ID :
105007
Sat, 02/06/2010 - 21:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/105007
The shortlink copeid
Yemen refutation of HRW report on south and east Translated by: Fuad Rajeh
SANA'A, Feb. 06 (Saba) - The Ministry of Human Rights has refuted the report of the Human Rights Watch released in mid-December, saying it was totally baseless carrying misinformation about the situations in some Yemeni cities.
The report that focused on the eastern and southern provinces contained
fabrications and untrue facts, the ministry said in a statement replying to the
report.
The government always takes international reports on Yemen transparently to deal
with and answer them, and it also believes that international human rights
monitoring and
reporting are a healthy phenomenon that can help emerging democracies to have abroad
knowledge about human rights and freedom, the ministry said.
'We found the report of the HRW was negatively employed and politically motivated,
providing no incentives to ensure better human rights and public freedom in the
country.'
'Anyone who goes deeply through the report lines can discover those who conducted it
had been partial and relied on unconfirmed stories.
The report also did not separate between the concepts of combating crime and
violation.' The first concept is legal, while the second remains attacking the
people and their
rights on illegal grounds, the ministry said.
Moreover, the report did not specify field sources of its information including
fabricated violations and it regrettably re-reported stories posted and published
by websites
and papers run by the opposition, the ministry said, adding that the report did not
take into account mandatory measures the government may take to defend the country's
and
the people's interest and impose the rule of law.
Urging reporters to exercise maximum accuracy as to what they report, the ministry
refuted the report as following: - The report interviewed only 80 people, that it
called
victims and eyewitnesses. - The team who conducted it comprised only of three
people, and if we take into account information it contained and the time the three
spent in
Yemen, almost two weeks, we will find they relied on previously readied information.
- The team met with officials and diplomats but never published their accounts and
the report might be leaked to the HRW before meeting Yemeni officials. - The report
was
based on information from uncensored outlets including videos, mainly made during
protests and on website information mainly youtubes, contradicting the HRW's view of
freedom
of media. - The report claimed that the team of the HRW accurately investigated all
videos and shots and there were not armed protestors as the government said, though
most
of protests included armed acts by outlaw elements. - The team approved they were
never faced by direct intervention by the government. - The team said they were
advised
not to pay visits to Radfan in Lahj, Dhale, Shabwa and Abyan as it was risky to go
their, hence, there was not an accurate field coverage of the situation in these
regions.
This also means that the team proved armed outlaw elements were roaming in allegedly
covered areas. - The HRW also said that authorities showed readiness to meet its
teams
and missions.
Background Refutation: The report included that in 1993 parliamentary elections,
the people in the south elected southern candidates, Socialist Party Nominees, and
the people
in the north elected northern candidates, members of the Ruling and Reform Parties,
and this proved that those who conducted the report had no idea about the emerging
democracy
in Yemen.
- The report accused northern tribes of attacking southern military unites in
Amran, a move that triggered the 1994 war, but all this was untrue. - The report
accused the
government of sending southern officers to coercive retirement and replacing them
with northern military officers. It also noted that the southern people did not get
shares
of the wealth in their lands, leading to the emergence of the secessionist movement.
What the report said in this regard lacked evidence because the government has
already
established treatments to rights demands and the wealth the report talked about is
within sovereign public resources.
- The report said that all security systems and institutions in Yemen were involved
in violations against the people in the south and doubted the jurisdictions of the
authorities.
The ministry: the report bore sophism on this point because it mentioned systems
that had nothing to do with the situations in the south and all said about the
security authorities
were just baseless facts derived from outlaw elements.
Refuting the Report on the Southern Secessionist Movement ( Al Hirak): - The report
said that the first emergence of the movement started with simple demands including
reinstating
the retirees, claiming the government oppressed protestors from the first moment. In
fact, what the report said was untrue because the government has since 2007 embarked
on resolving demands, with about 95 per cent of them done.
The rest 5 per cent were illegal demands that included unreal and dead names in
1970s and 1980s.
- The report also noted that among the demands of the movement were reducing
prices, creating more job opportunities and providing better public services. The
refutation
is that these demands remained general sought by all the Yemeni people amid economic
difficulties in Yemen.
- The report contradicted itself when it said that there was unanimity among all
the southern people towards the Hirak, though it pointed at the same time that the
Hirak
was not fixed and cohesive.
