... Checkpoint Bab al-Falaj – Den Ewigen Krieg der USA beenden – Massenexekutionen in Saudi-Arabien – und mehr
April 26, 2019: 250,000 killed in the Yemen War – Childbirth care in Yemen – Suffering in Serwah district – Bellingcat: Investigations of July 4, 2015 and Dec. 5, 2015 air raids – Bab al-Falaj checkpoint – Ending the US Forever War –Mass executions in Saudi Arabia – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
Massenexekutionen: Siehe cp8 / Mass executions: Look at cp8
(** B K)
UNO: Kriegsopfer in Jemen auf 250.000 angestiegen
Laut Angaben des UN-Sprechers Stephane Dujarric, seien bislang etwa 250.000 Personen beim Krieg im Jemen ums Leben gekommen.
"Zu den Toten dieses Landes gehören neben den Opfern der Bombenangriffe auch jene, die an einem Mangel an Gesundheitsfürsorge und an Wasser gestorben sind", sagte Stephane Dujarric am Dienstag, ohne die Zahl der Verletzten zu erwähnen.
http://parstoday.com/de/news/world-i46970-uno_kriegsopfer_in_jemen_auf_250.000_angestiegen
Mein Kommentar: Das erste Mal, die UN mit einer realistischen Zahl. Anstelle der bislang in Endlosschleife jahrelang weitertransportierten Zahl von 10.000.
(** B H)
Maternal mental health matters : childbirth related care in Yemen through women's eyes
Thesis from Kempe, Annica
Abstract
Background: Yemen has a high maternal mortality and a persistent high home birth rate. Though maternal mortality still lies at the heart of maternal health indicators, there is a growing concern about the impact of mental and behavioural health on maternal health outcomes. World Health Organization (WHO) is proposing a stronger focus on mental health for an integrated delivery of services for Maternal- and Child Health (MCH).
Aim: The overall aim is to gain insight into the experience of Yemeni women of modern and traditional care during childbirth, their perceived mental status and health care seeking patterns. The focus of the thesis is on women’s reproductive mental health in the context of culture and health care systems.
Methods:
A multi-stage (stratified-purposive-random) sampling process was used. Two hundred and twenty women with childbirth experience in five governorates – Aden, Lahej, Hadramout, Taiz and Hodeidah – were interviewed by means of a semi-structured questionnaire. Half of the women lived in urban, half in rural areas. Questions concerned the most recent pregnancy and childbirth (location, attendance and perceived quality); postpartum period; women’s empowerment and social and demographic information. A pre-test of the questionnaire was carried out in Taiz.
Interviews were made by two Yemeni nurse-midwives and two medical doctors, one of whom was an obstetrician-gynaecologist, and one a Sudanese nurse-midwife. All women approached for an interview were initially explained about the purpose of the study and asked whether they would agree to participate. Interviews lasted for 1-3 hours. All performed interviews were discussed daily among team members.
Results: A large majority of women perceived childbirth as a situation of danger. Fear of death and childbirth complications stemming from previous traumatic childbirth and traumatic experience in the community was rampant. Husbands’ and in-laws’ disappointment in a girl infant constituted a strong sociocultural component of fear. Women without fear gave reasons of faith, social belonging and trust in either traditional or modern childbirth practice, past positive experience of childbirth and the desire for social status associated with children (I). Women in areas with a matrilineal past who were often unassisted during childbirth experienced little fear (I, II).
A graded negative association was found between the perceived authority of the woman in childbirth and the level of biomedical training of staff. Women who had their questions answered and requests met during childbirth had 83% higher probability to perceive their own authority and women who reported skin-to-skin contact/ newborn in arms 28% higher probability of not fearing birth (III). Three main themes explained their sense of authority: (i) ‘Being at the centre’; (ii) ‘A sense of belonging’ and (iii) ‘Husband’s role in childbirth’. Authority was experienced primarily among women within the traditional childbirth sector and among women with a matrilineal past (II, III). Women who had previously been able to follow their own individual choice in matters of childbirth were six times more likely to plan a future childbirth in the same location (IV).
Conclusions: Women's perceived own authority during childbirth is decreasing in the context of Safe Motherhood and the expansion of modern delivery care. This is an important reason why women underutilize professional care. Antenatal care has an important role in reducing fear of childbirth including that of institutional childbirth and in strengthening a couple in welcoming a female infant. Yemeni women’s low utilization of modern delivery care should be seen in the context of their low autonomy and status. We call for cooperation between modern and traditional childbirth care. In areas of Yemen with a matrilineal past women’s choice of place of delivery does not seem to be influenced by a need for authority during childbirth.
https://openarchive.ki.se/xmlui/handle/10616/46740
and thesis in full: https://openarchive.ki.se/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10616/46740/Thesis_Annica_Kempe.pdf
(** B H K)
The Suffering Beyond the Stalemate: The Humanitarian Context in Serwah District
The people of Serwah in Marib governorate have suffered through more than four years of conflict, with an active frontline that continues to divide their land and block the main road through the district. This report attempts to provide a better understanding of the conditions present in Serwah, namely with regards to the humanitarian situation and the destruction of infrastructure that has occurred as a result of the hostilities.
The research was conducted for the “Supporting Inclusive Peace-Making Efforts and Political Transition in Yemen” project funded by the European Union and implemented in partnership between DeepRoot Consulting and the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI).
The information presented in this report is based on extensive interviews conducted in October and November of 2018 with locals from Serwah and Marib more generally, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), local authorities, and non-governmental organizations. These were accompanied by a desk review of studies issued by local NGOs, online data sources, and local news reports and interviews.
Serwah is one of Marib’s 14 districts, located 40 km west of Marib city and known as “the main gate to Sana’a” because of its strategic location. Serwah is considered one of Marib’s major districts and it is divided into three sub-districts.
Since early 2015, Serwah has been one of the most critical frontlines in the conflict between the Houthis and their allies on the one hand and the forces loyal to President Hadi on the other. From the local perspective, a key reason for the prolonged fighting in the district is that Serwah’s natives are split amongst themselves and divided between the main conflicting parties. The confrontations are concentrated in the center of the district, mainly in the Serwah sub-district [3] where Serwah’s central market (سوق] (1] is located, and across the spacious Sarawah plain.
As a result of the conflict, local infrastructure has suffered significant damage. Residential homes and property have been subjected to thousands of indiscriminate airstrikes and shells, reducing public life to a near standstill. According to a joint study conducted by local NGOs, nearly 90 percent of Serwah’s population has been displaced, mostly to other areas within Serwah district itself, to Marib city [11], to other districts in the governorate, and to other governorates.
Al-Amiri further stated that around 320 houses have been destroyed and at least dozens of others damaged. Moreover, the conflict has destroyed around twenty farms and fifty shops in Serwah’s central market area.
Schools in Serwah have been subjected to shelling, and five schools have been destroyed.9 Serwah’s hospital and three health centers were damaged, causing residents to travel long distances.
The humanitarian burdens the abovementioned damage and destruction has placed on local residents is exacerbated by impediments to travel. In addition to heightened petrol prices and general instability, ten vital roads were damaged, causing the disruption of traffic and forcing people to use alternative rough roads.
As for Serwah, it was reported that there are around 3,476 families who are internally displaced within the district itself. Out of the IDPs in Serwah, it is estimated that around 85 percent of them are from Serwah and other district in Marib, while around 15 percent are from outside Marib.14 Residents of Serwah who have become displaced outside of the district have primarily relocated to Sana'a governorate, the capital secretariat (Sana’a city), and neighbouring Marib districts such as Marib city.
Displaced people in Serwah live in unorganized gatherings.
Before the fighting reached Serwah in 2015, locals were mainly dependent on farming, raising livestock, trade and government jobs as livelihood sources. Most people lost their livelihood sources as a result of the conflict. Since the conflict started, IDP interviewees suggested that many have joined the army (or as referred to ‘a government job’) as a source of income. However, the salaries they receive are inconsistent and irregular, usually arriving every three to four months.
The recent field study on IDPs in Serwah showed that 66 percent of the IDP community has at least one member of their family who is working and among these working members, over 55 percent have government jobs.
The IDPs in Serwah have received assistance from different local and international NGOs
There are 427 schools in Marib governorate: 321 primary schools, 2 secondary schools, and 104 for both primary and secondary education. 22 Marib is said to have relatively strong education infrastructure compared to other governorates, and it was suggested that one of the main reasons for this is because of disputes among the tribes of Marib.
Prior to the conflict, Marib governorate was already suffering from poor infrastructure on the health side.
Currently, the governorate has only one public hospital that operates complex surgeries, Marib General Hospital Authority, and 5 central hospitals that have moderate operation capabilities.
The field study on Serwah showed that 94 percent of the surveyed displaced families are not satisfied by the available health services, mainly because of their low quality.33 Moreover, there are complaints about the lack of free treatment, health guidance, and distribution of mosquito nets to prevent diseases. In addition to this, there is a need for greater treatment and support for those suffering from chronic diseases, critical cases, and those in need of a specialist in mental and neurological disorders. Conditions such as asthma, malaria, cholera, dengue fever, and skin diseases continue to develop among the displaced community, as well as disabilities resulting from the war among children.
Part 4: Conclusion
This report has aimed to address one of the gaps in publicly accessible research on the humanitarian impact of the conflict in Yemen at the local level, especially as it relates to internal displacement. The population of Serwah is not as large as other areas of the country that are more frequently featured in news headlines, and like other areas with small populations it is often dropped to the bottom of the priority list for international humanitarian assistance. However, the case of Serwah as presented in this report reflects the extent of the conflict’s impact across Yemen’s diverse communities, and the need for a more nuanced approach in designing humanitarian, peacebuilding, and stabilization interventions in Yemen – by Abeer Al-Mutawakel
and full document: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/df2b40_73d65c3871724c9eb95da71bdec0b7bc.pdf
(* A K)
DAS JEMEN-PROJEKT: ANKÜNDIGUNG
Bellingcat und das Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) kündigen heute die Veröffentlichung der ersten Untersuchungsrunde im Rahmen eines neuen Projekts zur Untersuchung der Kampagne von Luftangriffen an, die von einer von Saudi-Arabien geführten Koalition, einschließlich der Vereinigten Staaten, seit 2015 im Jemen durchgeführt wird. In den nächsten fünf Wochen werden wöchentlich etwa 20 detaillierte Untersuchungen zu den Luftangriffen veröffentlicht, begleitet von einem durchsuchbaren Archiv mit verifiziertem Open-Source-Material, das in jedem Bericht verwendet wird.
Ab dem 22. April wird Bellingcat eine Untersuchung pro Tag für eine Woche veröffentlichen. Am 29. April startet Bellingcat mit yemen.bellingcat.com, das diese Untersuchungen und Daten als eigenständige Website bereitstellen wird. Danach wird Bellingcat weiterhin wöchentlich Untersuchungen und Daten hinzufügen.
https://thewaronyemen.org/de/2019/04/22/das-jemen-projekt/
In English: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2019/04/22/the-yemen-project-announcement/
(** B K)
The Yemen Project: HAJ 10003 – Aahim Triangle, Bani Hassan, Hajjah
Incident ID: HAJ10003
Location: Muthalith Aahim (Aahim Triangle), Bani Hassan, Hajjah Governorate, Yemen
Coordinates: 16.325139, 43.089533
Incident Grading: Likely
Date: 2015-07-04
Time (AST): 1730–1900 UTC (MSF states 20:30 AST. HRW states “about 22:00” AST)
KEY FINDINGS
On the evening of 2015-07-04, an explosion occurred near a restaurant in Muthalith Ahim injuring and killing multiple civilians.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that at least 65 people were killed and 105 wounded. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported on 2015-07-07 that there had been 20 deaths in a market in Harad district, where Muthalith Ahim is located, and that their team treated over 67 injured people.
The HRW report titled: “What Military Target Was my Brother’s House: Unlawful Coalition Airstrikes in Yemen” provides a comprehensive narrative including eyewitness accounts of a number of alleged airstrikes that took place on the Muthalith Aahim (‘Aahim Triangle) and in the nearby village of Haradh. The attack we analyse in this report is the one referred to in the section of the HRW report titled “Muthalith Ahim”
Open source information gathered and verified by investigators indicates that on the night of 2015-07-04 what was likely an aerial bomb detonated in Muthalith Aahim. This explosion killed and wounded a large number of people who appear to be civilians. The location at which this explosion took place was in the center of Muthalith Aahim, near restaurants, a hospital and other market stalls. There was also what appeared to be a water-truck several meters away from the point of detonation.
– The incident occurred during the month of Ramadan in the evening. It is expected that a large number of people, locals and travellers, would have congregated in the restaurants to continue eating into the night, having broken their fast after the dusk prayers at the nearby mosque.
– There appears to be some confusion over the number of munitions dropped due to other airstrikes occurring within that general area at the same time. Open sources only identify one crater and as such our analysis indicates only one munition was dropped on Muthalith Aahim which caused mass civilian casualties.
WHERE?
The incident took place in the Muthalith Aahim (‘Aahim Triangle) near the town of Haradh in the Hajjah Governorate. The “triangle” is formed at the point where the N2 Road (also marked as 5 Road and 45 Road) with a roughly North-South direction from the Saudi/Yemeni border, forks into two sections
The HRW report states that the area outside the restaurants was also used by qat sellers, a fishmonger, vegetable sellers, and mobile phone merchants. The report also contains an interview from a witness who stated that there were also about 50–60 African migrants and IDPs from the Saudi/Yemeni border in this area at the time.
Who was operating in the area?
The area is located within the governorate of Hajjah, which is a well-known stronghold of the Huthi movement and was considered to have been under their control at this time.
A truck driver named Salem al-Mashwali was interviewed by HRW and stated that Huthis were operating a checkpoint in the area, approximately 50 metres away from where the strike hit. This checkpoint was allegedly undamaged by the strike.
The area appears to be of strategic significance to both sides and it has been the target of repeated attacks before and after this incident.
WHAT DAMAGE WAS DONE?
The people that appear in the aftermath video of the incident are dressed in civilian clothes and appear to be ordinary Yemenis. Nobody appears in a military uniform, however one of the interviewees appears to be wearing shoulder straps of some kind that appear similar to those of webbing or chest rig
We can therefore state with confidence that the aftermath video shows a large number of casualties were at the scene of this incident. All casualties appear to be young men and all were wearing civilian clothes. No weapons are evident among the debris.
We can also see a pick-up truck and what appears to be some kind of water-tanker which appears to have been parked within a few meters of the munition impact point. The HRW report supports this conclusion, stating that a “water truck” had been destroyed.
Number of casualties
The number of casualties reported for this attack varied:
HRW report: at least 65 fatalities, 105 wounded
LCRD report: 35 fatalities, >46 wounded
Shaharah news report: 30 fatalities
Ansarollah.com report: 30 fatalities
Al Methaq report: 30 fatalities
MSF report: ~20 fatalities, 67 wounded
TO WHAT?
Reports of the incident and the video of the aftermant both point at significant damage having been done to the restaurants. The video shows a significant amount of rubble from the buildings strewn about mixed with victims’ bodies.
WHAT MUNITION WAS USED?
CONCLUSION
From the open sources available it is clear that on the night of 2015-07-04 a munition, most likely air-dropped, detonated in the middle of Muthalith Aahim, close to restaurants and a water truck. Video taken immediately after this event indicate that there were a significant number of casualties. The casualties depicted within these open sources all appeared to be civilians (photos, satellite images)
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2019/04/24/aahim-triangle-hajjah-strike/
and the main results in thread: https://twitter.com/bellingcat/status/1121108330301349888
More photos: http://poorworld.net/Yemen/YemenImages105.htm and http://poorworld.net/Yemen/YemenImages106.htm
(** B K)
The Yemen Project: HAJ 10005 – The Abs Prison Strike
Incident ID: HAJ10005
Location: Abs, Hajjah, Yemen
Coordinates: 15.998964, 43.198856
Incident Grading: Confirmed
Date: 2015-05-12
Time (AST): After 1515 AST
KEY FINDINGS
Open sources, including satellite imagery, indicate that on 2015/05/12 sometime after 1515 AST two buildings in Abs were destroyed, and other buildings damaged, in an airstrike by the Saudi-led Coalition (SLC)
Although there were multiple reports of different locations being attacked, it was consistently stated that a prison was one of the targets of this attack. We identified what we believe to be this prison in the report.
The Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) stated it had targeted two weapon depots in Abs on 2015/05/13 that it claims were used by the Houthis. The JIAT also claimed that it did not target nor damage the Abs prison, and that the buildings it targeted were 900 meters and 1,300 meters away from the prison, respectively. We identified what we believe the SLC may believe is the prison in question.
DISCOVERY
The sources used in this report were found by searching for variations of “Abs” and “prison” in both English and Arabic across different search engines and social media platforms. Time limitations and advanced searches were used to search specific date ranges around the time of this incident. Searches on YouTube were conducted using the same keywords in both English and Arabic, and videos were filtered by date to aid identification.
The following sources were discovered:
WHERE?
The incident took place in the town of Abs in the Hajjah governorate in Yemen. The structure which was allegedly hit is known as Abs Prison (also as Abs Shefr Prison, and Abs/Kholan Prison).
Using satellite imagery, we identified three buildings that were almost completely razed in the town of Abs between 2014/01/27 and 2016/07/04.
The majority of open sources appear to depict Building 1 or casualties from that location. Two videos depicted Building 2. Due to the lack of open sources depicting Building 3 and Building 4, these locations require further investigation.
WHAT HAPPENED?
What was attacked?
There are a large number of reports, whether from international organisations such as HRW, or from social media users in Abs (see DISCOVERY section), that an airstrike took place on the town using multiple munitions. Although virtually all reports mention a prison, a wide range of other buildings are also mentioned, including government offices, a school and a cultural center. In this section we will try and establish what each building was used for.
What was Building 1?
