Free Yahia Al-Dheeb

This letter to the US ambassador in Sana’a was written by the Familyof Yahia Al-Dheeb, who was kidnapped last week. Aj-Dheeb was the first soldier to join the peaceful revolution defecting from Ali Abdullah Saleh’s troops last year, risking his life for Yemen.

Although Major General Ali Mohsen eventually also defected, whenAl-Dheeb spoke to the Yemen Times in October last year, he criticized Ali Mohsen, again risking his life. Al-Dheeb was kidnapped from Sana’a’s Sabeen Street on Saturday Feb. 11, 2012 and has not been heard from since.

Check the interview here :  http://shaza171.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/faces-from-yemens-revolution-yahia-al-dheeb/

Please help Al-Dheeb by spreading the word. for more information read his family letter to the USA ambassador as the last hope to find him.

Date: February 17, 2012

Dear Mr. Ambassador Gerald Michael Feierstein
Embassy of the United States of America
Sana’a – Republic of Yemen

Dear Sir,

CALL FOR HELP

We are very sorry for interrupting your busy schedule reading this letter, as we do recognize your hard efforts supporting the whole Republic of Yemen during these difficult circumstances. However, we tried our best to resolve our problem without referring back to you, but it seems you are our last and final hope.

Our problem started when our brother, Yahia Ali Yahia Al-Dheeb a President’s Armed Forces soldier of Ali Abdullah Saleh, decided to practice his citizen right of saying no when things are not going right. On 20 February 2011, he was the first person from the President’s Armed Forces joined peacefully the protesters at Al-Tagheer Square.

During the previous year, he was called many times to attend to the president’s palace to discuss his demands, however, he was afraid of going back and he was believing that his demands are all Yemenis’ demands. Due to his refusal, and being the only one from the President’s Armed Force joining the protesters, the investigation team of General Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, tried their bests to locate his place to take him back to the base, but they couldn’t.

After General Ali Muhseen Al Ahmer joined the protesters, it became less important to capture him; therefore, he started to live normally, exiting the square and coming back home. He further decided to look after his family that consists of two wives and 3 kids (2 lovely girls and an ambitious boy). He borrowed some money and purchased a taxi that was making some decent income to recover the unpaid salary.

On 11 February 2012, we lost all contacts with him. We were unable to reach him via mobile and he did not show up again at home. Three days after, we received a call from someone, who said that he was with Yahia (as a taxi customer) when the President’s Security check point at Al Musbahi Square, in front of Yemen Germany Hospital, caught them. Yahia and his car were taken by the President’s Security Force and they hardly left the passenger after they ensured that he has no links with Yahia. We were lucky that Yahia gave our number to this passenger and we carry huge respect to him taking an action and calling us.

After many contacts with his colleagues, one of them confirmed that he saw his taxi in the President’s Palace Parking Yard. We tried many times to reach the Palace, and reached nowhere. Various calls made and the responses were contradicting by either denying him being in the Palace, or confirming that General Tariq wants him.

We did not stop here, we further protested in front of the Prime Minister’s Office. They were very cooperative as they requested three representatives to meet the Country Minister of Prime Ministry Authority, Mrs. Jawhara and we did. We gave her a copy of our complain letter as she promised to discuss it with the Prime Minister. She was very nice and cooperative as she further promised to contact the Minister of Defense to further discuss this topic with him. At the time we left Mrs. Jawhara’s office, we also met Mrs. Horiah Mashhoor, Human Rights Minister, and discussed this topic with here. She was also cooperative as she promised to follow up and feed us back. However, the image is totally dark and this scares us.

You may have notice that we did our best, but reached nowhere and concluded no hopes. All family members are disappointed and we feel we lost him.

We wrote this letter as our last hope to get your support on this matter as we truly believe that USA, as a whole country, government and citizens are the leaders calling and fighting for democracy and we believe Yahia did nothing wrong other than practicing his democracy right.

We also know that this letter may not reach your hands, and we respect that, being busy resolving bigger nation issues, however, if it did reach your hands, please HELP for the sake of making a change in this country and for the sake of having a father back home looking after his kids, wives and parents.

Please accept our advance thanks and may god give you more health and power supporting Yemen overcoming the current critical circumstances.

