens, holding, in the mean time, the ruling party and its majority responsible for such illusory budgets.

The opposition parliamentary blocs further revealed clear fallacies in public incomes, explaining that the government estimated the oil barrels $ 55 while its real price is $ 90.

More on the budget, Yemen Observer:

Capital expenditure looks set to rise to 24.2 percent of total expenditures in the proposed 2008 budget, compared to 18.5% in the current year. This increase should encourage economic growth and create job opportunities.

Last week Parliament formed a special committee to study the financial statement of 2008 budget. The committee asked why the government spends so much on current expenditure, which had a negative impact on development.

Dr. Abdul Karem al-Arhabi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, said that current expenditure is mostly goes on the army Furthermore, the government has pledged to raise civil servants’ salaries by 20 percent on average this year. A further expense is the increase in grants to local authorities, as part of the decentralization package. (Read on …)

They learned from the last election that no reform is possible without electoral reform, then comes political reform which is the prerequisite for economic reform.

Al-Sahwa

November 26, 2007- Parliamentary bloc of the Joint Meeting Parties withdrew Monday from the parliament, protesting the ruling party insistence to pass law amendments regarding the Supreme Committee for Elections and Referendum.

The senior member of JMP, Zaid al-Shami, said that such amendments target the opposition party and weaken the fledging democracy in the country. (Read on …)

I’m unclear on the JMP’s conceptualization of an equitable mechanism for forming the SCER. 50/50 Between the GPC and JMP?

Amending election law includes formation of the election commission
Sunday, 25-November-2007
almotamar.net – Chairman of the parliamentary constitutional and legal affairs committee Ali Abu Hlaiqa read out Sunday the government request for amending some articles of the general election and referendum law for 2001.

Meanwhile the opposition member of parliament Sultan al-Attwani refused that one of members of parliament to present the government’s request of the amendments. The opposition MP said the government has two ministers who are the minister of parliament and Shoura council affairs and the minister of legal affairs and they should have been present to present the request to the parliament and he also expressed his opposition of the draft amendments.

Deputy chairman of the General People’s Congress (GPC) parliamentary bloc Yasser al-Awadhi asserted on his part that the parliament is the master of its decision, indicating that the parliament has issued a decision giving the political parties one week grace period to agree on he supreme commission for elections, calling on the members of parliament to undertake their constitutional and legal duty. (Read on …)

Al-Sahwa
November 22, 2007 – General People’s congress’s senior leader, Mohammad Akosh resigned last week from the ruling party, saying that GPC has not made any achievements. He further explained in an interview with Alsahwa weekly newspaper that GPC is not an orderly party and that it is just the president’s party.

“I found myself wasting time in GPC, and only what the president desires is achieved.” added he.

Moreover, Akosh demanded to comprehensively reform the political regime, considering current popular moves in several Yemeni provinces as a natural result of tensions in all Yemen, not only in the southern governorates.

“Citizens are suffering from soaring prices, unemployment and the widespread corruption.”said he .

He also warned of ominous future if wise people in Yemen could not address problems and resort to dialogue.

almotamar.net – An official source at the General People’s Congress (GPC)’s General Secretariat commented that resignation Mohammed Salem Akoush by saying, ” The GPC refuses among its ranks hypocrites who by their membership of the GPC want to practice corruption and political extortion enveloped with regionalism or tribalism or self-interest.

The source said the GPC would not be cover for them, considering the resignation of Akoush does not mean anything and the GPC is conducting the process of purging of those infiltrators and hypocrites who violate the GPC’s rules of procedure and its political programmes.

Al-Shawa:

November 17, 2007- The member of the permanent committee of the ruling General People Congress party and Shoura Council, Mohammad Akosh, affirmed Saturday its resignation from the permanent committee.

He said that GPC has not made any achievements and people waited much, but it has not done anything.

ah, the Interior Minister

YO:
Parliament has summoned the government for questioning, demanding them to carry out its recommendations or resign if it didn’t implement its recommendations concerning the 2005 budget.

During the Nov 7 session, many MPs suggested giving the government one month or two months to rectify financial irregularities put the perpetrators on trial, or face a vote of no confidence.

“We spent around YR40 million preparing this report on the 2005 budget. If the government will not carry these recommendations, that is giving carte blanche to corruption,” said Abdul-Aziz Gobari, MP.

“The government must implement our recommendations during the next two months or a new government must be formed, as would happen in other countries,” Gobari said.

“Every minister must form a committee in his ministry in light of the report of parliament to check for financial violations in economic units and funds under the ministry.

Then those ministries must bring violators to trial within two months,” said Mohammed al-Qadhi, MP

“The special funds have proved a complete failure. The Drugs Fund has left 75 percent of its budget unspent while all hospitals are suffering from a shortage of medicine,” Abdullah Ba-Mo’ili, MP said.

Ba-Mo’ili said that the Roads and Bridges Fund was the worst. In one year, there have been more than 60.000 accident in highways which resulted in 75.000 injured citizens. He added that in his opinion, the funds must have been embezzled.

Parliament has discovered the embezzlement of over YR4 billion in current expenditures in the government’s budget. This was stated in a report issued by the Special Parliamentary Committee and the Central Organization for Control and Auditing, who were charged with reviewing the accounts. Violations were found in particular in the independent and supplementary budgets for special funds in 2005.

The report confirmed that those bodies did not implement the repeated recommendations of Parliament to reduce expenditure. This corruption shows how the government estimated its budget figures incorrectly when it prepared both independent and supplementary budgets.

In terms of cash expenditures, the report showed that local authorities are not able to exploit budgets, but that leaders of local authorities are keen to abuse current expenditures. The committee also noted that these authorities have not been able to increase their revenues. This reflects a lack of coordination in revenue collection.

In terms of special funds, the report revealed that the aggregate of abused resources in 23 funds exceeded YR22 billion, which constitutes some 23 percent of the total budget (YR71 billion).

Corruption occurred in the Fund for Maintenance of Roads and Bridges, the Social Fund for Development, the Military Fund, and the Retirement Fund, all of which are under the control of the Interior Ministry. Also included in this list were the funds for Caring and Rehabilitation of Handicapped People and the fund for Encouraging Agricultural and Fish Production.

The report noted that some local authoritiesí incomes had increased due to their investments in treasury bills and bank deposits. The report revealed that this increase of capital income is not a result of better performance by those authorities, but of rising interest on treasury bills, as well as an increase in currency interest rates during 2005.

Local authorities spend money freely because of their financial independence. There are no regulations governing the allocation of funds in expenses, wages or bonuses. The report suggested that a policy to rationalize expenditure should be enacted to prevent further embezzlement of public funds.

Thats over one billion US. Extra costs from the war in Saada, oil subsidies, the extra month salaries promised during Saleh’s campaign, etc:

Al-Motamar
almotamar.net – The parliamentary financial committee on Saturday recommended approval of the government request for an additional appropriation to the state budget of this year with an amount of YR 278 billion, 330 million and 567 thousand.

The committee has justified its approval in its report submitted to the parliament Saturday by mentioning there were additional expenditures occurred during implementation of the budget that necessitated opening the appropriation to meet the events in Saada, payment dues of the retired and those reinstated, the approved increment for the Yemeni students abroad, bonus of Ramadan for the government employees, teachers work nature allowance in addition to meeting oil exploration expenses carried out by Safer Oil Company, expenses of oil products subsidy,

The committee ascribed its approval also to Yemen’s non-benefit from oil prices rise in the world pointing out that the actual resultant of oil revenues achieved a shortage estimated at YR 78 ,million because of misestimating the quantities of oil expected to be produced.

The committee added that this additional appropriation is considered an exceptional case compared to additional appropriations for the past years requested by the government.

More budget figures:

- Government expects US$ 2 billion deficit in 2008 budget

Minister of Finance Noman Al-Sohibi told the parliament that the government expects of a deficit of 8 percent of the total budget for FY 2008, of 399.34 billion Riyals. This deficit in financing can be overcome if the record-high Oil prices are maintained, as the budget estimates income from oil prices basing the price of oil at an average of US$ 55 per barrel.

- Government allocates 407 billion Riyals as Oil subsidies

The government of Yemen stated that 407 billion Riyals has been allocated as Oil subsidies in 2008, compared to 424 billion Riyals as Oil subsidies in 2007. The decrease comes inline with government policy to reduce all subsidies and liberalize the national market. This decrease also confirms rumors that the increasing local consumption of Oil will result in a price hike in the retail prices of Oil and Gas products in the local market towards the middle of 2008.

-COCA lashes out at random planning and poor financial management in Ministry of Technical Education & Vocational Training

A report released by the Central Organization for Control and Audit (COCA) disclosed that there have been many spending violations in the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training during the fiscal year 2006, the ruling party’s mouthpiece reported. It added that the report strongly criticized the random planning and poor financial management in the ministry, plus the irresponsible exploitation of project provisions in the Third Five-Year Plan 2006 – 2010. The report, of which a copy was obtained by Al-Methaq.net, indicated that there are eight projects that received provisions amounting up to YR 690 million in the state’s general budge for the fiscal year 2006, but the implementation of which hasn’t yet been completed. Another four projects received an amount of YR 75 million, however, they were not approved by the budget plan.

The report praised the ministry’s achievement regarding the surplus of YR 3 billion, clarifying that nearly YR 5.5 billion has been allocated to 18 projects in the state’s budge of the year 2006. It, however, criticized those who exceeded the allocated provisions for 19 projects contained in the budget and lashed out at the ministry’s failure to implement 6 projects with a total cost of nearly YR 3.4 billion.

Yemen Observer

The deficit of the 2007 public budget increased from YR188 billion to YR466.6 billion, forming 11.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. This increase is due to the extension of the budget, according to parliament.

The draft law of the budget confirmed that the deficit would increase by the sum of the extension budget. The government had originally estimated the deficit of the 2007 budget would be YR188 billion.

The extension budget will be financed from treasury bills which is not inflationary, according to written response from the governor of the Central Bank of Yemen. Parliament approved the budget extension last Tuesday, extending the YR267.8 billion for the remainder of 2007, after it underwent consideration by the finance committee. In the vote to pass the extension, 157 members of parliament agreed to it, while 26 members were against, with 5 members abstaining.

Parliament recommended that government not propose any expenditures unless agreed upon by parliament, as stated in article 89 in the Constitution and article 31 in the financial law. It also recommended that government plan properly in order to avoid any future demands for budget extensions.

Parliament confirmed that the government must work on improving non-oil sources of revenue in order to keep up with rapid growth in expenses. Improving non-oil sources would lead to control of the budget and increase it without any external impact.

“Many countries in the world approve of such budget extensions,” said Ali al-Amrani, a member of the finance committee in Parliament, “The crucial thing is that the government should maintain the deficit rate at safe levels. I think the government is now able to extend the budget without negative effects on the Yemeni economy.”

Parliament’s recommendations included that the government allocate the sum of YR2 billion to the rural electricity sector and YR1 billion to the electricity operation units. It directed the government to spend any increase in public revenue on development and service projects, in particular the energy and water desalination sectors. Noman al-Suhiebi, Minister of Finance, said that the budget extension covers many kinds of expenditures, including presidential bonuses during Ramadan which were given to allemployees in the civil and military sectors by presidential decree. It also covers Work Nature to the educational cadre which cabinet approved in September 2006.

Al-Suhiebi added that the budget extension had also been used to pay offgovernment debts to electricity, water, and telecommunications bodies.In addition, commitments made by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to cover aid and fees, books and tickets for students who are studying abroad for the period of August – December 2007were covered.

Some of the additional budget was allocated to pay the gap rate for the salaries of envoys abroad for the fourth quarter of 2007. This sum added to the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, al-Suhiebi said.

“The extension of the budget was also allocated to pay the cost of building and construction of various authorities in the Hardhramout,” said al-Suhiebi. “As well as to compensate the supreme committee for elections to a supplier according to a report by the Central Organization for Control and Auditing. Owners of houses in many regions have been compensated for land that will be taken for projects.”