The descriptions of Building 1, where the majority of the open sources appear to originate from, mostly appear to describe it as the prison. However, in the HRW report, the caption of an image taken at this location describes it as the home of Omar Ali Farjain.
The HRW report identifies that the home of Mr Farjain was about 50m away from the prison. Approximately 50m to the north-east of Building 1 is a building that has suffered noticeable structural damage during the same period of time as Building 1. It is significantly smaller than Building 1, and it appears the surrounding wall has also been destroyed there.
What was Building 2?
Building 2 features in two videos of the attack, but neither video is specific about the purpose of this location.
How many locations were hit?
It should be noted that although the HRW report focuses on one area around the prison, JIAT stated it hit two targets, one about 900 meters away from the prison, and another about 1300 meters away from the prison. This implies those two targets were some distance from each other. The analysis above supports this, as it shows there was considerable destruction in the vicinity of the prison at Building 1, as well as at Building 2, which are 470 meters away from each other.
Who was affected?
Images of the casualties of this strike appear to be uniformly men. The majority appear to be adults, but at least four appear to be children. The images are too graphic to post in this report.
Some of the same casualties can be identified across multiple different posts, some of which can be geolocated to Building 1, indicating these are genuine casualties and these images have not simply been “recycled” from other incidents.
None of the casualties appear to be wearing military uniform and no weapons appear to be present in any open sources depicting this event. The only person seen in anything resembling military uniform is the cameraman seen at Building 2 in the Majed video wearing what appeared to be a camouflage waistcoat.
According to the HRW report, the Abs prison was used to house petty criminals. Most of the reported victims were members of the prison population. In addition, children and a passerby were reported to have perished as a result of the incident. HRW also received information that several Saudi prisoners of war were being held at that location but were unable to confirm this.
Casualties
Casualties number ranged from 13 to “over 40” fatalities. The list of casualty reports is belo
STATEMENTS FROM PARTIES TO THE CONFLICT
The Saudi-led Coalition
The Houthi Government
What did JIAT think was the prison?
As JIAT claimed that the two targets it had hit were 900 meters and 1,300 meters from the prison, and that the prison was not affected, we decided to try and discover which building they believed was the prison.
We therefore created two circles with radii of 900 and 1,300 meters and placed them on Building 1 and Building 2, the two locations we know were bombed on this date, in Google Earth.
CONCLUSION
From the open sources available, it is clear that on 2015/05/12, starting sometime between 1515 and 1537 AST, two targets were attacked in the town of Abs. With the exception of the JIAT statement, almost all open sources explicitly state that a prison had been bombed in the town of Abs. In this investigation we believe we may have identified the building that JIAT believes to be a prison. Between 13 to 40 people were killed in this strike, including children. Open sources appear to indicate these were civilians, including inmates at a prison. JIAT statements appear to be inconsistent with the open source information available on both the date and the targets of the attack (with photos, satellite images)
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2019/04/25/the-yemen-project-haj-10005-the-abs-prison-strike/
and main findings in thread: https://twitter.com/bellingcat/status/1121508197913776128
(** B P)
Bab al-Falaj Checkpoint… When your Surname Is a Crime
“What is your name? What is your surname?” Years ago, this question was considered normal and could be answered without concern and without questioning the intentions of the person asking it. It was a question that was meant to make acquaintances and strengthen the links between members of society from different regions. However, it is now considered a trick question and its answer may lead to imprisonment.
Ma’rib, which is controlled by Abd Rabbou Mansour Hadi government, has received many displaced people during the past four years of war who fled hell in other governorates, providing them with the livelihoods and services lacking in many areas of Yemen.
But at the same time, the governorate installed guards at its gates to examine the identities of new comers who might be denied entry or even detained solely because of their surnames.
A resident from Sana’a says: “We are afraid to enter Ma’rib because of our surnames.The ill could die with nothing we could do to provide medical assistance abroad due to the closure of Sanaa airport. Travelling to other airports pose numerous dangers because of the different checkpoints on the road.”
For citizens coming from northern governorates, passing through Ma’rib is the only way to reach Seiyun airport in Hardhramaut in order to travel abroad especially since the Saudi/ Emarati-led coalition closed Sanaa international airport- the biggest in the country- since August 9, 2016. Travelers have to take long routes to reach Seiyun or Aden airport to be able to travel.
Travelers pass through such routes which are controlled by the different parties to the conflict. Some of these routes are close to the points of engagement. Travelers are subject to searches and inspections in dozens of security and military checkpoints, which examine their papers, interrogate them about the reasons and destination of travel. Bab al-Falaj checkpoint is at the top of the list in interrogating people based on their surnames, and travelers may be even arbitrarily detained, and accused of any charge to justify their detention.
Detainees at the Bab al-Falaj checkpoint, manned by Hadi government forces, are subjected to interrogation, humiliation, death threats and sometimes torture. Ibrahim (pseudonym), who was arrested in April 2017 at al-Falaj checkpoint, said interrogators kept asking him about the names of Houthi leaders who had the same surname as him. They tried to find out about his relationship with them. Ibrahim assured them that he knew nothing about them and that he was just a worker coming from Saudi Arabia to visit his children whom he missed.
His belongings were searched and he was locked up in a small tight room with a large group of detainees and mentally ill people. He avoided eating the food he was given so that he would not have to enter the toilets that were not usable. Like other inmates, he was subjected to psychological and physical torture. He was threatened with death, beaten with whip and sticks and tied with chains. He was asked loudly about his name and family name, which was insulted. He was accused of entering Ma’rib as a fugitive. He was also accused of two false chargers: a murder charge and the charge of belonging to the Ansar Allah group (Houthis).
Ibrahim and other detainees were released after nine months in an exchange of detainees. However, many innocent people are still being detained and are suffering behind bars not guilty.
Cases of arrest because of the name at the Bab al-Falaj checkpoint in Ma’rib governorate are ongoing. Detainees usually belong to the commonly referred to as “Hashemite families” and are accused of supporting the Houthi group, which is also known as a Hashemite family. Mwatana for Human Rights has documented 38 arbitrary arrests and 22 enforced disappearances in Ma’rib governorate between 2015 and the end of March 2019. Many of these incidents occurred because of the family name only.
Most of the exit points from Yemen have been closed, and corridors between its areas are surrounded by guards who detain people coming from certain areas on pre-prepared charges. People traveling are no longer afraid to take weapons or prohibited materials but rather most of them are afraid of their own names.
http://mwatana.org/en/bab-al-falaj-checkpoint/
Comment: How about Abu Hashem checkpoint, the other main checkpoint in Baydha that Yemenis have to travel through on the road that links Sana’a with Marib/ Seiyun & one where horrifying human rights violations take place? Talking about Alfalaj brings only one side of the story.
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1121527027117457426
(** B P)
When Will Washington End the Forever War?
A new breed of progressive politicians and activists is challenging the bipartisan consensus—but there’s a long way to go.
By now, Americans born after the 9/11 attacks may already be deploying overseas to avenge them. The Authorization for Use of Military Force—which passed just three days after the attacks, with only one dissenting vote, and was followed by an expanded AUMF the following year—has been used to justify military actions in at least 20 countries from the Sahel to the Pacific Rim. The combined death toll from just Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan is estimated at half a million people. Presidents as different in ideology and temperament as George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump have expanded what has been called the Forever War—and their own executive powers to wage it—even as all three initially ran on some version of a more humble foreign policy.
Still, when I asked Bernie Sanders whether he would hope and expect Congress to rein in his ability to make war should he win the presidency, he didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely. Absolutely. Look, the Constitution is clear…. Congress has for a very long time abdicated that responsibility,” he said. “If I’m president, I will certainly be an advocate of that process.”
Left-wing intellectuals and anti-war activists have long called for the United States to end its permanent war footing across the Muslim world and to reconsider its close alliances with illiberal governments, like those of Saudi Arabia and Israel. But such views are much rarer in Washington, where lawmakers like Sanders are only beginning to meaningfully challenge the status quo. Somewhere between these two perspectives—that of the progressive policy-maker and that of the radical critic—a new vision for America’s role in the world is being shaped. I went to Capitol Hill to explore why non-interventionists eager to realize this vision have homed in on one particular war. Yemen
“I thought the Obama administration was totally wrong to launch a military partnership with Saudi Arabia that set the stage for the devastation that has become Yemen,” said Senator Chris Murphy, who was the first lawmaker to attempt to end US support for the war. Murphy’s campaign was initially a lonely one, beginning with a 2016 bill co-sponsored by libertarian-leaning Senator Rand Paul that focused on ending arms sales to the Saudis. Only 27 senators supported it.
“I came here as a critic of this boneheaded US military intervention,” recalled Murphy
At first glance, Democrats seem united on Yemen, having voted almost unanimously to end US support for the Saudi war. But this superficial consensus papers over real divisions on what progressive foreign policy should mean in a post-Obama, post-Clinton era.
Perhaps the clearest difference between left-wing anti-war activists and Democratic lawmakers concerns the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Shireen al-Adeimi, a Yemeni-born professor of education at Michigan State University who has become an outspoken advocate against the war, is a case in point. She has been coordinating with Yemeni activists across the United States to lobby members of Congress since 2015. “They became much more clearly anti-intervention when it was no longer Obama’s war,” she said, adding that the scope of the humanitarian crisis was evident from the very start.
Kizer identified Yemen as a key issue in mainstreaming progressive foreign-policy goals, in part because it’s less politically fraught than Israel-Palestine.
“Yemen is a case of humanitarian non-intervention,” said Stephen Wertheim, a historian of international relations at Columbia University. “It marks a generational shift from the Samantha Power–esque humanitarian interventionism that sounded progressive a few decades ago but no longer does.” Power is a longtime advocate for military intervention to prevent genocide and human-rights abuses. “The Yemen campaign suggests the opposite principle: If we want to help suffering humanity, we should first and foremost make sure that the United States is not causing the suffering.”
For now, any anti-war legislation is dead on arrival at the White House. Despite sometimes gesturing at a different approach while campaigning, as president, Trump has consistently deferred to some of the most hawkish voices in Washington, from Abrams to John Bolton, and has doubled down on the alliances with Saudi Arabia and Israel. At least for the next two years, Washington will continue to wage war across the Muslim world with few checks on the executive branch’s ability to do so. But depending on who succeeds Trump, perhaps the Forever War can finally end, as all wars eventually must – by David Klion
https://www.thenation.com/article/yemen-israel-palestine-washington-war-powers/
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
(* B H)
Yemen - Cholera (DG ECHO, UN, INGOs, media)(ECHO Daily Flash of 25 April 2019)
Between 1 January and 13 April 2019, 214 798 suspected cholera cases and 445 associated deaths were recorded in Yemen. The highest number of suspected cases (31 126) since January 2018 was recorded in the first week of April. The Ministry of Health reports cholera cases in 285 out of 333 districts in 22 out of 23 governorates. Children under five are the most affected group, representing 23% of total cases.
Seventeen health organisations are supporting the cholera response with 168 treatment centers and 1 050 oral rehydration corners in 147 priority districts. Existing gaps call for strengthening of coordination mechanisms between the Ministry of Water, the Ministry of Health and the Health and WASH Clusters.
(** B H)
Save the Children: Yemen cholera outbreak: 100,000 children infected since start of 2019
More than 100,000 suspected cases of cholera have been reported among children under the age of 15 in Yemen since the start of the year - more than twice the number during the same period in 2018.
Children account for close to half (45%) of all the new cases. Altogether there were 236,550 cases of suspected cholera between 1st January and 19th April 2019. Of these, 105,384 were in children under 15. Almost half these cases were recorded in the last month alone - nine times as many as in the same time period last year.
Save the Children is warning that recent heavy rains, flash floods, fuel shortages and ongoing fighting despite the first steps towards a peace process in Stockholm last December, are adding to the chaos of four years of war to create perfect conditions for cholera to spread faster and further in the coming months.
Fuel shortages and a spike in fuel prices are limiting the pumping of sewage, clean water supply and garbage collection. Many families have been unable to take their children to health facilities because they cannot afford the soaring cost of transport. Many people rely on buying clean water from trucks, but with the rising fuel prices the cost is increasing, forcing some people to turn to dirty water sources.
Save the Children has warned that in places where fighting is continuing, the numbers could increase dramatically. It is feared that in Hajjah, in the northwest of the country, fighting could cut access to the only water source for 200,000 people who are already vulnerable to the disease because many have been displaced by conflict and face high levels of food insecurity.
After an outbreak infected more than 1 million people in 2017, the disease was partially contained during 2018.
This surge is yet more evidence that while the war rages there will be no end to the suffering of Yemen's children. Gains made against the disease in 2018 have unravelled in the face of relentless violence. Yet more people have been forced to flee their homes. Hunger and malnutrition are rampant. Vital health and sanitation services have been debilitated.
In February the international community pledged $2.6 billion to the response to the war in Yemen - 65% of the money needed to meet humanitarian needs across the country.
Yet two months later, those pledges have largely failed to materialise.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-cholera-outbreak-100000-children-infected-start-2019
(* B H)
Aid groups act to stop Yemen's next major cholera epidemic
In August 2018, Peter Salama, World Health Organization deputy director-general of emergency preparedness and response, told a UN briefing in Geneva that Yemen “may be on the cusp of the third major wave of cholera epidemics.” Yemen has already witnessed two major waves of cholera epidemics.
According to Yemen's Ministry of Health, from January 2018 to April 2019, cholera is the suspected cause of at least 470 deaths. The "outbreak has affected 21 of 23 governorates and 286 of 333 districts in Yemen since the beginning of 2019," according to the WHO.
It is said the waterborne disease is endemic in Yemen, where the worst outbreak of the disease in history was in 2017, when more than 1 million cases were reported and 2,500 people died of the infection between April and December of that year.
MSF said in a March 27 statement that its teams have opened a 50-bed cholera treatment center in Khamir.
Cholera attack hits high in Huth
On March 27, Hassan Boucenine, MSF's head of Yemen mission, said his organization is supporting a hospital treating cholera cases in Huth, around 100 kilometers north of Sanaa, adding, “The attack rate is particularly high in Huth, in Amran governorate, where we support a health center.”
On April 13, I arrived at Huth hospital and directly reached the facilities supported by MSF, but the cholera center is supported by UNICEF, according to a staff member.
Inside the hospital's Cholera Treatment Center, there were three cholera-positive individuals, each lying in one of the center's three rooms. All cases were admitted days ago. “Only six suspected cholera cases have been admitted Saturday [April 13] for the past three morning hours,” head of the center Yahya Omran told Al-Monitor.
Huth’s main hospital has not only treated cholera, but also those wounded in the war, especially in 2014, during fighting between Houthi fighters and the sons of former parliamentary speaker Abdullah al-Ahmar.
At the Huth cholera center, the last death occurred April 3. Hassas Naser Ahmed was from al-Ashah district, and was transferred to Huth hospital owing to bad health services in al-Ashah, according to Omran.
There were four deaths at Khamir hospital in March, and one death at Huth hospital in February, according to Yahya al-Shuraimi, a medic at Huth hospital.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/04/yemen-cholera-outbreak-treatment-patients.html
(* A H)
More than 100 cases of cholera have been received in Behan hospital in Shabwa and the local authority demanded rapid intervention from the specialized bodies
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1121169751227682816
(* A H)
UNICEF & partners have mounted a cholera vaccination campaign in 3 high risk districts in #Yemen where there are currently over 236,000 suspected with 2,300 confirmed cholera cases (photos)
https://twitter.com/BismarckSwangin/status/1121079789325041664
(A H P)
PM launches environmental campaign to fight cholera epidemics
Prime Minister Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Habtoor inaugurated Wednesday in Sanaa along with Minister of Water and Environment Nabil al-Wazir, Mayor of the Capital Sanaa Hamoud Abbad and Deputy Resident Representative of UNICEF the environmental campaign to combat cholera carriers in the districts affected by the epidemic in the capital and provinces.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534171.htm
My remark: Sanaa government MP.
(A H P)
Film: Activists: Houthis are prohibiting access to cholera drugs and vaccines
Yemeni human rights activist Mohammed Al Amiri said that Houthis have prohibited the arrival of a shipment of cholera drugs and vaccines in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, they also embezzled funds dedicated to facing and treating cholera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEy5y7mF0Lc
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
(* A P)
Lollesgaard leaves Hodeidah after the failure of the redeployment agreement
Political sources reported the head of the Coordination Committee for the redeployment in Hodeidah, General Michael Lollesgaard left Hodeidah after the failure of implementing of the redeployment agreement.
The same sources added that General Lollesgaard arrived on Thursday in the Jordanian capital of Amman, where the Office of the UN Envoy to Yemen is located.
Other sources said that the Office of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths and the Yemen's internationally recognized government carried out intensive consultations on resolving all controversial issues and arrangements for the implementation of the first and second phases of the redeployment of troops in Hodeidah and its ports.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4085
and also https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29435
(A P)
Hodeidah Governor to Asharq Al-Awsat: Houthis Emptied City’s Coffers
Governor of Yemen’s Hodeidah province al-Hassan Taher accused on Thursday the Iran-backed Houthi militias of emptying the port city’s treasuries from cash and transferring the money to Sanaa.
The militias have continued to violate the province’s resources to fund their war effort, he told Asharq Al-Awsat
Separately, he said that the Yemeni government representatives in the Redeployment Committee should resume their meetings next week with Michael Lollesgaard, head of the UN Monitoring Committee on Hodeidah.
My comment: By the Hadi government’s governor. What he simply forgets to tell: It’s war, and in war all government wastre their resources for warfare, it’s not just the Houthis. Saudi Arabia for instance is spending ca. US$ 200 million a day for its aerial war.
(A K pH)
In Hodeidah, the US-Saudi mercenaries targeted with machine-guns the Airport, Engineering College and several areas of July-7th residential area. The mercenaries also targeted with 30 artillery shells several areas of At-tohayta district
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6592
(A P)
Sports Week begins in Hodeidah with Martyr al-Samad Cup's competitions launching
Hodeidah province began its first sports week on Thursday with kicking off for the competitions of the ex-president, Martyr Saleh Al-Samad's Cup
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534245.htm
My remark: From the Houthi-heöld part of the city.