Best regards,

Family of Yahia Ali Yahia Al-Dheeb
A protester and an ex-soldier of President Ali Saleh Armed Forces

American Drone Strikes Provoke Yemenis Against Interim Government

ABYAN, Feb. 1 — Many Yemenis, and especially those in Abyan governorate, are blaming the new government for a loss of sovereignty after a US drone strike killed 11 Al-Qaeda members on Yemeni soil on Monday. The drones fired four missles; two exploded and the remaining two are still ‘active’ and “may explode at any time,” eyewitnesses – who have been present for such strikes in the past – told the Yemen Times. The missiles sit 50 meters away from the nearest village. “Three Al-Qaeda leaders are confirmed to be dead, while another two were wounded” said Amr Al-Tammah, a cameraman who was working in the area at the time of the attack. He said that the other six were members of Al-Qaeda. “All the health centers refused to deal with the remains and corpses of the dead members of  Al-Qaeda,” said Khaled Al-Abda, a reporter in Abyan. On Wednesday morning, one of the two wounded men died. He was buried by Ansar Al-Sharia at their cemetery on Wednesday afternoon. The Yemen Times has learned that Naser Al-Wahaishi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was not among the dead. Al-Tammah told the Yemen Times that the first strike happened at 10:45 PM at Imkhader village. The strikes targeted a vehicle belonging to the group; the first attempt missed, while the second strike successfully struck the target. “The attack was in a place in the desert where locals usually play football,” said Al-Tammah. One of the killed leaders, Fathi Ma’wala, is claimed to be a relative of vice president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Saeed Al-Jumhi, a research specialist in terrorism and militant groups, said that what happened doesn’t necessarily indicate anything negative against the upcoming president or that he might have relatives with links to Al-Qaeda. However, Al-Jumhi said that if the upcoming president does have relatives linked to Al-Qaeda, this might provide an opportunity to fight terrorism. “VP Hadi is from Al-Wadhee’ in Abyan; his being from the area would help convince locals to forgo Al-Qaeda, and that Al-Qaeda powers should withdraw from the area,” he explained. One of the reasons the public protested against the regime last year was it’s record of allowing the US to take military actions on Yemeni lands as part of their counter-terrorism strategy. The National Unity government was expected to assuage public anger and act on its demands. “It’s frustrating that the National Unity government could not keep Yemeni sovereignty on Yemeni air and land, but they do face big challenges…it is early to blame them” said Mohammed al-Said, Abyan local council member. Al-Said added however that the council can’t offer any reassurances to Abyan citizens that such strikes won’t hit them or that their lives are safe. “The local council has been marginalized for six months now as a result of the governorate’s security situation. One of the threats in the area is these drone strikes,” he said. For his part, Al-Jumahi warned that American drone activity could allow terrorist groups to grab public sympathy fast, allowing them to recruit more members. “The military attacks against these groups will help in eliminating two or three or even ten terrorists but on the other hand will provide the militant groups with acceptable excuses for being in the area. This will make people stand on their sides and picture the situation as an American invasion of Yemen.” He explained that the groups will take advantage of public panic and will make recruitment efforts, convincing people that they will die anyways because of air strikes and that it’s better to die as martyrs, fighting on their side. “They could easily convince people to fight with them, especially as the American drone strike frequently hit civilian locations such as mosques,” he added. Al-Jumahi explained that the National Unity Government faces many challenges in running the country and gaining control over the situation. One of the biggest dangers is that the government could lose control of Aden, one of Yemen’s biggest cities. Therefore, the new government’s international relationships, and especially its relationship with the US, will be even weaker since the US sponsored the very deal that put them in power. “The fact that the government is not in harmony – being as it is a mix between what the regime and the opposition was – they cannot prevent the Americans from attacking Yemeni lands, especially since the US has had permission to do so for a long time.” He added that the best time to blame the National Unity government for such mistakes will be after February 21, when Vice President Hadi will be elected as president for the two-year transitional period. Al-Tammah told the Yemen Times that Al-Qaeda is well-represented in the area, and has checkpoints at which they raise their black flags. http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=35161

نص مشروع قانون الحصانه لصالح و من عمل معه

باسم الشعب:نائب رئيس الجمهورية

بعد الاطلاع على دستور الجمهورية اليمنية

وعلى القرار الجمهوري بالقانون رقم (14) لسنة 1994م بشأن الإجراءات الجزائية.