Al-Suhiebipointed out that the additional budget also targeted government obligations for service projects, including the supply of materials and installation ofelectricity networks in Hadhramout, and the payment of existing obligations on service projects in Taiz Governorate. It also targeted the payment of financial obligations for infrastructure projects in Sana’a, Ibb and the establishment of funds to rebuild the affected areas in Sa’dah Governorate.

Al-Suhiebi said that the additional budget also existed to continue to support petroleum derivatives as a result of the price rise in oil derivatives across the world. It also targeted launching the work of the Supreme Anti-Corruption committee for the remainder of 2007. It aims to increase military production and to continue to implement the security plan, activating the Law of National Defense, according to al-Suhiebi.

In addition, it is directed to the salaries of new soldiers and those of retirees who come back to service.

Dr. Mohammed al-Maitami, a professor of economics at Sana’a University, said that the government was acting irresponsibly in handing out money to development projects without any kind of strategy, and reminded people that only last year the government had promised not to offer any supplementary budgets. “Mini-budgets are normally only used in exceptional cases or times of economic crisis,” said al-Maitami.

Global Poltician

A member of Parliament’s Freedom and Human Rights Committee, Mr. Ahmed Saif Hashid is an independent MP who represents constituency number 70 including Lahj and Taiz. Mr. Hashed heads the “Al-ttageer” human rights organization. He also owns the “Al-Mostakela” newspaper.

Q: Mr. Hashid, thank you for granting this interview. Can you tell us generally about the condition of human rights in Yemen? Which areas in your opinion require urgent attention?

A: Man and human rights in Yemen are totally absent and his dignity is so cheap. The worst is that crimes are committed by those who have to be responsible for protecting the law and its application. Actually it pains me to find the security apparatuses practice torture, attacks and the worst kinds of mistreatments in the prisons and custody centers and also outside them. This happens under the weak control of the judgment which indulge in independence and under the unreal parliament that was produced by terrible corruption and it hasn’t even the minimum degree of responsibility. It intends to conspire upon human rights issues without shame. There many examples on this connection. It may be worthwhile to mention that this country supports the tribe with its ignorant traditions at the expense of the law. It stands against law, and uses its force over the victims and over the legal articles that protect the human rights.

Q: You have been very active in advocating for the humane treatment of prisoners. What are the conditions like for prisoners in Yemeni central prisons in terms of food, sanitary conditions, medical care and abuse?

A: The food served to the prisoners is so unpalatable and lacks hygienic conditions regarding its preparation. The most surprising is that the parliament committee of rights and freedom recommended increasing food allocations two years ago. Unfortunately the parliament has even decreased what had been allocated. The most painful tragedy is that dozens and hundreds of prisoners do not receive any (food) allocations at all. This, for instance, includes Sana’a Migrations and Passports Jail, some jails of the districts of AL.Houdadah governorate. The prisons there depend on charity and soldier’s food remains.

Some jails don’t have any infirmaries. Some others do have, but are in sore need for medicine and relevant equipments. It is found out that many prisoners are given prescriptions and they have to be able to purchase from the market, otherwise, die in the jail.

AIDS may be common among some jails, such as, Migration and Passports Jail. The infected are not kept separated from the others. In AL-Houdeidah central prison, dozens of the jailed are found, three years ago, to be suffering from this disease, as indicated by some documents. The committee of freedom and rights was so careful not to include this issue in its reports under the pretext that it may cause fear to spread and damage tourism. Skin diseases are also common in some jails and are not treated. Some women are found to be suffering from diseases including ’syphilis’ and other skin diseases considered to be so disgusting that they are rejected by hospitals and are not kept in separation as a preventive measure.

It was found that custody jails do not have even an ambulance, and any patient has to be taken by a taxi to hospital and he is responsible for the fee.

Regarding the sanitary conditions in the prisons and custody centers, they are in miserable situations. It was noticed at the corners of some prisons heaps of urine bottles and defecation plastic bags .The military police prison in Sana’a and AL-Sawadiah security prison in AL-Baida’a governorate are some of these prisons. Other prisons are ancient and dirty buildings. Some of them are built in the old “Imam” era, and were also found some jails do not have any good ventilation. This becomes worst during hot weather when temperature reaches 38, moisture increases and air becomes polluted. This is applicable for Al-Hodeida Central Prison and that of its districts. In fact, this situation lead to suffocation and spread of infectious diseases in some prisons, they use waste water due to the absence of drinkable water, on the one hand, and because of the fact that water pipes are in bad situations as a result of moisture, high temperature and daily stopping of water, on the other hand. The prisons in Yemen are over crowded with the number of prisoners exceeds, three times, its capacity. In fact, the place seems like a (Tuna Can).

It is unbelievable to find districts in Al-Houdeida governorate, which has no jails for women. In ‘Alzaidia ‘, female defendants are put in a house belonging to an old man. I visited this house and found fight female defendants aged between (10-15) accused of adultery who have neither food nor health care allocations, but rather they depend on charity . In another bad jail “BAIT Alfaqeeh”, built on charitable finances and is special for more than five districts, there is no prison for female; rather they are put in one of the neighbor’s houses.

Q: Is there a central authority that overseas all prisons? What kind of prisons exists in Yemen and how are they organized?

A: The central prisons and the custody centers in the governorates belong to the general prisons authority in Sana’a and authority of prisons stems from Ministry of Interior. Yet, it is noticed that security administrations influence greater on those prisons. Others prisons, holding dozens and hundreds, are controlled by their respective governmental security administrations and are not included into prisons department system. These prisons are prevented from official food and other allocations, as a result. They problem aggravate the situation.

Concerning the political security prisons, they are big, private and frightful ones, and it is impossible for anyone to visit them even if parliament members.

Other prisons include the”Harbi” prison, which holds hundreds of prisoners, mostly militants and a few are civilians. They are illegally arrested (based on Sheiks and other influentials’ orders).this prison is not covered in prisons that are allowed to be visited. Other custody contents, belonging to military intelligence are much difficult to visit. Other jails belong to economy Institution, works offices, police stations, Sheiks and influentials. In other words, Yemen can itself be said to be a prison for its nation.

Q: Can you explain the difference between tribal prisons, private prisons and central prisons?

A: Most of the sheiks in Yemen have their private prisons. These prisons are illegal. Among these illegally private prisons are the political security prisons in which there are horrible criminal acts against human dignity and rights. The exact bitterness lies on the weakness of judgment which has not eligibility on that’s prisons and often can not release any innocent prisoner. They are prisons in which you may spend years or a perfect age without fair and justice. Then you may be released without charge or arbiter or even excuse.

In its basements are horrible criminal acts and human indignities in such a manner that is unbelievable. It is a pity that the judgment can not control such places. A prisoner can stay until he is finally released without sentence, charge or even an excuse, while the law can not authorize anyone being arrested for more than 24 hours.

Q: The Children’s Parliament visited children in detention found them “in miserable conditions, beaten, malnourished, sexually exploited, held without trial and held for minor crimes.” A study by the Interior Ministry concluded that 77% of juveniles (15 and under) in jail had not been charged. Another report documented over 500 juveniles in adult jails. How young are the youngest children in jail? If Yemeni law prohibits imprisoning children without charge, why are so many in jail?

A: Sorrowfully, many acts and crimes are committed against children in Yemen. For example Al-Maflahi prison ,Yafi district, Lahj governorate, a fifteen-tear-old child was sexually abused by a police officer .The incident was proved by three forensic experts. In Ibb Jail of Investigation a female child ,named Samra Mohamad Mansour ,does not exceed 13, was tortured by the investigators . The story was published in many local newspapers. In Al Baida Security Prison, child hostages, one of them aged below 11, were also found.

Adult parliament control becomes a sorrowful story because the court becomes unbelievably weak .Yemen Authority of Justice does not make regular jail searching .however, law force them to do that.

In Al Houdaida Central Prison, a lot of children were found arrested by the political security. Some of them do not exceed 12. They live with the adults in the same prison and are prevented from being visited, as Political Security orders. Those children are free of any charges .In fact, they are innocent. Some of them are taken from their schools. Others were arrested at roads while going or coming back from schools some were also captured at their houses. All this happen while the court is shamefully disabled to release any one of them even if he has been innocently in prison for more than four months.

Nabil Mohammed Saleh, aged 12, Hussain Ali Saleh AlKuait ,13,Magid Yahya Ahmed AlDoubi,12,Abdu alghaliq Mufreh GHarsan ,11,Salah Ahmed Salah Afara,12, Mohamad Yahia Saleh AL-Kuait ,14, Yahia Mohamad Qassem,14, Ado Alrahim Waeel Abdo Allah,14, Zakaria Hassen Ahmed, 14, Hammed Abdullah Gar Allah,14, are among the children I met in ALhodiedah.

In Ga’ar prison, Abian governorate, two child hostages were among the children who have been met. They are Ali Yaslam Ahmed, aged 14, who has been innocently in prison for seven months and prevented from schooling at the end of primary. The security forces say that the child was arrested in place of his brother, who had been sentenced to 10 years in jai, seven of which were without any return. The child, Ali Yaslam, was finally freed after great efforts.

The other child was Basher Muhsin, aged 16. He was taken as a hostage in Ga’ar prison four months ago. A summary of his tragedy was narrated as follows: “My father is an old and sick man. He was taken as a hostage to bring his son under the pretext that he guaranteed but this was not proved. I am here in his place based on an order by Shaik hamoud, the governorate security director” Similar situations were also found out in Rada’a and AL-Beida’a prisons. This is some of Yemen tragedies and his rules’ criminal acts towards childhood and homeland.

Q: Are there many adults in prison who have never been charged as well?

A: This is very common in Yemen. Through our field visits, we find many prisoners without charges, dozens of hostages in Rada’a and Al-Baida prisons who have been there for months and some of them for years without any acts ascribed to them. Rather they were jailed on the basis of crimes committed by their relatives or tribal members. Many also were found guilty of civilian rather than murder-based issues. In fact, wrongdoings are widely-spread in Yemen and no one is willing to prevent these prisoners from being victimized.

Hundreds of prisoners were found innocently jailed in Al-Houdeida and Dammar central prisons and in Al-Naseria prison situated in Hagga .Some of these prisoners have been for more than a year without any charge except their serial affiliation to the Hashemite House. This arrest is sometimes attributed to what they called ‘ precautionary action ‘ which may last for one year or even more .Many names can mentioned here to substantiate this matter, but it may not be suitable , At any rate they are available.

Q: Many Zaidis have been imprisoned since the outbreak of the Sa’ada war in 2004. Can you tell us how many were imprisoned in total and how many remain in jail?

A: There no clear statistics on the number of the arrests on the grounds of Sa’ada War. The government once confessed existence of three thousands. Yet, the number is much more than this, we think. Such a matter can not be ascertained in Yemen and how can a parliament member know the real figure if he is prevented from visiting anyone at political security prison. I have a list of hundreds of the arrests on the basis of Sada’a War. They are still in prisons so far. A greater number is not known about, on the other hand, there are names of hundreds of losts who are likely to be sent to governmental private jails.

Q: Are there many political prisoners?

A: Yes, there political prisoners. For instance, Nasser Al-Nawba, the chairman of the retired associations coordination counsel, Hassan Ba Awm, a member of the political office of the Yemen Socialist Party .Hundreds of the arrests of the southern governorates were jailed and released on grounds of peaceful sit-ins in southern and some northern governorates during past short period.

In the central prison, Baggash Mohamad AL-Agbary, director of the former minister of defense ‘Haitham Taher’. This senior official was confiscated and illegally dismissed .He has been in prison since 1995 until now. He was sentenced to capital punishment by the primary court then, the sentence was reduced to twenty years imprisonment as a suspect of affiliation to Mawg (a political movement established in exile after 94Summer Civil War).Baggash was among a total of fourteen persons who were sentenced to unfair political penalties varying from capital punishment to imprisonment for long periods.

