By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen — At least four demonstrators were killed last Thursday by Yemeni security forces in the southern port city of Aden.  Security forces opened fire on demonstrators who assembled t0 call for independence for Yemen’s southern region.  At least eighteen other protesters were wounded.

On the first anniversary of the uncontested election of President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, who succeeded the ousted theocratic leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, thousands of demonstrators gathered at a square in Aden.  Many demonstrators came to voice their support for Hadi, while many others came to show their support for the Southern Movement.

“They [the police] fired on activists trying to reach the place where the rally was being held,” said Fathi Ben Lazraq, a member of the independence seeking Southern Movement.  Officials reported that police forces were trying to stop a clash between the Southern Movement and the Al-Islah (Reform) party, who held their demonstration in support of national unity and of Hadi.  Officials also reported that at least four of those wounded during the protests were Yemeni army soldiers.  Security officials also reported that two policemen were wounded by sniper fire from buildings that surrounded the square.

Al-Islah supporters numbered in the thousands, as they gathered in the square, they were seen waving Yemeni flags and carrying portraits of Hadi.  They also held banners that exclaimed “unity is our strength,” and chanted “for dialogue, we will pursue our march.”

Southern Movement supporters also came to the square waiving flags of the former South Yemen, which unified with the north in 1990.  They were carrying portraits of Ali Salem al-Baid, the last president of the region prior to the unification of Yemen.  They chanted “Revolution in the south, occupiers go out,” as they made their way to the square.

Many from the southern Yemen region feel that they have been disenfranchised for decades, and want South Yemen to be a socialist state independent from the northern region.  Prior to its unification with the north, and following its independence from Britain, the region was formerly a secular socialist state.

Southern Movement leaders said they are open to dialogue, however a hardline separatist faction within the group led by the exiled al-Baid refuses to take part.  Abdullah al-Alimi, organizer of the Al-Islah rally, said of the Southern Movement that “the cause of the southerners is just, but it should be resolved through dialogue.”

Amnesty International urged authorities to end “the routine violent repression of protests.” “The Southern Movement and its followers have a right to protest peacefully, and the Yemeni authorities must allow them this right,” the human rights group said.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Three Killed in Yemen Ahead of Protest Rally — 22 February 2013

BBC News — Yemen Forces Fire on Aden Demonstrators — 21 February 2013

Global Post — Yemen: Protestors Killed in Pro-Secession Rallies — 21 February 2013

Naharnet — Yemen Police Kill Four at Aden Rally — 21 February 2013