واستناداً إلى ما ورد في البند ثالثاً من مبادرة دول مجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية الذي أوجب على مجلس النواب بما فيهم المعارضة أن يقر القوانين التي تمنح الحصانة ضد الملاحقة القانونية والقضائية للرئيس ومن عملوا معه خلال فترة حكمه وعلى الفقرة التاسعة من الآلية التنفيذية للمبادرة التي أوجبت على الأطراف اتخاذ الخطوات اللازمة لضمان اعتماد مجلس النواب للتشريعات والقوانين الأخرى اللازمة للتنفيذ الكامل للالتزامات المتعلقة بالضمانات المتعهد بها في مبادرة مجلس التعاون الخليجي وآلياتها التنفيذية الموقعتين في مدينة الرياض بتاريخ 23/11/2011م برعاية كريمة من خادم الحرمين الشريفين الملك/ عبدالله بن عبدالعزيز ووزراء خارجية دول مجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية وسفراء الدول الدائمة العضوية في مجلس الأمن الدولي وسفير الاتحاد الأوروبي المعتمدين في اليمن.

وأخذاً في الاعتبار ما جاء في قرار مجلس الأمن رقم 2014 بتاريخ 21/10/2011م في فقرته الرابعة التي دعت كافة الأطراف في اليمن إلى الالتزام بتنفيذ تسوية سياسية قائمة على هذه المبادرة.

وحرصاً على أن يساهم كل أبناء الشعب اليمني في مسيرة البناء والتنمية

واحتواءً للآثار التي نتجت عن الأزمة الداخلية التي حدثت أثناء الفترة الماضية وما نتج عنها

وتجسيداً لروح التسامح الأصيلة في عقل وضمير الشعب اليمني

ونظراً لمقتضيات المصلحة الوطنية

وبعد موافقة مجلس النواب

أصدرنا القانون التالي نصه:

مادة (1) يمنح الأخ/ علي عبدالله صالح – رئيس الجمهورية- ومن عمل معه في جميع أجهزة ومؤسسات الدولة المدنية والعسكرية والأمنية خلال فترة حكمه حصانة كاملة من الملاحقة القانونية والفضائية في أية شكاوى أو طلبات أو دعاوى قضائية يمكن أن ترفع أو تكون قد رفعت أمام أي جهات قضائية أو إدارية داخل الجمهورية اليمنية أو خارجها وذلك أثناء ممارستهم لمهامهم خلال فترة حكمه.

مادة (2) يعتبر هذا القانون من أعمال السيادة ولا يجوز إلغائه أو الطعن فيه.

مادة (3) يعمل بهذا القانون من تاريخ صدوره وينشر في الجريدة الرسمية.

صدر برئاسة الجمهورية – صنعاء

بتاريخ

الموافق

عبدربه منصور هادي

نائب رئيس الجمهورية

هذه الصورة توضح رأي الشعب الذي نصبوا انفسهم ممثلينهم و الذي اوحوا مسبقا في اعلا النص انهم متحدثن باسمه