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON APRIL 25, 2019 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-april-25-2019-map-update/
YEMEN MAP UPDATE: MILITARY SITUATION IN BAYDHA, DHALE, HUDAYDAH, HAJJAH, SAADAH, AL JAWF AREAS
(* B K P)
US & Western Arms in Yemen Conflict Signal Potential War Crime Charges
When US political leaders urged the Trump administration to either reduce or cut off arms supplies to Saudi Arabia – largely as a punishment for its indiscriminate bombings of civilians in the four-year old military conflict in Yemen—President Trump provided a predictable response: “If we don’t sell arms to Saudi Arabia, the Chinese and the Russians will.”
Perhaps in theory it’s plausible, but in practice it’s a long shot primarily because switching weapons systems from Western to Chinese and Russian arms— particularly in the middle of a devastating war– could be a long drawn out process since it involves maintenance, servicing, training, military advice and uninterrupted supplies of spares.
Asked for a response, Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher, Arms and Military Expenditure Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), told IPS: “If, (very hypothetical) the USA and the UK would stop supplying arms to Saudi Arabia, this would be a major problem for Saudi Arabia, in military and financial terms”.
He pointed out that Saudi Arabia would find it very hard to maintain the US and UK weapons its armed forces largely rely on without the support of the large numbers of US and UK service personnel in the country right now.
The Saudi military might be able to keep the weapons going for a while, but presumably at a much lower operational level.
He said it will not only be very costly for Saudi Arabia to replace the expensive existing equipment — which is supposed to be in service for decades– but it also means that Chinese and Russian weapons will not be as high quality as what Saudis now receive from the USA and Western Europe.
And New York Times roving correspondent Nicholas Kristof says “some Saudis kept trying to suggest to me that if we block weapons sales to Riyadh, the kingdom will turn to Moscow.”
“That’s absurd. It needs our spare parts and, more important, it buys our weapons because they come with an implicit guarantee that we will bail the Saudis out militarily if they get into trouble with Iran.”
“That’s why we have leverage over Saudi Arabia, not the other way around.” The next step, he argued, should be a suspension of arms sales until Saudi Arabia ends its war in Yemen, for that war has made the US complicit in mass starvation.
The Times said last year that some US lawmakers worry that American weapons were being used to commit war crimes in Yemen
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/04/us-western-arms-yemen-conflict-signal-potential-war-crime-charges/
(* B K P)
Saudi Arabia’s trail of foolishness, hypocrisy and mistakes from Syria to Yemen
The Saudis and their allies are usually a puzzle when it comes to foreign policy. In their reaction to events in Yemen, they just look like bumbling fools.
In other words, the plan that Saudi Arabia wrote for Iraq, Lebanon and Syria has happened to Yemen and destroyed one of Saudi Arabia’s own friends.
Most amusing is the fact that the Saudis and their ideologues in the Arabic media are convinced that Iran is behind the fall of the Yemeni government and the success of the Houthi Movement’s Ansarullah paramilitary wing, effectively “taking over” Yemen. However, as reported in an analysis at Stratfor, Iran is simply too far away to really have any meaningful involvement in the conflict in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, unlike Iran, has been bombing the factions it disagrees with in Yemen, killing hundreds of civilian bystanders, and has been airdropping weapons to the groups it wants to kill its enemies in the country. In sum, Saudi Arabia wants you to think some kind of invisible, unproven specter of Iranian connections in the sovereign country of Yemen is an “aggression”; lunatics like US Senator John McCain (see his remarks at the Munich Security Conference) and other anti-Iran maniacs also see Iranian influence in Yemen as aggression… but Saudi Arabia’s blatant airstrikes and airdrops of guns into the country are seen as necessary countermeasures to protect Yemen’s “sovereignty” from Iran.
What is astonishing is that Saudi Arabia and its allies are crazy enough to simultaneously claim to be intervening in countries to keep “legitimate” presidents in power (like Yemen’s Hadi) and intervening in other countries to remove “illegitimate” presidents from power (as in Syria).
Former president Hadi and the so-called Syrian opposition are not legitimate rulers of anything, but they do have one striking similarity: both are cowering in foreign capitals and suckling on foreign promises, while pretending to rule over their respective countries and denying that their people have rejected them. Cowering in Riyadh is what passes for being a “legitimate” ruler for Yemen in the eyes of Riyadh – by Harry J. Bentham
(* B K P)
Film: Leaked Report: Western Arms Are Essential to Saudi Arabia’s War in Yemen
A French intelligence report reveals that Saudi Arabia and UAE depend on Western support for their war in Yemen. Just Foreign Policy co-director Hassan El-Tayyab speaks about the report and the need to override Trump's veto of the Yemen War Powers resolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChCBp9HmPvI
(* B H K P)
Film: What can be done to resolve the conflict in Yemen?
A UN study says development in Yemen has been pushed back by two decades as civil war enters its fifth year.
Presenter: Imran Khan; Guests: Hakim al-Masmari - Political analyst and editor-in-chief of The Yemen Post; Mohammed Jumeh - Member of the National Dialogue Conference in Yemen; Karl Schembri - Norwegian Refugee Council
https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2019/04/resolve-conflict-yemen-190424193423672.html = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzSq1I2cduY
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B H)
Krieg im Jemen: Bericht zeigt tödliche Konsequenzen für Mütter und Kinder
Der Krieg im Jemen hat dramatische Auswirkungen auf Schwangere und Babys. Das geht aus einem Bericht hervor, den Ärzte ohne Grenzen heute veröffentlicht. Aufzeichnungen aus einem von der internationalen Hilfsorganisation betriebenen Krankenhaus in Tais und einer von ihr unterstützten Klinik in Abs zeigen, wie tödlich die Konsequenzen des Konflikts für Mütter und Kinder sind.
Laut dem Bericht „Complicated delivery“ registrierten die Krankenhäuser in Al-Huban, einem Vorort der Großstadt Tais, und in der Stadt Abs zwischen 2016 und 2018 den Tod von 36 Müttern und 1529 Kindern, darunter 1018 Neugeborene. Fast ein Drittel der Todesfälle in der Klinik in Tais-Al-Huban waren Neugeborene, die bereits bei der Ankunft tot waren. Die Todesursachen bei den Neugeborenen waren vor allem Frühgeburt, Sauerstoffmangel bei der Geburt und schwere Infektionen.
Die Kriegsparteien im Jemen und ihre internationalen Unterstützer haben den Zusammenbruch des öffentlichen Gesundheitssystems herbeigeführt, das die Bedürfnisse der 28 Millionen Menschen im Land nicht mehr decken kann. Um eine funktionierende Gesundheitseinrichtung zu erreichen, in der sie sich die Behandlung auch leisten können, müssen viele Jemeniten Frontlinien überqueren oder mehrere Checkpoints passieren
„Luftangriffe und Kämpfe verhindern, dass Patienten aus dem Haus gehen, aus Angst vor Angriffen. Einmal wurde ein Auto aus der Luft getroffen und alle Insassen wurden getötet", berichtet eine Hebamme im Krankenhaus von Abs. Die schwierige Sicherheitslage trifft nicht nur Menschen, die medizinische Versorgung benötigen, sondern auch das medizinische Personal
Ärzte ohne Grenzen fordert alle Kriegsparteien auf, den Schutz von Zivilisten und medizinischem Personal zu gewährleisten und Verwundeten und Kranken den Zugang zu medizinischer Hilfe zu ermöglichen. Einschränkungen für humanitäre Organisationen müssen gelockert werden, damit diese schnell auf die massiven Bedürfnisse reagieren können.
https://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de/presse/krieg-im-jemen-toedliche-konsequenzen-muetter-kinder
and English report: https://www.msf.org/mothers-and-children-left-die-yemen-without-access-medical-care
(B H)
Government of Japan support to WHO response in Yemen
Contributions from the Government of Japan have been crucial to WHO’s health response in Yemen. Between 2016 and 2019, the Government of Japan generously supported WHO’s humanitarian response with over US$ 11 million, allowing WHO to reach over 824 000 people with essential healthcare services and ensure the continuation of life-saving programmes.
In 2019, donations from Japan will continue to allow WHO to scale up its capacity-building activities for national health care personnel. These activities will target thousands of health professionals across the country, building on their capacity to deliver pre-hospital care.
http://www.emro.who.int/yem/yemen-news/government-of-japan-support-to-who-response-in-yemen.html
(* B H)
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Yemen Humanitarian Update Covering 22 March - 17 April 2019 | Issue 6
KEY ISSUES
Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General, Mark Lowcock, urges donors to convert pledges into cash as the Yemen humanitarian response faces funding crisis.
Humanitarian partners continue to scale up to meet the needs of 68,000 families displaced in Hajjah Governorate.
Rising numbers of displaced people endure alarming conditions while partners face supply and funding shortfall.
Rapid Response Mechanism assisted 213,589 families between June 2018 and March 2019.
Average cost of the minimum food basket is 102 per cent higher than pre-crisis.
Inter-Agency mission to Marib and Al Jawf identifies IDP crisis.
Cholera Task Force expands response as suspected cholera cases reach 194,595.
Fuel scarcity results in price hikes and lengthy queues at gas stations.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-update-covering-22-march-17-april-2019-issue-6
and full document https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen%20Humanitarian%20Update%20%236.pdf
(* B H)
UN Children's Fund, WASH Cluster, REACH Initiative: Yemen Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (March 2019)
INTRODUCTION: The Yemen Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (JMMI) was launched by REACH in collaboration with the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster and the Cash and Market Working Group (CMWG) to support humanitarian actors with the harmonization of price monitoring among all cash actors in Yemen.
The JMMI incorporates information on market systems including price levels and supply chains. The basket of goods to be assessed comprises eight non-food items (NFIs), including fuel, water and hygiene products, reflecting the programmatic areas of the WASH Cluster. Since September 2018, the JMMI tracks all components of the WASH Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB)
METHODOLOGY: Data was collected through interviews with vendor Key Informants (KIs), selected by partner organisations from markets of various sizes in both urban and rural areas.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-joint-market-monitoring-initiative-march-2019 and full document: http://www.reachresourcecentre.info/yemen/yemjoint-market-monitoring-intiative-jmmisituation-overviewmarch2019 and https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/reach_yem_jmmi_situation_overview_march2019.pdf
(B H)
Nutrition Sensitive Cash Transfer Program: The program continues to implement health education sessions to improve nutrition practices to reduce malnutrition, motivate demand for maternal and child services and encourage families to enroll their children in schools. No. of sessions until March 2019 reached 30237 sessions (photos)
https://twitter.com/Cash4_Nutrition/status/1121324345111011328
(* B H)
Yemeni children are dying on the world’s watch. Here’s how we can help.
12 million — more than 80 percent of all children across the country — need humanitarian assistance to survive. Basic services such as water, health care and sanitation have all but collapsed, and with the economy in free fall, families cannot afford to feed their children or bring them to health facilities.
In Yemen, a child dies every 10 minutes from preventable causes, including malnutrition and vaccine-preventable diseases. More than 1.8 million children are acutely malnourished, including 360,000 severely malnourished children who are fighting for their lives.
More than a quarter of children are out of school or in need of education assistance, and an estimated 2,000 schools can no longer be used. The journey to school has become so dangerous that parents are keeping their children home for fear of attacks. Without education, the future of millions of children and the country itself could be lost.
Conditions on the ground are not improving.
Exposure to violence has a lifelong impact on children’s physical and emotional well-being. With little recourse for specialized care, many children will carry these scars into adulthood, with long-term consequences.
Meanwhile, humanitarian access to areas with active fighting has shrunk, leaving trapped civilians more vulnerable to malnutrition and disease outbreaks. Health and sanitation systems have deteriorated
Simply put, Yemen remains a nightmare for children.
The question now is what can be done to protect Yemen’s children and safeguard the country’s future before time runs out. Any solution must start and end with putting children first – by Henrietta Fore, executive director of UNICEF.
(* B H)
Film: The War in Yemen: Educated Yemenis have difficulty finding work
The war in Yemen has devastated the population, the country's infrastructure, and its economy. It's forced many educated people to take unlikely jobs, such as becoming butchers, a profession that's not well-regarded in Yemen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dQ41PelKAY
(* B H)
Yemen: Seven Years in the Life of MSF’s Trauma Hospital in Aden
People in Yemen are caught in the midst of a devastating war. Millions are in desperate need of medical care, and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is on the front lines providing lifesaving aid.
MSF has over 2,000 staff on the ground in Yemen operating in more than 100 hospitals and health facilities, many in areas of active conflict. They’re up against extreme conditions: As the war has escalated, so too have the medical needs of our patients. MSF teams are adapting quickly, treating everything from war wounds and burns to cholera and diphtheria, working in the thick of a massive humanitarian crisis.
In the timeline below, we look back on the past seven years of our work at an emergency hospital in Yemen.
(* B H)
Film: Will Aisha ever survive? Taiz, Yemen
#Taiz: The story of Samaia and her baby Aisha who has a hole in her heart.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=588408588311012
(B H)
Qatar Charity distributes food and shelter aid in Yemen
Qatar Charity (QC) has recently distributed food and shelter aid to 30,000 displaced people in the governorates of Sana'a, Hajja, Saada and Socotra.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/qatar-charity-distributes-food-and-shelter-aid-yemen
(* B H)
Exploring women's fear of childbirth in a high maternal mortality setting on the Arabian Peninsula
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Few studies from low-income countries have addressed women's fear of childbirth (FOC) although likely to affect women during both pregnancy and childbirth. The aim of this study was to explore FOC in a high maternal mortality setting in the Arab region, Yemen.
METHODS:
A multi-stage (stratified-purposive-random) sampling process was used. We interviewed 220 women with childbirth experience in urban/rural Yemen. Answers to the question 'Were you afraid of giving birth?' were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
RESULTS:
Women perceived childbirth as a place of danger. Fear of death and childbirth complications stemming from previous traumatic childbirth and traumatic experience in the community was rampant. Husbands' and in-laws' disappointment in a girl infant constituted a strong sociocultural component of FOC. Women's perception of living in tension 'between worlds' of tradition and modernity reinforced fear of institutional childbirth. Women without FOC gave reasons of faith, social belonging and trust in either traditional or modern childbirth practice, past positive experience of childbirth and the desire for social status associated with children.
CONCLUSIONS:
The numerous maternal and infant deaths have a strong impact on women's FOC. Antenatal care has an important role in reducing fear including that of institutional childbirth and in strengthening a couple in welcoming a female infant. Staff should be sensitized to the fears of both husband and wife and women be allowed support during childbirth. Within the scope of the Millennium Development Goals and strengthening of reproductive mental health programs, FOC urgently needs to be addressed.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28596858
and full document: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-mental-health/article/exploring-womens-fear-of-childbirth-in-a-high-maternal-mortality-setting-on-the-arabian-peninsula/716EB67630610E02FB44CE64C57E9B47 = https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5269624/
(* B H)
Yemeni women's perceptions of own authority during childbirth: what does it have to do with achieving the Millennium Development Goals?
FINDINGS:
three main themes emerged from the analysis: (i) 'Being at the centre', including two categories 'being able to follow through on own wants' and its opposite 'to be under the authority of others'; (ii) 'A sense of belonging' with the categories 'belonging and support among women in the community' and 'the denial of support, the experience of separation' and (iii) 'Husband's role in childbirth' including one category 'opportunity to show authority over the husband'. Authority was experienced primarily among women within the traditional childbirth sector although a general complaint among women delivered by trained medical staff was the loss of own authority.
KEY CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE:
these findings show that women's authority during childbirth is decreasing in the context of Safe Motherhood and the expansion of modern delivery care. This is likely to be an important reason why women underutilise professional care. Acquisition of knowledge from the traditional childbirth sector regarding how women exercise authority to facilitate childbirth would constitute an asset to skilled delivery and Safe Motherhood. The findings from Yemen are likely to be relevant for other low-income countries with similar persistent high home delivery rates, low status of women, and high maternal mortality and morbidity rates.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23938165
and full document: https://www.midwiferyjournal.com/article/S0266-6138(13)00171-X/fulltext
(* B H)
Women's authority during childbirth and Safe Motherhood in Yemen.
RESULTS:
Women who had their questions answered and requests met during childbirth had 83% higher probability (95% CI 1.66-2.02) to perceive own authority. Women who reported skin-to-skin contact/newborn in arms had 28% higher (95% CI 1.03-1.59) and those who had more distant contact 15% lower (95% CI 0.75-0.95) probability. A graded negative association was found between the perceived authority of the woman in childbirth and the level of biomedical training of staff (p<.0001). Women's social and demographic background played no role for their perceived own authority at birth.
CONCLUSIONS:
This paper argues that supporting Yemeni women to exercise their own authority during childbirth would significantly facilitate their ability to give birth successfully and with personal satisfaction. In a country where women are routinely disempowered, their personal empowerment at birth is very important to them. Skilled birth assistants often, in women's perceptions, work against their personal power and authority, most especially MDs but also midwives. This failure results in women failing to seek medical care when needed. Supporting women to experience their own authority at birth would facilitate the accomplishment of both the Millennium Development Goals and those of the Safe Motherhood Initiative. We call for increased cooperation between modern and traditional methods of care.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21122611
and full document: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877575610000431?via%3Dihub
(* B H)
The Role of Demand Factors in Utilization of Professional Care during Childbirth: Perspectives from Yemen.
METHOD:
We interviewed 220 women with childbirth experience in urban/rural Yemen. We performed bivariate chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression analysis. A multistage sampling process was used.
RESULTS:
The issues of own choice, birth support and birth complications were the most important for women's preference of future location of childbirth. Women who had previously been able to follow their own individual choice regarding birth attendance and/or location of childbirth were six times more likely to plan a future childbirth in the same location and women who received birth support four times more likely. Birth complications were associated with a 2.5-fold decrease in likelihood.