Once again, many prisoners were arrested on grounds of Sada’a War and many of them were taken for
As the political authorities think, however, without any charges.

Q: Many cases of brutal torture have reported in the media. One such case is that of Shaif Al-Haimi who says he was tortured by the National Security Agency, chained, severely beaten and scalded with boiling water. For 16 days he was hung from the ceiling. Investigators forced him to dance. Prisoners in Hajja jail said they were tortured by policemen in charge of the jail and affiliated with the Criminal Investigation Bureau. How prevalent is torture in Yemeni jails?

A: Not only torture and methods of forcibly extraction of confession are common in private political security apparatuses prisons, but also prevalent in murder-investigation departments and Ministry of Interior’s police’ station. When I visited the murder-investigation prison, as a member of the Parliament Freedom and Human Rights Committee, I saw, with my eyes, remains of stick-beats and heavy boots-kicks, which are still apparent on the bodies of two persons. A report was made on this incident and the committee report included this complaint. However, the counsel of parliament did little. The murder-investigation director is still in position without being questioned by any official authority. I also noticed other prisoners in police stations who were subject to torture and beats. Some of these acts were really covered in forensic examiners’ reports.

Among the victims is Abdulqader Mohammed “a Somali national, who has been in Yemen for six years. He was subjected to heavy beating a few months ago, by five of the members of the Sana’a –based Al-wahda police station. Remains of this attack were proved by forensic examiners report.

Such acts happen daily in many police stations while Ministry of Interior does not stop or even reduce them, which indicate its partnership. It also does not consider them and send the criminals to the concerned authorities.

During one last visit to Al-Hodeida central prison on May 2005, we found out that many children, adults and disabled were complaining of torture, violence and isolated imprisonment by political security. These persons are jailed just on the grounds of Sa’ada War.

In Rada’a central prison, I noticed remains over the body of Mohammed Saleh, who demanded a forensic expert to testify them. He complains that they are remains of torture by Acid and electricity; I took photos of these remains, recommending their being investigated by the court of law.

Ahmed bin Ahmed Mahdy also complained about being tortured with live cigarettes by the security. I also took photos of the remains which are still apparent. Ali and Yousif Mohammed Nassir also complained about being tortured in the Dammar-based murder-investigation prison with the aim at extracting confesses forcibly. However, the charges against them are not considerable.

Some prisoners complained about other means of torture, including hanging by hands or legs, beating by wires or cables, making hungry or thirsty, forcible long standing, prevention from sleeping for more than tow days, psychological torturing, using Acid and boiling water, pincers and others.

Q: Are you able to visit jails under the control of the Political Security Organization? What kind of prisoners are there?

A: No, we are not allowed to visit such jails. Since establishment of the parliament, its committee of rights and freedom did not pay even a single visit. An attempt made by the committee, to visit the Hadramout-based Political Security Prison, but was unsuccessful. I, personally, tried to visit some political security jails, but was not allowed. More than thirty parliament members, including me, demanded visiting Sana’a Political Security Prisons a few months ago, yet the council presidency represented by Yahiya Ali AL.raee, rejected to respond to this request or even being discussed.

Not all prisoners are charged with political crimes, rather some of them are charged with murder-based ones, and others are innocent. For example, Mohammed Ali Muhsen, from Aden, has been in the basements of the political security for one year and a half, on the basis of a letter he wrote to the president of the Republic, mentioning the bad situations and corruption in the political security system. He was arrested in Aden and sent to Sana’a political basements. The political security has been rejecting orders of the general director for being released or even prosecuted, which, as usual, indicates superiority of the political security.

Q: The Ministry of Human Rights issued a report disclosing 100 hostages in five Yemeni prisons. What are hostages and how long are they held? Is this practice decreasing?

A: The real situation says that number of hostages exceed this figure greatly. While this figure was being stated by the Minister of human rights, I was visiting department of jails and found in official statistics dated 28 May 2007 that the number of hostages in Yemen reaches (545).

I have already visited AL-Baidah governorate, and found more than 70 hostages. The worst is that they include children. In the governorate security quarter prison, we found Abdurrahman Nasser Ahmed Ismail, below 10, Hussein Nasser Ahmed, aged 13. They are sons of the defendant Nasser Ahmed, whom the police could not arrest. Among them was the hostage Abdu-Alsalam Ali Ahmed, aged 15. He is a nephew of Nasser and a brother of the hostage, Abdraboo Ahmed Mohammed at the same time. In fact, they were released upon our visit.

We found Khalid Ahmed Abdu Hashem below 15, in Rada’a prison, while he was coming to bring bed-needs to his imprisoned uncle; he was arrested by security guards and spent more than four months among killers and thieves. We also found the hostages Mohammed Nasser khasem and Abdulalem Ali Mohammed, who were taken on the basis of the Mayor’s orders and they have been imprisoned for more than four months. These hostages are mostly taken by security apparatuses while the court is unable to search prisons or release prisoners. These hostages are mostly either some relatives of the escaping defendants or from their tribal members. In fact, crime involves only one, according to abiding law, and no one should be punished or jailed except on the basis of law.

There are many unbearable shortcomings and defects that really kill innocents. Sorrowfully we have never witnessed any positive and effective actions to reduce such a phenomenon.

Q: On June 26, 2006, Mr. Hashed, you visited the Authority of Passports and Migration in Sana’a to conduct a field visit to the prison there. You intended to assess the condition of prisoners there after an Eritrean prisoner died under ambiguous circumstances. You report you were beaten and kicked by prison officials, arbitrarily detained and threatened with death. Mr. Hashed, why were you treated this way?

A: This happens in order that their crimes can’t recognize by the public opinion. Consequently, all the camera contents, which I had, were cancelled. These contents comprise a lot of scenes that unveil to how extent this authority is ugly. If a legal activist pays a sudden visit to these jails, this will scandalize the political system which pretends democracy and protection of rights and freedom. So, my being attacked could be a successful means for any legal activist who may ever think in a sudden visit to these places.

Q: I understand that Parliament refused to hear some evidence about this incident. Why do you think they refused the evidence and where does the case stand now?

A: This issue was refered to the committee of defense and security, which was heavily, biased towards the security apparatuses. The issue was initially rejected for being biased and untruthful. This committee is the same one which had been entrusted to investigate the murdering of my driver who is a relative of mine, Adel saleh and also the same committee entrusted with visiting the Political security Prison and investigating my arrest at the political security apparatus headquarters on the basis of my participation in a peaceful sit-in, protesting against Ali Aldailami’s arrest by the political security. AL.dailami was a legal activist and a chairman of the Yemen Association of defending rights and freedom. Instead of conducting investigation, the committee forced me to accept a tribal solution about my driver’s assassination and refused to investigate or visit the political security prison for solving the second issue (about my arrest) and it did nothing.

The committee really intended to get rid of the passports and migration issue and not to investigate. This is indicated by their refusal of being a companion to them. In fact, my intention was to direct them to the jailed who witness the crime. The committee refused to stop the jail-keeper till investigation ends. It shamefully changed the facts, refused investigating prisoners situations and was biased in all the proceedings, which is unveiled by the report it has made. Instead of discussing these facts, besides, my explanation of the report of the committee, the parliament authorized another committee to friendly solve my problems with the security committee which was formed for investigation.

It is in such a manner that the issue of prisoners’ situations was neglected, which was the stimulant of my visit to prisons, resulting to negligence of the attack I was subject to. It is in such a way that many issues of human rights discussed at the parliament are tackled. This is an aspect of a tragedy we experience and pay its cost every day.

Q. What are the other situations of these prisoners. How do the concerned Authorities treat them, what are the most repeated complaints?

A: Most prisoners complain that judgment apparatuses do not abide by law mainly concerning the dates fixed legal periods of reference and imprisonment and prolonged proceedings. Some prisoners complain of being let in without trial or investigation of negligence in following implementation of decrees and in release of prisoners after ending period of punishment. Judge and prosecution members do complain of procrastination, ascribing some of the above-mentioned defects to the fact that the number judgment cadres is limited, the judge appointed may be responsible for more than six or seven districts or his districts may be over-populated. This occurs at the expense of the prisoner’s freedom.

Other issues embodied by prisoners mixing with each other, wither children or adults. They are not specified on the basis of age, kind of crime, stage of proceedings. Others have completed their period of punishment and still imprisoned because of their poverty or inability to pay the costs even if these costs are little. They may stay for along time, wanting for their legal decrees to be issued. Other says they don’t know about contents of these decrees because they don’t receive copies of the original. Some of them say they are prevented, by the judge, to defend their selves, mal-treated during investigation and before they are sent to the public prosecution.

As for the foreigners who are arrested due to their illegal entrance to the country, they spend long periods in Yemen prison, waiting for years being freed; this subject motivated us to make a special page on “AL-Mostakela” to tackle problems of refuges in Yemen.

No, he’s not. If he was, he’d put himself in jail, and his relatives:

SANA’A, NewsYemen : The government is not earnest to fight corruption which has become a real threat against development, said member of Anti-Corruption Parliamentarians Salim bin Talib.

“The financial corruption is widely spread out in the country and risks economic and social development,” said bin Talib. “Reports of the Central Organization of Controlling and Auditing and the admissions of officials in the government confirm this.”

Bin Talib praised the government’s steps such as forming the National Anti-corruption Authority and issuing the Tenders Law, but said such steps have been taken to meet international requests “not to really fight corruption”. (Read on …)

Armies of Liberation conducted an interview with DR. AIDROOS NASR NASER AL NAQEEB, the chairman of the Yemeni Socialists Party’s (YSP) Parliamentary block. Dr. Aidroos represents three districts in the southern governorate of Abyan. The YSP ruled South Yemen until its 1990 unification with North Yemen. After Yemen’s civil war in 1994, the country’s democratic foundations were undermined by constitutional amendments that centralized power in the executive and by practices of the northern elite that subjugated the south. Reconciliation between North and South was thwarted in part by the rampant corruption of the northern oligarchy. Over the last several months, southern Yemen has witnessed large popular protests that resulted in the deaths of several protesters.

“In the last period there was some decrease in women’s opportunities.”

Q: Dr. Aidroos, how do you communicate with the members of your constituency? Do you have an office in your local district to receive people? How often do you visit?

A; According to the guidelines of the parliamentary council, every Member of Parliament should establish offices in their constituency as soon as possible after the election. My electoral constituency includes three separate districts. It is hard to establish an office in each of these three districts because geographical obstacles make it difficult to travel.

We perform direct visits to all these districts. Sometimes we met people in the capital of Abyan, Zanjibar, when they come for supplies. Also we have representatives in their areas. Many times we continue our discussions by phone. This is the best method for continuing communications.

Q; How do you reach women voters? How are the concerns of women voters different from men voters in your district?

A: Concerning the women’s sector in Abyan I would like to say, in the last period there was some decrease in women’s opportunities. But recently there was an improvement in women’s political voice. Our communication with women saw good development. We meet with women during visits and festivals among other times. In elections, women participate in an equal ratio to men.

“The elections did not express the true desire of the voters.”

Q: The Yemeni Socialist Party allied with the Islamist political party Islah (The Yemeni Assembly for Reform) and other opposition parties for the 2006 presidential election. This opposition coalition, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), has been described as a model for the region. The JMP had a good showing on the national level. However, the opposition parties competed on the local level and lost badly. Does the JMP have a coordinated strategy for the parliamentary elections in 2009?

A: Let me say to you first, the outcome of presidential election (re-electing President Saleh) in 2006 was subverted by extensive forgery. Voters were terrorized and bribed. Therefore the result of presidential and local council elections did not express the true desire of the voters.

The JMP is strongly motivated to enter the 2009 Parliamentary election as an alliance, using either the program or “list of candidates” method.

Q: Has the JMP become more or less unified since the 2006 elections? Why?