Hasaba After The GCC: Still Bleeding

Crossing the road past what residents call “The Great Wall of Hasaba” – a mound of sandbags blocking the road and warning passersby they are entering a war zone, stand big buildings scarred by bullets, shells and the wounds inflicted over months of conflict. Passing the wall into Hasaba, people on the “safe side” shout warnings to turn back – it just too dangerous. Once in Hasaba, you can barely find residents. Those that are walking in the streets are mostly armed tribes, wearing their long Zannas – now a dirty white – guns slung across their backs, or located behind the sandbags with their weapons ready. Despite Ali Abdullah Saleh’s signature on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative last month, clashes continue in Hasaba, where tribal figures of the Hashid Confederation, the biggest tribal confederation in Yemen, have fought the state since late May. The first round of fighting lasted almost 16 days before a truce was agreed. However, it was not implemented by either side and the conflict has been ongoing since. Residents have repeatedly abandoned their homes and fled the fighting, only to return and be forced to leave again. The children that remain in Hasaba have learned how to hide when the shooting starts, though they also collect the shells and bullets they find. A father told his eight-year-old son to bring the spent shells he had been playing with while his six-year-old daughter displayed the bullets she collects. “My children are like any others in this area, they have come to know the differences between the weapons since the clashes started. They are experts,” he said, making fun of the situation. Small steps Small steps towards stability have been taken since the Gulf deal was signed in November 23, following ten months of protests and public calls for an end to Saleh’s regime of more than three decades. Vice President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi is now the acting president according to the GCC initiative and has named the new prime minister as well as calling for early elections on February 21 – an election where he will be the sole candidate of both the ruling General People’s Congress and the opposition Joint Meeting Parties coalition. Since the GCC, a number of Hasaba residents, who had escaped to their villages or other safer areas in the capital returned to their homes. “After the GCC deal was signed I thought things would improve, therefore I brought my family back, but now I realize it will never improve and I am taking them back to the rented house I sent them to before,” said a resident, in the process of filling a taxi with his family and their belongings for the third time. Mohammed Khalil, Frist Armored Division Brigadier General based in Hasaba, has his troops spread around the area to “protect public buildings”, while the troops and tribesmen await orders to leave Hasaba. Some say they will go once the military committee, formed this week, begins removing arms and troops from cities, other say they will go after the elections in February. Hasaba’s residents are also waiting for those orders so that they can feel safe and return to their homes. The war never seems to end or to have a reason to continue; no one seems to care about civilians, according to residents, Amal and Ahlam, who did not want to give their full names for security reasons. They live near the old headquarters of the General People’s Congress, which was severely damaged during the first round of war. When the Yemen Times met them, Amal and Ahlam had only returned to get the rest of their belongings and were not moving back to their home, despite the GCC deal. “Our house was shelled by both sides, both Al-Ahmers and the state shelled our house as they thought our neighbors were armed, but we were the least damaged,” said Ahlam. Some of their neighbor’s homes had damage from RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades), and you can clearly see the path of the bullets and blasts going from one side of the wall to the other. In the house next door, a pregnant woman was lying, exhausted in a room also damaged by shelling, while her mother-in-law said: “This is how we live,” indicating the hard life they lead in the damaged house that they only got. “We are four families and when they are shelling we all have to sleep downstairs in the same room to stay safe.” A glimpse of normality Life seemed to resume to some extent in Hasaba after the Gulf deal was signed in Riyadh because people were optimistic they would be safer, even though Al-Ahmer tribes in the area did not sign the accord. However, the militant tribesmen occupying buildings in Hasaba claimed that Shiekh Sadeq Al-Hamer pays rent to the building’s owner so that his men can stay, giving an even more permanent air to the situation. “We are not leaving the area until the new government is formed “ said one of the tribesmen. “We came all the way to Sana’a from Amran a month ago, we are not leaving until we make sure the GCC is implemented.” http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=34922