- It also contradicted itself when it said that the HRW team had investigated the
photos and videos on protests and there were not armed protestors, though later it
said
that there were armed clashes between police and protestors. - What the report said
about northerners harassed in the south by secessionists was also a clear evidence
of
the report contradiction, as it said that the movement was peaceful.
- In this context, the report accused people, it named as sympathizers with the
movement, of committing subversive acts in an effort to clear the secessionists of
lawbreaking.
- Moreover, it said that members of the Hirak carried out attacks on military posts
in the countryside killing troops, in confirmation that the members of the movement
took
guns against the authorities. - The report said that the team was briefed on a
video that showed members of the movement attacking military camps with automatic
guns, contradicting
previous words in it that said there were no armed members of the Hirak. These
sentences also confirmed how violent the movement was against the authorities. - The
organization
also said that it saw armed protestors around the house of Tariq Al Fadhli, a
prominent leader in the movement, which clashed with police and also said that it
got videos
showing armed members of the Hirak surrounding the house carrying machine guns,
missile launchers and anti-tank missiles, who later took part in protests and
clashed with
police.
-The report pointed to the suffering of the northerners living in the south, saying
some of them were killed and their shops looted after they declined warnings about
their
staying in the south.
- Though the report said that the northerners killed haggled with their killers
they would give up all their rights if they were not killed, it never pointed to
the acts
as violations and outlaw crimes.
On al-Qaeda: what the report said that the government linked the organization to
the Hirak in an attempt to beat the movement, citing a statement by the leader of
al-Qaeda
in Yemen Nasser al-Wuhaishi that said the organization supports the Hirak, was
contradictory.
The terror operations in al-Ma'ajala area in Abyan by coutnerterror forces and the
position of the Hirak and al-Qaeda on them also proved they are in relationship.
Illegal Use of ' Excessive Deadly Power against Protestors': Those who conducted
the report had no idea about the Yemeni law on the organization of demonstrations,
with
the report team saying that those who want to hold a protest must take permission
from the three authorities, while the law enshrines that permission must be taken
from the
Interior Ministry. The report also said that the international law on human rights
gives the right to the governments to take necessary measures against violent and
armed
protestors, affirming protestors in south Yemen had guns and attacked the people
from northern cities and troops.
The question remains: how can the government preserve security and stability amid
such gangs, if the report forbids all measures taken even those under human rights
laws?
- In all the details of the report on some protests in the south, it was noticed
that all stories in the report were told by protestors, hence, it is logic that what
they
told was partial and unfair.
Anyway, the report was totally partial in favor of the outlaw elements and lacked
objectivity and the words used in this regard such as oppression and murdering were
exaggerated
and untrue.
Refuting the Report on Tyrannical Arrests and Unfair Trials: The report said that
all arrests by the authorities of outlaw elements were tyrannical and illegitimate
as well
as an act of confiscating freedom of expression, criticizing security and judicial
authorities, though it said that the people were armed protestors, attacked military
and
economic facilities and attacked the people and looted their properties. - It cited
the texts of international and Yemeni laws that allow the governments to assume
their
responsibilities for protecting personal freedom and the public dignity, accusing
the government of humiliating outlaw elements, as if the laws were established only
for
these people, with the rights of other people who were killed and whose their
properties were confiscated and displaced by outlaws being neglected. - The report
relied on
interviews with some people who were arrested and who spoke of unreal stories and
treatment, totally rejected by Islam and the Yemeni authorities and society. The HRW
team
should have investigated all information through concerned authorities while
conducting the report.
Refuting the Report on Press Censorship and Violations against the Press: - The
report contained allegations that the government confiscated freedom of expression,
suspended
publications, blocked websites and attacked some TV channels, as it noted all
information about the situation in the south were based on concentrated media
coverage.
- It also confirmed that the reporter team did not pay field visits to investigate
the facts, and the questions is: how did the organization get such allegations, if
it
did not take them from outlaw elements? - The report brought up the suspension of
al-Ayyam Newspaper, saying the move was illegal but ignoring that it was within the
enforced
law and constitution that stipulate a paper must be closed in case it commits
illegal acts, like the paper itself did:-The paper spread the culture of hatred,
regionalism,
incitement and violence. - It promulgated the acts of outlaws and subversives.- It
incited committing illegal acts including killing police and people and attacking
their
properties.- It did not exercise credibility and accuracy as well as press partiality.
Refuting the Report on Arresting Some Academics and Opinion Leaders: - The report
noted that academic institutions in the south had elements supporting outlaws and
cadres
who contributed to igniting protests and illegal writing and lectures, and at the
same time it accused the government of arresting the people and confiscating their
rights.
