... Jemens Kultur dem Erdboden gleichgemacht – Jugendkriminalität im Jemen – und mehr
11. Dez. 2020: Yemen's dwindling hope – Yemen in November 2020 – A visit at Shabwa – Inside a Houthi prison – Yemen: Expectations to Joe Biden – Trump‘s endgame in Yemen – Yemen’s culture razed to the ground – Juvenile deliquency in Yemen – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-700b-yemen-war-mosaic-700b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavitrus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Großer Gefangenenaustausch / Most important: Great prisoner swap
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12b Sudan
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 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 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
Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Older 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
(** B H)
Film: Jemen: schwindende Hoffnung
Vier von fünf Menschen sind auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen. ADRA hilft durch Medizin und Nahrung für eine halbe Million Menschen.
https://www.hopechannel.de/tv/mediathek/episode/ml/adradirekt/jemen-schwindende-hoffnung/
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B K P)
The Yemen Review, November 2020
Journey into Shabwa – by Ryan Bailey
Three Weeks in a Houthi Prison – by Casey Coombs
Biden Takes Over: Advice and Expectations for a New US Administration – by Stacey Philbrick Yadav, Baraa Shiban, Gregory D. Johnsen, and Thomas Juneau
Trump’s Endgame: Weighing a Houthi FTO Designation – by Waleed Alhariri, Maysaa Shuja al-Deen, Abdulghani Al-Iryani, and Maged al-Madhaji
Q&A with Gerald Feierstein and Michael Patrick Mulroy
The Handsome Jew: An Excerpt – by Ali al-Muqri, translation by Mbarek Sryfi
The American Way of War: A Review of Phil Klay’s Missionaries – by Brian O’Neill
State of the War
By Abubakr al-Shamahi
Marib
The story of the battle for Marib in November centered on the fighting over the strategic Maas base, the temporary headquarters of the Yemeni government’s 7th Military District. Lying in the northwestern district of Medghal, west of Marib city, Maas slowly slipped out of the hands of government forces as the month progressed. Houthi forces had been edging toward Maas for a number of months, and by the start of November were positioned only a few kilometers from the base, attacking it from the south, north and west.
Taiz
Fighting between Yemeni government and Houthi forces in Taiz city has recently centered on Al-Arba’een street frontline. With frontlines in the city largely static for more than two years, even minor advances are considered a success. Yemeni government forces captured a number of positions and buildings occupied by Houthi fighters in Al-Arba’een, in the northern part of the city, throughout November, including Al-Na’man school and Al-Hanjar building. About a dozen casualties were reported on both sides during the fight for these positions.
Abyan
Despite regular media reports of an imminent deal to implement the Riyadh Agreement between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC), November clashes between the two sides on the Shaqrah frontline in Abyan proved among the deadliest since August 2019.
Hudaydah
Fighting in Al-Durayhimi city, south of Hudaydah city, ground to a standstill by the end of November. Houthi forces continued their efforts to break through the lines of the coalition-backed Joint Forces in the north, south and west of the city, without much success, while the Joint Forces, led by Tareq Saleh, have been unable to re-encircle Houthi forces in the city.
Clashes in and around Hudaydah city also continued throughout the month
Features
Journey into Shabwa
By Ryan Bailey
In November, the Sana’a Center organized a visit by an international press delegation to Yemen’s Shabwa governorate.
Ryan Bailey, an editor and researcher with the Sana’a Center based outside the country, traveled to Shabwa with the delegation and documented their tour around the governorate and those they met during his first trip to Yemen.
Day 1 – Arrival
Day 2 – The Governor
We are greeted at the entrance by the governor himself and a number of other local dignitaries. Bin Adio speaks slowly and deliberately, necessitating the audience to listen carefully to his words. Like any good politician, he stresses the local authority’s accomplishments and focus on development, particularly in terms of roads, electricity and healthcare. The governor is rightly proud of what his team has accomplished in the midst of a war, and mentions that the new hospital in town has been constructed with the 20 percent share of Shabwa’s oil and gas revenue that the local authority negotiated with the central government.
Since the STC’s defeat last year, Shabwa has been under almost complete government control. The only exceptions are two bases that still house Emirati forces: Al-Alam camp north of Ataq, and the Balhaf liquid natural gas terminal, the largest investment project in Yemen’s history. At the latter, the UAE maintains a mixed presence of 1,000 troops, about 200 Emirati soldiers and 800 Shabwani Elite troops. Bin Adio’s dislike for the Emiratis is obvious.
Day 3 – COVID-19
Today we try to tackle one of the most pressing questions of our trip: what exactly happened to COVID-19 in Yemen? Is the country through it, in a trough, about to get hit again?
Our first visit of the day is to Ataq general hospital. Here, doctors and hospital staff dutifully relay a litany of challenges facing the health sector: a critical shortage of staffing, supplies and equipment as the hospital strives to treat a growing number of cases of severe pediatric malnutrition, cholera, diphtheria and dengue fever.
Given these other maladies, COVID-19 isn’t at the top of staff’s worries. The doctors we speak to say there was an initial spike in cases earlier in the year, but that the virus appears to have receded and nearly disappeared in recent months.
After the hospital, we visit the brand new COVID-19 quarantine and testing center.
Day 4 – The Coast
Today is Friday, the start of the Yemeni weekend, so we head south to the coast. Our destination is the Balhaf LNG terminal. The site has not been operational since the start of the conflict and is a major source of the tensions between bin Adio and the UAE. The governor, who says “the UAE did not give us a single bullet to fight the Houthis,” wants the Emirati forces out, foreign oil companies back, and operations restarted. But the Emiratis don’t look like they’re going anywhere.
In addition, questions remain over the appetite for international oil companies to return to Yemen at the current time, even with the relative security in Shabwa.
Our initial plan to enter the Balhaf facility falls through. The UAE and governor’s office would later exchange blame for the lack of coordination related to our visit.
Day 5 – The Desert
Just before sunset we leave Ataq and head to the desert for a meeting of tribal sheikhs. Over cups of sweet tea, we listen as they explain Shabwa’s tribal history and customs, and the integral role tribes play in a society with a weak central state.
Day 6 – The Souk
Day 7 – Bees
Day 8 – Road trip
Leaving Yemen is complicated by our initial ticket cancellation a week earlier, so after some debate it is decided that we should drive out via the country’s eastern border with Oman, 20 hours away
Three Weeks in a Houthi Prison
By Casey Coombs
Once I was in the hands of the authorities, they kept passing me up the chain of command until I was in a maximum security prison outside the capital.
The white-haired man and the soldier walked me into the prison, making sure I didn’t trip going up the stairs to the front door. After emptying out my pockets and taking my sandals, belt and jacket, two prison guards untied the cloth from my wrists and replaced it with metal handcuffs. They unlocked a heavy gate and walked me barefoot down a dim corridor lined with cells on one side.
Near the end of the hallway, they pulled off my blindfold and swung open the steel door to one of the cells. Three Yemeni faces stared back at me: a frail young man from Sana’a, a stocky guy in his 40s from Abyan and an energetic, broad-shouldered 20-something from Aden.
Our cell was about 6 x 15 feet with a waist-high concrete wall in one corner that partially blocked the in-floor toilet from the rest of the room. Above the toilet near the ceiling, a small pipe channeled fresh air, sunlight and sounds into the cell. When a missile exploded, the pipe emitted a faint popping sound from the change in air pressure. Some former prisoners later told me that when missiles struck near the prison the pressure from the blast was so strong they temporarily lost their hearing.
Locked inside the concrete cell, my initial concern was to convince the guards to bring me the prescription medication I had been taking daily for depression and anxiety.
At some point, I was transferred back to my original cell with the three Yemenis. One day, I’m not sure which, we were sitting in a circle on the floor eating handfuls of rice when Abu Shamekh, a senior Houthi guard, opened one of the slots in our door. Abu Shamekh liked to taunt people and get prisoners to turn on one another. And that’s exactly what he did. He slid two wooden clubs through the slot and ordered the others to beat me with them, or so I was told. I have no memory of this.
After that I was then transferred back to the solitary cell, where a guard forced me to stand up and sit down for about 10 minutes. It was a common form of punishment that could go on for hours, but I wasn’t able to carry out the commands. I remember the act of standing and sitting, but I don’t recall feeling any pain, though for some reason I couldn’t straighten my back once my feet were under me. In a daze, I kept trying to stand upright, but my back wouldn’t respond.
My next memory was of Abu Hamza shouting at me through one of the slots in my door, asking me what was wrong. I lay on the floor in paralyzing pain. Every time I tried to move, my diaphragm contracted. He kept shouting as I struggled to piece together what was happening. He disappeared and my mind started to drift.
I managed to crawl several feet across the grimy tile floor to the faucet and toilet in the corner, where I could wait out whatever was happening to me. Prisoners in neighboring cells said they heard me crying out for at least two consecutive nights before the guards took me away, presumably to a hospital. Maybe I did, but the memory is gone. At some point, the next day or the day after, the guards brought me back to my solitary cell. I’m told I groaned and made animal noises from the pain, but like so much from these days my mind is empty.
https://sanaacenter.org/publications/the-yemen-review/12070 = https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/12363 = https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/12369
(** B K P)
Biden Takes Over: Advice and Expectations for a New US Administration
US President-elect Joe Biden has made clear that his administration will cut off support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Yet it is not clear what US policy toward Yemen will look like under the Biden administration.
Washington’s Yemen policy, long driven by counterterrorism and broader regional interests, has substantively remained unchanged through the past three US administrations.
Midway through the Trump administration, however, US support in Congress for continuing the status quo began to waver considerably.
Biden’s Triple Challenge in Yemen
By Stacey Philbrick Yadav, Associate Professor of Political Science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a non-resident Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University
When it comes to Yemen – as with so much else – the incoming Biden administration will face a trio of overlapping challenges. It will be tasked with reversing damaging policies adopted by the Trump administration, re-engaging with multilateral institutions and partners, and reimagining its relationship to the conflict in Yemen. This will require a break from the policies of the Trump administration as well as from at least some of those of former President Barack Obama.
President-elect Biden’s work will not be restricted to repairing or reversing this damage, however; he also has a unique opportunity for a broader rethinking of US policy in and toward Yemen. While it is disappointing that it took the murder of a single Saudi citizen – Jamal Khashoggi – to provoke congressional demands for a more accountable foreign policy in the Gulf, Biden will be making policy with a very different Congress than the one that he dealt with as vice president.
While the outgoing administration has worked to block Biden’s team in unprecedented ways, the trio of challenges outlined here is one of philosophy as much as planning – it requires rethinking the United States’ approach to Yemen before all else, and that is a challenge that a new team can and should undertake now.
Midway through the Trump administration, however, US support in Congress for continuing the status quo began to waver considerably.