A: The JMP laid the foundation of a strong alliance during the 2006 presidential election. The alliance of the opposition parties demonstrates the civilized approach to politics. The JMP alliance is stronger now than at any time. The aggressive tactics launched by the regime and its various proxy and apparatus made the alliance more unified.

Q: Some observers say that parts of the YSP, like parts of Islah, are actually loyal to the regime. Others point to a split between nationalists and regionalists. How do you respond?

A: We can’t talk about opposition that is loyal to the regime because that is not logical, but of course there are differences of opinion and approaches toward dealing with the ruling party and the issues we face.

About the next part of question, I can say that there are no nationalists or regionalists in the regime or the opposition. Yemeni politics are a result of a complicated of political life and the operation of society and economic on the national way.

“Building an alliance in parliament with members of the GPC…is impossible.”

Q: Have the opposition members of Parliament been able to form alliances with reform minded members of the GPC? Why or why not?

A: The desire for real reforms became a public demand not only of the opposition but also of the GPC. Therefore I can say there is a long line (of people) in the GPC that have a strong desire to institute many reforms in Yemen. But there is a difference in their expression. Some have the ability to hint at this desired outcome and others can not express themselves.

Q: Does that mean they have no ability to express their opinions or positions because of fear?

A: Yes. That is right and everybody can see that. The inability to speak bluntly or even to hint comes from the fear of the consequences or official procedures, which occur against anyone with an outspoken position that crosses the red lines established by powerful people.

Q: Does fear and the “red lines” restrict all members in the GPC?

A; My statement is about all members in the GPC, not only members in parliament. I want to add there is a faction of the GPC that has declared their refusal of corruption and demanded many reforms in different fields.

Returning to the question about the possibility of building an alliance in parliament with members of the GPC, in fact we can not talk about this in the current circumstances. It is impossible. But there are many excellent positions adopted by GPC members in Parliament. The problem is that GPC members in Parliament claim they have orders from high up which are against their own inclination and which obstruct the work of parliament to do any reforms.

“Land theft is an undeniable fact.”

Q: A high GPC official recently said land theft in the South by influential northern people is a lie. Can you tell us how much land is alleged to have been stolen in the South?

A: Land theft is an undeniable fact and there is no need for more questions or uncertainty about its existence. The last statement of Dr. Saleh Ali Basora, the head of the Presidential Committee for resolving issues of land theft is more than enough to make that clear.

The land stolen includes agricultural lands, land of the former government in south, lands of corporations and wide areas suitable for building and investment trading. I have no statistics available about the total area of land stolen, but as one example I can indicate to the “Lineen farm” in Abyan governorate which is about 4000 acres. This farm is one of many farms stolen after war 1994. This occurred in all southern governorates. Regarding commercial lands, these are estimated at tens and tens of kilometers.

“Influential people …have the power to destroy any person that damages their benefits.”

Q: Does the presidential committee has the ability or authority to solve these problems?

A: I don’t believe the presidential committee has the power to solve the problem or succeed in its mission. While I don’t doubt in the committee’s fairness or in their desire to do some thing better, there are influential people stronger than all these committees. They are big military leaders and officials in the ruling party that have substantial authority and the power to destroy any person that damages their benefits.

Q: The underlying problem in the South seems to be a complete lack of officials’ accountability to the public. President Saleh recently issued a list of constitutional amendments that if implemented would decentralize power. Do you believe the regime has the will to implement these reforms?

A: First, I have some remarks about the question’s preface which refers to the “southern problem”. The YSP in its Central Committee term diagnosed this case and described it as the result of unwise politics after the 1994 civil war and the inequitable treatment of Southerners in general that followed the war. The YSP Central Committee indicated that the South was treated as the spoils of war including land, people, companies and wealth. The YSP also noted the violence against the current protesters reflects the type of politics which has dominated after the outcome of the war.

I think the regime has no actual desire for any administrative, financial, political, or legal reforms. The recent initiative of President Saleh doesn’t contain any new proposals. In practice, it will further consolidate power in the central authority, and all the posts will be derived from presidential authority. Yemen needs a parliamentary system, not a presidential system.

We as a country face civil unrest, economic stagnation and social difficulties. There is no remedy without increased Parliamentary authority and power, the separation of authority between the executive branch and the Parliament, and the ability of the Parliament to act as a check on executive power. I have no confidence in the ability of Parliament to call President Saleh for inquiry like any other parliament within a presidential system.

“The presidential initiative will hinder the emergence of democracy in Yemen.”

Q: Does the YSP support the President’s reform proposals?

A: We in the YSP in conjunction with the JMP presented our view of political reforms, which is the need to transform to a parliamentary system. I believe the presidential initiative is meant to undermine the JMP’s earlier proposal. The JMP wants to fix the entire system and re-balance parliament and whole local authority structure. This means that the JMP’s initiative is more progressive and comprehensive than the President’s initiative. We are ready for any dialog on our initiative.

Q: Can the proposed reforms, even if insincere, bring about an empowerment of the Yemeni citizen?

A: I don’t expect any positive results from Saleh’s initiative. The result will decrease popular empowerment and turn back the democracy project. The presidential initiative will hinder the emergence of democracy in Yemen. The important thing about it is that the initiative accompanies a larger project designed to protect the status quo under the guise of the protection of national unity.

“A positive investment climate requires an end to corruption.”

Q: China has a booming economy due to free-market reforms. What sort of free-market reforms would your party implement in order to make the Yemeni economy more robust?

A: We are an opposition party and do not have in our hand the ability to create economic policy, but in our view a free market economy first requires firm legal principles and an end to arbitrary selection outside of the market influences. It requires an end to policies which stand on nepotism, anarchy and savagery in economic investment.

A safe environment for investment is created through ensuring stability. Stability encourages local and foreign capital to flow into investment operations, and establishes financial, administrative, and legal facilities for investors.

A positive investment climate requires an end to corruption which is the first enemy of investment. Investors are also currently hampered by the principle of business’ obligatory participation with influential persons. I think with these assurances in place, investment capital will come to Yemen and will create a booming economy, a decrease in unemployment and an increase in self sufficiency.

Yemen Times

The Yemeni parliament role remained restricted under the continuous influence of the government, said a study extracting a group of internal and external factors indicating the influence of the executive power over the legislative one. (Read on …)

Shura chairman: Ex-Parliamentarians Organization embodies Yemen democratic move

[10 September 2007]

SANA’A, (Saba)- Chairman of the Shura Council Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Ghani described Monday the Ex-Parliamentarians Organization (EPO)as one of the core pillars of democratic system in Yemen as it represents a public pluralism and an active participation in decision making.

In the foundation ceremony of the EPO on Monday, Abdul-Ghani expressed his pleasure to attend this important event, wishing the organization to have positive contributions to building the modern Yemen and reinforcing basics of the democratic pluralism system.

He called on the organization to present a good example for the civil and national activity which accords with principles and goals of the Yemeni Revolution and values.

Members of the EPO should first prioritize reinforcing trust of people in a more prosperous future, Abdul-Ghani said, wishing them success in their task.

That’s true.

I agree with this assessment except for the chanting. There’s people all over the US chaniting against Bush, so chanting against Saleh doesn’t seem even slightly odd.

But its interesting that this guy, whoever he is, is disputing the statements of the security officials that protests in Aden and other places around the former PDRY are illegal. And clearly they are not according to the Yemeni constitution and common sense. Public protests are a basic civil right and mechanism of participation in the political system.

almotamar.net – Chairman of the parliamentary committee of defence and security general Yahya al-Haweri affirmed Sunday that protests carried out in the framework of democracy, pluralism, the constitution and the laws, whether they were unprompted or organised by any party are legitimate. But, he added, it is refused that during such activities to carry out riot acts, sabotage, blocking roads and chanting slogans against the national constants. He said, “This is a matter disagreeing with the homeland interest and the state has the right to and the duty to use its legal powers to preserve stability and the national interest.”

On the question of the retired al-Haweri said ,” We are with them and with their demands for rights,” reminding that the parliamentary committee of defence and security studied their subject and prepared detailed report in which it urged the concerned authorities in the government to tackle their cases and settle their dues.

He said the government worked on solving their problems and republican decrees were issued for promoting military ranks and forming government committees to receive grievances in various governorates. The committees considered tens of thousands of those complaints and solved them in line with the president’s directives.

In an interview with almotamar.net al-Haweri affirmed that what happened is that there are parties seeking to take advantage of the democratic space and sentiments of the retired respecting the issues related to their rights to deviate them to serve external sides. He advised those who are after foreign agendas to search for themselves roles far from impinging upon the unity.

Al-Sahwa

September 4, 2007- The members of parliament, Ensaf Mayo and Mohammad al-Qubati, have claimed the Speaker of Parliament, Sheikh Abdulah al-Ahmer to immediately investigate military orders of violating them.

They accused the Central Security Commander, Colonel Hamoud al-Harthi, of ordering officials and soldiers of CS to assault them without any consideration to their parliamentary immunity.

They explained in a letter sent to the Speaker of Parliament on Tuesday that the so-called al-Harthi incited CS soldiers against them, accusing them of secessionism.

Almotamar.net – The Yemen interior ministry on Thursday announced it will from today morning prevent carrying firearms inside the capital, indicating it will set stores at entrances of the capital and provincial capitals of governorates for keeping guns and give their owners receipts for them.

The ministry added it will beginning of next month carry out a decision preventing carrying licensed firearms, confirming that security authorities would arrest anyone carrying weapons in violation of the announcement and confiscate his gun.

An announcement issued by the interior ministry, a copy of it received by almotamar.net, mentioned that it is categorically prevented carrying weapons inside the capital and provincial capitals of governorates. The statement attributed that decision to increase of crimes and incidents resulting from the use of guns and to the negative impact which carrying firearms cause to development and investment as well as to tourism. It added that the aim is to protect the citizens life and achieve general security and safety for the citizen, social peace.

The statement mentioned that bodyguards of senior officials of the state and members of parliament and Shoura and local council will be allowed to carry only guns in an invisible way.

The interior ministry asked all political, security, military and administrative leaderships to commit to carrying out the decision, calling upon political parties and organisations and citizens to cooperate in implementation of the decision and report on any violations.

Al-Sahwa

MP threatened of killing

August 14, 2007- The Parliamentarian, Sultan al-Samai, has affirmed to Alsahwa.net that he was threatened with killing by messages through his mobile phone. He said that he received over 12 messages which included threats of assassination.

Al-Samai said that he was threatened because he had taken part in preparing for a JMP-sponsored sit-in which is set to be on Wednesday. He said that he would not back and would continue to prepare for the sit-in.

Yemen Observer

The Parliament agreed Wednesday to form a 50-member committee to address political tensions and other problems throughout the country.
This committee will be formed as a result of suggestions from MP Hussein al -Ahmar, who said the country is passing through a difficult period these days, and citizens are living in difficult situations.

Many voices are speaking out in ways that threaten national unity, security, and stability, said Ahmar. These complaints about the country result from the poor conditions in which many people live.
Al-Aahmar called on the committee to visit all the provinces to meet important citizens in order to understand their concerns and problems, and to work to find solutions.

MP Nabil Basha, of the GPC,said that the GPC Bloc approved a small, seven-member committee to draft the agenda of the expanded 50-member committee and identify issues to be discussed and included in the agenda.
“We heard about the problems affecting the national unity of the country, so we formed an expanded committee of Parliamentarians to find facts about these events away from the exaggeration, reasonably, and objectively because the issue does not belong to the ruling party, but is an issue concerning the nation in general,” Basha said.

“It is necessary to accept these problems, because this recognition is the beginning of the right path to find solutions to these problems. “The majority parliamentary bloc, the GPC, does not have the arrogance not to recognize the problems and not to exaggerate, as it wouldn’t allow some people to use their fair rights for legal purposes,” Basha added.

MP Ali Ashaal, of the Islah party said that the idea is good, “although it came late, and I hope this committee is formed because of the responsibility towards what is going on in the country and not to achieve personals benefits.” Goals must be set and the issues clearly defined, so the committee will be able to give strong recommendations to the government.