Armed opposition gaining ground in Taiz

By: Emad Al-Sakkaf & Shatha Al-Harazi

TAIZ, Nov. 30 — A man was killed and three others, including a child, were injured after a shell hit the BeerBasha area in west Taiz on Tuesday. Forces of the 33rd Division of the Khalid Republican Guards Camp avenged the kidnapping of a number of their soldiers by the armed opposition while also attempting to recover a main street connecting Taiz city and Al-Makha port on the Red Sea currently under the control of armed opposition. “Suddenly there was shelling everywhere as the armed opposition and state military fought each other over our heads,” one of the frightened residents of BeerBasha told The Yemen Times. He added that the armed opposition seems to be winning as they managed to control BeerBasha and create their own checkpoints preventing government reinforcements from reaching the state military forces. However, the report was strongly denied by a state security official who told The Yemen Times that no shelling took place in Taiz on Tuesday and “our forces did not hit residential areas”. He added that the opposition Islah religious militia took over streets in Al-Hasab, BeerBasha and the airport locality. “They [Islah] kidnapped the Shamayatain district director Ahmed Abdo Saif along with five soldiers and attacked the electricity office director Adeeb Al-Shawafi who was injured before they ransacked his car.” “The Islah militia are escalating their armed operations in Taiz and taking over new areas in order to foil the Gulf initiative,” said the state security source. Taiz is the second biggest city in Yemen; the anti-government revolution started in Taiz before it hit Sana’a and the city has been a hotspot of violence. Taiz is regularly shelled by the army. There are daily marches in large numbers in Taiz calling for the prosecution of honorary President Saleh. The power transition accord was signed in the Saudi capital Riyadh last week, the agreement guarantees immunity to Saleh. The protesters march for different reasons. Some march in favorer of the Gulf Cooperation Council deal, others march against the deal but the largest group march against the regime and the political opposition who signed the agreement with Saleh. They often use the slogan “the departure of all”.  The “departure of all” marches have led to internal fighting among the protesters themselves. Taiz has repeatedly been a target by the military. Local shelling led tribal groups to fight the military. Militant groups in Taiz are headed by Shiekh Hamood of Al-Mekhafi, whose group is spread across the city. After the GCC deal was signed on November 23 a truce was signed between the military and the militant groups, in which the military checkpoints were removed for two days, however, the militants then took over the checkpoints. http://yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=34894

Women’s Wall will not limit women’s role in Change Square

After ten months of Yemeni revolution, the Islamists decided to build a wooden wall to separate women from men in Change Square. In the first months of the Yemeni revolution there were no restrictions between men and women. For some reason, the gender differences in Yemen’s traditional, highly conservative society disappeared while people were busy protesting, setting up tents and arranging their lives in the square.On just the second day of protests, one brave woman decided to pitch her tent among the men. Women began to march with men, live in the square with men and protest alongside men. When Saleh famously accused them of “mingling with men”, they rose up in their tens of thousands, showing just how strong Yemeni women really are. Since then, women’s marches have become a common sight in Sana’a and the fact that women are heard, that they can raise their demands to the world, reflects the improving political role of women in Yemen. Yet today, after ten months of growing political participation by women, the Islah party has erected a fence to segregate the sexes. “It is not only a wall, it has a political and social meaning beyond it,” said one of the female protesters at Change Square. “It is a way to measure the changes in women’s mentality after ten months of protests,” she said. “Will they rebel against the wall or will they obey orders and keep it?” Gender equality is one of the principles of Change Square, as it is a symbol of the society that the revolutionaries want to promote once their demands have been met. While tiny changes have been taking place in Yemen’s conservative society, with people accepting that women stay in tents on the streets to stand up for their beliefs, the role of women in the revolution remains controversial. Some believe that these changes will lead to more freedom for women while others say women are simply being used to fulfill the opposition’s aims and once their goals have been achieved, women will no longer be heard. The wall represents that fear. Afraa Al-Habori, an active female protester who has shone in Change Square, has started a Facebook campaign to break the wall. “Islah responded to our campaign against the wall and cut it down in size, they cut it to please us yet still leave it for privacy. But still for me the whole idea of the wall is unacceptable,” said Al-Habori. Some male protesters try to justified the wall, saying it was set up to make the women feel more comfortable, so they can sit, eat and prey without men staring at them. “It [the wall] is only to grant them [the women] more freedom” said Mohammed Al-Taeeb, a protester in the square. Summer Al-Jarbani, a third year student at the Mass Communication collage, in Sana’a university and an activist since the start of the revolution, told the Yemen Times that she is amazed by the role she and her sister are playing in the revolution, leaving behind society’s “narrow judgments on women,” and that the wall will not take away what they have gained. “We live near the square, my whole family is supporting the revolution and that is the gap that allowed change to pass through into their mentality,” said Al-Jarbani, “Before the revolution I would never dare to not be home by Magreb prayer [sunset time], but now I can stay the night at the square and my family is ok with it.” Al-Jarbani added that her two sisters help with nursing in the square and their family respect the roles they play. She and her sisters usually spend the night at the square after there have been attacks, so they can help the wounded. “One day I came home late with my sisters from the square at 10pm, we expected to be told off for being late but when we entered everyone was gathered around the TV watching the news that another attack was happening right then. I started crying for them and my father told me to go to the square immediately to help,” she explained. Al-Jarbani said that she would never have dared to ask her father’s permission to go to the square at midnight but the revolution created “a miracle.” He is from the conservative Hamdan tribe but now his mentality has changed. Al-Habori, who was one of the first participators in Change Square, said it is Yemen’s traditions and culture that is cropping up in the square – the wall is not something unique to the square. “This [wall] represents women’s role in society, not in the square.” Some female activists like to describe their experience in Change Square as two revolutions; one against the regime and the second against Yemen’s male-dominated society. Others like to brag that the Yemeni revolution was led by a woman from the beginning. Tawakul Karman ended up representing the Yemeni revolution around the world, winning the Noble Peace Prize for her efforts. She was also the one who delivered Saleh’s crimes to the International Criminal Court after the political opposition signed an accord granting him immunity. But despite these achievements, the issue of how women’s roles have been affected – whether they have improved or deteriorated – during the ten-month revolution is still a big question. Women’s rights NGOs are designing programs to empower the Yemeni woman politically, to make sure she becomes a partner in the country’s political life rather than simply being told what to do by men in the squares. “The wall means nothing to us, they [Islah] can have their wall there, but we still have the whole square to do whatever we want,” said Al-Jurbani. http://yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=34884#.TtaJf4Flf14.twitter