President-elect Biden’s work will not be restricted to repairing or reversing this damage, however; he also has a unique opportunity for a broader rethinking of US policy in and toward Yemen. While it is disappointing that it took the murder of a single Saudi citizen – Jamal Khashoggi – to provoke congressional demands for a more accountable foreign policy in the Gulf, Biden will be making policy with a very different Congress than the one that he dealt with as vice president.
While the outgoing administration has worked to block Biden’s team in unprecedented ways, the trio of challenges outlined here is one of philosophy as much as planning – it requires rethinking the United States’ approach to Yemen before all else, and that is a challenge that a new team can and should undertake now.
Create Leverage and Use It, On All Parties
By Baraa Shiban, MENA caseworker for the human rights group Reprieve, conducting field investigation on the US drone program, former adviser to the Yemeni embassy in London and a youth representative in the Yemeni National Dialogue
As the conflict in Yemen enters its seventh year, it is time for the US and a new Biden administration to adopt a different approach. Although there is a proxy element to the war, it is essential to approach the conflict through a Yemeni prism.
First, the United States must create leverage to get the parties to the negotiating table.
Second, counterterrorism alliances are hindering state institutions. The Biden administration should prioritize reigning in the United Arab Emirates and immediately make any ongoing partnership with the UAE contingent on it ending its support to militias and perpetrators of human rights abuses in South Yemen.
Third, drone strikes are not helping Yemen. A Biden administration should bring them to an immediate end in Yemen and cancel plans announced in November to sell the UAE weapons-ready MQ-9B drones
Finally, the Biden administration should reiterate its support for President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government while tying this backing to certain benchmarks that ensure the Hadi government is transparent and held accountable for its actions.
A Step Toward a Strategy
By Gregory D. Johnsen, author, editor of the Yemen Review and a non-resident fellow at the Sana’a Center and at the Brookings Institution
Cutting off US support absent a broader policy will do little but rupture a relationship with Saudi Arabia that is in need of repair, institutionalize the Houthi coup in Sana’a and, ultimately, lead to the break-up of Yemen as a single state. Such a Humpty Dumpty scenario in which Yemen fractures into various zones of control will have enormous and far-reaching consequences for US national security.
Upon taking office, the Biden administration should inform Saudi Arabia of three things. The war must end, US support for Saudi Arabia will end, and the US will do everything in its power to help Saudi Arabia find a workable peace. Saudi Arabia needed US acquiescence to begin this war and it will need US help to end it.
Various UN special envoys have had nearly six years to find a comprehensive agreement in Yemen. They have not been able to do so.
As part of its diplomatic effort, the United States should broker three-party talks between the internationally recognized Yemeni government, the Houthis, and Saudi Arabia. In these talks, the US should insist upon Yemen’s territorial integrity as well as the unity of the Yemeni state.
The Houthis have to understand that they are negotiating to be part of the state, not the state itself. Saudi Arabia must understand that the Houthis will have a role in Yemen’s future. President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi must understand that a repeat of the Kuwait talks in 2016 will not be tolerated. Either he is part of the solution or he is part of the problem.
The US has already got it wrong twice in Yemen.
A renewed diplomatic effort, led by the United States, may well be the last chance for a unified Yemen.
https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/12081
My comment: Look to may comment to the Sanaa center editoriel in cp2.
(** B P)
Trump’s Endgame: Weighing a Houthi FTO Designation
Sana’a Center experts respond to the prospect of a broader FTO designation and what impact such a parting shot by the Trump administration — regardless of whether intended more for the Houthis or the Iranian regime that supports them — could have on the Yemen conflict, and on Yemeni civilians.
Trump’s Parting Shot Against Iran Would Be At Yemen’s Expense
By Waleed Alhariri, head of the New York office of the Sana’a Center, whose work focuses on Yemen issues at the United Nations
Designating the armed Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, a terrorist organization is an attempt by the Trump administration to ratchet up its ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on Iran. For Yemen, and attempts to peacefully end six years of war, it would be a significant setback.
A US foreign terrorist organization (FTO) designation would limit Western diplomatic access to the Houthis. US diplomats, for example, were involved in brokering mini-deals related to prisoner exchanges facilitated by Oman. Without US pressure — such contact is barred under an FTO designation — the Houthis would have more room to stall any UN calls for compromise. A more effective approach would target individual members of the group, as the UN sanctions committee recommended in its January 2020 report and, the Sana’a Center confirmed, will do so again in an upcoming report.
According to an Arab diplomat familiar with the lobbying efforts, the Yemeni government has sought the FTO designation only for the Houthis’ military wing as a way to disempower the group militarily but allow for its politicians to negotiate a political settlement. The diplomat told the Sana’a Center that the Emiratis and Saudis, who led the Arab military coalition against the Houthis, pushed for a broader designation, one that would include the group as a whole.
Governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates swiftly designated the Iranian-backed Houthi movement a terrorist group in 2014, after the Houthis led an armed coup and took over the capital, Sana’a, and surrounding governorates. Since then, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi along with the internationally recognized government of Yemen — and, on a separate track, Israel — have lobbied first the Obama administration and then the Trump administration to designate the Houthis as an FTO.
As in the past, calls for a Houthi FTO designation flare when the United States, Arab Gulf countries and Israel decide to apply pressure on their common adversary, Iran. In media briefings and in UN statements, the Trump administration consistently has used Iranian support for the Houthis to condemn and pressure Iran
This Political, not Moral, Decision Risks Strengthening Houthis
By Maysaa Shuja al-Deen, non-resident fellow at the Sana’a Center whose research includes the roots of radical Zaydism
First, the designation is based entirely around US security and interests. It is a political decision aimed at Iran, the Trump administration’s “last hurrah” in this regard, rather than a moral indictment of the violence the Houthis have perpetrated against their own citizens. Second, this decision allows the Houthis to affirm their narrative that the ongoing conflict is an anti-imperialist struggle against the global superpower that is the United States.
The problem with the US classification of the Houthis does not lie in whether the movement is morally worthy of such condemnation, but rather the implications of this decision.
Who Will Benefit from the FTO Designation of the Houthis?
By Abdulghani Al-Iryani, senior researcher at the Sana’a Center
While conflict situations are usually volatile, political dynamics always strive toward equilibrium. Disrupting an equilibrium triggers another round of volatility and violence, as parties to the dynamic strive for a new balance. The reported plan by the Trump administration to designate Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthi movement, as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) will disrupt several equilibriums in the Yemen conflict:
Internal Ansar Allah equilibrium: Ansar Allah is highly centralized and united by the ideological and religious loyalty of its members to their “wali al-alam,” or divinely ordained leader of the time. Still, its rapid expansion over the past few years has fractured the Houthi movement along ideological and practical lines.
The FTO designation will be a shot in the arm for the ideologues and their strategy of pursuing continued escalation against Saudi Arabia.
Ansar Allah-Yemeni government-Southern Transitional Council equilibrium:
Ansar Allah-Islah party equilibrium:
Ansar Allah-UN envoy equilibrium: The Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY) has had tenuous relations with Ansar Allah. Already constrained by UN Security Council resolutions, especially 2216, and by the considerable leverage of countries party to the conflict that are funding OSESGY activities, the new FTO designation will make it even harder for the OSESGY to maintain appearances of neutrality and even-handedness.
Ansar Allah-UN humanitarian affairs office equilibrium: The power balance between the Houthi movement and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is so lopsided. All leverage is in the hands of the former – in terms of granting visas, residence permits, access to target communities, etc. – while OCHA is handicapped by the intrinsic lack of leverage engendered by UNSC resolutions.
Ansar Allah-Yemeni population equilibrium
https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/12075
(** B K)
Film: Razed to The Ground
"Razed to the Ground" is a new documentary produced by Mwatana for Human Rights on violations committed by the warring parties against cultural property in Yemen during the ongoing armed conflict. The documentary covers six historic sites: the Old City of Sana’a, Al-Ashrafiya Mosque and Madrassa in Taiz, the City of Baraqish in Al-Jawf, the Old Ma’rib Dam, the City of Shibam in Hadhramaut, and the Touristic Pier in Aden. These six sites are among the 34 sites that were exposed to different types of attacks and Mwatana documented in its report "The Degradation of History: Violations Committed by the Warring Parties against Yemen’s Cultural Property" (released in November 2018). This report documents various types of violations and complex patterns of abuse that have affected many cultural objects in Yemen since the second half of 2014 and for three years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWHDCg0h2lY
and full report from 2018: https://mwatana.org/en/the-degradation-of-history-2/
(** B H)
Juveniles in Yemen: Delinquents or Victims of War?
The level of juvenile delinquency in Yemen has risen dramatically during the past five years, a result of the tragic conditions the war-torn country faces
Two nights ago, he told The Media Line: “I saw a boy trying to steal from a truck loaded with fruits and then he ran away.” He added: “There are gangs of delinquents, most of whom are under 18 years old, who practice stealing and chew qat” – a mildly narcotic plant that is widely sold and consumed in all parts of Yemen – “and drink alcohol. What’s dangerous is that some of them carry weapons as a kind of thuggery, to hold up their victims – shop owners and small business owners – while exploiting the security deterioration in the country.”
He also explained that some of those gang members are connected to Ansar Allah, the Islamic group known as the Houthis, which dominates all the security aspects of Sanaa and the north of the country, and which according to Sayani “provides them with a kind of indirect protection.”
This is just a sample of the rising levels of juvenile delinquency in Yemen during the past five years, caused by the tragic conditions the country faces, as well as the economic deterioration which has contributed to the spread of theft and violence in an unprecedented way.
The war conditions also have driven thousands of minors and school children to practice begging and to drop out of school, as well as to join gangs or, in the best-case scenario, work for low wages.
Disappointed parents and a lost future
Mohammed Namer (not his real name), 42, who has been working in Saudi Arabia for the past seven years, never would have imagined that his 14-year-old son, here called Derar, a gifted student, would turn into a killer who took a life during a fight over a few sticks of qat.
It happened one night when a dispute erupted between Derar and a dealer based in the qat market in Hajjah in north-western Yemen.
Violations committed by male juveniles are more common and especially in cities, and the rate of female juveniles committing crimes is still somewhat low and mostly related to begging, theft and fraud, according to a security official in the interior ministry.
Despite its prevalence, there are no official or unofficial statistics regarding the number of delinquent juveniles in Yemen except for a few statistics issued by some rehabilitation homes, which only include the number of resident juveniles inside the facilities, and which represent a small percentage of the true number.