MP Sakher al-Wajeeh, an Independent, supported his colleague Ashaal in setting the goals of the committee. Al- Wajeeh suggested that the committee also address the issues of military and civilian retirees, and the seizing of private land in the southern governorates and in al-Hodeida Governorate.

MP Saleh al-Sanabani, of Islah, endorsed the functions proposed by al-Wajeeh, and added that the committee should also address the high prices of consumer goods, and the grievances of prisoners. Abdul-Wahab al-Aansi, Secretary-General of the Yemeni Islah party, preferred not to talk about the complaints of the military retirees, which he said harm national unity.

“We should turn the talk in this case to work seriously and sincerely to take away any opportunity to those who want to damage security and stability in Yemen, and to those who try to avert the claims of retirees to other tracks that are not real issues, there are people who want to benefit from this issue,” al-Aansi said.

Former Prime Minister Abu Bakr al-Attas has said that there should be a referendum on national unity. But al-Aansi said that there was already a referendum on unity when the constitution was formed in 1991.

“We in the Joint Meeting Parties are not with the wrong policies of the ruling party, which have produced such tensions, but we also are not with those who want to fan the fires to clarify their way to harm the unity,” al-Aansi said.

“We strongly support demands of military and civilian retirees, as they are lawful and legal,” he added. He said that the Parliament is one of the reasons for the problems and tensions in the state, because it has not fulfilled its duty as required.

Al-Aansi denied that there was a connection between the marginalization of the Yemeni Socialist Party and the existence of these problems.
He also said that the problems are not only in the southern governorates, but also in all of the country.

“But there may be some specific problems in southern provinces, because of the historical background to it, as some of the reasons and other factors,” he said. Civil society organizations in several governorates have expressed disapproval of people speaking against unity. People across the Lahj governorate have said that some people are being paid to create problems with national unity. But they have not said who would be paying these people.

“The sons of the Lahj governorate know the truth and the objectives of these elements, and we would not allow any conspiracy to harm the homeland and its unity, security, and stability,” said a statement issued by the political parties and organizations and civil society organizations.

Some people in the Abyan governorate expressed their total rejection of all attempts by people who are paid by those who want to encourage troublemaking for homeland and want to damage its unity, security, and stability.

“The continued escalation of the issue of retirees, in light of the procedures taken by the State to address the issues in the framework of the law, reveals the reality of good intentions on the part of the government. People who harm the unity exploit this issue and other issues for their own purposes and schemes,” said a statement issued by the political and cultural organizations in the governorate of Abyan.

A statement issued by the national, political, social, and cultural organizations in the province said that what they see as combining elements from outside the province is an abuse of the history and of the struggle of the people in this province.

On July 7, a large demonstration took place in Aden. It was attended by thousands of retired military personnel, who asked for their return to military service, and money owed them by the government. The demonstration included many people chanting slogans against unity.

Days before the demonstration, the president decided to return to work 1,000 officers who want to return to the military service, with the payment of all financial dues from 1994 on. This will be dealt with by field committees formed by the Ministries of Defense and Interior.

Because its the ‘influential people” who are stealing the land

Yemen Times

SANA’A, July 26 — The Yemeni Parliament admitted failing to oblige the government to ensure the specific mechanism for handling the pending investment issues. It brought this issue in a Parliamentarian session on third week of July on investment stating that it couldn’t pressure on the government to develop a strategy to protect investors from the frequent aggressions on their properties, especially, in Aden’s Free Zone.

It was confirmed that the Parliament has granted Abdulqader Helal, Minister of the Local Administration, along with the local authorities in Eden the opportunity to coordinate with the Services Committee in the parliament to find solutions for the problems resulted from removing and destroying citizens’ and investors’ establishments in Dar Sa’ad, Aden.

The Parliament’s decision was due because of a demand, from the Minister of Local Administration, who was attending the Parliament’s session for discussing the concerned matter, to find practical solutions for these problems and present them to the Parliament on the coming Saturday.

On the other hand, Ansaf Mayo, the reformation representative, criticized the Services Committee for hiding some of the facts in its report and considered the Committee deliberate for doing that.

Mayo added that the recommendations of the Committee didn’t scale the level of the notices which reach its claim with reference the court. He also called for shouldering the responsibility to bring justice for citizens, compensating them well and fixing their rights in land-ownerships.

Mayo emphasized the necessity of the Parliament’s stand against the documented lands in Eden, which became a source of corrupted people’s trading inside and outside the government.

Similarly, Sakhr Al-Wajeeh, the independent representative from the Congress Party, criticized the Committee’s report for not uncovering the names of the 26 individuals to whom the governor of Eden gave lands, as well as those people, that Al-Wajeeh thought, are responsible and powerful in the governorate.

The Committee’s report confirmed that the process of destruction, which controlled by the local authority in the conflict area, is wrong and a rash action which is contrary to the President’s orders, that included handling the establishments according to the law of the lands and the real estates of the country. Additionally, the report considered this process as a negative spot on the side of the governorate, which is supposed to attract the internal and external investment.

The report also indicated that the land problems, in Aden, go back to the political events which happened in the governorate before the unification. That is like, the nationalization of lands and the disposal of lands, which were owned by the government, throughout releasing beneficial contracts under several names.

The parliamentary report criticized the government’s policy in this respect as well as not submitting the presidential decision, 1999, to the court to be put into action.

Furthermore, the report accused Aden’s authorities of not bringing a complete report to the President about the current situation of land disputes in the governorate. For instance, a governor (without mentioning his name) got benefits from agricultural contracts that were released for the 26 persons who got their prescribed lands.

Yemen Observer

Written By: Zaid al-Alaya’a

The Parliament finally approved the new Bids, Tenders and Storages Law in its Tuesday session this week. It also approved the establishment of a supreme independent authority to monitor bids, enhance transparency, and fight corruption. The discussion of the bid law was headed by Vice-President of the Parliament Dr.Jafer Saeed Saleh.

“The objectives of the law are to enhance transparency and equality in opportunities among competitors and fight any issues that may emerge in any bid and protect public money,” said Awad Saad al-Soqatri, MP and head of the Services Committee that was in charge of the law.

Other objectives of the law are to speed up decisions in bids processes and to establish the Supreme Authority of Bids. (Read on …)

News Yemen

SANA’A, NewsYemen

After two months of divergence between the Ministry of Information and journalists over a decision taken by the former to suspend the SMS news service, the Information, Culture and Tourism Committee in the Parliament recommended in Monday’s session the government to permit the SMS news service and said the service providers should commit to publishing law.

The committee urged in a report the government to quickly complete measures to update the press and publications law No. 25 for 1990 and make some amendments that cope with developments in media field. It also advised the government to complete the draft law of organizing news services of TV, Radio and electronic press and submit it to the Parliament as soon as possible to make it apply to constitution.

The committee’s report obligates all media outlets, official, partisan and independent, to respect the legal commitments in the framework of freedom of expression and the right of access to information and delivering it to the public opinion. It said that any publications should be published according to law of press.

It also called media outlets to be accurate, credible and professional when they convey information to the public.

Regarding the blockading of SMS news services by Nasspress and Journalists Without Chains (JWC) and some websites, the report said “the voice of law and judiciary should be up as they are the guarantee of democracy, expression freedom and the real reference of all complaints.”

Minister of Information Hassan al-Lawzi announced his commitment to the parliamentary committee’s recommendations.

In Monday’s session, MPs for opposition parties condemned the decision of al-Lawzi to blockade the SMS service of Nasspress and JWC and said the ministry of information has “utilitarian mentality”. They called the minister to respect the constitution and law and asked for canceling the ministry of information and described it as “Pharaon”.

Al-Lawzi urged the members of Parliament to help him apply the law to all media outlets which are not licensed to provide such a news service.

Al-Lawzi stated that any one has a problem with the his ministry’s decision should refer to justice, but some members of the Parliament said that al-Lawzi did not refer to justice before blocking the two websites al-shuora.net and aleshtiraki.net as well as the SMS news service of Nasspress and JWC.
If the ministry blocked the opposition websites because of alleged insults and misleading people, so it should close TV and Radio, the independent MP Sakhr al-Wajeeh said.

The member Sadiq al-Badani said the report of the committee “is feeble and does not level the violations the ministry of information has committed against those websites without filing a judicial suit.

The member Abdul-Karim Shaiban said the ministry should compensate the websites which it has blocked without a judicial verdict.

Journalists and human rights activists continued their sits-in protesting to the decision outside the headquarters of the government and the ministry of information for two months.

Sana’a, NewsYemen

The members of Shoura Council have demanded that the draft law of organizing weapons carrying prepared by the Defense and Security Council Committee at the council should be reviewed describing it as “meaningless”.

The members criticized at Tuesday’s session the repeated negligent shootings do occur in the capital Sana’a and called for replacing the military guards of the state’s institutions with civil guards.

Abdullah Ghanim hailed the report of the committee but said its recommendations are “meaningless”.

Ghanim pointed in his speech to a hidden difference between those who have personal interests from impeding the weapons law to be enacted. (Read on …)

YO:

Parliament members are angry because they are still being prevented from visiting the Political Security Prisons by the managers of these prisons, said Ahmed Saif Hashid, a member of the Freedom and Rights Committee in the Parliament. The Parliament’s presidency is evasive about the request of the MPs to visit these prisons, said Hashid. Three committees of MPs have been banned from visiting the Political Security Prisons, he said. “They refused to let us see,” he said. The Parliament members want to visit the prisons in order to check out the condition of the prisoners, and to make sure that they are being treated properly.

“A month ago, we were accidentally visiting a building belonging to the political security, and we were surprised to find 16 prisoners that are in the Political Security Prison in that building,” he said. “Then, they were put in the Political Security Jail as a kind of punishment,” he said. “There are also 80 prisoners, including 16 juveniles from 10 to 16, who are in the Political Security Jail in al-Hodeida for accusations that related to the Sa’ada war,” he said. The MPs were not allowed to gain access to any of the information on any of the prisoners, or to visit them in jail. “There is no crime, and if so, the officer has not to keep them in jail for more than one day until if there is a judicial sentence,” he said.

The presidency of the Parliament has failed to take action of the offers of the MPs to have some orders sent to the Political Security. “Only a couple of days ago, 30 MPs offered the Parliament to design a committee to visit the prisoner of the political security and nothing has happened yet,” he said. Sultan al-Same’i and Abdul-Bari Doghaish are among those who asked for the committee. “Yes, I have signed with my collogues [MPs] to that request,” said Doghaish. “There are no orders from the committee of Freedom and Rights in the Parliament to visit the Political Security jails,” said Sheik Mohamed Bin Naji al-Shaif, the head of the Freedom and Rights Committee in the Parliament. Hashid denied what al-Shaif said.

“There was an order three months ago, and we have been on a visit in al-Hudeida and Dhamar,” Hashid said. Yahia al-Rae’i, the deputy of the presidency of the Parliament, denied that the presidency was avoiding the demands of the MPs. “I hope that the MPs check on the jails and evaluate the situation in there,” said al-Ra’ei. “This is their main job, to evaluate the situation in there.”

The Yemen Observer could not contact the Political Security office because they are off on Thursday, when this story was reported. But a senior official in the Political Security Office, who declined to give his name, denied that political security could prevent anyone from visiting. “They have to request a time ahead of time for a visit,” he said. He also denied completely that anyone could be put in jail without committing a crime.

A Member of Parliament

SANA’A, July 1 — The Guards of the prison affiliated to the Authority of Passports and Migration attacked human rights activist and parliament member Mr. Ahmed Saif Hashed, who entered the jail in order to investigate the accusations of the death of several foreign inmates inside the prison. In addition, they have taken him to custody and they confiscated his parliamentary card, his mobile, and his camera.