CONCLUSIONS:
To offer women with institutional childbirth access to birth support is crucial in attracting women to professional care during childbirth. Yemeni women's low utilization of modern delivery care should be seen in the context of women's low autonomy and status.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21941663
and full document: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2011/382487/
(B H)
World Food Programme: Yemen mVAM Bulletin #36: August 2018 - Household food security in Yemen remains stable despite the continuation of the conflict as humanitarian assistance is reaching more people
In August,overall food consumption remains stable as more household are receiving food assistance
The use of negative coping strategies remains wide spread especially among displaced households
Concerns persist over lack of food and income and the spread of diseases
https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000100147/download/
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(B H)
Film: Displaced people from different areas of Hodeidah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsdTPpthl5U
My remark: By anti-Houthi militia channel, used for propaganda purposes.
(* B H)
68,000 families displaced amid fighting in Yemen's Hajjah: UN
Ongoing fighting in Yemen's northwestern border province of Hajjah has resulted in 68,000 internally-displaced families since the beginning of this year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen (UNOCHA) said on Thursday.
"Between mid-February and mid-March, an estimated 8,400 families were displaced from Kushar District as a result of clashes between Hajour tribesmen and the de-facto authorities (Houthi rebels)," the UN agency said.
"At the end of March, fighting (between Houthi rebels and Saudi-led coalition forces) in Midi and Hayran led to the displacement of 17,000 families from Bani Hassan sub-District. By the end of March, up to 68,000 families were estimated to be displaced within or from Hajjah," the UNOCHA said in a statement.
It said aid agencies are facing difficulties to reach the displacement camps near active frontlines.
"Humanitarian partners continue to scale up to meet the needs of 68,000 families displaced in Hajjah Governorate," UNOCHA said.
"Increasing displaced people endure alarming conditions while partners face supply and funding shortfall," it added.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/26/c_138009989.htm
(* B H)
Norwegian Refugee Council: The hard life in displacement: Young mothers in war-torn Yemen
The sun is roasting through the thick layer of sand that has settled in the air. It’s only February, but the temperature is getting close to 30 degrees. Inside the tents, the heat is almost unbearable. In these conditions live widowed Ahlam, 27, and heavily pregnant Rana, 20.
That is it like to be a young mother and displaced in Yemen?
“There were heavy clashes near our house, and we couldn’t go out to fetch food or water.”
Ahlam welcomes us in her tent in Al-Garad, one of the many displacement camps in southern Yemen. Her voice cracks.
“One day my husband went out to his regular work in a construction site. A number of bullets hit his body and took his soul from us.”
Inside the small tent, her youngest daughter, Adyan, cuddles up in her mother’s lap.
It’s been just over a year since Ahlam took her four children and fled their home city Taiz. “While fleeing, I was afraid that bullets and snipers in the mountains would kill us if we got too close,” she says.
Eventually they arrived in Al-Garad displacement camp, which was established in 2016 and houses almost 60 displaced families. Although the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have distributed some food in the camp, the people in the camp still suffer from a lack of food.
Ahlam sometimes goes hungry for days so that her children have enough to eat.
Ahlam dreads the upcoming summer. Fiery winds will make the air denser and life in the camp even more difficult for the young family, and it will be almost impossible to move outside under the scorching sun.
In the camp, we’ve built tents and latrines for hundreds of families. But the conditions in the camp remain harsh: It’s cramped, and there is no sound proofing between the tents. The heat is almost unbearable, it’s windy, and the air is sandy. There are insects, snakes and scorpions.
The people in the camp lack many things: “We need more food and water, as well as fans. I don’t know how we’ll survive this heat without,” says Rana. Al-Mishqafa camp is located in the desert, and the heat is already extremely uncomfortable (photos)
https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2019/young-mothers-in-war-torn-yemen/
(B H)
International Organization for Migration: Flow Monitoring Points | 2018 Migrant Arrivals and Yemeni Returns from Saudi Arabia in Feb 2019
Displacement Tracking in Yemen includes the monitoring of key migrant and return locations on Yemen's northern border with Saudi Arabia and southern coastal border. Enumerators placed at Flow Monitoring Points (FMPs) monitor the arrivals and departures of migrants and Yemeni nationals in order to identify different patterns and types of migration, including quantitative estimates to help define the population of irregular migrants present in the country (Map)
(* A H P)
Tausende Migranten in jemenitischer Hafenstadt Aden festgenommen
Innerhalb weniger Tage haben die Behörden 5.000 Menschen inhaftiert. Sie waren auf dem Weg nach Saudi-Arabien. Einige sollen sich im Hungerstreik befinden.
(* A H P)
Yemeni officials say 5,000 migrants detained in Aden
Yemeni security officials say police have detained at least 5,000 migrants over the last 10 days who were attempting to cross to Saudi Arabia.
The officials said Wednesday that the migrants, most of them from African countries, are being held in overcrowded police stations across the southern city of Aden.
Aden's security chief, Shalal Shaye, says the migrants have launched a hunger strike. He says authorities are seeking assistance from the U.N. migration agency and aid groups.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/yemeni-officials-5000-migrants-detained-aden-62596136
and
(* A H P)
African migrants left in limbo at Yemen football stadium
In a disused football stadium in the Yemeni city of Aden, hundreds of African migrants find themselves in limbo -- banned from onward travel, but unable to return home.
The majority from Ethiopia, the migrants are facing tough conditions after being confined to the stadium in the government bastion, according to the United Nations' migration agency.
"The site is not fit to be hosting anyone, not even one person, let alone thousands," said Olivia Headon, the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Yemen spokeswoman.
While most of the 1,789 migrants are adult men, they also include 389 boys and 28 girls under the age of 18, Headon said. The youngest is believed to be 11 years old.
Security forces in the city have launched a campaign to repatriate all migrants over the past week, a police source told AFP.
After placing them in makeshift camps in residential areas across the city, most have been relocated to the stadium in the May 22 neighbourhood, the source said.
There, they sit in the open-air arena, picking at bread, pleading with officers or closing their eyes under the hot sun.
"There's no food or drink. There are no bathrooms or showers. We are hungry -- they're killing us with hunger. I told them death is better," Mohammed Nour told AFP.
Humanitarian agencies are concerned camp conditions will continue to deteriorate, with reports hundreds more migrants will be relocated there.
"They don't have access to toilets. They have to defecate outside, which is a massive health concern. There is no shelter. There are no blankets," said IOM spokeswoman Headon.
"We have started to truck in water, provide health screenings and distribute food, along with local organisations, but there is limited access to food resources," she added.
and film: https://information.tv5monde.com/video/yemen-une-foule-de-migrants-africains-parquee-dans-un-stade
(B H)
Canada playing major role as safe haven for at-risk academics from strife-torn countries
In 2014, Abdullah Gharamah’s neighbourhood in Sanaa, Yemen, was being used for weapons storage by armed militants when his home was stormed by some of them, who threatened the lives of his family and largely destroyed his house.
That explains why, he says, the warmth and hospitality he’s received at the University of Alberta has been the most meaningful part of his time in Canada since arriving last year.
Dr. Gharamah was the founding chair of the microbiology department at Hajjah University in Yemen, about 2½ hours northwest of the capital, Sanaa. But his research and his life were further interrupted when his neighbourhood was demolished in an air strike in the midst of the civil war.
He’s now been in Canada since September, 2018, and has begun to reintegrate himself into his work.
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(* A P)
Film: EXCLUSIVE: Houthi Foreign Minister Defends Against Accusations of War Crimes
Yemen’s Houthi-backed Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf Abdalla comes on the programme to defend his government against a Human Rights Watch Report. HRW says the Houthi’s widespread use of landmines has killed scores of civilians, and prevents them from accessing much needed food and aid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PtbYUWsMRg
(B P)
Houthis train children of al-Mahweet on fighting
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have intensified their recruitment of children in the governorate of al-Mahweet with the aim of reinforcing their battlefields in Hodeida and Hajjah governorate, local sourced told Alsahwa Net.
The sources affirmed that the so-called head of the revolutionary committees Mohammed al-Houthi visited al-Mahweet to oversee the recruitment.
They further emphasized that dozens of recruited children were sent during the past days to Hodeida.
Human Rights Minister the Houthis of recruiting 25,000 children and involving them in their senseless wars.
“The Houthis had admitted that they recruited 18,000 children, but the real figure is more than that” he added.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29430
My comment: As claimed by anti-Houthi new site and the Hadi government.
(A P)
Spokesman of Armed Forces confirms importance of normalizing situation in liberated areas
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534293.htm
(A P)
Riyadh regime had US green light for mass executions: Yemen’s Ansarullah
The political bureau of the movement, in a statement released on Thursday, said the sentences were carried out because the individuals had committed no sin other than reject Al Saud’s injustice and tyranny.
The statement highlighted that the policy of killing and suppression of people with an iron fist is a criminal approach long being exercised by the Saudi regime, adding that the ruling family in Riyadh has resorted to such a practice in a bid to cling to power.
“The history of the Saudi regime is awash with criminality. Brutal crimes being committed by the Saudi regime against its own nationals and other nations are a proof for its downfall and moral bankruptcy ... Without support from America, the Saudi regime would not have dared to commit such crimes,” Ansarullah pointed out.
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6587
(A P)
Authorities in Hodeidah release 84 prisoners spent three quarters of punishment term
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534209.htm
(A P)
Interior Ministry, ICRC discuss improving prison conditions
Deputy Interior Minister Major-General Abdulhakim al-Khiwani on Thursday discussed with Head of ICRC delegation in Yemen Franz Rauchenstein improving prison conditions through providing humanitarian needs and restoring the prisons infrastructure.
In the meeting, al-Khiwani said that the Interior Ministry had formed field committees to visit prisons in the capital Sanaa and the provinces to inspect the conditions of inmates and correct any imbalances.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534225.htm
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6589
My comment: LOL.
(A P)
Houthis confiscate clothes of detained Yemeni journalists
The Houthi rebels have confiscated clothes of Yemeni journalists detained in the Political Security Prison in Sana’a, relatives of the journalists told Alsahwa Net.
They also said that the journalists are still subjected to torture, pointing out that their relatives were deprived from visiting them.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29414
(* B P)
Story of kidnapped journalist in al-Houthi prisons tortured away from media
This is how the journalist Ahmed Hawthan began to suffer seven months ago, the tragedy of his family, composed of his wife and child, "Jori " in her second year, and his very old parents residing with his young brothers, in a rural village in Kaedneh District, Hajjah Governorate.
The journalist, Hawthandid not leave, Sanaa, like the majority of his fellow journalists, who deserted it after the Houthis invaded the city in late 2014, where he preferred to stay in the capital.
Violation, torture and concealment
The Houthi militia confiscated his money, his phone, a plastic bag carrying some of his work papers, and a bottle of mineral water.
Several days after his abduction, arrest and interrogation, his family was able to visit him in prison, and tried to use one of the elders of his district, Houthi leaders and his family and his wife's family.
But the intervention of the intelligence agents (political and national security) and the handover of al-Houthi group most of the files of the abductees in October 2018, for specialists and experts, dispelled all the promises of his release and ended a long march of efforts and mediation to liberate him from the prisons of the armed group.
The militias prevented his family from talking to him, but one of the putschists told his family that he had been tortured and had been found guilty and had documented in his phone conversations at social media sites with journalists and agents of the Arab coalition who are classified by the Houthis as traitors and mercenaries in the countries of aggression. .
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166950
(* A P)
Where is the media?
The ISCY has gained exclusive access to the english-language copy of the 80-page long document of the Yemeni 2030 vision, detailing how Yemen can rebuild itself and become a just, modern & fair democratic state with female representation & innovation on all sectors.
Yet no media has yet to cover this historic document. That's gonna change, and that's gonna change now.
If you are a reporter working for a major news company, please email us at press@iscyemen.org, explaining who you are & from what media company, and we will send the document to you, on the condition that it is being covered in an article or a news report primarily for an international, english-speaking audience.
The truth must be told. (image)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=131927221214453&set=a.105289653878210&type=3&theater
My comment: Simply publish the text! And for being more serious, stories as the one above never should have happened.
(A P)
Parliament elevates president al-Mashat to field marshal rank
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534155.htm
(* A P)
Half of salary to be paid to State staffs next week: Finance Minister
The Minister confirmed, in a statement, that directives have been issued to the Central Bank and all units of the state institutions to rapid the preparation of payroll for employees to start the payment process next week.
Abu Luhom called for the allocation of a fund, with which all revenues of the State, including oil and gas be deposited, in order to pay the salaries of all employees.
In his statement, the Minister of Finance renewed the call to neutralize the economy and pay
www.sabanews.net/en/news534151.htm
(A K P)
Security releases 32 Saudi-paid mercenaries in Dhamar
A total of 32 Saudi-paid mercenaries were on Wednesday released on Wednesday by the Yemeni security forces in Dhamar province, a security official told Saba.
The men were accused of collecting in formation and mobilizing to fight alongside with the coalition in several fronts.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534098.htm
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* A P)
Clashes between local militias are continuing im Yemen's southwestern #Taiz city. Locals say militias are exchanging artillery, tank and RPG fire as it seems the Islah militias are determined to enter the old Taiz city where Abu Al-Abbas militia is stationed.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1121538674842394624
Residents in #Taiz are caught up in battles between local militias and can't go out to buy food and water.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1121438466007552000
Escalating clashes in Taiz have expanded to Al-Jomhouri area from old Taiz city. Locals say Al-Jomhouri hospital has come under attack, and the situation is so dangerous as residents are caught up in battles. Civilians including children were sniped & wounded in morning battles.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1121434834868625408
Children have been injured in a mortar attack, reportedly by Houthis, near Al-Hojari school in downtown Taiz where local militias are fighting [look at cp17]. Activists have appealed to blood donors to head to Al-Thawra hospital. Reports say Houthis took advantage of clashes and shelled city.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1121414745968586758
(* A P)
Taiz: Fierce Clashes Flare up between Pro-Government Forces and Salafis, Civilians Fall Victim
People in Taiz woke up today to the sound of exchanging fire using heavy weapons __ believed to be the heaviest.
Scores of civilians and fighters were killed and injured as intense clashes broke out between Salafis pro-government forces in an area called The Old City.
Two weeks ago, a meeting was held in the Governate Office and reached an agreement that Salafis, headed by Abo Alabas, would hand outlaws to the Security Authority in the city.
There was a backlash over both Salafis and pro-government forces. The Salafis did not cooperate to hand the wanted criminals while pro-government forces did not take the safety of civilians into account.
Even though pro-government forces say they have a security campaign against outlaws, civilians are the ones who fall victim to this chaos.
“They sniped an orphan kid called Hashem al-Aizari. We don’t know who did it but this security campaign has to protect civilians, not to endanger their lives,” said activist Maha Awn (photos)
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/16691
(* A P)
1 child killed and 8 wounded by Abu Abbas sniper fire
A child was killed and eight other civilians were injured by sniper fire from the Abu al-Abbas brigades of the 35th Armored Brigade on Thursday, south of Taiz city in central Yemen.
"The Abu Abbas brigades targeted the forces of the security campaign in Al-Jomhuri area and the violent battles between the two sides expanded south of Taiz," a military source told Al-Masdar online.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166982
My comment: This is a pro-Islah Party (Muslim Brotherhood) news site. What is labeled “security campaign” here, actually is Islah Party militia.
(* A P)
Violent clashes in Taiz after Abu Abbas brigades attack members of the security campaign in the Old City
Clashes in the neighbourhoods of the old city of Taiz escalated at dawn on Thursday following an attack by gunmen affiliated with the Abu Abbas brigades on security campaign points.
Residents in Taiz told Al-Masdar online that violent confrontations using various types of weapons are still going on in the old city neighbourhoods and the explosions were heard.
According to a security source, gunmen from the Abu al-Abbas Brigades launched a large-scale attack on security campaign security points in order to expand their control
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166965
My comment: This is a pro-Islah Party (Muslim Brotherhood) news site. What is labeled “security campaign” here, actually is Islah Party militia.
And
(* A P)
Fierce clashes between Abu Al-Abbas and other militias resumed today in Yemen's #Taiz. Schools have closed interrupting annual exams, families hiding in basements and men using mosque microphones appealing to militias to cease fire. Government and Saudi-led coalition keep silent!
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1121274687567351809
and
(A P)
Sheikh Hani: Media neglect Islah's crimes in Taiz
Vice president of the Southern Transitional Council, Sheikh Hani Ben Brik, accused the media outlets of disregarding the crimes committed by Islah militia (Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood) against civilians in Taiz governorate.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4084
My comment: Southern separatists are foes to Islah Party, which backst he Hafdi government and Yemen’s unity.
and
(* A P)
UAE threatens to bomb Taiz city in campaign against Islah militias
In an effort to rescue its militias, the UAE occupation forces have threatened to use warplanes in order to bomb the Islah party militias inside the very city of Taiz if the party’s campaign against the Abu al-Abbas terrorist organisation does not stop.
This is the first time that the UAE has officially threatened to bomb Islah Party’s militants since the two sides entered into bloody confrontations nearly two years ago.
In conjunction with the UAE’s threats, the Abu al-Abbas group has demanded in a statement issued on Saturday that the UAE-backed Giants Brigades mercenaries make a quick intervention in Taiz in order to help Abu al-Abbas against the Islah party. This marks the first time that the Al-Qaeda organisation openly calls for help by other Emirati-backed mercenaries.
Local sources told Yemen Press Agency that the military position of Abu al-Abbas militias inside the city of Taiz is very weak, as the group is, surrounded by the militias of the Islah party on all sides in the Old City of Taiz.
The new clashes erupted between the two sides after the assassination of the so-called “Security and Order officer” of the Taiz police last Thursday in the center of Taiz City.
The Islah party accuses Abu alAbbas militias of carrying out these assassinations against recruits and officers of the Islah-controlled police of Taiz.