Many experts attribute the sudden rise of juvenile delinquency to the conditions that have occurred in parallel to the conflict in the country
Mohammed Al-Erafi, director of the juveniles’ social guidance home in Sanaa, confirms that the new reality created by the war contributed “in a major way” to juvenile delinquency and to fueling their actions with violence, especially with the huge wave of displacement the country is experiencing, which caused some families to send their children to eke out a living on the streets, after their public sector salaries, which the majority of Yemenis relied on, were not paid. These so-called “street kids” learned violent behavior in the streets. Erafi added that some children are recruited to participate in criminal activities or are used in human trafficking or robberies. In addition, some families require their children to make a certain sum of money each day and if they don’t pay they are punished or not allowed to enter the home. This forces the juveniles into theft and other crimes to come up with the daily sum.
According to Erafi, other children have turned to delinquency after being subject to domestic violence.
To understand the psychological implications of this phenomenon, The Media Line spoke with psychologist, researcher and blogger Muath Al-Salehi, who said that psychological research confirms that financial deprivation and miserable living conditions both have negative effects on neurological activities, among them the ability to plan, focus, analyze and remember.
“A person who grows up in a deprived environment usually receives a bad education and lives in a bad health system and has an unhealthy or perhaps insufficient nutrition,” he said, adding: “As a result of the deprivation of the simplest of basic needs, a person sits in a cocoon of misery and violence and this in itself is the essence of the problem, most of the time.”
To further explain the motives behind carrying a weapon and threatening people, Muath said: “When a person carries a weapon in his hand for the first time then aims it at someone to get their money, the person carrying the weapon will have a larger motive to carry the weapon again, seeking more rewards. On the other hand, a person may carry a weapon to protect himself against the crimes that happen continuously in their environment.”
A parallel increase in criminal offenses
The spike in crime levels in Yemen is not limited to juveniles and minors only, rather juvenile crimes are just an extension of the overall spike in crime levels. There has been an increase in crime in recent years, which is confirmed by Abdulkhaleq Al-Ojary, spokesperson of the Houthis’ cabinet, who said in a statement that: “The security forces built in the areas under their control, since March 2015 and until the end of 2019, a total of 64,204 criminal cases in addition to 342 cases for counterfeiting currency.”
According to data from NUMBEO, a global database including reported consumer prices and perceived crime rates, crime rates in Yemen soared during the past three years, registering an increase of 86.36%. According to the Gulf Studies Center, Yemen is at the bottom of the list of the safest Arab countries – by Mohammed Sayers
https://themedialine.org/top-stories/juveniles-in-yemen-delinquents-or-victims-of-war/ = https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/yemeni-juveniles-delinquents-or-victims-of-war-651449
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
(A H)
Films: Awards for the best Covid-19 coverage in Yemen. Published on Sawtinsan Website
https://twitter.com/ahmedbaider1/status/1337129569715957760
https://twitter.com/ahmedbaider1/status/1337107542372208644
https://twitter.com/ahmedbaider1/status/1337106479422312455
https://twitter.com/ahmedbaider1/status/1337104010822750210
https://twitter.com/ahmedbaider1/status/1337102242038607877
(A H)
One new case of COVID-19 reported in Shabwa
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30710
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
SAUDI PROXIES COUNTER-ATTACK WEST OF MARIB, BUT CITY IS STILL ON BRINK OF FALL TO HOUTHIS (MAP UPDATE)
HOUTHIS MAKE FRESH GAINS IN BATTLE WITH SAUDI PROXIES IN YEMEN’S MARIB (MAP UPDATE)
(B P)
Yemen Is Still Suffering
Unfortunately, the war criminals ignore the call to end the war just as they are ignoring the conditions set by the UN for an immediate ceasefire. The UN will have to do much more than that if they are going to force the US and NATO to cut off the Saudis and their allies. Challenging their unlawful support that has only led to the killing of innocent men, women and the elderly is the only sure way to do this. It is essential that the UN recognize that the war on Yemen is both abhorrent and illegal, and they must put a stop to it.
Just as the way the senseless military campaign failed to restore Saudi Arabia’s desired status quo throughout the region, it has also failed to serve US and Western interests. On the contrary, the murderous rampage has undermined US and Western security, bolstered Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and made many Western governments complicit in numerous war crimes. Their participation in the war has been a shameful and ugly affair that will go down as one of the worst policies in modern history.
As maintained by the UN, however, there must be a sustained ceasefire right now in order to get the people and resources into Yemen that are necessary to stop the bloodshed and the famine. Under the circumstances, it is hardly surprising that the US government would be directly responsible if things continue to go from bad to worse in the winter.
In this pandemic season of ours, the US government has put more effort into this war than any Western government. It has been out on the hustings in Saudi Arabia from the early moments of the military campaign to sell the products of America’s largest arms makers. And that the performance will never end under Joe Biden’s presidency is beyond dispute.
Now that Biden is slated to take office as the 46th president of the United States, he should address the most daunting problems first.
https://www.islamtimes.org/en/article/902987/yemen-is-still-suffering
(A P)
Iran blacklists US envoy to Yemen in tit-for-tat move
Iran and the US have blacklisted each other’s envoys to war-torn Yemen, where the two countries support opposing factions.
Iran imposed sanctions on the United States ambassador to Yemen a day after the administration of US President Donald Trump blacklisted Tehran’s envoy to the embattled country.
In a statement late on Wednesday, Iran’s foreign ministry said Christopher Henzel was blacklisted for his “pivotal role in the occurrence of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen”.
The ongoing crisis is “the biggest tragedy of the century” perpetrated by a US-led coalition that wishes to break up Yemen, it said.
Henzel was designated under a law approved by the Iranian parliament in late July 2017 that is aimed at combating the “violations of human rights and the adventurism and terroristic acts of the US in the region”.
According to the Iranian foreign ministry, Henzel had an “effective participation” in financing and arming the Saudi-Emirati-led coalition, and violated human rights of the people of Yemen through imposition and enforcing of sanctions.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/9/iran-blacklists-us-envoy-to-yemen-in-tit-for-tat-move
My remark: For US sanctioning the Iranian envoy in Yemen, look at cp9.
and
(A P)
Iran ambassador to Yemen thanks Trump for sanctioning him
Following the United States' decision to impose sanctions on Iran’s ambassador to Yemen, the Iranian envoy thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for imposing sanctions on him.
“I thank the gambler Trump, who in the last days of his presidency, insists on showing the true face of the U.S. government. Of course, towards the goal of freeing the nations of the region from the Zionism & U.S., We are not afraid of sanctions and martyrdom, but we are proud of it,” Hasan Irlou, the Iranian ambassador to Sanaa, said in a tweet on Wednesday, a day after the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Irlou.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/455608/Iran-ambassador-to-Yemen-thanks-Trump-for-sanctioning-him
and also https://www.rt.com/news/509167-iran-sanctions-us-ambassador-yemen/
(* B K P)
Houthi says US kills Yemenis as Washington adds group to Qaeda list
The United States kills the Yemeni people, member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council tweeted on Tuesday, after Washington designated his group as an "entity of Particular Concern".
The US implements "electoral platform promises to minimize unemployment, repay debts with Gulf funds, apply Israeli plans and move weapons factories," Mohamed Ali al-Houthi added.
"People who are daily killed by the American-Saudi-Emirati aggression.. will respond with an open campaign to display pictures and films of martyred children, women and aged men, and prove that the US is not of concern, but killed Yemeni people," he said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21712.html
(* B H K P)
Wir verschieben unser Leben ans Ende dieses Krieges
Mord und Folter beherrschen den Alltag im Jemen. Eine Protokollantin des Schreckens ist jetzt für ihr schriftstellerisches Engagement geehrt worden. Aus der Dankesrede von Bushra al-Maktari.
Die Situation, in der wir im Jemen leben, und ich meine die Mehrheit aller Schriftstellerinnen und Schriftsteller, Journalistinnen und Journalisten, ist sehr schwierig. Einige verbiegen sich, orientieren sich an den Konfliktparteien und den von ihnen bevorzugten Medien. Viele aber haben ihr Leben verloren, weil sie die Wahrheit über Verbrechen der einen oder der anderen Kriegspartei enthüllt haben. Wir bewegen uns auf engstem Raum. Die Angst, verhaftet zu werden und die Zensur begleiten alle, die die unterschiedlichen Seiten kritisieren.
Während der Kriegsjahre wurden Autorinnen und Autoren von den Kriegsparteien ins Visier genommen. Dutzende befinden in den Gefängnissen der Huthi-Gruppe. Einige wurden zum Tode verurteilt. Und während die Huthi-Behörden vier Journalisten in jüngster Vergangenheit freigelassen haben, ist der Journalist Tawfiq Al-Mansouri seit mehr als fünf Jahren im Gefängnis.
Was ich damit sagen möchte: Alle, die im Jemen schreiben, um die Verbrechen der Kriegsparteien aufzudecken, riskieren auf ganz besondere Weise ihr Leben – während das Leben auch aller anderer Bürgerinnen und Bürger meines Landes in ständiger Gefahr ist.
Als ich das Buch „Was hast Du hinter Dir gelassen“ schrieb, hoffte ich, dass die Welt erfährt, dass alle beteiligten Kriegsparteien abscheuliche Verbrechen gegen uns Jemenitinnen und Jemeniten begehen. Unsere tägliches Leben handelt von gewalttätigen Übergriffen, Mord, Vergewaltigung, außergerichtlichen Hinrichtungen und systematischen Verbrechen.
Es gibt keine Kategorie, in der sich die unglaubliche Situation beschreiben ließe, in der sich jemenitische Schriftstellerinnen und Schriftsteller, Journalistinnen und Journalisten befinden. Das Wort „Hungersnot“ ist dafür noch viel zu abstrakt und beschreibt nicht auch nur im Ansatz die humanitäre Katastrophe, unter der wir leiden.
https://www.fr.de/kultur/literatur/wir-verschieben-unser-leben-ans-ende-dieses-krieges-90126451.html
(* B H K P)
Bushra al-Maqtari’s Speech when Receiving the Palm Award for for Freedom of Speech and the Press
The situation we are living in Yemen, and I mean for those remaining authors and journalists, is extremely difficult and harsh because when you write, the parties to the war and their affiliated media will threaten you and tarnish you. This is why authors and journalists really suffer. There are authors and journalists who have lost their lives in the war uncovering crimes committed by the warring factions. That is why we move within an extremely confined space, and the fear of being threatened and arrested as well as defamed and morally targeted is present for all those authors and journalists who condemn the warring parties and uncover their crimes. Over the years, authors and journalists have been targeted by the warring factions, where there are still tens of journalists inside Houthi prisons. Some have been sentenced to death, and while the Houthi authorities have released four journalists, Tawfeek al-Mansouri has been in prison for more than five years.
My point is [the act of] writing in Yemen that aims to uncover crimes committed by warring parties is like buying a ticket to death. As many Yemeni authors and journalists keep uncovering war crimes, then survival is merely a matter of luck in an environment unsafe for authors and journalists, but also for Yemenis in general.