Waiting for Saleh’s help: Three years in a tent

Ten meters from a gas station in Haddah Street, central Sana’a, a man has been camping in a tent with his four children since April 2008. Naji Mohammed Al-Qulaifi is seeking justice from the state; he chose his new home of the last three years because the gas station is close to one of the homes of president Ali Abdullah Saleh. “My cause began before any revolution,” said Al-Qulaifi from his camp at the gas station. He believes that if Saleh had responded to his cause, the protests demanding that the president step down would not have happened. Many camp in tents these days seeking rights and justice, but al-Qulaifi has a different cause, he did not join the people in their anti-government sit-ins, and he claims he began the idea of camping to gain his rights. In Yemen you might hear people complain that the president has full authority over in every element in the country – even people’s daily lives. But although he might give orders to hire someone, return land or settle a dispute, his orders are often ignored by officials – as Al-Qulaifi’s story proves. Saleh’s orders ignored He told the Yemen Times that he had twice received orders from the president to turn around the injustices he and his family have faced – but each time the order came to nothing. From his tent covered in appeals and objections, just 10 meters from a queue of 15 cars at the petrol station, Al-Qulaifi told the Yemen Times his story. “I pray to God and cry every night to find justice,” said Al-Qulaifi. “I have ‘lost’ two daughters and sons and above all my wife since this all started”. Al-Qulaifi’s story began after a car accident in 2001 while working as the director of roads and constrictions in Otma district. While injured, members of the local council of Otma took advantage of his absence to build illegal buildings. Two months later when Al-Qulaifi returned to work and found out, he complained to the local council. But following his complaint, the local council suspended him temporarily in 2002 and permanently in 2003. According to Al-Qulaifi, the local council tricked him into going to the local jail to receive some papers to resume work, but when he arrived he was arrested. “When I entered the jail they closed the doors. I asked why and they said ‘you are under arrest’,” said Al-Qulaifi. He spent three months in jail without a warrant. On the second morning after his arrest, security forces broke into his house. “When I got out of jail I found out that security forces were occupying my yard and had built a compound.” After his release, Al-Qulaifi raised the cause with Rashad Al-Alimi, the interior minister at the time. Eventually Al-Alimi decided that Al-Qulaifi could have 10 meters of his own 30 meter yard returned to him, with 20 meters remaining as a security compound. “My wife died of a heart attack after the security forces broke into my house, with no respect for the women inside.” His sons then decided to smuggle two of his older daughters to their tribe, fearing their reputations after security occupied his yard. They left him with the four younger children, aged between four and seven, to deter him from using violence to get revenge. And Al-Qulaifi did succeed in raising attention for his cause; twice the president stopped as he passed by on his way home during Ramadan last year. He gave him a signed order to resolve the situation but it was not implemented. In a bid to put an end to his protest, Al-Qulaifi was again was taken to jail – with his four children – at the beginning of this year, where they were kept for a week. “Many police cars came took him by force when took him,” said Mohammed Al-Jabry, the workshop owner at the petrol station. “At first he was resisting with his Jumbya but they managed to take it from him.” However, Al-Qulaifi has vowed to stay where he is until his cause is solved either by a new government or by president Saleh. He still receives his salary of 40,000 YR but wants his house and job back, and compensation. Formal system is ‘ineffective’ A report by the The Hague Institute for Internationalization of Law last year found that many of Al-Qulaifi’s concerns reflect the most important legal issues for Yemenis. However, it added that the formal system is seen as costly, overloaded, corrupt, inaccessible and ineffective. “This is why most Yemenis give up on claiming their rights through the official channels and resort to other means whether through mediation or arbitration or using any form of protest,” it said. And while Al-Qulaifi’s might be extreme, it is yet another example of the corruption and lack of a rule of law, endemic in Yemen. Last year Yemen ranked 146 out of 178 countries in the world corruption index, compiled each year by Transparency International. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most transparent, Yemen scored 2.2. This was a fall of eight places since 2009 when Yemen ranked 156 – and it remains to be seen how nine months of unrest has affected the situation this year. http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=34739