“ I was informed at 12pm, Thursday, that an Eritrean immigrant, namely Ibraham, who has been at the Passport Authority’s prison for a year, died under ambiguous circumstances. So I went to investigate the issue,” said Hashed.

“ While I was introducing myself to prisoners and listening to their complains from the prisons’ window, an officer shouted at me, and came down with other one wearing plain clothes to attack me,” Hashed described.

According to his statement, Hashed told the officer, before the attack, that he (Hashedi) is a human rights committee member at the parliament, but that did not prevent the security from kicking and beating him and his company.

“I was accompanied by a journalist called Sanad Soliman. Although we showed our I.D. cards, they took our camera and our mobiles and they put us in jail” said Hasid “my friend was accused of facilitating my entry to the prison” he added.

Hashed and the reporter left the prison at 5 O’clock pm, after they received their stuff along with their camera but with zero photo (all photos were deliberately deleted).

“ I have noted the miserable dramatic circumstances that prisoners are living in this prison, ” he commented, adding, “There were three Christian immigrants died two months ago due to hunger and thirsty.”

No one was available in Passport Authority to comment on Hashed’s statement.

This is not the first time that Hashed faced security as a human rights activist, as in mid June, the Political Security prevented him to visit its prisons in Sana’a. At that time, the activist stated that the security is preventing parliamentarians from visiting such locations to hide the violations and tortures committed by prison officers against detainees.

He resigned a year ago due to the inability of the regime to address embassy corruption.

YO

The Parliament has rejected the resignation Member of Parliament Faisal Abu Rass. Abu Rass first presented his resignation to the Parliamentary Council a year ago, because he feels that the Parliament is too inactive. For example, he wanted an investigation of the finances of Yemen’s embassies abroad, especially in Lebanon. He has in his possession some documents about the corruption in Yemen’s embassy in Lebanon, he said. He asked the Parliament to invite the Minister of Foreign Affairs to investigate this. But nothing was done, so he decided to resign.

Abu Rass’ resignation must be accepted or refused, because Parliament has taken too long already to decide, said the head of the Nasserite bloc party and its secretary general, Sultan al-Atwani. The Parliament’s decision was not to accept the resignation, but Abu Rass remains at home, refusing to work. In other governmental news, Parliament member Ali al-Qadhi read a letter from the Follow-up Committee of Retired Military, asking the Parliament for action to deal with their troubled situation. Retired members of the military are not getting their pension, and their situation has been growing worse and worse over time, the letter said.

“We offered sacrifices to get the nation from Imamate rule and the British colonial rule, when the revolutions September 26 and October 14 were established,” they said. “We are in a bad situation, we cannot continue in this life, especially those who retired before 2000. Our service reached up to 40 years,” said the letter. “The old gladiator receives just YR 25,000, and those who transmitted to the retirement, they received YR 80,000.” The letter demanded that the Deputies in the Parliament settle the salaries of retired military people before the year 2000, to be equal pensions with who retired in the year 2007.

The letter also demanded an increase in the living income, as well as promotions for officers of the armed forces and security, especially those who entered the service in 1962, pointing out that they had been around 18 years ago and they rank as Major and nearly 12 years in the rank of colonel. The letter stressed the raising the salaries of retired people of military and security to become equal to the strategy of wages and salaries of veterans in the Arab States. The message asked for social security and free education for the children of veterans, especially in the universities where our children are studying, as we have no capacity for these expenses.

The letter called for the creation of a veterans association like that in other Arab states, with President Ali Abdullah Saleh as its chairman. In response to the letter, the Chairman of the Committee on Defense and Security Mohamed al-Hawrui said that the committee had summoned the ministers of defense, interior, civil service and insurance to come to the committee to discuss the subject .

Almotamar.net – Member of the Yemeni Shoura council, chairman of al-Habari Group for Industries Yahya Ali Al-Habari came under abortive attempted assassination on Thursday morning at Al-Hasaba area in Sana’a.

Al-Habari told almotamar.net six gunmen opened fire on him near thee company offices situated in Arab League Street in Hasaba, wounding his driver while he escaped the killing attempt.

The businessman added the attackers were from Arahab area, Sana’a governorate and their car plate number has been written down and the concerned authorities have been informed on the incident.

He said the minister of interior Dr Rashad Al-Alimi has given his orders for arresting the attackers to be sent to court. Policemen opened file on the incident to chase the suspects whom Al-Habari accused to be behind the assassination attempt because he refused an extortion operation.

Sanaa, 15 June (AKI) – Gunmen in Yemen believed to be Islamic extremists have shot and wounded the head of the country’s parliamentary human rights commission according to a report Friday on an Arab news portal. Yhya al-Hibari was travelling in a car in the centre of the capital Sanaa on Thursday when he came under fire, the Moheet portal reported. His chaffeur was also hit and was taken to a hospital where his condition was described as serious, the report said.

YT

Al-Habari, a senior businessman, who has strong ties with the ruling party, the General People Congress, has showed his support many times to government policies especially levying taxes on senior businessmen.

Yemeni Chambers of Commerce Union, Freedoms Committee at the Consultative Council, and the Ministry of Youth and Sport as well as Al-Ahli Club denounced the assassination attempt and demanded the concerned security authorities to catch the perpetrators and refer them to judiciary as such a phenomenon defames Yemen among investors.

Al-Habari told Al-Ayyam he was heading to his office without body guards as per his tradition. Suddenly, gunmen intercept with their car and fired randomly at his car, hinting he personally knows those who targeted him and they belong to some security institutions.

He pleaded upon President Saleh to work on limiting arms bearing as such phenomenon harms the country’s reputation and pushes investors out, hinting that he would sell all his belongings and leave the country if the situation remain as it is.

Likewise, Al-Habari called on the Parliament to hasten issuing arms bearing law as arms have become a means for terrorizing and blackmailing citizens, maintaining that investments usually prefer quite and armless environments.

Almotamar.net – Chairman of the Yemeni parliamentary committee of services Awadh Al-Saqtari said Monday a joint financial and services committee has completed a draft law of tenders and bids scheduled to be presented to the parliament.

Al-Saqtaru affirmed to almotamar.net the committee sought ideas of the central apparatus of audit and accountability, the Yemeni chambers of commerce and industry and international consultative company in keenness on coming out with a law achieving its purposes in providing transparency, decency and justice in the competition and economic efficiency in the process of conducting tenders and bids in a addition to overcoming negatives that accompanied progress of the operative law.

Almotamar.net – Yemen’s Prime Minister Dr Ali Mohammed Mujawar admitted that this government faces problems because of stand of the Genera; People’s Congress (GPC) parliamentary majority that refuses many of laws proposed by the government.

The prime minister said his government faces problems with the parliament regarding approval of some draft laws although the government is that of the majority. He added that the parliament plays a big role with regard to the political side and all draft laws are passed through it.

Dr Mujawar made it clear there is a programme of the government that defined new trends concerning issues of investment. He added that priority is to be given to the private sector with the aim of gradually limiting unemployment. For Yemen investment in it is the best in the region as the investor gets bigger opportunities in a short time and in one file and that makes Yemen receive big trust from Arab and foreign investors.

News Yemen

Deputy speaker of the Parliament Yahya al-Raei criticized in Saturday’s session the government for not presenting a draft law of tenders and auctions because grants to Yemen have been suspended until such a law be approved, according to al-Raei.

Al-Raei said the government has not used foreign loans and that loans have been only kept in banks and some ministries. I met with officials in the World Bank who have criticized keeping loans instead of using them and offering their benefits, said al-Raei.

Some members of the Parliament assailed the Parliament’s leadership and the government on many unsolved issues including price hikes, war in Saada, restriction of freedoms and the lack of projects in Ibb.

MP Mohammad Saleh Ali denounced the blocking of SMS news service of Nass Press Mobile and Without Chains Mobile. He said the government should be questioned over this behavior which “violates the constitution”.

Such media monopolization contradicts with the state’s openness for free economy, said Saleh.

MP Sultan al-Atwani asked the government to offer a report on war in Saada, confirming that the Parliament, which has authorized the government to put an end for conflict there, has not information on what is happening.

The MP Ahmad al-Shaqda for Islah party asked the Parliament leadership to form a committee to check events in Saada.

When some MPs inquired why the state does not send lawyers to defend Yemenis in the US Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, al-Raei replied that “president Saleh defended them before the US president George Bush during his latest visit to Washington”.

The MP for GPC Abdul-Karim Shaiban said blamed the leadership of the Parliament for not following the government’s delay to achieve recommendations of the parliament on different issues.

Its complete anarachy

May 21 ,2007 – Yemeni teacher syndicates in al-Dhalie province have condemned what they labeled irresponsible practices committed against teachers by powerful figures .

The so-called Mohammed al-Awdi who has several investments in the province and the brother of the parliamentarian, Abdu al-Awdi , accompanied with gunmen had broken out some schools early of the current week , arrested 5 teachers and led them to the security station of Damt district accusing them of possessing copies of documents which include a ruling had issued against the al-Awdi .

Moreover, he went to their houses, threatened them and tried to assault them with light arms.

For their part, three teacher syndicates expressed solidarity with teachers, calling all teachers in the province to consolidate, stand by their partners and vividly encounter such those assaults.

They also appealed all civil society organizations and the political parties to sustain them according to laws.

some kids are used to smuggle drugs

News Yemen The National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, called HOOD, said that Yemeni laws that illegalize child trafficking and identify punishment against violators are not enacted and that some officials and MPs intervene not to be enacted.

The executive director of HOOD, Khalid al-Ansi, accused the government of encouraging people to join corruption in the country when it puts laws out of action and ignores violations.

“If the government wants to apply laws so it can do as it sends soldiers to people to pay taxes,” said al-Ansi.

Al-Ansi said as discussing a graduation research offered by student Imarat Sabra in a ceremony on the graduating of a new batch from the Media College, Public Relations Section, in Sana’a University that “some officials and members in the Parliament are involved in a mafia practicing child trafficking.” He did not give names.

But, the journalist Ahmad al-Qershi criticized media means that he said “circulate the so-called child trafficking”. He preferred to call it “illegal migration” or “escaping hunger to find decent life in somewhere else”.

Yemen does not suffer such horrible child trafficking like other countries, said al-Qershi. He said some media means do offer wrong numbers and refer information to unknown sources about the so-called child trafficking phenomenon.

The lawyer al-Ansi responded to al-Qershi as saying that taking a child by force, parents agree or not, is a crime and taking the child out of borders in illegal way is clearly human trafficking.

The number of children is not important, but the most important is that we face a phenomenon needs solutions, said al-Ansi.

The researcher Ali al-Buraihi also criticized al-Qershi and said the phenomenon exists and the solutions should be practical, not only sound bites.

I have conducted a field survey along with some colleagues to get facts about children trafficking and we have found that some parents had contracts with smugglers to take their children away to work outside the country, said al-Buraihi. He said that some children were used in drugs smuggling and other risky adventures.

almotamar.net – Director of the Democracy School in Yemen, an organisation concerned with democracy and human rights, said Saturday that all arrangements are completed for a project of woman parliament in Yemen.

Director of the School Jamal al-Shamy told almotamar.net the goal of the parliament is qualification of women to take part in the parliamentary experiment of 2009 considering the present parliament as not having women MPs except the one MP Oras Sultan Naji representing the General People’s Congress.

On her part the director of the woman parliament project said the woman parliament aims at the 162 Yemeni women who nominated themselves in the previous parliamentary and local elections, and who represent different political parties. The aim is to make them engage in the election process of parliament and local elections that Yemen is experiencing as part of the democratic pursuit the pillars of which have been laid by President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Ms Muna al-Harithi added to almotamar.net the projects aims at preparing women to participate in the parliamentary process of 2009 without the need for their partisan qualification. There will also be discussion of the woman issues every three months by holding one meeting every three months as well as encouraging the woman to elect women regardless of the partisan affiliation, affirming that the project will not confine the woman inside one closed circle but rather would unleash the woman abilities to interact with the issues undertaken by the parliament as a legislative power.