When I wrote my book, my hope was for the world to know that the warring parties are committing ugly crimes against Yemenis and that they are well versed in grave violations including murder, rape and organized crime. However, murder is still the daiy narrative that Yemenis live. In just one week, more than 50 civilians were killed by shelling by the Houthi militia in the cities of Taiz and Hudaydah. Tens were victims to landmines planted by the militias in the cities of Hudaydah, Marib, and Al-Jawf. Civilians were killed in Saudi-Emirati airstrikes or what is known as the Arab Coalition in the border regions. Not to mention the assassinations taking place in most Yemeni cities, in addition to killing and mutilation of corpses.
There are other dimensions [and] layers authors and journalists living in Yemen experience. One is the oppressive humanitarian situation that Yemenis endure. The word “famine” remains abstract, devoid of meaning, and does not reflect what Yemenis are suffering. Poverty in Yemen is a systematic policy, imposed by the parties of war as the war economy in Yemen grows: the war economy in Sana’a under the control of the Houthi militias and in Arab and regional capitals that are pro-Houthi in Damascus, Tehran, and Beirut; [there is] the war economy under the control of the legitimate authorities in the Yemeni cities under their control as well as in Cairo, Amman, and European capitals; and there’s the war economy of the STC in Cairo and Abu Dhabi and other cities; and there’s the war economy that belongs to the Islah party, one of the largest parties that supports the legitimate authority and that controls the military institution and [is supported by] Qatar, Turkey, and Malaysia.
https://sanaacenter.org/publications/news/12197
(A K P)
Houthis say receive 23 government troops as defections continue
The Houthi group said on Monday more government troops, including senior officers, have defected to it.
The national center of the returnees received 23 troops, including commander in the Azal Military Command Brig. Gen. Hani Al-Wisabi and commander of the first battalion in the Fatah Brigade in Jawf province Maj. Ramzi Al-Dhahiri, Almasirah TV reported.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21676.html
(B K pH)
United Nations Remains Silent Regarding Crimes of Aggression in Yemen
More than 43 thousand civilians are victims of the Saudi aggression in Yemen. This was some of the shocking numbers of a report, by the national team, in charge of dealing with the international experts, they revealed them during a press conference, in Sana'a, highlighting some of the crimes and violations of the Saudi aggression in Yemen. The national team refuted what was mentioned in the reports of the International Group of Experts and said that it is incomplete information that does not reflect the size of the actual violations of the aggression coalition in Yemen.
A member of the Yemeni national team, Akhlaq al-Shami, said: "The reports of international experts need to be edited. The information is inaccurate and they are supposed to come on the ground and verify it."
Ali Tayseer, an official in the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights, said: "There is a group estimated at 361 civilians who lost their lives due to the siege and their inability to obtain the necessary medicine or go abroad for treatment."
Despite the international reports on these crimes and violations are continuous and demands for the formation of impartial investigation committees are not stopped, they do not receive any positive reactions from the United Nations.
(* B P)
Reversing the trend: Putting civilians first
Yemen: CIVIC TAUGHT US NOT TO SHOOT
In Yemen, CIVIC was the first organization to train front line soldiers on protection of civilians concepts in military operations and how to incorporate these concepts into future military trainings. One of the CIVIC-trained soldiers went on to hold a training for checkpoint officers, including an officer who was known to regularly shoot at civilian cars that sped through the checkpoint without stopping.
Following the training, the instructor continued to stop by the checkpoint to check up on the officer. During one visit, a car sped through the checkpoint and the officer didn’t shoot. Instead, he called the next checkpoint and gave them the details of the vehicle so they could stop it when it got there and investigate why it didn’t stop before. Typically, the reason a civilian gave for speeding through a checkpoint was that there weren’t visible structures or signs indicating a checkpoint or a need to stop the vehicle.
In this instance, when the instructor asked why he didn’t shoot, the checkpoint officer replied, “CIVIC taught us not to shoot.”
The training instructor noted how this story helped him see the direct impact he could have in shaping how other officers view and respond to direct interactions with civilians and the positive effect this has on the lives of those civilians.
https://civiliansinconflict.org/reversing-the-trend/
(* A B P)
An American-British-Saudi Operation Room In Al-Mahra ... And Accusations Of Ali Mohsen's Legitimacy
The United States of America, Britain and Saudi Arabia formed, on Monday, a joint operations room in the governorate of Al-Mahra on the eastern coast of Yemen, indicating the attempt of these countries participating in the war on Yemen to establish a new reality on the ground before the launch of any comprehensive peace process that pushes towards it before the end of the year and guarantees the achievement of their followers in the region gains from the 6-year war.
Tribal sources reported that the room was established at Al-Ghaydah airport, where American and British units are present at the airport, which Saudi forces have turned into a military base since 2018.
The new step indicates the presence of an international green light for Saudi Arabia to occupy the province on the Arabian Sea, which Riyadh has been seeking for decades to construct a sea channel across its lands that connects the Arabian Sea with the nearby Saudi lands, in a way that facilitates the export of oil through the Arabian Sea instead of the Strait of Hormuz, which is witnessing escalating tension with Iran. Especially since this step came after a British-American movement at the military and political levels, which began sending American forces more aircraft carriers and conducting military maneuvers off the coast of the Yemeni governorate in conjunction with a political move by US Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker on a visit to the Sultanate of Oman, including Saudi Arabia, with the aim of putting pressure on the forces. The Yemeni government to reduce its reaction to the movements in the most strategic areas of Yemen, not to mention the British claim that one of its ships was attacked off the coast of Mahra, even though the area identified by the United Kingdom is under the control of the Saudi forces deployed along the eastern and southern coast of Yemen.
In the context, activists from Al-Mahra governorate launched a new attack on Hadi's deputy, Ali Mohsen, accusing him of legitimizing the foreign presence in Al-Mahrah, starting with his permission for the UAE to be present in the governorate, passing by the Saudi forces and suppressing the protests and ending with his meeting with the US Assistant Secretary of State prior to the formation of the new operations room and his talk about combating terrorism and coordination With the Americans on this side, in a move described as giving the Americans a light to be present in Mahra.
https://alkhabaralyemeni.net/2020/12/07/109140/
and
(B P)
Undeclared Reasons of US Ambassador Visit to Al-Mahra
The surprising and unannounced visit of the US ambassador, Christopher Haines, to Al-Mahra governorate, in the far east of Yemen, raised many questions among observers about the reality of the visit's motives, and its hidden and undeclared reasons.
Since the coalition launched its raids on the Republic of Yemen, and its soldiers entered the country's territory, the true objectives of the Saudi-Emirati presence in Yemen have gradually been unveiled; So, the whole world becomes a witness to Saudi and Emirati greediness.
The occupied land was shared by the two occupying powers. Saudi Arabia focused on the eastern region of Hadramout - Mahra, areas that Saudi Arabia had dreamed of for many years to use it for extending the Saudi oil pipeline through the governorates of Hadhramaut and Al-Mahrah to the Arabian Sea, while the UAE focused on coastal areas, Yemeni ports and Socotra Island, so these ports are closed and out of work while Dubai and Jebel Ali ports in the UAE were activated.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE took advantage of the exceptional circumstance that the Republic of Yemen is going through and did what it wanted in the occupied Yemeni governorates, due to the absence of a government and being governed by group of mercenaries.
The US ambassador comes on a visit to Al-Mahra Governorate to give the Saudi-Emirati occupation of Yemen an international and American support so that things will be revealed to the whole world.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/16513/Undeclared-Reasons-of-US-Ambassador-Visit-to-Al-Mahra
and
(B P)
Why Did Yemeni Mahra Become Important to US, Britain?
the coalition spokesman had claimed, a few days ago, that a number of "Iranian-made" naval mines had been discovered! , Trying to confirm that these mines are being installed by Ansarullah in the sea and threaten global maritime security. Through a simple contemplation of this news and allegations, only the assumption that the attack on the British ship was carried out by Saudi Arabia amid presenting Ansarullah as terrorists, achieving some kind of global consensus against Ansarullah.
Dragging the US and Britain to the Yemen may have many benefits for the Saudis. The first is confusing Ansarullah to stop liberating Marib. The second is helping Hadi to mobilize forces in Yemen. The third is de-escalating the conflict between the Transitional Council and the pro-Hadi forces in southern Yemen, and finally gaining the approval of Europe and its support for the United States to add Ansarullah to the list of terrorism.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/16515/Why-Did-Yemeni-Mahra-Become-Important-to-US%2C-Britain%3F
My comment: The british vessel had been attacked at the mahrah coast, that’s Yemen’s most distant point to the Houthis. Trying to blame Houthi mines for this would be odd.
(* B P)
[from 2012] MORE THAN JUST A BOUNDARY DISPUTE THE REGIONAL GEOPOLITICS OF SAUDI-YEMENI RELATIONS
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(A K P)
[Sanaa gov.] Minister of Transport Calls on Security Council, UN to Lift Blockade on Yemen Int. Airports
The Minister of Transport, Zakaria Al-Shami, called on the Security Council and the United Nations to take a decisive decision to stop the targeting airports by the US-Saudi aggression in Yemen and to lift the blockade imposed on all Yemeni airports, especially Sana'a International Airport.
(A K P)
Coalition repeatedly attacks Sanaa airport to convince world it is down, says Houthis
The Houthi group on Sunday accused a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen of repeatedly attacking Sanaa international airport in order to convince the world the airport is not ready and that calls to reopen it get no support or response.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21656.html
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(B H)
Support Yemeni Society Organization for Development SYS
SYS (Support Yemeni Society) Organization seeks to provide distinctive and effective contributions to the Yemeni people in need through inclusive humanitarian and developmental projects that maintain human dignity.
https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/72713/support-yemeni-society-organization-for-development-sys/
(B H)
Film: Orphaned, mutilated at age 8: another life destroyed by Yemen's war
Ammar Jafran, an eight-year-old Yemeni boy, who has been frozen in a state of shock since a bombing 10 months ago wiped out much of his family and left him without a leg, quietly waits before his session to have a prosthetic limb fitted at a clinic in Sana.
"He has hardly spoken since that night when the Saudi air force bombed us," his uncle, Ali Jafran, tells Efe, as a medical worker massages what is left of the child's thigh.
Ammar is just one of the thousands of children who carry the deep wounds of a war that has dragged on for five years, with seemingly no end in sight.
(B H)
Film: 11m children under five are at risk of extreme hunger due to #COVID19, conflict & climate change. The 5 ‘hunger hotspot’ countries where the food crisis is made worse by insecurity are: Afghanistan, Yemen, South Sudan, DRC and the Central Sahel (Mali, Niger & Burkina Faso)
https://twitter.com/Save_GlobalNews/status/1336687721553813506
(B H)
Film (Arabic): The suffering of the hemodialysis department at Al-Jumhori Hospital in Saada Governorate 10-12-2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lGxC_9UX1I
(* B H)
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock - Remarks at UK/Sweden event - Panel discussion on Yemen, 10 December 2020
I’ve lost count of the number of briefings I’ve given in the Security Council on this topic. And I set out in a rather bureaucratic and technocratic way every month the latest developments. And you’ve just quoted the last thing I said: Yemenis are being starved.