The fact remains that outlaw elements who use academic institutions as stage to
ignite the situation, should help enforce the rule of law and avoid being inciters
and suspected
outlaws.
- The report retold the allegations that all heads of academies and universities in
the south were from northern provinces, while in fact this was evidence that the
team
did not exercise the simplest credibility standards when reporting. Rectors of the
Aden and Hadramout Universities are from Shabwa and Hadramout in the south and
Minister
of Higher Education and Scientific Research Saleh BaSurrah is from Hadramout as well.
Refuting the Recommendations: - The recommendations in the report were directed for
the government, the Hirak and donors, and were supported by allegations of outlaws.
They
urged the government to abandon violence, tyrannical arrest, unfair trials, and
amend the laws on the measures to prevent the confiscation of freedom of expression.
They
also urged the government to close all illegal jails. But they remain based on
baseless stories like the report.
On the recommendation to the Hirak: the report advised the seccessionists to
abandon violence and condemn it as if the HRW wanted to notify the secessionists
they may exercise
violence but they should not announce. The report also advised the secessionists to
report to the HRW on any measures the government may take against them, encouraging
them
to go further with their subversion and violence.
The recommendation to donors and Yemen's neighbors: Doubtless the recommendation
exposed the report's goals, with the HRW inciting donors not to support Yemen and
to place
conditions for aid to the country. And this implied an obvious call for interfering
in Yemen's own matters and depriving Yemen of international aid. The report as whole
was
aimed at direct and public incitement against Yemen's stability, hence, the ministry
had to explain its untrue facts to the public.
General Views of the Report: True information in the report were employed to serve
the outlaw elements, exaggerating about the measures taken to deal with the
situations
in the country as follows: - The report said that police replied to protests through
using the deadly force against peaceful demonstrators without clear reasons and
early
warnings, in a violation of international standards for using the deadly force. It
cited some events.
- The contradiction of the report: though the report said protests were peaceful,
it noted that stones were thrown by protestors forcing anti-riot police to use the
deadly
force. In the six protests in which the organization went deeply investigating the
violations by the government, the report found the government violated all
principles and
when protests turned violent the government then used the deadly force.
- The report ignored that the outlaw elements incited regionalism, murdered
citizens, attacked and killed some police, and sheltered wanted criminals.
The report that focused on the eastern and southern provinces contained
fabrications and untrue facts, the ministry said in a statement replying to the
report.
The government always takes international reports on Yemen transparently to deal
with and answer them, and it also believes that international human rights
monitoring and
reporting are a healthy phenomenon that can help emerging democracies to have abroad
knowledge about human rights and freedom, the ministry said.
'We found the report of the HRW was negatively employed and politically motivated,
providing no incentives to ensure better human rights and public freedom in the
country.'
'Anyone who goes deeply through the report lines can discover those who conducted it
had been partial and relied on unconfirmed stories.
The report also did not separate between the concepts of combating crime and
violation.' The first concept is legal, while the second remains attacking the
people and their
rights on illegal grounds, the ministry said.
Moreover, the report did not specify field sources of its information including
fabricated violations and it regrettably re-reported stories posted and published
by websites
and papers run by the opposition, the ministry said, adding that the report did not
take into account mandatory measures the government may take to defend the country's
and
the people's interest and impose the rule of law.
Urging reporters to exercise maximum accuracy as to what they report, the ministry
refuted the report as following: - The report interviewed only 80 people, that it
called
victims and eyewitnesses. - The team who conducted it comprised only of three
people, and if we take into account information it contained and the time the three
spent in
Yemen, almost two weeks, we will find they relied on previously readied information.
- The team met with officials and diplomats but never published their accounts and
the report might be leaked to the HRW before meeting Yemeni officials. - The report
was
based on information from uncensored outlets including videos, mainly made during
protests and on website information mainly youtubes, contradicting the HRW's view of
freedom
of media. - The report claimed that the team of the HRW accurately investigated all
videos and shots and there were not armed protestors as the government said, though
most
of protests included armed acts by outlaw elements. - The team approved they were
never faced by direct intervention by the government. - The team said they were
advised
not to pay visits to Radfan in Lahj, Dhale, Shabwa and Abyan as it was risky to go
their, hence, there was not an accurate field coverage of the situation in these
regions.