She said the project will begin next August by holding the first meeting of the parliament to be chaired by the eldest member and to elect speaker and her two deputies. Participants in the parliament will be informed that the shadow parliament is a non-governmental and non-partisan establishment even if some of its members are party affiliates. Also, she said, the meeting will discuss and define the form in which announcement of results of meetings as well as proposals and ideas in addition to providing necessary mechanisms for continuation of this experiment.

al-Mithaq via YT

Manager of Woman Department at the Supreme Commission for Election and Referendum (SCER) Elham Abdulwahab said the Yemeni Woman Political Empowerment Program aims to nominate as many as 66 qualified women for the coming parliamentary elections through three mechanisms, the ruling party-affiliated weekly reported on its front page. It quoted Abdulwahab as saying, “The SCER is due to start implementing the project in the middle of 2007 and until the middle of 2008. The project includes the training of 66 women, with an average of 3 women from each governorate, in coordination and cooperation with civil community organizations and political parties and organizations.”

The woman leader continued to say that the project carries a new vision on how to ensure increase of women seats at Parliament in the coming parliamentary elections, scheduled to take place in 2009. According to Abdulwahab, the project is a summary of three national legislative components, as well as international conventions and agreements approved by Yemen.

Well I guess the good news is that Parliament is refusing to accept a stooge corruption commission from the Shoura council; the bad news is, its a stooge corruption commission.

almotamar.net – The parliament on Sunday returned for the second time a report on candidate for the committee of fighting corruption to the committee entrusted with receiving the 30 candidates referred by the Shoura Council. Committee has issued two reports that were returned to it for the same reason related to examining and checking the nominees documents.

On the other hand the committee was not expanded by adding new members to the five MPs chaired by deputy speaker and the committee was not replaced by a new one as requested by some members of the parliament, particularly the deputy head of the General; People’s Congress parliamentary bloc Yasser al-Awadhi who considered the parliament has made two mistakes; first when it entrusted the selection of 30 persons for the membership of the corruption fighting committee and the second in the formation of the parliamentary committee for receiving and inspection of the candidates’ documents as well as his request for holding an open hearing session of the candidates of the committee of fighting corruption.

MP Ali al-Amrani supported his request and said the parliament has two options; either to recognize that the law of fighting corruption needs amendment or to accept what has come from the Shoura Council. He also suggested that parliamentary blocs bear their responsibility in choosing 11 candidates from the 30 ones before putting the names to vote at the parliament. Al-Amrani affirmed the task of the corruption fighting body is struggling and it is not enough to be good persons to undertake this task.

HOOD’s recommendation for selection proceedures.

YO, more.

Yay!

Sana’a, NewsYemen

A Parliamentary committee has described the process of knocking down some houses in Aden by the local authority as “erroneous and headlong act”.

The committee said the decision of demolishing challenges the president’s order to the local authority to tackle the problem of those houses and lands according to the Law of Estates. It said that the demolishing process included houses “which are not involved in the president’s order at all”.

This behavior may have negative impacts on the province as a free economic zone for local and foreign investments, said the committee in a report raised to the Parliament’s leadership.

The committee said the Prosecution did not issue an order before demolishing and that the warning with the houses owners got from the leadership of the province did not include specific dates and that people received such a warning only one day before starting knocking down their houses.

Parliament and the ICC Statute, Did it pass?

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Although the Yemeni Parliament approved last week the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), many MPs continue to say that the way of voting was not legal.

The legal controversy over this issue came to the climax on Saturday when 80 members voted for rechecking the decision of joining ICC against 50 members opposed to have the approval rechecked.

The Parliament leadership suspended the session for more than an hour as the MPs could not reach an agreement after voting by loudspeakers according to the Parliament bylaw.

Some MPs said that re-voting the approval breaches the constitution as the Parliament had officially raised the approval to the president and asked to complete the constitutional procedures in this regard.
(Read on …)

Thats very good.

almotamar.net – The parliament on Tuesday sent a request of 29 MPs for the consideration of issues related to problems of pensioned military men to the defence and security committee at the parliament and to discuss them with relevant government institutions to meet those retired people demands. They are mainly related to grant them military promotions dating back to 19900 as well as financial dues and plots of lands for houses.

In this regard MP Abdulaziz Jabbari who is member of the workforce committee suggested to MP Aidarous al-Naqeeb who aroused that subject to propose what he wants during the discussion of a report on the workforce regarding the progress of implementing the strategy of wages and salaries that includes its application to the military men.

On the other hand the MPs reviewed a report presented by the committee of trade and industry about its field visits of a number of governorates to see the reality of investment and difficulties facing investments. The parliament also listened to report by the committee of services regarding demolition of houses in the district of Dar Saad in Aden governorate by the local authority as well as complaint by tenants in the part used for selling qat at Al-Qahira market, in Mansoura district.

Related: GPC re-elects leadership.

almotamar.net – The Yemen parliament has Saturday voted again on the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court pursuant to a request letter signed by 50 members challenging the legality of the previous voting on 24 last March. Opponents to the Statute were able muster themselves in the absence of the head of the General People’s Congress parliamentary bloc Sultan al-Barakani who is a staunch supporter of the Statute. That led to canceling the endorsement of Rome Statute by agreement of 82 of present MPs against fifty of its supporters. That move created a tumult inside the parliament that forced chairman of the session Yahya al-Raee to adjourn the sitting for ten minutes.

Tension among the MPs on this qu3estion heightened to an extent that MP Abdulbari Dghainish accused MP al-Hazmi of deeming infidel those who supported the Statute during his last Friday prayers sermon to which al-Hazmi responded that he talked in general and apologized for any misunderstanding of his sermon.

MP Nabil Basha expressed his skepticism in correctness of the 50 MP’s request, calling the opponents to resort to judiciary as the parliament had decided the topic through its previous voting in favour of the statute and sent a message to the president of the republic asking completion of constitutional procedures related to endorsement.

MP Abdulkarim Jadban commented that re-voting means challenging in many parliament decisions because the majority of its decisions were taken with absence of 76 members of the parliament.

AM:

almotamar.net – A parliamentary report committed the Election Supreme Commission to restore government cars from its former members who are appointed at new positions and also the restoration of pending obligations for the year 2002 whose value amounts to YR 378 million, most of which pertaining to parliamentary elections of 1997 and about YR 27 of which are personal consignments for officials and members of the commission.

While the report of the constitutional affairs committee praised reports of the monitoring apparatus for the years 2001/2002 on measure of the present election commission that settles 55% of those consignments it refused the latter’s justifications regarding the existence of security and tribal problems blocking the return of documents for settling the remaining of the pending assets.

The constitutional committee described understanding of the supreme commission of its financial and administrative independence as wrong and expressed its concern of not implementing a legal entity like the commission of provisions of the law as put by the legislator. It said independence does not mean employing the public property outside stipulations of the laws and regulations. The report also called for activation of internal monitoring inside the election commission in a way guaranteeing rectification of present failures.

AM: In another topic MP Mohammed al-Hazmi supported a call by MP Nabil Basha for postponing the festivities of bb governorate on the occasion of the unity days to the next year. MP Basha said his request comes because the sons of the governorate have not felt real accomplishments by the concerned ministries, adding that the ministers vista the governorate as tourists. Al-Hazmi said the executed projects are carried out the same way as preparation of quick meals.

Al-Jasheen is in Ibb. Speaking of al-Jasheen:

YT At last, the parliament could hit the nil on the head and come up with a very good fact-finding report on the plight of the al-Ja’ashin area in Ibb governorate. The area has been suffering at the hands of the oppressive influential council member Mohammed Ahmed Mansur.

The parliament report has caused controversy over the last few weeks, and some influential figures at parliament wanted to bury its clear condemnation of Mansur’s oppressive acts against his people. The report called for the firing of the Ibb governor who with Mansour, helped in the eviction and intimidation of more than 400 families in the Al-Ja’ashin district.

The parliament did a good job when it ordered the interior ministry, which has become very idle, to act swiftly to address the question of private jails that shame the history of modern Yemen. It is disgusting that in the 21st century some influential figures still have their own private jails, and it is also a clear infringement on the law and constitution.

The governor and local authority members of Ibb, as the parliament report pinpointed, should be held accountable for their failure to address the dilemma of the al-Ja’ashin people, being lenient with the influential Sheikh. Not only had they kept silent, they even stood by the oppressor and tried to justify his acts, for they considered the protest from the people of al-Ja’ashin in Sana’a a sort of politically motivated showdown.

Last Thursday, I read at the al-Motamar website that the governor of Ibb Ali al-Qaisi ordered that water supply to al-Ja’ashin which has been disrupted by Mansur to be returned. The man took this action just after the parliament report condemned his silence over the problem of al-Ja’ashin people. He previously said he knew about their problem just from the media and that no complaints have been addressed to him. Wow! Now, he knows and he admits that there is a problem. This is really ridiculous and he should be held accountable for these acts of irresponsibility. In fact, if our parliament functions as it should, a lot of mistakes and wrongdoings will be addressed.

SANA’A, March 26 — A parliamentary fact-finding committee on Sunday called for investigating officials in Ibb governorate who connived with Sheikh Mohammed Ahmed Mansour, accused of evicting and intimidating more than 400 families in Al-Ja’ashen district.

In its report, the committee recommended firing Ibb Governor Ali Al-Qaisi for not fulfilling his duty to stop Sheikh Al-Mansour’s violations against the residents, as well as for hampering the fact-finding committee’s activities in the area.

The parliamentary committee was formed Feb. 12 following reports that approximately 70 families from Ra’ash and Al-Soufa villages in Al-Ja’ashen district were displaced by their local Sheikh Mansour, who controls the entire area.

Earlier this month, the villagers returned home with the committee, but the latter was prevented from entering the area. The residents said they were insulted and harassed by Sheikh Mansour’s soldiers upon their return.

Committee members reported that Governor Al-Qaisi advised them not to visit Ra’ash and Al-Soufa lest they be subjected to risks by Sheikh Mansour’s escorts.

Thus, the committee prepared its report, including accounts by some villagers, and submitted it March 19 for inclusion on Parliament’s discussion agenda. However, several parties and influential individuals attempted to prevent its distribution to members of Parliament. MP Sakhr Al-Wajeeh, the committee’s reporter, confirmed that Parliament agreed to include the report on its agenda for later discussion.

In the report, the committee demanded investigating chief of Thi Sufal district and replacing him with someone else not conniving with Sheikh Mansour.

The report pointed out that the Yemeni government should enforce the state’s authority in Al-Ja’ashen district, since it is part of Yemeni lands, noting that no individual – no matter who he is – may conduct himself outside of the Yemeni Constitution and effective laws.

The committee further called for destroying all of Sheikh Mansour’s prisons in the area and criminalizing such behavior, along with punishing any individual detaining citizens outside of effective Yemeni laws.

Moreover, the report stressed the importance of quickly investigating the issues of Al-Soufa and Ra’ash villagers and judging them according to law and further requested the Yemeni government provide the area with basic services.

The committee also slammed local authorities for their leniency with Sheikh Mansour and trying to protect his dignity under the pretext of deferring to him in order for the area not to fall out from under his sway.

According to the report, the villagers’ demands were just and fair, as they simply had requested their basic rights and demanded correcting the wrongs imposed upon them. The committee reported that various checkpoints affiliated with Sheikh Mansour were established along the main road leading to Ra’ash and Al-Soufa, further noting that most villagers were abused and checked upon their return to their homes.

It spoke at length about the villagers’ suffering and barriers hindering the committee from doing its job, including misbehavior of local and official authorities in the governorate who insisted on backing Sheikh Mansour against the villagers.

In related news, Parliament halted its session Tuesday after a majority of MPs withdrew in protest of hiding the committee’s report and preventing its distribution among MPs.

The deputy speaker of Parliament justified the move, saying MPs want to discuss the committee report with the heads of political blocs (a move considered to violate parliamentary bylaws), particularly after it was approved by a majority for discussion.