Yemenis are being starved. That is the heart of it. And the statistics released last week are shocking.
It’s the war that’s pushing Yemen towards famine. That’s how we got to this point. The economy is collapsing as Nick (Dyer) said. And donors are offering much less help this year. Not western European or American donors but other key donors.
And so, what we’ve got now is the result of decisions taken by powerful people in Yemen and other countries. And that’s what I meant when I said that Yemen was being starved. Those same powerful people could just as easily choose not to starve Yemen.
(B H)
Photos: As a page we do not collect money, support local nor international NGOs but we have been receiving distressful material lately from Al Hudaydah and Hajjah governorates of people thoroughly abandoned, foodless, without medicines, in makeshift camps. All children suffer from malnutrition, elderly cannot walk, water is undrinkable and there is no room for hope.
We appeal to the local NGOs (which we know have no more funds), to the international institutions, NGOs, charities to look into the matter with the last bit of conscience, heart, humanity left.
For further information, videos, details, you may contact the person who took the pictures and has been documenting the devastation of war and oblivion both on Instagram and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100039603363332
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/3615324071853930
(A H)
Japan provides $32.8 million in humanitarian aid to Yemen
The Government of Japan announced new aid of 32.8 million USD to address the dire humanitarian situation and alleviate people’s suffering in Yemen.
This assistance package includes various humanitarian projects in cooperation with international organizations and Japanese NGOs, the Japan government said in a news release.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30724
(B H)
Yemen: Organizations Monthly Presence (September 2020)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-organizations-monthly-presence-september-2020-enar
(* B H)
Re-emerging Joy with 80 Children return to Al-Hamza School
Classrooms were full of school boys and girls until the year 2017-2018. Yet, the situation totally changed after the school was targeted by air strikes, as confirmed by principal of Hamzah Elementary School in Al-Marabid village, Al-Jarahi district, in Al-Hudaydah.
Authorities in the area suspended classes in fear that the school will be targeted again. The school remained closed for two months. When the school re-opened its doors, more than half of the students did not attend. The school principal said it was unexpected, but he had hope the number would increase within days with the majority of the boys and girls returning soon to study. Unfortunately, this did not happen.
The principal of the school, Mr. Ahmed Futini Borshi, explained: "Before the accident, there were more than 700 students in the elementary stages, but many of them were afraid to return to school. Now, only 345 students attend the classes."
Three tents were installed as temporary classrooms to compensate the damaged classrooms. However, the children could not bear the high temperature inside in these tents. As a result, the school administration was forced to return students to the affected classrooms after removing the rubble, despite the risk threatening the lives of children and teachers, with the possibility of the roof or balcony falling over their heads at any moment.
"I feel afraid when I sit in the classroom, I always raise my head and look at the ceiling and think what if it collapsed over us," said Najla, "and this makes me constantly distracted and unable to follow the lesson"
The National Foundation for Development and Humanitarian Response (NFDHR) included the school within the activities of the Emergency Response Project for Education Services funded by the Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF). Two new classrooms were established to ensure the protection of the children. 40 double seats were provided and 324 children (1st to 6th grade) were given school bags with their accessories.
http://www.nfdhr.org/en/stories/145#.X9JfJthKiUm
(B H)
UNHCR Yemen Situation: 2020 Funding Update (as of 8 December 2020)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unhcr-yemen-situation-2020-funding-update-8-december-2020
(* B H)
WFP-Chef warnt bei Verleihung von Friedensnobelpreis vor "Hungerpandemie"
Der Chef des UN-Welternährungsprogramms (WFP), David Beasley, hat bei der Entgegennahme des diesjährigen Friedensnobelpreises vor einer "Hungerpandemie" gewarnt.
Der Chef des UN-Welternährungsprogramms (WFP), David Beasley, hat bei der Entgegennahme des diesjährigen Friedensnobelpreises vor einer "Hungerpandemie" gewarnt. Wenn die 270 Millionen derzeit vom Hungertod bedrohten Menschen vernachlässigt würden, "werden wir eine Hungerpandemie auslösen, die die Auswirkungen von Covid in den Schatten stellen wird", sagte Beasley bei der virtuellen Zeremonie am Donnerstag in Rom. "Kriege, Klimawandel und der verbreitete Einsatz von Hunger als politischer und militärischer Waffe" verschärften das Problem "exponentiell".
https://www.stern.de/news/wfp-chef-warnt-bei-verleihung-von-friedensnobelpreis-vor--hungerpandemie--9527906.html = http://www.dtoday.de/startseite/nachrichten_artikel,-WFP-Chef-warnt-bei-Verleihung-von-Friedensnobelpreis-vor-Hungerpandemie-_arid,760463.html
(* B H)
A Nobel prize for feeding the world can't erase the shame of Yemen's starving children
I feel pride, but can’t shake my sense of failure that the World Food Programme’s media moment comes as hunger rages
I know that just as WFP receives this coveted award, in a nameless village in Yemen, a skeletal child will be hovering close to death, hooked to a feeding tube. You have, no doubt, seen these children in fleeting images on your television screens. Well, let me tell you those images don’t come close to the reality.
I have met these frail Yemeni children, most often in hot and dusty clinics filled with flies. The mothers usually give up on shooing the flies away and sit quietly by their sides. When you enter the room they pray you are the western miracle that has come to save their child. You know you’re not and you could not be more uncomfortable.
On occasion, a child will grab your hand or finger. You really want that to happen, but you hate it at the same time because you fear the feeding tube may not do its job. It gets hard to control your feelings, but you simply cannot let the child’s mother see tears in your eyes.
The WFP reflects the best in humanity and the worst. It exists because many of us care and it exists because many of us do not. Sadly, most hunger today is a self-inflicted wound. Six out of 10 of the world’s hungry live in countries at war with themselves – more than 400 million people – by David Beasley, executice director of WFP
(* B H)
Life a 'waking nightmare' for 12 million children in Yemen
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore's remarks at the Averting famine in Yemen: What can we do now and in 2021 even
"Yemen is teetering on the edge of complete collapse.
"Over 80 per cent of people require urgent humanitarian assistance and protection. Including 12 million children, whose lives are a waking nightmare.
"It is perhaps the most dangerous place on earth to be a child. One child dies every 10 minutes from a preventable disease. Two million are out of school. And thousands have been killed, maimed or recruited since 2015. Just last week, 11 were reportedly killed, including a one-month-old baby.
"The situation on the ground is a tangle of crises — any one of which would bring a country to its knees.
"Conflicts across 49 frontlines — up from 36 in just one year.
"An economy in tatters — families can no longer cope.
"Support systems and infrastructure — from hospitals and schools, to water and sanitation systems — on the brink of collapse.
"A COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the country.
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/life-waking-nightmare-12-million-children-yemen
(B H)
Map: Yemen: Access Constraints as of 8 December 2020
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-access-constraints-8-december-2020
(* B H K P)
While the world was locked down, Yemen faced an apocalyptic year
With the international community preoccupied with COVID-19, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis worsened, leaving Yemenis battling war, disease, and the effects of climate change on a shrinking aid budget.
To commit such atrocities, the Saudi coalition needed decisive logistical assistance from countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. The consequences have been brutal.
Donald Trump’s foreign policy has repeatedly tried to undermine the humanitarian crisis in the poorest countries. Two such recent attempts were the efforts to suspend aid to Yemen in March of this year, followed by Trump’s decision, announced in May, that the US would leave the World Health Organization
Meanwhile there are high expectations for Biden.
Even COVID-19 has become a political struggle, especially in the area controlled by the Houthis, who have refused to recognise cases and have spread fake news and disinformation that stigmatises those who contract the disease, meaning many do not seek treatment.
The international community worsened a disastrous situation when it began to reduce humanitarian funds sent to Yemen, sometimes under the pretext that the Houthis were using the aid for their own interests.
(B H)
#FoodAndMedicineForYEMEN - made possible with your donations. in this #thread, i will inform you about @ghalebalsudmy's great work, and how your donations made a change.
https://twitter.com/clauci2nd/status/1336434192087977984
Thanks to God & the generosity of our donors with our online donations campaign, We provided medicines to 15 patients & distributed 40 food bskts to the poorest families & the orphans we care for. Thks so much to all donors. Plz #donate http://Chuffed.org/project/food-at/food-and-medicine-for-yemen
https://twitter.com/ghalebalsudmy/status/1336385924796649474
(* B H)
Yemen Humanitarian Update Issue 11 (November 2020)
HIGHLIGHTS
Senior officials recommit to tackling the humanitarian crisis in Yemen as the situation deteriorates
Health Cluster and partners prepare for a second wave of COVID-19
Global Humanitarian Overview indicates increasing humanitarian needs
Fuel crisis in northern governorates subsides briefly before resurfacing
Civilian casualties peak in October
Pooled funds allocate $167 million to underfunded response areas
Window for preventing famine in Yemen is closing
The window for preventing famine in Yemen is closing, the UN has warned, as new figures released by the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO, WFP and UNICEF indicate unprecedented levels of food insecurity.
A new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for Yemen signals that pockets of famine-like conditions (IPC Phase 5) have already returned to Yemen for the first time in two years and that the number of people experiencing such catastrophic levels of food insecurity could nearly triple from 16,500 currently to 47,000 people between January and June 2021.
At the same time, the IPC analysis warns that the number of people facing IPC Phase 4 (emergency) food insecurity is poised to increase from 3.6 million to 5 million people in the first half of 2021 – placing millions
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-update-issue-11-november-2020
(* B H)
Five million Yemenis expected to move closer to famine without more aid
A new analysis of the last quarter of this year has shown that 13.5 million people in Yemen face acute food insecurity, including 16,500 people already living in famine conditions. These numbers are likely to increase in the first half of 2021 when more than half of Yemen's population move into crisis levels of food insecurity. The number of those facing famine could almost triple, according to estimations.
The prolonged conflict has driven food insecurity to extreme levels. More and more people are being uprooted due to intensifying violence in parts of the country as unemployment rates continue to soar. Food prices are increasingly out of the reach for large parts of the population due to the continuous depreciation of the Yemeni Riyal.
At the same time severe humanitarian funding cuts are resulting in the reduction of live-saving food assistance and malnutrition services. All of this has created fertile ground for widespread food insecurity among the Yemeni population.
Today's analysis indicates that the numbers of people in such emergency food insecurity situation will increase from 3.6 million to 5 million people within the next six months.