However, the recent threats by the UAE, along with Abu al-Abbas’s request for South Yemeni Wahhabis to intervene in the city of Taiz, indicate that Wahhabi groups have more options to confront the Islah party campaign.
https://yemen-rw.org/uae-threatens-to-bomb-taiz-city-in-campaign-against-islah-militias/
My comment: Oupps, the UAE linked to Wahabists and the Abu alAbbas militia, which are close to Al-Kaida.
and
(* A P)
Film: Clashes between militias are intensifying in Yemen's #Taiz. A woman in this video circulated on social media says mortar attacks are targeting residential areas and markets.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1121334354503000064 = https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1121360662880497664
Film, longer: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x76nt7f = https://ihavideo.com.tr/Video/Detay/1195371-yemende-ates-arasinda-kalan-3-cocuk-hayatini-kaybetti
Remark by Judith Brown: This is a video shot in Taiz where militias loyal to Salafist Abu Abbas (who were earlier caught on BBC footage with Al Qaeda amongst their ranks, allegedly supported by UAE, but designated a terrorist organisation by USA) are fighting Islah militias (a Yemeni political group with links to Muslim Brotherhood and allegedly funded by Saudi Arabia ) are fighting each other, with civilians being killed in the process. This is important as these militias are part of the anti-Houthi fighters and here their alliance is clearly unravelling. The ordinary citizens of Taiz have had a terrible time as it USA front in the ground war and there has been fighting there for four years, the duration of the war. The city is under siege by Houthi militias and reports from MSF say that the only hospital is now under threat leaving women and children with little access to any form of medical assistance and medical staff are unable to get to work due to increasing warfare.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157531688598641
(A P)
Dead and wounded in clashes dispute over residential land west of Aden
A local source told "Al-Masdar online " that one person was killed and others injured on Saturday morning after clashes between security forces and local militants following a local commander of the security forces in the Bir Fadhel area, west of Aden City, south of the country.
The source said that the confrontations in which small and medium-sized weapons were used revolved around a dispute over residential land in the Bir Fadhel area between Nasser Al-Shawhatti, a commander of the UAE-backed security forces in Al-Buraiqa district, and members of Bir Fadhel police station soldiers.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166978
(A P)
Guards of the Ministry of Justice in Aden attacking Al-Majidi and preventing him from entering the Ministry building
Guards of the Ministry of Justice in the interim capital Aden, southern Yemen, attacked the undersecretary of attorney Faisal Al-Majidi and prevented him from entering the building.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166953
(* A P)
Ben Brik: Foreign Meetings Pave the Way for Independence.
The Third Round of the National Assembly Will be In the Context of the Southern Independence State.
Top Secret Documents Will Be Declared Soon About the Practices of the First Military Zone.
President Al-Zubaidi Got More Than Six International Invitations.
Interview by: Muneer Al-Naqueeb and Nesma Salah
In a special interview with “Fourth of May”, General Ahmed Said Ben Brik, chairman of the Southern National Assembly said: “During our last visit to Russia and Britain, officials there asserted that the Southern Transitional Council enjoys the delicate political wisdom through dealing with critical issues on the military and political contexts. What we lack today is to administrate the south and this will be achieved at the zero hour which is very soon”. Ben Brik added: “I don’t want to jump over events but there are several surprises that will please the southern people”.
https://en.smanews.org/ben-brik-foreign-meetings-pave-the-way-for-independence
(A P)
President of the National Assembly of the Transitional Political Council for the South (STC) Ahmed Said bin Brik pledged to use Emirati-backed Yemeni forces to liberate Wadi Hadramawt in central Hadramawt governorate in eastern Yemen from al Qaeda and the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on April 23. Emirati-backed security forces held a military parade in Mukalla city in southern Hadramawt on April 24 to celebrate the third anniversary of the forces’ capture of Mukalla from AQAP.[2]
(A P)
Yemeni Parliament Pledges Ending Houthi Coup, Bringing Peace
Yemen’s Parliament Speaker Sultan al-Borkani pledged to end the Houthi coup and bring peace to the war-torn country.
This came during his meeting in Riyadh with the Chinese and British ambassadors in light with the MPs’ move in the diplomatic circles to enhance the legitimate government’s position in the country.
Borkani praised the great role played by the United Kingdom and its keenness to implement UN resolutions and agreements, most recently of which was the Stockholm Agreement on Hodeidah.
(A P)
Al-Mukalla celebrates the third anniversary of the end of al-Qaeda's control. And deteriorating services the most prominent scene
While the forces of the second military region led by Major General Faraj al-Bahssani, who is also governor of the province, are holding a military parade to commemorate the third anniversary of the liberation of Mukalla, other queues in the back streets await the acquisition of the household gas material.
Three years after al-Qaeda gunmen ended their takeover of al-Mukalla city and a number of the cities of the Hadramawt coast, local authority and the command of the military region appear to be the main scene of the decline in services.
Compared with the rest of the liberated areas, the authorities of the coast of Hadramawt succeeded in achieving security despite the success of the violations of civilians and caused the tragedies of detainees who have been in prison for several years and were tortured without charge before the court recently began releasing them to remain free of charges that ascribed them.
However, the deterioration of services and the power deficit in this file today appears to be the title of rice that haunts the inhabitants of the city.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166951
and
(A P)
Al-Bahssani attends military parade to mark 3rd anniversary of liberation (Photos)
Al-Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout held on Wednesday, a military parade to mark the 3rd anniversary of the liberation of al-Mukalla and the districts of Sahel Hadramout from the grip of al-Qaeda terrorist organization (AQAP) that occupied their regions for more than a year in 2015.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4069
(A P)
Hadhramout marks third anniversary of defeating al-Qaeda
A celebration was arranged Wednesday in the governorate of Hadhramout on the third anniversary of defeating al-Qaeda.
Governor of Hadhramout Faraj al-Bahsani praised, during the celebration, the people of Hadhramout who refused the existence of al-Qaeda in their governorate, and stood by the government until they were defeated.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29412
(B P)
Chocolate diplomacy. Foreign Minister Al-Yamani: The enemy is just a psychological concept
Al-Yamani also understands that the origins of the Yemeni people's problem with al-Houthi, as well as the Arab problem with the Zionist entity, are psychological barriers, not fateful issues and existential conflicts. Does that require, according to Yamani's concept, that anyone who believes in the existence of an enemy must expose himself to a psychiatrist to help him overcome this pathological situation?
While the Houthis continue to take fronts and other areas under their control, al-Yamani has made other statements confirming the failure of the military option of legality
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166931
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(A P)
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in London for Yemen talks
The UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, is set to hold high-level talks in the UK on Friday as part of an effort to find a way to end the civil war in Yemen.
The UK Foreign Office said it would discuss the next steps of the UN-led peace process and how to support special envoy Martin Griffiths.
Sheikh Abdullah will arrive from France, where he held talks with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Saudi Arabia’s Minister for of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel Al Jubeir, will also attend.
“I called this meeting so that we keep doing everything we can to move forward on the hard road to peace in Yemen," British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said.
"This is a horrendous conflict and it is taking too long to turn the ceasefire agreed to in Stockholm into a durable path to peace."
He repeated that the UK was “resolute” in its belief that there was no military solution to the conflict.
My comment: Allied warring parties playing peacxe brokers. What a joke, what a nonsense wording by Mr. Hunt.
(A P)
Al-Houthi revealed secret negotiations between the Ansar Allah, the political wing of the Houthis, and the Saudi regime to end the Saudi war against Yemen but has hinted that ending the war would require serious will from the Saudi regime to change its vision towards Yemen’s relationship with the kingdom after the war. “The Saudis should be convinced that what is a factor of reassurance and stability to Saudi Arabia is the relationship of mutual respect and good neighborliness with Yemen,” al-Houthi concluded.
(* A P)
Yemen’s new road to peace
UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths has charted a political roadmap that may salvage peace in the war-torn country
A high-level government official told Aden 24 Monday that Yemen was witnessing fast-paced, important developments as part of a new strategy to include all the warring parties and salvage peace.
The official added that Griffiths has been engaged in dialogue with the legitimate government, the Southern Transitional Council, the General People’s Congress and the Houthis to cease military operations and discuss the political solutions available, especially federalisation of Yemen.
Griffiths’ newest proposal divides Yemen into three regions. The southern region will include Hadramawt and Aden, with the latter the designated capital. The Saba region will include Janad, with Taiz as its capital. The Azal province will include Tohama, with Sanaa as the capital.
Griffiths told the UN Security Council that the second phase of negotiations on Yemen will seek to establish a national unity government and an authority to oversee demilitarisation. He added that trust was nearly absent between the Houthis and the legitimate government.
Meanwhile, Yemenis are dying of illness and lack of medication. Gravely ill Yemenis who applied for passports have been waiting for months on end, hoping to be treated abroad. Al-Ahram Weekly sources revealed that passports are issued based on bribes, while Yemenis are left to die or face amputations.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/27041.aspx
My comment: The first source I found on this plan. – The rest of the article – an overview of the newest developments in Yemen is biased by anti-Houthi and pro-Saudi coalition propaganda.
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
(A P)
Rouhani says Saudi Arabia, UAE owe their existence today to Iran: TV
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates owed their existence to Iran because it had refused to help former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein invade the two countries, state TV reported.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
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MBS has no popular legitimacy, Saudi activist Abdullah Alaoudh says
Western silence after atrocities of Saudi crown prince is 'outrageous', son of jailed cleric Salman al-Awda tells MEE
That is Abdullah Alaoudh's message for Western nations, particularly the United States, which he said is "putting its eggs in one basket" by backing the powerful crown prince also known as MBS, despite repeated atrocities carried out under his rule.
Alaoudh, a senior fellow at the center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, is the son of Salman al-Awda, a prominent Saudi Muslim scholar who was arrested in 2017 as a part of an intense crackdown on dissent in the kingdom.
Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Awda on ambiguous charges relating to defying the government, his son said.
Speaking to Middle East Eye after delivering a lecture at Georgetown earlier this week, Alaoudh urged US officials to reach out to the Saudi public and speak to activists, intellectuals, economists and others who have been working to improve human rights conditions in the kingdom.
"It's very dangerous and unwise to think that MBS is Saudi Arabia," he said.
Alaoudh denounced what he called Western indifference to the human rights abuses in the kingdom, including his father's case.
"It's really outrageous to see how silent a lot of people are, and it's even more outrageous to see the West support him (MBS) despite all that happened, even when their own strategic interests are at stake."
American support, Alaoudh said, is vital for bin Salman to maintain his rule.
"MBS has no popular legitimacy. He's not elected. He doesn't represent the public... He lacks that legitimacy and he knows that very well, so for this kind of ruler to exist, he needs to have backing from outside," Alaoudh told MEE.
MBS has used his close relationship with US administration officials, namely Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, to "leverage his agenda", Alaoudh said.
Indeed, MBS's ties to Kushner have surfaced at many turning points of the crown prince's career.
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia: Mass Execution of 37 Men
Most from Shia Community, Convicted in Unfair Trials
“Saudi authorities will inevitably characterize those executed as terrorists and dangerous criminals, but the reality is that Saudi courts are largely devoid of any due process and many of those executed were condemned based solely on confessions they credibly say were coerced,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The death penalty is never the answer to crimes and executing prisoners en masse shows that the current Saudi leadership has little interest in improving the country’s dismal human rights record.”
Fourteen of the men who were among the defendants in the Qatif 24 case were from that Shia-majority area. The Specialized Criminal Court convicted them on protest-related crimes, and some faced charges of violence including targeting police patrols or police stations with guns and Molotov cocktails.
The court convicted nearly all defendants based on confessions they later repudiated in court, saying the authorities had tortured them. The court sentenced 14 of the defendants to death in June 2016, and an appeals court upheld the verdict in May 2017. The court sentenced nine others to prison terms of between three and 15 years and exonerated one defendant.
Eleven of the executed men were part of the Iran spy case, which involved 32 defendants. They were accused of offenses constituting “high treason,” including meeting with Iranian “intelligence agents”
Taha al-Haji, a Saudi lawyer who represented a group of the “Iran spy case” defendants until March 2016, told Human Rights Watch that authorities held the men incommunicado for three months before allowing phone calls and visits with family members.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/04/24/saudi-arabia-mass-execution-37-men
My remark: Earlier reporting: Yemen War Mosaic 530, cp8. – and as reminders: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/10/saudi-arabia-10-things-you-need-to-know-about-a-kingdom-of-cruelty/ and https://twitter.com/RaniaKhalek/status/1121017286243098625
And
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Saudi Arabia executions: A cruel travesty of justice
The killings will not put an end to the peaceful protest and activism of the Saudi Shia community, which has been struggling for equality for over half a century
Travesty of justice
At least 34 of the executed prisoners are Shia activists, professionals, religious scholars and a number of young men who were detained when they were minors. This amounts to a brutal attack on Saudi Arabia's Shia.
The community must be in shock and mourning its loss. Many of the young Shia prisoners were detained as early as 2011, when many in the Eastern Province staged an uprising demanding the release of their political prisoners.
This act of mass punishment is a travesty of justice for many reasons. First, a political system that subjects the judiciary to its absolute power cannot be trusted to deliver real justice.
Secret trials undermine the credibility of the Saudi justice system. Furthermore, confessions under torture, a common practice in such high-profile executions, amount to nothing but injustice, yielding unreliable statements from prisoners, and is in stark violation of human rights.
But of course, the Saudi regime does not give great attention to such details and, without the regime being held accountable, no one can challenge the abysmal state of Saudi prisons and what goes on behind closed doors.
The T word
Second, lumping all executed prisoners under the charge of terrorism mitigates against any criticism of the government’s decision, particularly King Salman, who has to sign the death sentences before they are carried out.
In fact, any criticism of such a massacre, conducted behind closed doors and displayed to the public in the case of the crucifixion, faces a deluge of Saudi trolls justifying the executions on grounds of terrorism and even accusing the critic of sympathising with terrorism.
In the unlikely situation that a Western government expresses doubt, concern or mild reservations about the large number of executions, the Saudis will revert to the justification that this is exactly what the West expects, namely an iron fist to end terrorism.
The Saudi regime thinks of itself as the vanguard against terrorism, as a participant in the "War on Terror" and the international coalition against the Islamic State. Mass executions of terrorists should be welcomed rather than questioned, it believes. Vague terrorism charges have truly become an umbrella under which an opaque judiciary and a hawkish regime silences dissent.
Containing Iran?
Finally, it is important to point out the political context of the recent executions. US President Donald Trump entrusted Saudi Arabia with the task of containing Iran, so in addition to its cherished role in fighting terrorism, the Saudi regime is considered in Washington an indispensable ally against the regime in Tehran.
The execution of Shia prisoners on this scale can be interpreted as part of "fighting Iran" in an obscure and convoluted way.
But Iran will not be affected by this mass murder.
However, the real victims of the Saudi injustice on 23 April are Saudi Shia, who represent a minority on the edge. Regardless of how much they show respect and endorsement of the Saudi regime, they seem to be always accused of loyalty to Iran – by Madawi al-Rasheed
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/saudi-arabia-executions-cruel-travesty-justice
and
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Saudi Arabia sends 'a message of fear' with mass execution, says dissident
Gulf Institute director Ali Al-Ahmed says many of 37 people killed were young activists and protesters
Their crimes were unclear — but their sentences were swift and brutal.
Many of them were simply young activists and protesters, says Ali Al-Ahmed, a Saudi dissident and director of the Gulf Institute think-tank.
Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens host Carol Off.
What do you know about the scene that unfolded yesterday in Saudi Arabia when these executions took place?
Usually these executions take place in public. But we have no indication they were carried in public. Mostly they were carried inside prisons and by beheadings and dismemberment.
One individual was dismembered and displayed for the public.
The number is staggering. The thought of this is just incomprehensible. But I want to maybe try to put a bit of a human face on what happened [Tuesday] and a couple of the people I know you're familiar with or you know who were executed. Can you tell us about Abdullah Al Suraih?
Most of the people who were executed are young people. They are in their early twenties.
Abdullah Al Suraih is one of them. He's not even 22 and he comes from a poor family. [He] lived in a shanty house, very close to the oil port Ras Tanura.
He was one of the leaders of the protest. He gave speeches in these protests, although he doesn't have much education because of the Saudi deprivation.
And the goal of these protests were equality, were job opportunities, were end of oppression and shooting.
And he made a video, did he not?
He made several videos. One of them speeches ... during demonstration. He made a video showing ... his residence where he lived with his mother and younger brothers and sisters.
So he was beheaded yesterday, as was Mujtaba Al-Sweikat. Can you tell us about him?
Before these men, these 37 people, were executed, did they have anything like a trial? Did they have representation? I understand there were confessions, probably extracted by torture. Was any of that reviewed in any kind of legal context?
The Saudi court system is abysmal. It does not belong to this modern time.
If you are a Shia or black or a secular individual, let alone be a woman, you're not allowed to be part of that court system.
And the judges who render these judgments, they do it under orders of the Saudi government. They are part of it.
The decision is already made. It's a kangaroo court in many ways.
Finally, the vast majority of these men who were executed were of the Shia Muslim minority. Why is that? [with audio]
and
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Film: Saudi Arabia executes 37 Shias on minor charges
Human rights groups have been outraged over Saudi Arabia’s execution of 37 men this week. Most of these men were of the Shia minority and were punished on terror, violence and unrest-related charges. However, their actual crimes consisted of “disrespecting authority”. Gulf Affairs Institute Director Ali Al Ahmed joins In Question to discuss the outcry with RT America’s Manila Chan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPGX61x6m30
and
(A P)
Film: "I hope to be who is their blood fuel for his tree dignity and freedom and justice"
https://twitter.com/Kingslayer745/status/1121554424411951104
and
(A P)
In this screenshot, Qatif police call on the families of those executed and warn them to not set up any funeral services.
https://twitter.com/eshaLegal/status/1121475491888861186
Even the devil would be embarrassed to be this evil. The people in charge of the Husseinyas are getting threats and saying they will be arrested if they allow the families to hold funeral rituals there.
https://twitter.com/eshaLegal/status/1121381565555200000
And
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Saudi Arabia executed 37 people and all the UK did was shrug. What will it take for the west to speak up?
