By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Middle East
Sanaa, Yemen – Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference has agreed on a document that will become the basis for the State’s new Constitution. This document is the final product of months of discussions between national factions in Yemen. President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi reported that all factions taking part in the dialogue have “made painful concessions.”
The agreement is expected to lead to the creation of several semi-autonomous regions within Yemen essentially creating a new era of Yemini federalism in the hopes of granting representation to disenfranchised fractions within the country.
Last night, Ahmed Mohammed al-Jarwan, the President of the Arab Parliament, congratulated the Yemeni people for the creation of the dialogue document which represented ten months of discussion and debate by members of the National Dialogue Conference. He said, “the Yemeni people has proved through their delegates from all spectra in the NDC that the national will is stronger than all wills, and has given a successful example of the constructive national dialogue.”
He called on all Yemeni people to continue to work according to the spirit of the national dialogue represented by this document by putting the necessary mechanisms into action in order to create a final document in order to lead the Yemeni people though a successful transfusion to a new Yemeni state.
While the agreement represents a major step towards continued dialog and cooperation in Yemen the agreement has not come without costs. On January 21st, the day the conference conducted ten months of dialog, gunmen assassinated Ahmed Sharaf el-Din, a lawyer for a group representing the Houthis, a group in Northern Yemen. Shortly after the assassination a car belonging to, Abdulwahab al-Ansi, secretary-general of the Islah party, and the main Islamist group in Yemen was blown up. Thankfully Abdulwahab al-Ansi was not in his car.
The Houthis are a group of Zaidi Shia Muslims located in the northern regions of the country. The group is named for its late leader and launched a six-year rebellion against the central government in 2004. The conflict left thousands of people dead in the country’s northern region. Ahmed Sharaf al-Din, a law professor, was assassinated as he drove from his home in the capital to the hotel where the Dialogue was held. He was the second represented of the Houthi envoy to be killed.
The Houthis have controlled the province of Saada since the uprising of 2011. Since gaining control of the region, they have faced conflicts with thousands of Sunni Islamist tribesmen.
Despite the apparent success of the Dialogue process human rights organizations have remained critical of the progress made in Yemen, a country where widespread abuses of Human Rights, including cases of forced marriages of young children made famous by a viral video created by a young Yemini girl last year.
Human Rights Watch called on Yemen’s government to create a commission of inquiry into serious human rights violations by the previous government which it argues should lead to the prosecution of human rights abuses. In 2012 the country’s parliament granted impunity from prosecution to Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former President who had enjoyed power for 33 years, and several of his top aides.
In a statement Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director for Human Rights Watch said “The government needs to address the past, both to provide justice for the victims and to make sure the abuses stop once and for all. For two years the Hadi administration has ignored the demands for justice from people harmed by the Saleh government.”
For More Information please see:
Human Rights Watch – Yemen: Two Years On, No Accountability – 27 January 2014
Al Jazeera – Yemeni Factions Hold National Dialogue – 26 January 2014
Yemen News Agency – President of Arab Parliament Congratulates Yemenis on NDC’s Document – 27 January 2014
The Economist – Yemen’s Conference: No Proper End – 25 January 2014
United States Department Of State – Conclusion of National Dialogue In Yemen – 25 January 2014
BBC News – Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference Concludes With Agreement – 21 January 2014