This also means that the team proved armed outlaw elements were roaming in allegedly
covered areas. - The HRW also said that authorities showed readiness to meet its
teams
and missions.
Background Refutation: The report included that in 1993 parliamentary elections,
the people in the south elected southern candidates, Socialist Party Nominees, and
the people
in the north elected northern candidates, members of the Ruling and Reform Parties,
and this proved that those who conducted the report had no idea about the emerging
democracy
in Yemen.
- The report accused northern tribes of attacking southern military unites in
Amran, a move that triggered the 1994 war, but all this was untrue. - The report
accused the
government of sending southern officers to coercive retirement and replacing them
with northern military officers. It also noted that the southern people did not get
shares
of the wealth in their lands, leading to the emergence of the secessionist movement.
What the report said in this regard lacked evidence because the government has
already
established treatments to rights demands and the wealth the report talked about is
within sovereign public resources.
- The report said that all security systems and institutions in Yemen were involved
in violations against the people in the south and doubted the jurisdictions of the
authorities.
The ministry: the report bore sophism on this point because it mentioned systems
that had nothing to do with the situations in the south and all said about the
security authorities
were just baseless facts derived from outlaw elements.
Refuting the Report on the Southern Secessionist Movement ( Al Hirak): - The report
said that the first emergence of the movement started with simple demands including
reinstating
the retirees, claiming the government oppressed protestors from the first moment. In
fact, what the report said was untrue because the government has since 2007 embarked
on resolving demands, with about 95 per cent of them done.
The rest 5 per cent were illegal demands that included unreal and dead names in
1970s and 1980s.
- The report also noted that among the demands of the movement were reducing
prices, creating more job opportunities and providing better public services. The
refutation
is that these demands remained general sought by all the Yemeni people amid economic
difficulties in Yemen.
- The report contradicted itself when it said that there was unanimity among all
the southern people towards the Hirak, though it pointed at the same time that the
Hirak
was not fixed and cohesive.
- It also contradicted itself when it said that the HRW team had investigated the
photos and videos on protests and there were not armed protestors, though later it
said
that there were armed clashes between police and protestors. - What the report said
about northerners harassed in the south by secessionists was also a clear evidence
of
the report contradiction, as it said that the movement was peaceful.
- In this context, the report accused people, it named as sympathizers with the
movement, of committing subversive acts in an effort to clear the secessionists of
lawbreaking.
- Moreover, it said that members of the Hirak carried out attacks on military posts
in the countryside killing troops, in confirmation that the members of the movement
took
guns against the authorities. - The report said that the team was briefed on a
video that showed members of the movement attacking military camps with automatic
guns, contradicting
previous words in it that said there were no armed members of the Hirak. These
sentences also confirmed how violent the movement was against the authorities. - The
organization
also said that it saw armed protestors around the house of Tariq Al Fadhli, a
prominent leader in the movement, which clashed with police and also said that it
got videos
showing armed members of the Hirak surrounding the house carrying machine guns,
missile launchers and anti-tank missiles, who later took part in protests and
clashed with
police.
-The report pointed to the suffering of the northerners living in the south, saying
some of them were killed and their shops looted after they declined warnings about
their
staying in the south.
- Though the report said that the northerners killed haggled with their killers
they would give up all their rights if they were not killed, it never pointed to
the acts
as violations and outlaw crimes.
On al-Qaeda: what the report said that the government linked the organization to
the Hirak in an attempt to beat the movement, citing a statement by the leader of
al-Qaeda
in Yemen Nasser al-Wuhaishi that said the organization supports the Hirak, was
contradictory.
The terror operations in al-Ma'ajala area in Abyan by coutnerterror forces and the
position of the Hirak and al-Qaeda on them also proved they are in relationship.
Illegal Use of ' Excessive Deadly Power against Protestors': Those who conducted
the report had no idea about the Yemeni law on the organization of demonstrations,
with
the report team saying that those who want to hold a protest must take permission
from the three authorities, while the law enshrines that permission must be taken
from the
Interior Ministry. The report also said that the international law on human rights
gives the right to the governments to take necessary measures against violent and
armed
protestors, affirming protestors in south Yemen had guns and attacked the people
from northern cities and troops.
The question remains: how can the government preserve security and stability amid
such gangs, if the report forbids all measures taken even those under human rights
laws?
- In all the details of the report on some protests in the south, it was noticed
that all stories in the report were told by protestors, hence, it is logic that what
they
told was partial and unfair.