Despite the bloodshed under the crown prince’s tenure, and last night’s mass execution, the response from Downing Street and the Foreign Office have been muted
These appalling killings were the most recent in a series of atrocities that have seen a further erosion of human rights for Saudi citizens.
It might be tempting to look back at the photoshoots and Hollywood handshakes of last March as an act of naivety, but even that soft power has real life consequences.
One of the reasons the crown prince has been able to maintain his authoritarian rule is because of the support he has received on the world stage. Some of that is the concrete and practical support he has received from rulers like Trump and May, but much of it is the power he has gained from positive influence and associations.
Both repression and the crisis in Yemen were underway when the crown prince was touring the world last year, but that didn’t stop world leaders and celebrities from posing for photos and legitimising him.
The main thing that has changed since then is that more people are talking about those abuses, making things more embarrassing for those who have endorsed him in turn.
If there is one thing that might force change, it is international pressure. That is why campaigners, such as ALQST, an international Saudi human rights group, have called on the world to condemn the Saudi authorities’ continuing and escalating abuses. At the top of that list should be those who were all too happy to welcome him a year ago.
Despite the bloodshed of the crown prince’s tenure, and last night’s mass execution, the response from Downing Street and the Foreign Office have been muted. As long as governments like the UK continue to arm and support the Saudi regime, then they are not just letting them get away with murder, they are actively facilitating it – by Andrew Smith, CAAT
and
(B P)
The clear failure of certain sectarian-obsessed activists to condemn #Saudi Klan mass executions because most are Shia Arab protesters, just gave the Klan a green light to excute Sheikh Salman AlOdeh & many others like him
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1121165542184902656
and
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Film: Martyred activist Abdullah Al Asraih: "I protested peacefully to demand my rights & the rights of my fellow citizens; I didn't destroy property or follow foreign agenda as MOI alleged, because our demands are legitimate" Is it for these demands that he was tortured, executed?
https://twitter.com/nashetqatifi/status/1121160234771394567
and also https://twitter.com/PrintempsArabeS/status/1121180638516785152
and more information on victims:
Sheikh Mohammad Attia: https://twitter.com/ESOHumanRights/status/1121472849955442689
Saeed AlSkafi: https://twitter.com/PrintempsArabeS/status/1121180606602317824
Salman Al Quraish: https://twitter.com/PrintempsArabeS/status/1121180614521171968
Abdullah AlTraif: https://twitter.com/PrintempsArabeS/status/1121180654161600512
Muneer Adam: https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1121623092105629697
Abdullah al-Zaher: https://twitter.com/Rowaida_Abdel/status/1121221100124475392 and https://www.esohr.org/en/?p=584 and https://twitter.com/Rowaida_Abdel/status/1121221100124475392
and here a thread with names, photos and more information on 21 of them: https://twitter.com/eshaLegal/status/1121546089436467200
and
(A P)
Executed Saudi student had 'bright future' ahead of him in Michigan
Saudi Arabia executed Mutjaba al-Sweikat, who had been accepted to Western Michigan University but was arrested before making it to US
Mutjaba al-Sweikat was only 17 when Saudi Arabian authorities arrested him for participating in an anti-government protest. Instead of attending university in the Midwestern US state of Michigan, he spent his late teens and early 20s in jail before being executed by beheading.
Sweikat had been accepted into Western Michigan University (WMU), but Saudi authorities arrested him in 2013 at the airport before he boarded the plane to start his university education to study finance.
Michigan officials and activists, who had been pushing to stop the execution, have condemned the killing, calling on the US government to hold Saudi Arabia accountable.
According to the London-based human rights group Reprieve, Sweikat endured torture at the hands of his captors before his execution.
"He was severely beaten all over his body, including the soles of his feet, and convicted on the basis of a confession extracted through torture," Reprieve said in a statement.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/executed-saudi-student-had-bright-future-michigan-lawmakers-say
(* A P)
[Saudi verdicts and claims]
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=33825
And
(B P)
Film: One of the Shiite families in Qatif receives the body of their only son to be executed
“Our guilt is that we love Mohamed & his family. That’s why they kill us” A Shia Arab eulogy about #Saudi Klan mass murder of Shia civilians.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1121372713069756417
https://twitter.com/fared___1/status/1120952129357799424?s=21
(A P)
Hasan Minhaj Called Out Jared Kushner to His Face for His Relationship With MBS at the TIME 100 Gala
Comedian Hasan Minhaj used his speech at the TIME 100 Gala Tuesday to urge White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner to leverage his relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and win the release of Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul.
Al-Hathloul, a 2019 TIME 100 honoree, is currently in prison after advocating for women’s rights in the kingdom (with film)
http://time.com/5574438/hasan-minhaj-time-100-toast/
and film also here: https://twitter.com/TIME/status/1120924110996103169
(A P)
Saudi Twitter has been deployed to actively tweet about the #ArmenianGenocide. This is how you know Saudi-Turkey relations are at a low point.
Verified Saudi Arabia media & journalist accounts are also tweeting about the #ArmenianGenocide. Note that Saudi Arabia does not even have diplomatic relations with Armenia. Hope this cynicism leads to Saudis actually learning about 1915 & stop starving Yemenis for a change.
https://twitter.com/Zinvor/status/1120890608342765568
(A P)
Credit Suisse will receive Saudi banking license, finance minister says
A banking license to operate in Saudi Arabia will be issued to Credit Suisse, Mohammed al-Jadaan, the kingdom’s finance minister said on Wednesday.
(A P)
Film: @twitter suspended Maha & Wafa's account. It's how women get silenced on social media. Follow them, share their story, & help amplify their voices. This is their account @GeorgiaSisters2 i will be posting articles & interviews under this tweet.
https://twitter.com/MsSaffaa/status/1120991620994756608
Background information: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/19/europe/saudi-arabia-sisters-asylum-georgia-intl/index.html
This is the account No. 1: https://mobile.twitter.com/georgiasisters and this is no. 2: https://mobile.twitter.com/georgiasisters2, now restored.
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B K P)
The war in Yemen – Cartoon
https://www.truthdig.com/cartoons/the-war-in-yemen/
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Senate to take up Trump's Yemen veto next week
The Senate is set to take up President Trump's veto of legislation cutting off U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen next week, though any override attempt is expected to fall short.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) office said Thursday that the chamber would "process the president’s veto message on the Yemen resolution by the end of the week."
Because the Senate voted first on the resolution, any override attempt will start in that chamber. Neither the Senate nor the House are expected to have the votes to overcome Trump's veto.
Aside from a straight vote on overriding the resolution, there are several procedural tactics Republicans could use to try to deal with Trump's veto message. For example, senators could try to send the resolution to committee or table it
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/440721-senate-to-take-up-trumps-yemen-veto-next-week
(B P)
The Trump Administration Seals the Escape Doors After Turning Yemen Into Hell
There is no longer any legal way for Yemenis to come to America.
What has the United States done to relieve the humanitarian catastrophe that it has had a hand in causing? It has blocked Yemenis trying to escape to America.
The Trump administration has yet to accept any Yemeni refugees this year. It has banned nearly all permanent immigration from the country
Even as the war crimes proceed, the United States has resettled no refugees since January 1, 2019.
The United States doesn't have an obligation to put out fires everywhere in the world. But it shouldn't pour gas on them, as it has in Yemen by supporting the Saudi assaults. And it certainly shouldn't then slam shut the fire escapes, leaving the residents to burn.
(* B C P)
The Yemen Resolution and the Historical U.S.-Saudi Security Relationship
The U.S.-Saudi security relationship—which includes arms sales, military assistance and training, intelligence sharing, and direct operational support—has been a long-standing source of disagreement between Congress and the White House. Congress has expressed its opposition to this relationship through legislative action, including the disapproval of arms agreements, limitations on security assistance and, more recently, proposals to remove U.S. forces from hostilities. A history of these disagreements illustrates how shifting priorities and circumstances have caused the specifics of congressional opposition to vary, while also demonstrating that certain structural elements of the relationship have consistently driven underlying congressional unease.
1932-1971: The Early Days
1971-1989: Growing Congressional Scrutiny
1989-2001: Relative Stability After the Gulf War
2001-2014: 9/11 and the Development of a New Security Relationship
2015-Present: The Current Security Relationship and Saudi Arabia’s Campaign in Yemen
As this history demonstrates, the fact that Congress and the president are at odds over U.S. security policy toward Saudi Arabia is not a new development in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. In the current dispute, Congress is leveraging several old tools for influencing security policy—including opposition to arms sales under the AECA and restrictions on foreign assistance—and previously unused tools, such as the War Powers Resolution.
Congress’s specific objections to the U.S.-Saudi security relationship reflect contemporary concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Beyond Yemen, however, several structural factors complicate traditional pillars of the U.S.-Saudi security alliance, including concerns that Saudi Arabia’s actions are undermining regional security, growing scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s internal politics (for example, its human rights track record), and the U.S.’s increased capacity to produce domestic oil (although Saudi Arabia remains important to global energy markets). Those in support of continuing the relationship emphasize that, although the Saudi-U.S. partnership is far from perfect, it has strategic benefits, particularly in counterterrorism, opposition to Iran, and maintenance of regional stability against a more chaotic alternative.
Ultimately, congressional supporters and skeptics must cooperate with the executive branch to change U.S. security strategy, and the Trump administration has consistently indicated that it has no intention of turning away from the U.S.-Saudi alliance. As long as this remains administration policy, Congress may use various legislative tools to chip away at U.S. security support for the kingdom—but there is unlikely to be a fundamental realignment in the U.S.-Saudi security relationship – By Elizabeth Allan
https://www.lawfareblog.com/yemen-resolution-and-historical-us-saudi-security-relationship
(* B P)
The Trump administration is complicit in Saudi atrocities
DESPITE PROMISING to pursue a peace settlement, Saudi Arabia has continued its destructive bombing campaign in Yemen
President Trump ignored this record last week when he vetoed a congressional resolution that would have ended U.S. involvement in the Yemen war under the War Powers Act.
In reality, the Saudi bombing campaign would be unsustainable without that U.S. support, or the continuing sale of bombs and other materiel. That makes the Trump administration complicit in the continuing atrocities.
It also means that Congress must look for other ways to force a change in U.S. policy toward the regime led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose record of extraordinary recklessness in foreign policy has been matched by unprecedented domestic repression.
The ideal approach would be to address both, because they are intertwined.
My comment: The US is complicit in war crimes in Yemen since the very first day of the Saudi intervention on March 26, 2015, and the Washiington Post had tolerated this for many years.
(A B P)
US vows to ‘spare no effort’ to combat Iranian threat in Yemen
Brian Hook says Washington will restore stability and security in Yemen
“The US will work closely with the Yemeni government to eliminate all threats posed by Tehran’s terrorist regime in the region,” Mr Hook told Ahmed bin Mubarak, Yemen’s ambassador to the US, on Wednesday.
“We will spare no effort to get rid of this threat and to restore security and stability in Yemen and its surroundings,” Mr Hook said.
The Iranian-backed rebels’ "true intentions have become clear" to officials in Washington, Mr Hook said.
He said the US would not allow anyone to “tamper with international interests in the region that threaten the security of international navigation, especially in the Bab Al Mandeb strait.”
My comment: This is politics based on propaganda. There is no “Iranian threat” in Yemen. Whom or what Iran actually should “threat” there? The US or Saudi or UAE threats (just speaking of foreign forces) in Yemen are much more relevant than any supposded threat from Iran. – “Hehran’s terrorist regime”: Saudi Arabia is a much more “terrorist regime” than Iran ever was, and the US itself in many respects even will outmatch Saudi Arabia here. – “restore security and stability”: As a warring party in the Yemen War, the US had achieved exactly the opposite, and will continue this way. – “international interests” is US interests. And by mentioning this, Mr. Hook is telling us that US interests would weigh heigher than any Yemeni interest of self-determination. This is unacceptable. Any nation could determine its regime by itself. And what the US is claiming in the case of Yemen here, it also claims for evewry country on this planet. – The greatest threat to international navigation in the Bab Al Mandeb street are a) Saudi war ships pounding the Yemeni coast and b) the Saudi blockade against Northern Yemen. – Brian Hook is Trump’s anti-Iran hawk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Hook
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/271414.htm
https://www.thedailybeast.com/brian-hook-is-trumps-point-man-on-iran-and-under-investigation
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/01/interview-brian-hook-call-iran-regime-kleptocracy/: What is the US, please??? It’s a perfect kleptocracy.
(* B P)
The US and Yemen: stopping Iran or appeasing Saudi Arabia?
The ‘America First’ president is putting Saudi interests first
Was Yemen worth the veto? The war, occurring the most secluded and oil-poor corner of the Arabian Peninsula, seems, to many, tangential to American interests. Supporters of US involvement, such as former Bush administration official Michael Doran, counter that assessment, accusing critics of failing ‘to say anything about the Iranian role and the American interest in seeing Iran driven from Yemen’. But the Yemen conflict is not about Iran. It’s about Saudi Arabia.
Follow the money.
The US-Saudi partnership is already controversial in America. According to Gallup, 77 percent of Americans hold an unfavorable view of the country. American and Saudi values are antithetical.
President Trump’s steadfastness with Saudi Arabia is curious. Trump, as a private citizen, had called Saudi Arabia ‘the world’s biggest funder of terrorism’.
Given the toxic nature of Saudi Arabia, supporters would rather focus on Iranian involvement anyway. But the Houthis are superfluous to Iran. The Houthis are a nice cudgel with which to threaten Saudi Arabia, but not a vital Iranian interest. Otherwise, Iran would be spending more.
The same is not true for the Saudis. As Princeton lecturer Bernard Haykel notes, the Saudis view the war as ‘an attempt by the Iranians to create a Hezbollah-like force in Yemen on their southern borders’, creating ‘a national security threat to the Saudis through missiles, like Hezbollah does with Israel’.
But why should America care? The prevailing wisdom concerns oil.
Now, amid a price surge following President Trump’s ending of exemptions to the Iranian oil embargo, the US is again using arms to keep the Saudi oil flowing and keep prices stable. The president has tweeted that that the Saudis ‘will more than make up the oil flow difference’.
Appeasing Saudi Arabia, then, is the more convincing rationale behind continued American involvement in Yemen. Given the ire the kingdom has raised in America, and President Trump’s political vulnerabilities, it is hard to say how politically sustainable this support can be. It is, however, an oddly supine position that the ‘America First’ president now finds himself in – by Paddy Ryan
https://spectator.us/us-yemen-iran-saudi-arabia/
(* B P)
Trump’s Yemen veto damages America’s image around the world
Trump’s veto is thus overt approval of the escalations carried out by the coalition, even its breaches of international law. It signals that the US administration does not oppose the coalition’s bombings and blockade of civilians. Moreover, the veto also demonstrates that having 14 million Yemenis at risk of famine and a rising death toll is not enough to make Washington think again end its support for the coalition.
If Donald Trump really wants to “make America great again” then he should have been mindful of the suffering of innocent civilians in Yemen in which his country has been complicit, and allowed the Congressional resolution to pass. However, it is apparent that the economic ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia ensured that such an outcome was never going to happen. Such ties take precedence in Trump’s eyes.
“President Trump has thrown his lot behind Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s role in the Yemen War with his support,” the Director of Research at the Arab Centre in Washington DC, Dr Imad Harb, told me. “While he believes that Congressional action should not limit his constitutional prerogative of deciding foreign policy, his main concern is maintaining his close relationship with the leaderships in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.”
(* B P)
Donald Trump's Yemen veto runs roughshod over the Constitution
President Donald Trump’s recent veto of a congressional resolution about Yemen yielded a result contrary to what is intended by our constitutional order.
The Constitution designates the president as commander in chief. But the authority to declare war was vested in Congress.
Although the Federalist Papers do not elaborate on it at length, the intended division of labor is clear. Congress decides when to fight. The president decides how to fight.
What happened with the Yemen resolution exposes a gaping flaw in this constitutional shortcut.
The United States is assisting Saudi Arabia with its military campaign in Yemen.
There’s an easy way to illustrate the fatuousness of this claim. Assume the same actions were targeted at the United States.
If some country was providing bombing targets within the United States to a hostile power, or refueling bombers on their way to drop them, would we regard that as an act of war? Of course we would.
While the practice of formally declaring war has fallen into desuetude, the constitutional principle remains: Congress, not the president, decides when we fight. And what we are doing in Yemen constitutes fighting.
Regardless, the exercise of independent judgment is laudatory. And on matters of war and peace, what the founders intended from Congress
(? B P)
Congress fails to claw back the right to wage war
Were the founding fathers to return, suggested Michael Beschloss, a historian, in “Presidents of War”, they would be “thunderstruck” to discover how the power to kick off major wars could now rest on the whim of a president. Presidents have “regularly told Congress to go to hell” on such matters, as Harry Truman admiringly noted of James Polk, the 11th president. Donald Trump is keeping up that tradition (registered only)
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/04/27/congress-fails-to-claw-back-the-right-to-wage-war
(* B P)
Trump Sees Yemen War Bill An Affront to His ‘Authority’: US Analyst
A Middle East expert specializing in Yemeni affairs said US President Donald Trump probably sees a congressional bill to end US military involvement in Saudi Arabia’s ongoing aggression against Yemen as an “affront to his authority”.
“I’m not surprised by the veto. Trump probably sees Congress’ bill as an affront to his authority, which it is not, but the American diplomatic and military establishment is likely more concerned not about the war in Yemen but the erosion of support in Congress for the US alliance with Saudi Arabia…,” Dr. Charles Schmitz told Tasnim.