In its Wednesday’s session, Parliament demanded Ministry of Interior to shut up unofficial prisons and punishing all those people responsible for setting up private prisons and criminalizing such acts.

(Read on …)

Diverting assets, mismanagement, favoritism, outdated materials

SANA’A, March 24 – Yemeni members of Parliament criticized the government for neglecting higher education and pushing Yemenis to emigrate outside the country. They requested actual financial dependence in Yemeni universities, along with reconsidering scholarships and admission policies.

Discussing a report by Parliament’s Higher Education Committee following field visits to Aden, Ibb and Taiz Universities, MP Sultan Al-Atwani noted that the universities are run from the outside, hinting at security leaders. He demanded the Higher Education Ministry not operate cultural attachés with a security mindset.

Al-Atwani criticized Yemen’s parallel education system, maintaining that it deepens class division, is done at the risk of the poor and runs counter to Yemeni Revolution goals, which called for eliminating the gap between classes.

MP Shawqi Al-Qadhi further criticized forced pensioning of university professors when their experience increases, calling on the Yemeni government to find responsible and carefully studied resolutions. He requested assisting such teachers to remain in their homeland and serve their nation, in addition to designating internal scholarships for talented students who don’t have the opportunity to study abroad.

Similarly, MPs Ali Al-Ansi and Abdu Al-Hudhaifi demanded the presence of Yemen’s prime minister, along with the ministers of finance, civil service and higher education, to discuss Yemeni higher education, noting that such an issue requires the attendance of all ministers, not just university rectors.

At a Feb. 25 session, the deputy minister of higher education requested making Yemeni universities independent. He complained about the shortage of resources allocated for universities in general and scientific research in particular, noting that each university receives only YR 5 million for scientific purposes.

Parliament assigned its Higher Education Committee to sit with finance, planning and civil service ministers and representatives to look into the MPs’ recommendations and how to treat the dysfunctions in Yemeni higher education.

In its report to Parliament, the committee mentioned that university curricula are outdated and don’t meet the needs of the labor market. It also pointed out that students have difficulty accessing the latest and modern journals and sources, further noting the absence of means enabling students to develop their capabilities.

The report referred to the problem of crowded halls, as well as shortcomings in staff knowledge of English and computers, together with limited participation in symposiums and scientific conferences.

It also revealed a shortage of financial allocations dedicated to scientific use, including libraries, laboratories, equipment, etc. Moreover, the report noted the absence of bylaws regulating enrollment, as there are different systems for joining universities, including the regular system and the parallel system (both in Yemeni currency) and the self-funding system (in U.S. dollars). It further noted that parallel system revenues are spent on items that don’t serve the universities.

According to the report, the higher education department lacks a clear strategy to develop higher education. Further, it doesn’t send students to study abroad except to replace those who already have returned. This limits the number of staff, especially those with rare specializations.

It also noticed the absence of budgets to be spent on scientific research while some university staff aren’t registered. Staff members accumulate at university headquarters and facilities in major cities, but are scarce in branch faculties while some departments suffer lack of staff in certain specializations.

The committee found that it’s possible for universities to benefit from Yemeni staff to cover the existing shortage, thus saving huge sums of money spent on foreigners. It further assured that the Finance Ministry’s routine of paying entitlements is discouraging, noting that such conduct leaves a bad effect on university professors.

Concluding its report, the Higher Education Committee revealed that, except for some courses at some locations, the universities didn’t benefit from loans by the International Development Association.

Well at least the other members withdrew:

Mar 27, 2007 -The parliament stopped its session today, Tuesday, as most members withdrew; protesting refusal of parliament presidency to discuss a report of al-Jaashin displaced people.

They regarded the refusal as support for tyranny, persecution and a kind of postponement.

The Member of Parliament, Mansour al-Zindi said that the withdrawal came as some tried to alter the case into a political one.

The deputy speaker of parliament, Yahya al-Rai promised to discuss the report tomorrow after holding a meeting with the leaders of Parliamentary blocs.

For his part, the member of the committee authorized to investigate the case, Abdul –Aziz Jbari , expressed sorrow as the parliament could not defend the citizens’ rights, stressing that the committee would strongly grasp the recommendations of the report .

Al-Jaashin’s case had erupted 3 months ago as an influential Sheikh banished over 400 citizens from their homes after they rejected to pay him illegal taxes and duties.

It is worth reclaiming that al-Jaashin’s citizens accuse the sheikh of practicing brutal persecution and infringements against them.

almotamar.net – Members of parliament Mohammed Abdullah al-Qadhi, Abdulaziz Habbari, Abdeh Bishr and Sinan Ajami requested the questioning of the defence minister on causes of the crash of two Mig-29 jetfighters some days ago over the governorate of Saada and whether the ministry has set up a committee for investigating the incident.

In the parliament session of Sunday the MP Aidarous al-Naqib asked the minister of interior on violations perpetrated against a number of journalists by persons from the ministry of interior and what measures taken about that and whether they were individual practices. He also requested the foreign minister for clarification about the death of former detainee of Quanranamo prison Ahmed Ali Abdullah whose death is suspected to be a result of torture and about the role of the ministry in revealing the truth.

MP Jabal Tuaiman asked the minister of health about expulsion from service of 24 employees from the hospital of President Saleh in Mareb and defect of services in a number of the governorate as well as asking the minister of labour on the reasons why there is no legal court in districts of the governorate

Why bother showing up? Its not like they do anything but what Ali Saleh tells them anyway.

YT

SANA’A, March 7 — According to a report by Parliament’s Presidency Board regarding attendance, Members of Parliament Hamoud Atef and Yahya Badraddin Al-Houthi, accused by the Yemeni government of supporting the Sa’ada rebellion, failed to attend any Parliament sessions last year.

MPs Mohammed Ali Abu Bakr Al-Mashhoor and Monassar Ali Monassar didn’t fare much better, being absent at 99 percent of such sessions.

The report noted that 13 MPs were absent for anywhere from 63 percent to 87 percent of last year’s Parliament sessions, as contrasted with 12 MPs who attended every session, thus achieving a perfect 100 percent attendance rate.

Those ideal MPs attending all sessions were: Amin Al-Selwi, Ansaf Ali Mayo, Zaid Ali Al-Shami, Salem Al-Janadi, Saleh Al-Sharjabi, Abdulaziz Karu, Abdulmalik Al-Wazir, Mohammed Al-Khadem Al-Wajih, Mohammed Al-Saqqaf, Bilqis Al-Shaddadi, Mahmoud Al-Reyashi and Nasser Abdu Arfan.

Speaker of Parliament Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al-Ahmar attended 32 percent of sessions, meaning he was absent for 68 percent, while his deputy Yahya Al-Rayi attended 94 percent of sessions. Other members of Parliament’s Presidency Board, Abdulwahab Mahmoud and Ja’afar Ba Saleh, attended 63 percent and 81 percent of sessions, respectively.

The report justified the absence of MPs who were appointed cabinet ministers; however, they attended only 15 percent of sessions and the same applies for Aden Governor Ahmad Mohammed Al-Kuhlani, who attended only one session.

The rate of absence for heads of party blocs was as follows: Sultan Al-Barakani of the General People’s Congress was absent at 8 percent of sessions, Sultan Al-Atwani of the Nasserite Unionist Party was absent at 5 percent, Abdurrahman Bafadhl of the Islah Party was absent at 7 percent and Ali Abdurabu Al-Qadhi of the Yemeni Socialist Party was absent at 4 percent.

Several MPs, including Al-Atwani, protested the report, saying it contains unauthentic information, as many MPs scored higher attendance rates because their faces aren’t known.

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Al-Rayi said Parliament’s secretariat is responsible for any mistakes, adding that many MPs sign the attendance sheet on their colleagues’ behalf.

According to Parliament’s 2007 general budget, every MP receives YR 5,000 per session and up to YR 1 million per month for administrative and technical work mandated upon them.

Good point from NDI and the Yemen Observer:

A Member of Parliament is to have his/her own office in his/her constituency and be given the necessary financial allocations from the budget of Parliament, reads article 225 of the internal list of the Parliament. The article reveals the importance of an MP maintaining an office in his constituency in order to strengthen the relationship between him and his constituency.

This relationship was the topic of a dialogue held at the headquarters of NDI Yemen last Thursday, Feb 22. This article did not exist before, but it may have been added to strengthen the MP’s role in his constituency, said Dr. Saadaldeen Talib, Program Manager at NDI Yemen. Despite this, only a handful of MPs have offices in their constituencies. The discussion was attended by 17 MPs, journalists, representatives from NGOs, researchers, and lawyers in an open forum where each one expressed his ideas. Dr. Najib Ghanem, Abdul-Aziz Jubari, and Ahmed al-Sweil, all members of the parliament, spoke about their experiences of maintaining offices in their respective constituencies.

Through these experiences, they were able to relay important information about interactions with the people they were elected to represent. “The office I established in constituency number 12 is considered to be the first of its kind. I made sure to make it in the center and on a main street to be available for every one to reach,” said Dr. Ghanem. “The main problems we hear about at the office are generally economic in nature, or the lack of basic services in the region.” “I usually ask the people of my constituency to support the office by offering ideas to be submitted to the parliament.

They have to know that the MP is not an employee of the government, but of the people. They are the ones who pay me. I do not have a contract with the government, but with them when they elected me,” he said. “I had the goal that if I became an MP, I would help all the people as best I could,” said Jubari. “After I was elected, the first thing I thought to do was to establish an office in the middle of Dhamar. After that, I thought that besides serving citizens I had to inform them; so we started a newspaper,” he said.

“We also came up with the idea of a collective wedding in which my son was one of the grooms.” “Before I was elected, I had developed my own platform that dealt with the issues directly related to the constituency—specifically, the establishment of a Parliamentary Office within the constituency,” said al-Sweil.

Al-Sweil described to the group what he believed were five important keys for every MP if he wants to have a successful relationship with his constituency. He has to have a parliamentary and electoral knowledge about the components of his constituency; he should have an analysis social and political reading on the political structure of his constituency and the relationships important to them; he should have a plan and a prioritized program to address the major problems of the region; he should have a list of the characters, organizations, and political parties in the constituency; and he should have a committee composed of five persons to support him.

The participants generally agreed that an MP representing an urban area faces different circumstances than one from a rural area. “This could be due to many factors: social, economic, and political. A disparity in the level of education may require special considerations,” said Ali Abo Holaiqah, head of the constitutional committee. Carlo Binda, NDI deputy country director, explained how such a problem is dealt with in Canada. “We have some members who represent cities and some who represent vast rural constituencies.

One of the ways in which we deal with vast distances that need to be approached is that they have differential funding for constituency operations so instead of getting one lump some for the operation of the constituency office; they break it down on cost items,” he said. “It helps those people who live in rural Canada with more resources to be able to reach remote locations. But the single most important thing about that source of funding is that it cannot be used for partisan purposes.”

“The main concern for constituents in rural areas is to have infrastructure facilities such as roads, health care centers, etc. MPs are required to play the role of local councilors,” he added. The lack of technical support was a major issue among the MPs; as a result NDI offered all available technical support to help them run their offices efficiently.

NDI has prepared a video that explains an MP’s role as a part of the working Yemeni government. “The video was shown to some school children in Mr. Abdul-Aziz Jubari’s constituency, and they found it very helpful,” said Binda. NDI offered to come to the assembled MPs’ constituencies to show the video and assist them in discussions with constituents about the role of the MP. “The video will be available for everybody,” said Binda.

For MPs who have staff in constituency offices, NDI will try to arrange a three-day workshop. MPs should bring their staff, and they are also welcomed to join them. The dialogue ended in general agreement on the need for MPs to open their own offices.

It was also agreed that the MP should refrain from partisan politics, to better represent his citizens; they should help their citizens overcome partisanship; and apply decentralization of power, which gives an MP more authority.