Five international organisations, Save the Children, CARE International, Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Norwegian Refugee Council, and Action contre la Faim/Action Against Hunger (ACF) said that there is still time to avert this catastrophic scenario but only if all parties to the conflict immediately implement a nation-wide ceasefire and return to the negotiation table and humanitarian aid is scaled up as soon as possible. In this time of crisis, the international community should immediately step up their financial support before it's too late.
(B H)
Japan helps Aden's Streets become Cleaner and Safer thanks to New Garbage Collection Trucks
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Meet the Yemeni boy showing the world why we must stop the country from falling into famine
10-year-old Hassan Merzam Muhammad weighed just 9kg and was unable to walk or react four months ago.
He is just one of 2 million children in Yemen facing extreme starvation.
The U.N. has said that Yemen is on the brink of famine, where already 80% of the population rely on humanitarian aid.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/12/yemen-hunger-malnutrition-famine-health-aid-un-united-nations
(B H)
12 Year old orphan Fawzan makes $1 a day in Yemen to support his family
This is 12 year old Fawzan, from Taiz, Yemen. He sells eggs to help support his family for just $1 per day. With the cold harsh winter fast approaching, Fawzan and thousands like him need our support. Snow, rain and bitter cold bring new dangers to the millions of people like Fawzan living without proper shelter, clothing or food supplies. This winter we are providing essential and potentially life saving winter supplies to the most vulnerable people in 10 countries. Please donate, like and share this post and let's help save lives this winter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o9zDI1uUDQ
(B H)
Film: "Am Ahmed" the first female driving instructor in Marib. She lost her husband ,so was forced to work for her family. Due to the fighting in #Hudeidah, she moved to #Marib 2 years ago. And She didn't expect such a huge number of women who want to learn driving in #Marib.
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1336170373956636675
(A H)
350 school backpacks more delivered by @monarelief's team in the capital Sana'a today. Million thanks to everyone who involved in this activity & special thanks to Partners Relief and Development and Karmagawa for their supprt and generous donation. (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1336049959452422144
https://twitter.com/PartnersRelief/status/1334394898494054400
(* B E H)
Yemen Joint Market Monitoring Initiative: November Situation Overview 2020
The JMMI incorporates information on market systems including price levels and supply chains. The basket of goods to be assessed includes ten non-food items (NFIs), such as fuel, water, and hygiene products, reflecting the programmatic areas of the WASH Cluster. The JMMI tracks all components of the WASH and Food Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) as well as other food and non-food items. In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, REACH has adapted the JMMI to begin assessing the potential impact of the pandemic on markets and on respondents' businesses.
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. Following data collection, REACH compiles, cleans and analyzes all data, through detailed follow-ups with partners. Findings are indicative for the assessed locations and time frame in which the data was collected.
(* B H)
Film: Dr. Sarah Phillips Talks about her latest book, When There Was No Aid: Peace & War in Somaliland
On December 2, 2020, the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies held an online event during which Non-Resident Fellow Dr. Sarah Phillips talked about her latest book, When There Was No Aid: Peace and War in Somaliland. She also drew on lessons learnt from her research while referring to the Yemen War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4BTQMRkVcw
(* B H)
After years of conflict, Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, a UNFPA 2021 appeal shows
A new Humanitarian Action Overview report released today by UNFPA names Yemen as the country where the needs of women and girls in humanitarian emergencies are greatest. Since internecine conflict escalated in 2015, conditions in the country have steadily collapsed, resulting in internal displacement, food insecurity and cholera outbreaks — all exacerbated by COVID-19.
UNFPA’s report highlights the direst crises in the world, and issues the organization’s largest ever humanitarian appeal. Globally, a total of $818 million is needed to deliver life-saving assistance to 54 million women, girls and young people in 68 countries in 2021.
Some $100 million of this is needed for Yemen in 2021, where over 80 per cent of the population requires some form of assistance. Among them are more than 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women who are acutely malnourished. Only half of Yemen’s health-care facilities remain operational, and gender-based violence is on the rise.
Despite years of unrelenting crisis, Yemen doesn’t always capture headlines. UNFPA’s humanitarian response for 2020 has been underfunded by tens of millions of dollars.
There is no easy remedy that can reverse the devastating consequences of grinding conflict. There is only work to do on the ground.
Since January, the UNFPA has reached nearly 3 million people in the country. And it will continue to safeguard the lives of women, girls and young people. Here’s how.
(B H)
WFP: Yemen Monthly Overview October 2020
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-monthly-overview-october-2020
(B H)
COVID-19, conflict and climate factors drive Yemen on the brink of famine
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(* B H)
Y emeni woman makes epic eight-month journey to reach UK
After walking across deserts and crossing seas on small boats, Noor wants to reveal the plight of women and girls in Yemen
A woman who crossed eight borders, two deserts and one sea to get to the UK to claim asylum has spoken for the first time about her incredible journey.
The 29-year-old, who calls herself Noor, escaped from Yemen when her life was threatened and travelled alone with only smugglers and other desperate migrants for company en route. It is highly unusual for a woman from a country such as Yemen to embark on this kind of journey unaccompanied.
She was determined to flee not only because her own life was in danger but also in the hope of rescuing her four children from the Yemen civil war once she had reached safety.
Noor was forced into marriage at the age of 14, but later managed to divorce her husband and became a human rights campaigner, focusing on girls’ rights to education and the right not to be forced into marriage as children.
Her oldest daughter is at risk of child marriage in Yemen and she says time is
Now that she has arrived in the UK she wants to campaign against child marriage and lack of rights for girls and women in Yemen.
“I have been through a lot,” she says, describing her eight-month journey. She fled Yemen when it became too dangerous to remain there because of the conflict and her work as a human rights activist employed by a monthly youth magazine.
(B H)
Flow Monitoring Points | Migrant Arrivals and Yemeni Returns in November 2020
IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 1,340 migrants entered Yemen. Currently, IOM Yemen DTM does not have access to Manfath Alwadeeah FMP, on the KSA-Yemen land border point, and therefore cannot report information on Yemeni returnees. From 1st January to 30th November 2020, an estimated 35,500 migrants arrived in Yemen, and 13,895 Yemenis returned from KSA, while another 266 Yemenis returned from the Horn of Africa
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A E)
Within Houthi regions of control, merchants are selling the same goods in two currencies, Yemeni and Saudi Riyals./Seerah Post
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43738
(A P)
Alkhadem Mohammed Omar Zuhri a former detainee has died as a result of the complications of the bone fractures and other diseases caused during the torture he had been subjected to in Houthi jails, human rights sources said./Bawabati website.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43738
(A P)
Increasing Houthi child kidnapping stoke fears in Ibb: Reports
The increasing Houthi kidnapping of young children in Ibb is stoking fears of families, local media is reporting quoting anonymous in the central Yemen province controlled by the Shia theocratic militia.
Yemen Mubasher news website quoted sources as saying that the kidnapping problem is increasing “
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43739
(A P)
Elderly dies of torture and negligence suffered in Houthi jail
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43740
(A P)
Yemeni Political Figures Object to US Sanctions Against Iran's Envoy to Yemen
Yemeni political forces denounced the US decision to impose sanctions on the Iranian ambassador in Sanaa, Hassan Irloo, and to include Ansarullah among the entities "of special concern." It confirmed that Washington's decision is an attempt to besiege Sana'a diplomatically, after Iran broke that by appointing an ambassador to Yemen.
The decision, in the opinion of many in Yemen, confirms the annoyance of Washington, and with it the Saudi-Emirati coalition, of the positions of the Iranian people in support Yemen against the imposed aggression and siege and in support for all peace efforts.
(A K P)
Tribal militias attack mercenary base in Taiz
Tribal gunmen have on Wednesday attacked a police station under control of Islah militants in the city of Taiz, southwestern Yemen, local sources reported.
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/10/tribal-militias-attack-mercenary-base-in-taiz/
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After General Amnesty, Increasing of Returnees from Deluded into National Side, Including Politicians
Some have doubted the feasibility of the general amnesty decree issued by the Martyr President Saleh Al-Sammad on September 20, 2016 and which was extended by the Supreme Political Council this year, for every civilian or military who participated in aggression, deluded persons who were lured.
The doubting was due to the money that Saudi Arabia and the UAE spent to buy off some weak-spirited people, and using them as mercenaries to fight their own people. However, the increase in the number of returnees from these deluded into the national side, revealed the wisdom and vision of the Martyr Al-Sammad and the Yemeni leadership.
Last Monday, the National Center for Returnees in Sana'a received a group of deceived people, including the commander of the so-called Azal Axis in Baqem Brigadier General Hani Al-Wasabi and the commander of the first battalion of the so-called Al-Fatteh Brigade in Al-Jawf Lieutenant-Colonel Ramzi Al-Dhaheri, who were in a number of the aggression and their mercenaries camps.
Before that, the National Center received a batch of returnees to the homeland, including 176 officers, individuals, and employees of the so-called Sixth Border Guard Brigade of the aggression forces. Earlier, Sana'a also received 50 officers and soldiers, after they left the camps of aggression and returned to the national side.
A group of deceived people also managed to join the national side, after leaving the aggression forces' camps on the western coast, headed by the director of the war operations of the so-called resistance forces in the coast Brigadier General Abdulmalik Khamash Al-Abyadh.
(A P)
In Yemen, journalism can be a capital offence
Four journalists accused by the Houthis of ‘spying’ are facing the death penalty.
The four journalists, who worked for various local media outlets, have been arbitrarily detained since 2015 by the Houthi authorities, apparently for reporting on abuses by the Houthis as the armed group took over the capital, Sanaa, and much of western Yemen in September 2014. At the time, the Houthi armed group was waging an aggressive campaign to silence journalists. In 2016, Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi made clear his hostility towards independent media by declaring in a televised speech that “media workers are more dangerous to our country than the traitors and mercenaries of security forces”.
In April 2020, the Houthi-controlled Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa sentenced the four to death following an unfair trial on politically motivated charges of treason and spying for foreign states, based solely on their media work. The court did not specify a date for carrying out the sentence.
Apart from the threat of execution, there are serious concerns about the conditions in which the four men are held.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/12/10/in-yemen-journalism-can-be-a-capital-offense/
(A P)
Missing anti-racism activist confirmed detained by Houthis: Reports
Houthi militiamen are detaining an anti-racism activist who has been missing in northern Yemen for 10 days now, it has been learnt.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43720
(A P)
Houthis force teachers in the militia’s stronghold of Amran to choose between two things detrimental to education: To report to work for free - as usual- or pay YR 30,000 for replacers. / Voice of Yemen.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43718
(A P)
In an undeclared agreement with the Yemeni Grain Silo company, the Houthi militia have agreed to raise flour prices from YR17000 to YR18000 pert 50 kg bag so that the militia gets a specific amount of money from the price of each bag. /Khabar News Agency.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43718
(B P)
Released abductee recounts story of 5 years of torture in Houthi militia prisons
Hazem Ahmed did not know that his absence from the family and work would last for five full years.