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
Siehe / Look at cp7
(A P)
Human Rights Watch: UK Should Acknowledge Whole Story in Yemen
Houthi Abuses Don’t Negate Violations by Saudi-Led Coalition
Hunt shouldn’t just flag our research on Houthi landmine use, but also our reporting on laws-of-war violations by the Saudi-led coalition, which the UK backs.
Jeremy Hunt’s search for a political solution to Yemen should not ignore the ongoing abuses by both sides. Critical to that is ending UK arms sales and pressing for accountability, and justice and redress for the civilians harmed.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/04/26/uk-should-acknowledge-whole-story-yemen
My comment: This is true, but the UK is no peace broker but a warring party in Yemen.
(A P)
Amnesty International UK: 56,000 people called on the UK to stop arming the Saudi-led coalition
Thank you to the tens of thousands of you who took action demanding that the UK government stops arming the Saudi-led coalition. The sheer volume of your response has been incredible.
On Monday 18 March, we marked four years of war in Yemen by delivering your 56,000-signature strong petition to the Department of International Trade.
Amnesty has repeatedly called on the UK Government to halt arms transfers to the Coalition because of the clear risk of such arms being used in breach of human rights and international humanitarian law in Yemen.
Kate Allen, our Amnesty International UK’s Director, said: “While UK arms companies are making money, Yemeni civilians are dying in their thousands. It’s shameful and it’s got to stop.”
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/thankyouforacting-UKstoparmingsaudi
(* A P)
UK condemns Saudi Arabia over 'repulsive' mass executions
Britain has issued its sharpest condemnation of the direction of Saudi Arabian human rights policy, describing its mass executions as “repulsive” and “utterly unacceptable in the modern world”.
The remarks came after further details emerged of the Saudi government’s execution on Tuesday of 37 people, including three who were minors at the time of their alleged offence.
The Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan, answering an urgent question in the Commons, spurned the usual diplomatic niceties, saying the mass executions were “a deeply backward step which we deplore”
The Treasury minister Liz Truss said there needed to be a review of UK policy towards Saudi Arabia, while Labour MPs called for the country to be stripped of the right to host the G20 summit next year.
Duncan said the Foreign Office would seek details from Riyadh of the crimes of those executed and the due process, but added the UK had been denied access to some trials in Saudi Arabia.
British diplomats have been allowed to attend the trial of those charged with killing the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, but no public report has been provided.
Duncan said: “The broader picture does give growing cause for concern if you look at those executed – the number, the Shia, the minors, those whose crimes we do not know, the Khashoggi incident, we will be very robust in the representations we make in the embassy and at a minister to minister level. It is very important that the regime in Saudi Arabia appreciates that world opinion can only get louder in its condemnation.”
He extended his criticism to the Saudi-led war in Yemen, saying: “Bombings in Yemen do not really achieve any of the objectives they have set out to achieve and we need a political settlement as a matter of urgency.”
But he resisted cross-party calls from MPs, including Conservatives, for a fundamental review of Britain’s relations with Saudi Arabia.
My comment: They evidently told: We will make some bla bla, but this will be all of it. Shameful.
And
(* A B P)
UK slams Saudi beheadings, but arms sales for Riyadh's Yemen war still go on
Saudi Arabia’s mass executions are “utterly unacceptable” and “repulsive” for the UK, but it less concerned when it comes to the ongoing arms sales to Riyadh, which continues its military campaign in the impoverished Yemen.
But London shows no sign of giving in to the demands and even condemns its allies for refusing to fuel the Saudi war machine. A few months ago, UK’s Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said that he was “very concerned about the impact”from the German decision to cancel arms sales to Riyadh and warned that it would cost Berlin around €2.3 billion ($2.5bn) by 2026.
https://www.rt.com/news/457545-west-saudi-executions-arms-deals/
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(A K P)
UAE demands Germany fulfill arms export agreements
The UAE Ambassador to Berlin, Ali Abdulla Al-Ahmed, has demanded Germany honour arms export agreements signed with the Emirates, which Berlin has halted due to Abu Dhabi’s involvement in the war in Yemen.
“We know that the German military industry is ready to deliver all of the goods. And we do expect the terms of the contracts committed to by all parties to be honoured,” Al-Ahmed told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA).
“We have a very tough neighbourhood. You buy military equipment for a purpose. You do not want to use it, but sometimes you need to use it,” he added.
He explained that some export agreements are decades old.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190425-uae-demands-germany-fulfills-arms-export-agreements/
Deutsche Meldung: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190425-uae-demands-germany-fulfills-arms-export-agreements/
und
(A P)
Keine deutschen Waffen für Kriegsverbrechen der Emirate
Pressemitteilung von Sevim Dagdelen
„Vertragstreue fordern, während man mit deutschen Waffen Völkerrecht bricht, ist der blanke Hohn. Statt sich auf den Zynismus der Emirate einzulassen, muss die Bundesregierung ein totales Waffenembargo gegen die Emirate verhängen. Kriegsverbrecher wie die Emirate dürfen nicht länger mit deutschen Waffen ertüchtigt werden“, erklärt Sevim Dagdelen, stellvertretende Vorsitzende und Sprecherin für Abrüstungspolitik der Fraktion DIE LINKE. Dagdelen weiter:
Vertragstreue? Nein! Es braucht ein Waffenembargo gegen die Emirate und alle anderen am mörderischen Jemen-Krieg beteiligten Staaten.
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
(* A)
Naval forces free seafarers following Somali pirate attacks
Suspected Somali pirates hijacked a Yemeni fishing dhow, Al Azham, in Somali territorial waters off Cadale, northeast of Mogadishu, on 19 April. The dhow’s 23 crew were taken hostage.
Two days later, the dhow was used as a mothership to deploy skiffs for an unsuccessful attack on the South Korean fishing vessel Adria. The Spanish fishing vessel Txori Argi came to Adria’s aid.
On 23 April, EU NAVFOR assets – the Spanish Navy’s Santa Maria-class frigate ESPS Navarra, and two maritime patrol aircraft (one German, one Spanish) – located and intercepted the mothership.
A team from Navarra boarded the dhow, apprehended five suspected pirates, and freed the Yemeni crew. EU NAVFOR reported that all hostages were unharmed.
https://safetyatsea.net/news/2019/naval-forces-free-seafarers-following-somali-pirate-attacks/
(* A P)
Jemen-Krieg: Paris sucht Quelle für Leak
Frankreichs zerstörerische Rolle im Jemen-Krieg wurde durch einen anonymen Regierungsangestellten publik. Nun sucht man den Whistleblower.
Die französischen Behörden suchen nach einem Regierungsangestellten, von dem sie glauben, dass er schädliche Informationen über Frankreichs Rolle im saudi-arabischen Krieg gegen Jemen an die Medien weitergegeben hat, heißt es in einem Bericht.
Unter Berufung auf unbenannte informierte Quellen berichtete die AFP am Mittwoch, dass die Staatsanwaltschaft am 13. Dezember letzten Jahres nach Ermittlungen des Militärministeriums ein Ermittlungsverfahren zum „Kompromiss der nationalen Verteidigungsgeheimnis“ eingeleitet hatte.
Im AFP-Bericht wurde nicht mitgeteilt, wann die Notiz durchgesickert war.
Die Quellen sagten auch, dass der französische Inlandsgeheimdienst DGSI die Untersuchung anführte, was die Gefährdung von Informationen betraf, bei denen ein Regierungsangestellter und ein Dritter beteiligt waren.
http://uncut-news.ch/2019/04/25/jemen-krieg-paris-sucht-quelle-fuer-leak/
(* A P)
Inquiry opens into leaked classified 'French weaponry in Yemen' note: sources
French authorities have opened an investigation into the leaking of a classified military note which revealed French weapons are being used by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in Yemen, sources told AFP on Wednesday.
The note details the use of weapons -- including tanks, artillery and military ships -- in the war against Huthi rebels.
The use of French weapons in Yemen appears to contradict previous public statements from France's government.
The classified 15-page note from the French military intelligence service, published in April by new investigative media outlet Disclose, concluded that the UAE and Saudi Arabia had deployed French weaponry.
The investigation into the "compromise of national defence secrecy" was launched by prosecutors on December 13 last year after a complaint by the armed forces ministry, a judicial source said.
France's domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, is leading the inquiry, which concerns the compromise of information involving a government employee and a third party, the source said.
and also (in French): https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2019/04/24/armes-francaises-au-yemen-trois-journalistes-convoques-par-la-dgsi_5454482_3224.html
Comment: They are all at it. Money and selling arms means more than the lives of innocent people including children. But note the death toll. It remains at 10,000 the same figure that was quoted over two years ago - then considered an underestimate. A report by Al Jazeera put the death toll at a quarter of a million, by comparison.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157530133393641
and
(* A P)
France seeks source of damaging leak on Yemen war
French authorities have been searching for a government employee who they believe has leaked damaging information about France’s role in the Saudi-led war on Yemen to the media, a report says.
In mid-April, the new investigative media outlet Disclose published a report that contained a classified 15-page note from the French military intelligence service (DRM) revealing that the two Arab countries had deployed French weaponry in their aggression against Yemeni.
Citing unnamed informed sources on Wednesday, AFP reported that an investigation into the “compromise of national defense secrecy” had been opened by prosecutors on December 13 last year after a complaint by the ministry of the armed forces.
The sources also said that France’s domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, was leading the probe, which concerned the compromise of information involving a government employee and a third party.
Additionally, Geoffrey Livolsi, the founder of Disclose, said at least three journalists who had taken part in the preparation of the website’s investigative report had been called in for a hearing to be conducted by the DGSI in May.
“This judicial investigation has only one objective: to know the sources that allowed us to do our job. It is an attack on the freedom of the press and the protection of the sources of journalists,” he said.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/04/25/594300/France-Yemen-weapons-Disclose-Saudi-Arabia-UAE
and also https://www.rt.com/news/457602-macron-prosecute-journalists-yemen-coverage/
My comment: LOL, LOL, LOL. Those who are searched for, who are investigated, who might be punished are not the arms dealers, the politicians who approved the arms sales, the politicians who lied on the use of the arms – but those who leaked the report!!! LOL.
And
(* A P)
France: Reporters pressured on leaked secret documents
France on Thursday launched an investigation of three journalists for "compromising national defense secrets," referring to one of their stories on French weapons allegedly used in war-torn Yemen.
According to a joint statement by several French media organs, French prosecutors urged the journalists to give a statement on the story, which claimed that weapons sold to the UAE and Saudi Arabia were being used in Yemen.
French media outlets slammed the investigation as an attack on press freedom and stressed the French public has the right to know about weapons sales to countries accused of war crimes.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/france-reporters-pressured-on-leaked-secret-documents/1462934
and
(A P)
Armes françaises au Yémen: solidarité avec nos confrères de Disclose et Radio France
Par la SDJ de L'Express
Nous, sociétés de journalistes et de rédacteurs, exprimons notre pleine et entière solidarité avec nos confrères qui n'ont fait que leur travail : porter à la connaissance des citoyens des informations d'intérêt public sur les conséquences des ventes d'armes françaises. Depuis ces révélations, le gouvernement est resté muet sur les faits. Aujourd'hui, pour avoir exposé ces informations, trois journalistes se retrouvent sous la menace d'une procédure, pour un délit puni d'une peine d'emprisonnement, dont l'objectif manifeste est de connaître les sources à l'origine de leur travail.
(A P)
Hariri: 'Promising summer' for Lebanon after Saudi travel warning lifted
More people have visited Lebanon since Saudi Arabia lifted its travel warning in February, pointing to a “promising summer” ahead, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Wednesday.
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
Siehe / Look at cp11, cp12
(A P)
EOS DENIES ITS WEAPONS USED IN YEMEN CONFLICT
Canberra optics and weapons systems manufacturer, Electro Optic Systems (ASX: EOS) has denied its powerful weapons systems have been deployed in the bloody conflict engulfing Yemen.
As reported in @AuManufacturing, EOS was criticised for a $450 million arms sale to the UAE which many believe will end up being used by Saudi Arabia against rebels in Yemen.
EOS, which makes weapons systems that can be remotely operated from inside the protection of an armoured car, is representative of the increasing lethality of military exports from Australia.
EOS released a four paragraph statement in response to media requests.
https://www.aumanufacturing.com.au/eos-denies-its-weapons-used-in-yemen-conflict
My comment: What a nonsense. If they had been exported to the UAE, they will be used in the Yemen War.
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
(* B K)
Yemen proves it: in western eyes, not all ‘Notre Dames’ are created equal
As an archaeologist, I’ve seen Yemen’s rich heritage. But for too many world leaders, only arms sales really matter
This accidental burning of one of the most important French cultural and religious monuments struck a painful chord in just about everyone I know
And yet my mind couldn’t stop questioning why the horrified reaction to the destruction of Notre Dame, a Unesco world heritage site, isn’t the response we always see to the destruction of any historical monument, no matter its location and no matter your nationality, race or religion.
Even as we grieve for Notre Dame, hundreds of millions of dollars in arms are being sold by the US, the UK, France, Italy, Australia and other countries to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as they begin their fifth year of aerial and terrestrial assault on Yemen.
Since the beginning of the conflict in 2015, hundreds of Yemeni religious and historical monuments, three of which are Unesco world heritage sites, as well as renowned archaeological sites and museums, have been bombarded or suffered collateral damage from aerial attacks by the coalition, using the planes, guidance systems, and bombs sold to them by western nations.
We are the discoverers and protectors of a universal history, and we uncover and transmit clues on our origins, our past innovations and conflicts, and the rise and fall of ancient empires and fabulous monuments. In these modern times, archaeologists have an ethical and legal duty to respect and protect this past.
Every day I watch Yemen burn, and every day I hear only silence
Let’s stand up and collectively rebuild Notre Dame; but let’s also stand up and stop our governments’ destruction of Yemen, its people, and its Notre Dames, where the source of the burning is clearly no accident. It is being carried out with the assent of our governments, funded by our taxes, and in our names – by Lamya Khalidi
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/26/yemen-notre-dames-bombs-heritage-arms-sales
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
(* B E H P)
Ahead of Ramadan, Yemen’s Economy is Increasingly Dire
For Yemenis, increased pressure to cover the costs of religious rites and social customs come at a time when the country’s declining economy threatens to kill more people than its war. The deterioration of the Yemeni riyal, the scarcity of fuel, and the high cost of shipping insurance have all lead to an unmanageable increase in the basic commodity prices, and consequently the price of holiday clothes, meat, or the cost of furnishing a house. These unbearable economic pressures are widespread throughout the parts of Yemen not currently in conflict; the situation in active conflict areas is much more complex, since basic food security is essentially lacking.
For the past three years, the costs of celebrating Ramadan have become increasingly taxing as the Yemeni riyal has collapsed: the Yemeni riyal was exchanging at 340 to the dollar in Ramadan 2017, then at 491 in Ramadan 2018. Now, during the first quarter of 2019, the exchange rate is at about 588 riyals to the dollar. The Yemeni riyal has also deteriorated against the Saudi riyal
The deterioration of the Yemeni riyal, along with other factors, has also led to an increase in the prices of those goods and services that are available. The price of flour (for a bag of 10 kg) was 1500 riyals in Ramadan 2017, and raised to 2000 YR the next year and at approximately 2500 YR during the first quarter of 2019. The price of rice for a 40 kg bag also rose from 15,200 YR (Ramadan 2017) to 22,200 YR (2018) to 31,131 YR during the first quarter of 2019. Moreover, prices have risen more than average in some provinces.
Although rising prices are a source of worry, fuel and cooking gas shortages, along with electricity blackouts, are greater concerns for the population. Especially as temperatures rise during Ramadan, a lack of fuel can make fasting unbearable.
Even as the general Yemeni economy collapses, the war economy and corruption are thriving through practices of both the Houthi rebels and the legitimate government. The Houthis' control of state resources has only increased the economic challenges Yemenis are likely to face. According to a UN report in 2018, at least 407 billion YR may be under the control of the Houthis due to their regular collection of corporate revenues and licensing fees applied to telecommunications, tobacco, and other goods and services.
Corruption and war economy activities among individuals and entities of the legitimate government include the corruption and the possibility of a transfer of public funds originally allocated for the production of electricity in the government-controlled areas of Aden, Lahj, and Abyan. In addition, there are large discrepancies between the volume of fuel cited in the tender documents and the amount of fuel subsequently directed to the power plants in 2017.
Staying away from the Houthi conflict and limiting federal government control has created a more prosperous economic situation in Marib and has turned it into a go-to destination for deserters from the conflict zones. In addition, Yemenis who have returned from Saudi Arabia after the imposition of complex residence and work laws there during 2017 and 2018 have also traveled to Marib. These immigrants brought some of their capital, which has led to an increase in investment projects there. Moreover, the local authority, which has broad powers, is paving many new streets, developing the region’s health and education sectors, and encourages local investment, all leading to an increased quality of life for its citizens.
However, Marib is the exception rather than the norm – by Muneer Binwaber
(* B E H)
Since January, 2019:
The average weekly food bill for #Yemen-i families has risen by 96%
Price of diesel has risen 98%
Price of petrol has risen 106%
Yemeni rial’s purchasing power is 148% lower than in the pre-war period
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515/2241974445855573/
(A E P)
Representatives of the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government approving Yemen’s entrance into China’s Belt and Road Initiative on April 25. Hadi’s Minister for Industry and Trade .Abdulwahid al Mitami signed the memorandum of understanding during the Belt and Road conference in Beijing, China.[2]
(B E)
Targeting telecom service will have disastrous effects: Head of National Delegation
Ansaruallah's Spokesman and Head of the National Negotiating Delegation Mohammed Abdulslalam on Thursday said that targeting of telecommunications service and its neutrality would have catastrophic consequences.
"Targeting Teleyemen Company and the attempt of disintegrating it will create a new crisis that its consequences may outweigh disastrous effects of the decision of transferring the central bank," said Abdulsalam in a statement to Yemen News Agency (Saba).