Fresh violence follows Saleh and Muhsen truce

SANAA, Oct.26 — Loud explosions were heard in the capital following Tuesday’s announcement of a truce between the conflicting parties. According to eyewitnesses, the explosions continued in residential areas including Rubata Street, Hail Street, Al-Zubairi Street and Sofan Street. “We kept hearing the explosions getting stronger and stronger; we can tell if it is close or far after months of suffering this situation,” said Ahmed Al-Solwi, a resident of Hail Street. The alleged truce between President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s forces and the defected Major General of the First Armored Division, Ali Mohsen, began at 1500 on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Yemen Embassy in Washington. “Announcement of a ceasefire in the capital city of Sana’a following weeks of destructive and deadly clashes. The implementation of the truce began today at 1500 hours local time, Sana’a,” it read. The statement also mentioned that a designated committee would oversee the removal of checkpoints and barricades. “The accord highlights the importance of protecting the lives of innocent civilians by ending the armed occupation of public and private properties. In order to restore peace in the capital, armed factions are to depart the city,” said the statement. “Furthermore, law enforcement units will be positioned at public installations and detained individuals will be released. The truce announcement has included a clear timeline for the practical implementation of the demilitarization process.” However, the ceasefire does not appear to have been implemented; just a few hours later the violence resumed in Hassaba and Sofan. Asker Zuail, Ali Mohsen’s spokesman, denied the statement. However, a source in the Division, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Yemen Times that there had been a ceasefire but the Division’s allies had not known and continued shelling so the truce ended. As a result of the lack of transparency, the public lost their trust in any information they get on the military level. Receiving news of the ceasefire, protesters told the Yemen Times that the truce was a ruse to win time for Saleh forces to prepare for a bigger assault. “No one knows the truth, the truce could last for two hours or two days, but for sure they will get back to fight soon” said activist Atiaf Al-Wazeer. Before the “ceasefire” there was heavy shelling on both Tuesday and Wednesday with at least 21 deaths and many more injured in clashes and shelling around the city. http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=34735

Harmful substance sprayed at protesters

Ali Saeed and Shatha Al-HaraziPublished:27-10-2011 SANA’A, Oct 26 — Yemen’s security forces used an unknown substance, mixed with water, to disperse protesters in  Sana’a on Tuesday morning. The protesters were attempting to cross the red lines off Change Square and in front of Sana’a University, according to eyewitnesses. “When the march reached the fish market (southeast of Change Square), government security forces used water cannons to spray protesters with a strange water, which led to some protesters being admitted to the field hospital with serious burns on their faces and backs,” said Waleed Al-Amari, a protester who attended the march. Around 15 people were taken to the field hospital with serious burns, and some are still under treatment, according to Al-Amari. The field hospital – a non-governmental entity – stated on its Facebook page that “three cases involved infection by white phosphorus, while over 200 cases were infected with other different, unknown substances”. Al-Amari, who has been camping in the square demanding the removal of President Saleh for around nine months, explained that a similar mix of liquids was used against protesters on the 18th and the 19th of September, when security forces fired water cannons filled with sewage, which caused serious wounds among protesters. However, Abd Al-Rasheed Al-Faqih, a human rights activist who often verifies such claims by protesters and medical workers in the field hospital, told the Yemen Times that “physicians who have political affiliations and work in the field hospital sometimes issue rapid judgments over the sort of substance used, and without checking. “It is difficult to say accurately what sort substance was used. It might be white phosphorus or water mixed with other materials, or possibly sewage water,” said Al-Faqih. He added that a female doctor at the field hospital told him that some protesters had sustained first- and second-degree burns due to the use of mixed water against protesters. Yemen’s uprising erupted last February, with demands for an end to Saleh’s 33-year-long regime. Hundreds of peaceful protesters have been shot dead and thousands injured throughout the nine-month-long nationwide protests, according to Amnesty International. Around 152 protesters were killed between September 18 and October 25, according to the field hospital. Four of them were children. http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=34727