The Houthi rebel militia summoned him to a police station and told him , “Come, just for five minutes,” but the five minutes became five years of torture and suffering in secret militia prisons.
“On the first night of my abduction and imprisonment, the Houthi militia charged me with communicating with the legitimate government. The Houthis continued to torture me for the whole night, hoping to get information but found nothing.”
“The Houthi militia stopped torturing me for only two days, and then returned to investigate me on charges of my work and association with the Yemeni legitimate government,” Hazem said.
(A P)
Revolution leader: mass wedding is a message for aggression in the continuation of life whatever its tyranny
Revolution leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi blessed on Wednesday brides and grooms in a collective wedding organized by the General Authority of Zakat for 3300 people in the capital Sana'a.
"Since the start of the aggression and until today, the Yemeni people, rely on the Almighty Allah, have persevered in the battlefields and fronts as well as in all fields of life", Abdul Malik al-Houthi said.
Al-Houthi added marriage ceremonies are held from the beginning of the aggression and until today while the wheel of life continues and moves despite the unjust aggression on the Yemeni people.
The revolution leader went on saying " this mass wedding is a message to the aggression coalition, whatever your aggression, whatever your crimes and tyranny, we will continue our lives in every area of life.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3119442.htm
(A P)
Mass wedding celebrations held in Sana’a in direct defiance to Saudi threats
The capital Sana’a has witnessed a mass wedding celebration for a total of 3,300 grooms and brides on Wednesday afternoon.
The wedding was organized at Sabaeen Square, and under the auspices of General Authority of Zakat in the National Salvation Government, to make it easier for young people to start families despite the the deteriorating economic conditions experienced in the country.
During the celebration ceremony, the Leader of the Revolution, Sayyid Abdul-Malik Badreddin Al- Houthi congratulated the grooms and brides on the occasion of their marriage, wishing them a happy life.
“Today’s wedding is a strong massage to the Saudi-led aggression coalition, stating that whatever your crimes, we are continuing our lives” he said, adding that it shows the high value and importance of social solidarity in Islam.
and
(A P)
1650 Yemeni women will be wed today to 1650 Yemeni men in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, in the biggest celebration of its kind . All costs of this celebration and the expenses of all weddings will be covered by the government from Zakat, a must pay money by every Muslim.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1336618959920107521
and also, photos: https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1336632315137683457
https://twitter.com/Abotaleb_H/status/1336609420437037061
Films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnzZBHpyb9s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVhpPwQ8uB4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyBKXZnUgeA
My comment: A strange wedding party, really.
(A P)
Iran envoy: US role prominent in crimes against Yemeni people
Iranian Ambassador to Yemen Hassan Irlu in a message highlighted the prominent role of the US in aggression against the peoples of the regional countries including Yemen.
"The U.S. role is prominent in the aggression against the peoples of the region. Especially against the Yemenis," Irlu wrote in his Twitter account.
https://en.irna.ir/news/84140538/Iran-envoy-US-role-prominent-in-crimes-against-Yemeni-people
(B K P)
Film: What is the interest of the United Nations in ignoring the violations of the #Houthi group against the #children of #Yemen? Recruiting and inciting children to take up arms
https://twitter.com/abduhothifi/status/1336307599956979712
(* B P)
Indian sailors held hostage by Houthis 'treated like animals' in 10-month ordeal
Exclusive: Freed captive sailors tell of threats at gunpoint and months surviving on dry bread
Fourteen Indian sailors who were held captive by Houthi rebels in Yemen have described their harrowing ordeal in interviews with The National.
The sailors survived 10 months of fear and misery, during which bombs exploded near the building where they were being held as prisoners.
The men said they were given only khuboos, the Middle Eastern bread, to eat for months before the intervention of the Indian embassy in Djibouti, who negotiated their release on November 28. The released captives were flown to Dubai on Sunday and then to India to be reunited with their families.
The crew were detained by the Houthis on February 14 when three ships en route to Saudi Arabia from Oman strayed into Yemeni waters in rough weather.
“They treated us like animals and threw food at us,” said Mohanraj Thanigachalam, a chief engineer who was among the group locked in five rooms in a hotel in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.
"They would come into our room with khuboos and guns."
The sailors could hear bombs exploding near the hotel, he said.
"We thought we would die there. Every day we cried and asked them what we had done wrong," he said.
"All of us have families and we worried because we had not sent money home for 10 months.”
(A P)
Yemen: Journalist on death row denied medical treatment
The Huthi de facto authorities are denying Tawfiq al-Mansouri, one of four journalists detained since 2015, who was sentenced to death in April in Sana’a, life-saving medical treatment amidst his critical health condition and appalling detention conditions.
Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“The Huthi de facto authorities’ denial of urgent medical treatment for seriously ill journalist and activist Tawfiq al-Mansouri is an act of cruelty that violates the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment.
“Since his detention and due to terrible detention conditions, he has suffered chronic illness including; diabetes, kidney failure, heart problems, prostate inflammation and asthma. More recently we received worrying information that he contracted COVID-19 in June, and that since October, his health condition has further deteriorated as he is being denied crucial treatment for his heart problems.
(A P)
The Houthi militia have held funerals for 800 militants killed during the incursion attempts on several fronts in November. /Yemen Talk.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43684
(B K P)
Houthis stipulate armed participation for humanitarian aid
As Houthis manipulate the delivery of humanitarian aid in their regions of control, they are increasingly using it as a bargaining tool with the masses and stipulating on many people to join the warfronts if they want a food pack.
Mansour Ahmed, a man from Hodeidah, living in Sana'a told Alsahwa he has been trying to get his family registered in the list of entitled beneficiaries, but the Houthi militants "sort of compromise with you that you need to join the fronts [against the government]."
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43684
(A P)
Houthi decision to withdraw immunity from 11 MPs has no legal grounds, Gov't
The Yemeni parliament which is controlled by the internationally recognised government on Sunday mocked a decision by the parliament controlled by the Houthi group in the capital Sanaa to withdraw immunity from 11 MPs.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21653.html
My comment: The whole affair really is busshit propaganda.
(A P)
Sana'a authorities(Ansar Allah) abducted and detained Dr. Hamid Aqlan 9 months ago, he is the head of Science and Technology University in Sana'a. we urges the international community & the human rights organizations to demand his release. Release him now!
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1337073952515108867
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Aden verbleibt in der Hand der Separatisten im Süden. Ihre medien verbreiten eine große Menge von parteiischen Berichten, die das Narrativ der Separatisten überihren Hauptgegner, die Islah Partei (genannt "Muslim-Bruderschaft"), über die Kämpfe in Abyan und Shabwa, ihre Herrschaft in Aden und den von ihnen kontrollierten Gebieten verbreiten.
Aden remains in the hands of southern separatists. Their media are spreading a bulk of biased reports, showing their narrative of their foes from Islah Party (labeled “Muslim Brotherhood”), the fighting at Abyan and Shabwa, their self-rule at Aden and the areas under their control.
(* A K P)
Yemeni gov't-STC infighting renews as Saudi troops arrive in Abyan
Abyan on Thursday saw renewed clashes pitting the official government against the Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), as Saudi troops arrived in the Yemeni southern governorate.
Fighting erupted in the fronts of al-Tariah and Sheikh Salem east Abyan's provincial capital, military source said.
Saudi troops in 12 vehicles arrived at the Shoqra-based HQs of the Saudi committee tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between the two parties, the source added.
Saudi troops headed from Shabwa to the nearby governorate of Abyan to contain confrontations that erupted last Thursday when the two parties deployed additional reinforcements to the area hours after the Saudi committee left the city amid failed efforts to hold ceasefire.
The government and STC have kept trading blames for repeated breaches of the fragile ceasefire declared under the Riyadh Agreement's acceleration mechanism.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21729.html
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Declaring Yemeni gov't formation after demilitarization: Coalition
The Yemeni UN-recognized government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) have agreed to the formation of the new government that will be declared within one week, the Saudi-led coalition said Thursday.
All arrangements needed to apply the Riyadh Agreement's acceleration mechanism were finalized, as parties agreed to the 24-portfolio cabinet formation, a coalition official said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
All military and security plans were concluded to implement the military and security section of the Riyadh pact, the official added.
By help of monitors on the ground, the coalition joint forces command will start as of Thursday observing the troop disengagement in Abyan and moving them to fighting fronts, the official said, as troops will also be sent out of Aden.
The Arab coalition command will continue supporting the security units to perform their core duties in maintaining security and stability and combating terrorist groups, according to the statement.
The already formed government will be declared once the military section is completed within one week, the official added.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21727.html
(A T)
Qaeda militants weapons seized in Yemeni Hadhramout
Hadhramout security authorities have seized al-Qaeda militants along with weapons in al-Shahr city east Mukalla, the security authorities said Wednesday, following raid against Qaeda cells while planning terrorist attacks in the Yemeni eastern governorate.
With support from Hadhrami Elite forces, the security bodies stormed into two houses of the Qaeda cells, the authorities said in a statement.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21726.html
(A P)
Separatist militias storm and plunder car showroom
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/10/separatist-militias-storm-and-plunder-car-showroom/
(A P)
Hadi reiterates commitment to peace efforts
Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi on Wednesday reiterated his commitment to peace efforts for the sake of the people who are still suffering from a war imposed by the Houthi group.
In a telephone conversation with the UK's Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dominic Raab, he stressed the importance of strategic partnership between Yemen and the UK to face terrorism and Iranian interference in the region
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21716.html
(A P)
Al-Zubaidi: "Riyadh Agreement is a real opportunity to achieve peace"
The president of the Southern Transitional Council, Aidroos al-Zubaidi said: “The Arab coalition’s efforts, under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, reflect its keenness on the security and stability of the region.”
The Riyadh Agreement is a real opportunity to achieve peace, al-Zubaidi told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“The council greatly appreciates the efforts of the Saudi leadership in supporting liberated Yemeni regions with development programs,” he added.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30723
(* A P)
Official Source at the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen: Completion of necessary arrangements to accelerate the implementation of Riyadh Agreement
An official source at the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen stated that all necessary arrangements have been completed to carry out the mechanism to accelerate the implementation of Riyadh Agreement. It was agreed to form the Yemeni government with 24 ministers, including ministers of the Southern Transitional Council and various Yemeni political figures.
The source also said that all military and security plans necessary to implement the military and security aspect have been fulfilled.
The source added that the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen will supervise, through the Coalition's military observers on the ground starting today, Thursday 10 December 2020, the separation of the military forces in Abyan and their return to the fronts, in addition to their exit from the capital Aden. The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen will also continue to support security units to carry out their essential duties of maintaining security and stability and fighting terrorist organizations.
The source concluded that it was agreed to announce the new government as soon as the implementation of the military aspect completes within a week.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2166940
(* A P)
New government to be announced in 48 next hours as Hadi bows to mounting pressure
It seems the Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi has bowed to mounting pressure to form a new government and postpone the implementation of the military and security part of the Riyadh agreement.