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534244.htm
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6588
(* B E P)
U.S. Economic War against Yemen Detailed in Georgetown Strategy Group Report
Saudi Arabia is only holding the economic card because it has sought to use the policy of systematic starvation and the creation of famine as a weapon of war. In particular these illegal coercive economic measures, taken by the Saudi-led coalition, which were illegally imposed on the entire population, has destructive effects to vulnerable civilians, including women, children, the elderly, the sick, the wounded and those with special needs. As one of the economic means in the war, Saudi Arabia resorted to imposing a comprehensive air, land and sea blockade. By continuing in its suffocating blockade against Yemen, the aggression hoped to get the situation to reach the extent of complete collapse and Yemen in some aspect is going through it now. This terrible blockade, permitted by the Saudi-controlled international forces, which no one speaks of, and other economic measures are the sole cause of the country's total collapse.
Hidden goals revealed by a report published on the site of the "Washington Institute," interested in studying the Middle East, in a report issued by the "Georgetown Strategic Group," the report dealt with the reasons of the economic crisis in Yemen. The report exposes an other plot to target the sovereignty of the nation under the titles of humanity and emergency steps to save the economy. The recommendations are covered with mercy but in reality the pose serious violation of the sovereignty and independence of Yemen. In addition, the report showed that this economic war on Yemen is solely run by the U.S. especially after the U.S Deputy Secretary of Defense came out to call for the implementation of these recommendations. The plot was revealed in the report under the economic road-map for humanitarian relief in Yemen - where the report suggested that the dollar should be used in the Yemeni economy by "the central bank converting the US dollar.
The strategic study conducted in line with the military objectives against Yemen. By looking at the timing of the last step taken by the Coalition detaining vessels loaded with oil derivatives, Coincided with the failure of the UN envoy to pressure the national forces with regard to the Hodeidah agreement, which was overturned by the government of Hadi in the so-called Stockholm negotiations.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6575
My comment: By the Houthi news site. There is almost no information on this “Georgetown Strategy Group”.
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(B T)
Film, Tulsi Gabbard: Trump/Pence continue to try to hide the truth from their Christian supporters--the terrorist attacks on Christians/Christian churches in Sri Lanka and elsewhere are inspired by the extremist Saudi ideology that Saudi Arabia spends billions propagating worldwide. "terrorist attacks... inspired by the extremist Saudi ideology"
https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1121025866501279744 = https://twitter.com/QuietManc/status/1121120916551995404
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
Gov’t says it mitigates suffering of people in Houthi-run areas
Yemen Prime Minister Maeen Abdul-Malik has said that “the government is shouldering its responsibilities towards all Yemeni people even those who in the Houthi-run areas.
In a meeting with Governor of Raymah Mohammed al-Huri on Thursday, the premier emphasized that the government exerts utmost efforts to alleviate sufferings of those people in the Houthi-run areas.
Abdul-Malik noted that the Houthis still commit grim crimes against civilians
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29431
(A P)
Indignant Yemenis Slam Houthis for Destroying their Cultural Heritage
The Iran-backed Houthi militias have sought to destroy all aspects of cultural life in Yemen since their coup against Sanaa and its state institutions. Artists, writers and intellectuals spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat of the Houthis’ attempts to destroy their cultural scene and heritage.
One artist revealed how the militias sought to eliminate cultural diversity and instead impose an identity that is “hostile” to Yemen.
“Throughout four years, Houthi oppression has targeted all segments of Yemeni society, starting with artists, writers and innovators,” he said. It has resorted to threats, intimidation, arrests, displacement and murder to achieve this goal.
“The Iranian militias have not allowed a single voice that contradicts their views to be raised against them,” he lamented.
An official at the Houthi-controlled Ministry of Culture in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis deliberately targeted artists and writers “either by physically eliminating them or throwing them in jail.”
My comment: Of course, there could be a serious article on Houthis‘ oppression of diversity. But by a Saudi news site, this morphs into odd propaganda.
(A P)
SLC command "Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen": We take the allegations about the recruitment of children seriously, and we conduct deep investigations into what could be right.
The SLC Forces in Yemen Spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki, said that SLC Command takes all allegations concerning the participation of under-aged fighters in any of the SLC members States seriously and conducts investigations into what could be right in accordance with their legal obligations under international Humanitarian law and related conventions for children; the SLC prevents the participation of members under the age of eighteen years old from all SLC Member States, recalling at the same time the SLC's efforts to rehabilitate children recruited by Houthi-backed terrorist militia supported by Iran, which amounted to (120) In a Rehabilitation program for children soldiers and affected by war in Marib city in cooperation with the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1917393
(A P)
Hudson Institute: The Crisis in Yemen Poses a Strategic Threat to the U.S.
President Trump recently vetoed a bipartisan Congressional resolution to end American assistance to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, although the resolution’s supporters may yet try to override the veto. To Fatima Abo Alasrar, Michael Doran, and Bernard Haykel, such a move would do nothing to end the humanitarian and political crisis in that country, but would instead abandon its people to the brutal (and anti-Semitic) Iran-backed Houthi forces, and allow the Islamic Republic to establish a Hizballah-like entity on Saudi Arabia’s borders where it could threaten American interests and American allies. The three scholars give an in-depth analysis of the historical and ideological background to the conflict, of its strategic implications, and of what Washington can do about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC-dFvjPhyA
My comment: What a propaganda junk. No, Yemen poses no strategic threat to the US at all. Yemen is a small less developed country, 7,700 miles (12,400 km) away (flight distance Miami-Sanaa). – The anti-Iranian propaganda story in a bizarre exaggeration.
Fot eh Hudson Insitute: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Institute.
(A P)
Interior Minister: Houthis use refugees in fighting
Interior Minister Ahmed al-Myasari has said that “the Houthis are using refugees in fighting”, calling on human rights organizations to assume their responsibilities towards refugees flowing to Yemen from the African Horn.
Moreover, the Houthi rebels have brought thousands of Africans to Hodeida with the aim of reinforcing their battlefields, Spokesman of the Yemeni Army Abdu Mujali has stated.
He said that the Houthis forced a number of refugees coming from African countries to join their military camps in Hodeida.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29413
My comment: „Thousands“: This report seems to originate from Asharq Al-Awsat, which quotes „dozens“. This is a little difference. – While there are thousands of Sudanese mercenaries (children included) fighting on behalf of the Saudis and UAE.
(A P)
Yemen's Houthis ignoring calls for political solution: Saudi minister
Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister on Wednesday blamed Yemen’s Houthi movement for a stalled peace deal in the main port of Hodeidah, saying the Iran-aligned group was ignoring the kingdom’s call for a political solution to the four-year war.
My comment: „the kingdom’s call for a political solution“: Why Reuters is parroting such a propaganda bullshit?
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:
April 25: https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6592 Lahj p., Asir
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(A K pS)
Houthi drone downed in Saada
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4077
(A K pS)
Two Students Killed, Five Wounded in Taiz by Houthi Mortar Shell
Two students were killed and five others wounded when a mortar shelled by Houthi rebels landed near Al Hajri School in Taiz.
Medics said the girls were going back to their homes when the mortart shell fell (photo)
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/16712
or
(A K pS)
1 student killed, 6 others injured by a Houthi missile north of Taiz City
A 12-year-old student was killed and six other female students were injured as a result of a mortar shell near the Al-Hajri school in Wadi al-Qadhi, north of Taiz, released by Houthi militias, according to local source told Al-Masdar online (same photo)
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166983
and photo also here: https://twitter.com/AlziyadiNuha/status/1121482660982022144
(A K pS)
Hadi government-aligned forces claimed to seize Jabal Aznab in Razih district in Sa’ada governorate in northwestern Yemen on April 24. Hadi government-aligned forces separately claimed to destroy an al Houthi surveillance drone in Kitaf district in eastern Sa’ada governorate on 24 April.[3]
(* A K)
Six deminers die in blast in southwestern Yemen
Mine clearance experts affiliated with Saudi project killed when explosion rocks warehouse in port city of Mocha
At least six mine clearance experts were killed Thursday when an explosion rocked an arms depot in southwestern Yemen, according to their employer.
The experts, who were working for the Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance (MASAM) in Yemen, were killed in an accidental blast at a warehouse in the port city of Mocha housing mines and other explosives that had been defused.
The explosion occurred while mines were being collected for destruction.
One person working as a driver was also seriously injured.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/six-deminers-die-in-blast-in-southwestern-yemen/1462976
and also http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/26/c_138010132.htm
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/4/25/six-deminers-killed-in-yemen-blast
(A K pH)
Artillery and air forces launch Joint attack on saudi site in Jizan
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534261.htm
My remark: In Saudi territory.
(B K pH)
Yemeni Military Successes May Boost Secret Peace Negotiations with Saudis
My remark: Successes by the Houthi side, as claimed.
(A K pH)
Air force's attack causes huge losses in headquarter of Saudi-led invaders leadership in Aden’s Bouriqa
A Qasif K 2 drone belonging to the Air force on Wednesday launched an air attack on the headquarter of US-backed Saudi-led invaders in Aden occupied province, a military official told Saba.
The exact attack which took place in Bouriqa area left huge losses in the aggression coalition's ranks, he said.
The attack came after a surveillance operation to monitor movement of enemy troops in the targeted area, he affirmed.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534181.htm
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6584
My remark: As claimed by the Houthi government’s news site.
But
(A K pS)
Coalition defenses drop a drone in western Aden and Houthis behind attack
Air defences positioned in the vicinity of the Arab coalition Forces headquarters in the southern city of Aden on Saturday morning dropped a drone that was launched by the Houthis, according to the group's Al-Masirah channel.
Al-Houthi said the Qasif-K2 plane targeted an alliance site in the al-Buraiqa district, west of Aden the coastal city, while the coalition forces did not comment on the incident.
But locals and eyewitnesses near the coalition headquarters said they heard a loud explosion and saw a smoke plume rising from the scene.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166977
(A K pS)
The Houthis attack the Musaimir north of Lahij and their eyes are on Al-Anad and Yafe’a
Al-Houthi militias intensified their field attacks accompanied by artillery shelling of groups of members of the popular resistance in the Musaimir district northeast of Lahij province, south of Yemen.
Local sources told Al-Masdar online that Houthi militias infiltrated from the Directorate of Mawiah, southeast of Taiz, to the Habil Hanash district of Musaimir north of Lahij.
The Houthis intensified their attack Wednesday morning and afternoon on the popular resistance in Habil Hanash after the stationing of their heavy elements and equipment
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166952
(A K pH)
Army kills tens of Saudi-led mercenaries in Jizan
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534137.htm
Army kills, injures tens of Saudi-led mercenaries in Asir
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534072.htm
My remark: In Saudi territory.
(A K)
Film: Yemen: Houthis announce recapture of districts in southern Dhale province
Houthi forces said they retook the Al-Hushah district in the southern Dhale province from the Yemeni government on Thursday. The 48-hour offensive on the Doran area pushed the front even further forward, after previous successes in the districts of Damt and Qa'atabah. Brigadier General Yahya Sari put the estimated gains at 1000km/sq in an interview. The region’s roads and fields were also littered with burnt out vehicles and military equipment, evidence of fierce fighting in recent days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goDspLKy5_I
and
(A K pS)
Houthis continue to progress southwest of Al-Dale and control al-Hasha district
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/166927
and
(A K pS)
Houthis Advance in South Yemen and Recapture Large Areas
Houthis took over Wednesday Al Hasha District west the province of Al Dhalea days after they made mass advances in South Yemen.
Al Hasha District is a strategic area that links three provinces: Ibb, Taiz and Al Dhalea.
The officials say the Houthi rebels recaptured the district of Damt and the surrounding area from forces allied with the internationally recognized government after more than a week of fighting.
The officials spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
They said the reason they lost large areas to Houthis is due to lack of ammunition and reinforcement, confirming that dozens have been killed and wounded in both sides.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/16677
and
(A K pH)
Video footage shows army liberating Dhalea's Al-Hasha
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534263.htm
Footage shows mercenaries’weapons, their munitions, equipment seized by army in Dhaleah
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534194.htm
and
(A K pH)
Army liberates, secures completely Dhalea's Hasha with area of 360 square km
The Armed Forces announced Wednesday the liberating and securing Al-Hasha district in the province of Dalea in full in a massive offensive military operation lasted 48 hours, where a total area estimated at 360 square kilometers was controlled.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534088.htm
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(A)
Yemeni Artists Reflect on Their War-Torn Homeland
In a Beirut exhibition, artists displaced by the civil war in Yemen broaden our collective understanding of one of the 21st century’s most dire humanitarian crises.
https://hyperallergic.com/496533/yemeni-artists-reflect-on-their-war-torn-homeland/
(A P)
2019 AURORA HUMANITARIANS
The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity recognizes three extraordinary humanitarians for their noble commitment to liberating women from ISIS captivity, challenging a network of secret prisons in Yemen and negotiating the release of kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria.
The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity’s Selection Committee has named three outstanding 2019 Aurora Humanitarians, recognized for performing acts of exceptional courage and their commitment to saving human life. The 2019 Aurora Prize Laureate will be announced at a ceremony in Armenia on October 20, 2019. With a $1 million award the Laureate will get an opportunity to continue the cycle of giving and support the organizations that have inspired their work.
The 2019 Aurora Humanitarians are:
Ms. Huda Al-Sarari, lawyer and activist. Huda Al-Sarari is a brave and inspiring Yemeni human rights activist, who singlehandedly investigates, exposes and challenges a clandestine network of secret prisons run by foreign governments in Yemen, where thousands of men and boys have faced arbitrary detention. She has amassed incontrovertible evidence of the abuse that takes place within the prisons and succeeded in convincing Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to take up the cause. She has nominated an international organization that defends victims of extreme human rights abuse and two organizations that combat discrimination and promote equality: Reprieve, Equal Rights Trust and Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation.
https://auroraprize.com/en/aurora/detail/14138/2019-aurora-humanitarians-
an article on Al-Sadiri: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemeni-woman-activist-refuses-give-following-death-threats
Congratulations: https://twitter.com/Reprieve/status/1121446523794087936
https://twitter.com/TawakkolKarman/status/1121460138706178048
https://twitter.com/Afrahnasser/status/1121506688207609856
https://twitter.com/ToEducate/status/1121417331442319361
My remark: For the Aurora Prize, read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Prize_for_Awakening_Humanity
(B H)
No, this is not a photo of a child with an iron rod in her eye who needs surgery
A photo of a small girl and a crying man has been shared tens of thousands of times in a Facebook post that claims the child needs surgery after getting an iron rod stuck in her eye. The claim is false; the photo shows a Yemeni man holding his daughter after she was killed in an airstrike in 2015.
"Someone is using my daughter Zeinab's image to beg. He's saying that she's sick and needs treatment. I tell the one who's begging with a martyred child photo, fear God. And I ask you to help me in finding this page on Facebook."
https://factcheck.afp.com/no-not-photo-child-iron-rod-her-eye-who-needs-surgery-0
(B H)
Film: That's how boys practice swimming in flood water in the Old City of #Sanaa.
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1121120368549404674
Photo: https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1120752371540353025
(A K P)
Soldaten verhaften Gänsegeier wegen Spionageverdacht
Naturschützer statten einen Geier mit einem GPS-Sender aus. Der Geier fliegt in den vom Krieg verwüsteten Jemen. Dort halten Soldaten den Geier für einen Spion und setzen das Tier fest.
Ein zirka zwei Jahre alte Gänsegeier (zoologische Bezeichnung: Gyps fulvus) mit dem Namen „Nelson“ war offensichtlich auf der Suche nach Futter bis in den seit Jahren von Bürgerkrieg und Krieg heimgesuchten Jemen geflogen. Der Geier war 2018 in Bulgarien von der Naturschutzvereinigung Fund for Wild Fauna and Flora (FWFF) mit einem Satelliten-Funkempfänger samt GPS-Tracker ausgestattet worden, um seine Flugroute verfolgen zu können. Dieser Funksender wurde dem Geier im Kriegsland Jemen beinahe zum Verhängnis.
Der Geier landete nämlich in der Nähe der Stadt Taizz, die zwischen Huthi-Rebellen und Regierungstruppen umkämpft ist. Die Soldaten sperrten den Geier deshalb ein. Ein Vertreter der Naturschutzorganisation, die Nelson mit dem Sender ausgestattet hatte, reiste in die umkämpfte Stadt, um den Geier wieder freizubekommen.
https://www.pcwelt.de/news/Soldaten-verhaften-Gaensegeier-wegen-Spionageverdacht-10582140.html
(A K P)
'Spy vulture' held in war-torn Yemen
Griffon vulture Nelson crossed into war-torn Yemen in search of food but ended up in the hands of Yemeni fighters -- and temporarily in jail for suspected espionage.
Forces loyal to the government believed that the GPS tracker attached to the bird may have been a spy device for the rebels.
Hisham al-Hoot, who represents the FWFF in Yemen, travelled from the rebel-held capital Sanaa to Taez to plead with local officials to release the helpless animal.
"It took about 12 days to get the bird," he told AFP.
https://www.afp.com/en/news/3954/spy-vulture-held-war-torn-yemen-doc-1fw1ij1
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC_SvlkzcQo
My remark: More on this bizarre case, which already had been reported earlier.
(A)
On Echoes of Invisible Hearts challenges viewers to question how the media determines what we see and don’t see. By creating their own visual archives, and illustrating the complex relationships Yemeni citizens have to their war-torn homeland, these artists attempt to fill the holes in our collective understanding of the conflicts playing out around us.
https://hyperallergic.com/496533/yemeni-artists-reflect-on-their-war-torn-homeland/
(C)
Elisabeth Kendall: Reading @James_Barr's riveting "Lords of the Desert" I'm struck by just how much today's Middle East was shaped by lies, plots, greed, self interest & conceited men, especially from UK, USA & clients
But most of all ... by how history really is now repeating itself
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1121083892834947072
Vorige / Previous
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-530-yemen-war-mosaic-530
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-530/ Yemen War Mosaic 1-530:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
und alle Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
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