Clashes follow UN resolution

SANA’A, Oct. 23 — Following the issuing of a United Nations Security Council resolution, at least twenty soldiers have been reported dead in clashes between the regime forces and the defected First Armored Divison on October 15. The violence occurred in Sana’a's Sofan, Hasaba and al-Madhbah neighborhoods. Mohsen vowed on March 21 of this year to protect the youth movement that has been protesting to topple president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year-old regime. Saleh headed a Defense Council meeting on Sunday in which he was given a green light to continue battling with his opponents in Sana’a's streets. Meanwhile, clashes also resumed on Sunday on Hail street, with one man and one woman reported dead after receiving bullet wounds to the head after snipers opened fire. “These people were just passersby, and ended up being sniped by thugs atop roofs “said Saleem Alawo, a lawyer for the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms [HOOD]. Eyewitnesses from Hail Street told the Yemen Times that the clashes between Saleh’s troops and the Division led the public between Zubairi Street and Al-Quba Al-Khadra to panic. “At 8:10 this morning, I was on the bus. When the bus passed by Al-Zubairy Street, troops from both sides suddenly fired on each other from a distance of less than 50 meters and with civilians, cars and buses in the middle,” said Abdulbasit Al-Shamery. Ahmeed Al-Zaidi, a protester whose tent sits near where a shell hit, told the Yemen Times that he doesn’t mind dying while protesting and therefore will stay at his tent regardless of the risks to his life. On Saturday, representatives of Mohsin’s First Armored Division announced that they have in their possession a recording of a phone call between president Saleh and his son in which the latter was urged to shell and destroy the First Armored Division’s headquarters. The headquarters sit north of Change Square, where the ongoing anti-government sit-in is located. Representatives also claimed that Saleh pushed for the shelling of Sana’a's Hasaba neighborhood. The Division claimed that Saleh told his son to kill all present in Hasaba. A source at the Presidential Palace declined that the president directed his son to order such violent attacks. The source continued to say that talking about recording a phone call is ridiculous and that the story has been  fabricated by the Division in an effort to drag the country into war. This anonymous man was snipped in Hail Street on Sunday. Asker Zuail, a spokesman for General Mohsin, promised to release the recording, in addition to more details on the recent days’ shellings. Following the violence, anti-government protesters marched on Sunday from Change Square to Al-Rabat Street, even after recent attacks by regime thugs and Central Security forces. On their latest march to the Al-Qa’a area, hundreds of protesters where surrounded by thugs and some were even kidnapped. “Last week’s kidnapped protesters were eventually set free,” said Saleem Alawo. “Five of the protesters were arrested by Central Security with no charges. Central Security took the five arrested protesters to Al-Olofi police station, and then transferred them to the Central Security again. When one of them managed to escape, they where then taken to a third location, which HOOD has not yet been able to identify.” The UN Security Council condemned Human Rights violations in Yemen following the previous attacks made against protesters. “Strongly condemning what are called human rights violations by authorities, and abuses by other actors, in Yemen following months of political strife, the Security Council this afternoon demanded that all sides immediately reject violence, and called on them to commit to a peaceful transition of power based on proposals by the major regional organization of the Arabian Gulf,” read a Security Council statement released on Friday. http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=34708