Anyway, the report was totally partial in favor of the outlaw elements and lacked
objectivity and the words used in this regard such as oppression and murdering were
exaggerated
and untrue.
Refuting the Report on Tyrannical Arrests and Unfair Trials: The report said that
all arrests by the authorities of outlaw elements were tyrannical and illegitimate
as well
as an act of confiscating freedom of expression, criticizing security and judicial
authorities, though it said that the people were armed protestors, attacked military
and
economic facilities and attacked the people and looted their properties. - It cited
the texts of international and Yemeni laws that allow the governments to assume
their
responsibilities for protecting personal freedom and the public dignity, accusing
the government of humiliating outlaw elements, as if the laws were established only
for
these people, with the rights of other people who were killed and whose their
properties were confiscated and displaced by outlaws being neglected. - The report
relied on
interviews with some people who were arrested and who spoke of unreal stories and
treatment, totally rejected by Islam and the Yemeni authorities and society. The HRW
team
should have investigated all information through concerned authorities while
conducting the report.
Refuting the Report on Press Censorship and Violations against the Press: - The
report contained allegations that the government confiscated freedom of expression,
suspended
publications, blocked websites and attacked some TV channels, as it noted all
information about the situation in the south were based on concentrated media
coverage.
- It also confirmed that the reporter team did not pay field visits to investigate
the facts, and the questions is: how did the organization get such allegations, if
it
did not take them from outlaw elements? - The report brought up the suspension of
al-Ayyam Newspaper, saying the move was illegal but ignoring that it was within the
enforced
law and constitution that stipulate a paper must be closed in case it commits
illegal acts, like the paper itself did:-The paper spread the culture of hatred,
regionalism,
incitement and violence. - It promulgated the acts of outlaws and subversives.- It
incited committing illegal acts including killing police and people and attacking
their
properties.- It did not exercise credibility and accuracy as well as press partiality.
Refuting the Report on Arresting Some Academics and Opinion Leaders: - The report
noted that academic institutions in the south had elements supporting outlaws and
cadres
who contributed to igniting protests and illegal writing and lectures, and at the
same time it accused the government of arresting the people and confiscating their
rights.
The fact remains that outlaw elements who use academic institutions as stage to
ignite the situation, should help enforce the rule of law and avoid being inciters
and suspected
outlaws.
- The report retold the allegations that all heads of academies and universities in
the south were from northern provinces, while in fact this was evidence that the
team
did not exercise the simplest credibility standards when reporting. Rectors of the
Aden and Hadramout Universities are from Shabwa and Hadramout in the south and
Minister
of Higher Education and Scientific Research Saleh BaSurrah is from Hadramout as well.
Refuting the Recommendations: - The recommendations in the report were directed for
the government, the Hirak and donors, and were supported by allegations of outlaws.
They
urged the government to abandon violence, tyrannical arrest, unfair trials, and
amend the laws on the measures to prevent the confiscation of freedom of expression.
They
also urged the government to close all illegal jails. But they remain based on
baseless stories like the report.
On the recommendation to the Hirak: the report advised the seccessionists to
abandon violence and condemn it as if the HRW wanted to notify the secessionists
they may exercise
violence but they should not announce. The report also advised the secessionists to
report to the HRW on any measures the government may take against them, encouraging
them
to go further with their subversion and violence.
The recommendation to donors and Yemen's neighbors: Doubtless the recommendation
exposed the report's goals, with the HRW inciting donors not to support Yemen and
to place
conditions for aid to the country. And this implied an obvious call for interfering
in Yemen's own matters and depriving Yemen of international aid. The report as whole
was
aimed at direct and public incitement against Yemen's stability, hence, the ministry
had to explain its untrue facts to the public.
General Views of the Report: True information in the report were employed to serve
the outlaw elements, exaggerating about the measures taken to deal with the
situations
in the country as follows: - The report said that police replied to protests through
using the deadly force against peaceful demonstrators without clear reasons and
early
warnings, in a violation of international standards for using the deadly force. It
cited some events.
- The contradiction of the report: though the report said protests were peaceful,
it noted that stones were thrown by protestors forcing anti-riot police to use the
deadly
force. In the six protests in which the organization went deeply investigating the
violations by the government, the report found the government violated all
principles and
when protests turned violent the government then used the deadly force.
- The report ignored that the outlaw elements incited regionalism, murdered
citizens, attacked and killed some police, and sheltered wanted criminals.