Hadi has been insisting on implementing the military and security terms of the agreement before other terms. The STC is objecting to the demand.
The new government is expected to be announced in the next 48 hours, reliable sources in Hadi's government said on Wednesday.
In the past hours, he held a closed meeting at his residence in Riyadh with prime minister Maeen Abdulmalik within the efforts aimed at accelerating the announcement of the new government which will include the UAE-backed southern transitional council.
Abdulmalik said the meeting thrashed out priorities of the upcoming government, especially measures to address the deepening economic and humanitarian crises.
The meeting came amid mounting political, economic and military pressure, including by western allies of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, on the presidency to form the new government quickly.
Hours before it took place, Hadi received a call from the UK's Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Domini Raab. The state Saba news agency said the two discussed the situation in Yemen and ways to face economic and humanitarian challenges.
They also talked about the stalled agreement which was signed by the government and the STC in November 2019, according to the agency.
The government has no option but to meet the Saudi and UAE demands as it has been weakened for long, observers said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21721.html
and
(* A P)
Yemen govt, separatists set to form cabinet within week: coalition
Yemen's internationally recognised government and southern separatists will form a cabinet within a week as part of a Saudi-sponsored power sharing agreement, a Riyadh-led coalition said Thursday, after a series of delays.
The so-called Riyadh Agreement which was struck late last year was designed to mend a rift between the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the government, both technically allies in the war against Huthi rebels who have seized much of Yemen's north.
"Consensus has been reached on the formation of the Yemeni government, comprised of 24 ministers, including ministers from the Southern Transitional Council and political components in Yemen," said a coalition source, according to a report carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The cabinet would be announced immediately after a military reorganisation is completed "within a week", the source said.
The reorganisation would see armed forces from both sides separated and withdrawn from the southern port city of Aden and the flashpoint province of Abyan, the source added.
Coalition military observers began implementing the redeployment process on Thursday, with pro-government sources reporting "limited clashes" in Abyan between both sides.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20201210-yemen-govt-separatists-set-to-form-cabinet-within-week-coalition = https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-9038883/Yemen-govt-separatists-set-form-cabinet-week-coalition.html
(* A P)
Yemeni government, separatists start executing Riyadh pact, says coalition
The Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen said that implementation of a long-delayed deal aimed at reuniting its Yemeni allies would start on Thursday with a troop redeployment in the south ahead of announcing a new power-sharing government.
The coalition said in a statement it would on Thursday start supervising the separation of forces in Abyan governorate to return to battlefronts with the Houthis and from inside Aden port city to outside the governorate.
It said consensus had been reached on a new cabinet of 24 ministers, including from STC and Yemeni “political components”, and that the government would be announced “as soon as implementation of the military aspect is completed within one week”.
The dispute within the anti-Houthi camp was one factor holding up United Nations efforts to negotiate a nationwide ceasefire to pave the way for a resumption of political negotiations, last held in December 2018, to end the wider war.
(* B H P)
"Wir machen den Jemen schön"
Wie ein Gouverneur und eine Kosmetikerin ihr gebeuteltes Land wieder aufbauen wollen.
In Bin Adios Provinz Schabwa, im Süden des Landes, herrscht seit gut einem Jahr allerdings eine fragile Ruhe. Und der Gouverneur profiliert sich mit einem Experiment: Ausgerechnet im dünn besiedelten und staubigen Schabwa wagt er den Wiederaufbau. Er lässt Straßen asphaltieren und Schulen errichten, an der Küste zum Indischen Ozean entsteht sogar ein Urlaubsresort mit dem Namen "Delfin". Bin Adio, 44, ein schmaler, leiser Mann, meint stolz: "In Schabwa schaffen wir ein Modell für das ganze Land. Ein Mini-Jemen der Zukunft."
Für Bin Adio gehört zum Frieden eine Formel: Geld gegen Öl. Zu seinem Amtsantritt 2018 setzte er bei der Zentralregierung durch, dass 20 Prozent der Öleinnahmen aus Schabwa in die Provinz zurückfließen. Das war eine Idee des Nationalen Dialogs, genau wie der föderale Gedanke, den Bin Adio selbst verkörpert: Endlich ist da ein Gouverneur, der auch von hier stammt. Kein Statthalter wie unter dem alten Regime.
Zur Verabredung am Rande des offiziellen Reiseprogramms kommt Sahar mit ihren Freundinnen und mit ihrem Vorbild: Marwa Dieban ist 23 Jahre alt und laut Sahar "unsere Retterin". "Ich bin eine Fashionista", sagt Dieban.
Dieban kommt aus einer bekannten Händlerfamilie, die einen stattlichen Palast in traditioneller Lehmbauweise in Ataks Altstadt bewohnt. Doch wenn sie ihr Zuhause beschreibt, klingt es nach Gefängnis. Raus dürfe sie nur, wenn Vater oder Bruder sie ließen. Was sie drinnen mache, überwachten sie auch. Frauenalltag im Jemen, abseits der Großstadt. Diebans Gesichtszüge sind verborgen von schwarzem Tuch, ihre Fingernägel sind lackiert: Lila mit Glitzer. Ihre Stimme ist hell und dramatisch: "Der Jemen wird erst ein starkes Land, wenn er auch die Frauen stark sein lässt!"
Klar, der Jemen befinde sich im Krieg. "Aber in mehr als nur einem", erzählt Dieban. Da sei der donnernde Krieg, ausgefochten von Männern mit Waffen, der ihnen das Gefühl von Sicherheit genommen habe und es schwierig mache, auch nur in die nächste Provinz zu reisen. Und da sei der Krieg um "Ehre" und "Schande", die sozialen Normen, die Frauen aus der Öffentlichkeit drängten und Männer zur Gewalt. Wie der Tod rieche, wisse sie nicht erst seit Ausbruch des Krieges, sagt Dieban und meint die in Schabwa so üblichen Stammesfehden. In diesem Krieg hat sie beschlossen mitzukämpfen. Mit ihren Waffen.
Als Teenager begann sie, Videos auf YouTube zu schauen. So brachte sie sich Make-up-Tricks bei und machte daraus ein Business: Gegen Geld schminkt sie Frauen für Hochzeiten und kleidet sie ein.
Beim Abschied klingt Bin Adio plötzlich gar nicht mehr optimistisch. Seine Generation, sagt er, sei "verloren". Im Leben hätten sie nichts anderes erfahren als den ständigen Kampf um ein wenig Stabilität – von Lea Frese
https://www.zeit.de/2020/52/jemen-krieg-arabischer-fruehling-zentralregierung-schabwa-aufbau
(A E P)
Shabwa governor: Supporting farmers & agricultural sector has its share of our interest in the local authority. Shabwah produces the best-quality honey which is a source of income for many citizens. We've directed the attention, support, and development to this sector, as a priority in our plans (photos)
https://twitter.com/adeow2018/status/1336713626523230217
(A P)
Shops are re-opening and normal life is coming back again after a three-day closure in Dhale’a, a south Yemen province, over the increasing rate of assassinations including the dean of the local Faculty of Education./Multiple websites
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43716
(A K P)
The government has restored the most important contested city, Abyan, from the STC militia’s hands./Watan Alghad.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43718
(* A K P)
Serious measures taken to end hostilities in Abyan
Saudi military forces arrived in the southern governorate of Abyan on Wednesday, in an attempt to take and implement serious measures to end hostilities on Abyan fronts within the framework of the military part of the Riyadh Agreement between the pro-government forces and the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
The Saudi military forces came from their camps in Aden and Shabwa after reaching new understandings between the two sides in Riyadh on Tuesday, well-informed sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to the deal, Saudi and Yemeni neutral military forces will replace the conflicting parties and create buffer zones to separate them on the ground in a bid to pave the road towards the lasting cease-fire and the formation of a new government, the same sources explained.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30721
My comment: Southern Yemen is a Saudi colony.
(* B P)
Houthi missiles latest threat to fragile Yemeni government
Any incoming government in Yemen will need to stop the infighting in the south and address issues related to essential services, as well as be prepared to face a likely torrent of Houthi missiles.
Although the two sides may declare the new government sooner or later, the government's return to Yemen will face a real threat: Houthi missiles.
Residing in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, Yemeni government officials and senior separatist leaders are now safe from Houthi missile attacks and drones, operating and running things from a distance. However, when the new government is back to operate from Yemen after its declaration, the Houthis are likely to fire some missiles to the south to interrupt the government's operation.
Adel Dashela, a Yemeni researcher and author focusing on political affairs, told Al-Monitor that protecting the government may be possible, but it requires a genuine desire from the Arab coalition. “The government needs to safeguard Almaashiq Palace [in Aden] and a small residential city that accommodates government offices and consulates. A Patriot defense system is needed to protect the palace and the city," he said.
He added that the Houthi threats would be neutralized on the condition that the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces are conscripted into the Yemeni army and security institutions. “Once this materializes, the government army morale will soar, and they will decisively deal with the Houthis.”
While forming a consensus government divided between the south and the north may be a political achievement for the Saudi-led Arab coalition, it will be a new air defense burden on the coalition if it will supply the Yemeni government with needed defense equipment.
Majed al-Daare, political commentator and chief editor of Moragboonpress, told Al-Monitor that there are no indicators or possibilities about forming a new government as the war between the STC forces and the government continues in Abyan.
If they could ultimately form the government, there will be no national consensus, he reckoned, and the government will not be capable of dealing with the current challenges. “Consequently, confronting the Houthis will not be a common goal so long as the battles continue in the south and [the government] keeps insisting on implementing the military part of the agreement before the declaration of the new government."
The six-year conflict has created an uncontrollable situation in Yemen, and any incoming government will need to act as a firefighter. The government needs to stop the infighting in the south and address issues related to essential services such as electricity, water and health care, and the payment of salaries. On top of that, it needs to be prepared to face a likely torrent of Houthi missiles.
My comment: The best protection against Houthi missiles isn’t a Patrot system, it’s making peace in Yemen.
and
(* A P)
Decisive understandings on Yemeni new gov't declaration: Sources
Yemeni firsthand sources in the official government on Wednesday unveiled decisive understandings on the new cabinet declaration as stated in the Riyadh Agreement reached by the UN-recognized authority and the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
In the last hours, Saudi mediators practiced unprecedented pressures on President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Emirati-backed STC to declare the government, the sources added anonymously, as the Gulf crisis sees a breakthrough.
Late on Tuesday, government and STC representatives met in Riyadh, in the presence of Saudi and Emirati mediators, the sources told the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, noting that the meeting ended with solved disputes over nominees for sovereign ministries.
President Hadi will meet later on Wednesday with the designate PM Maeen Abdulmalek and political entities participating in the cabinet to put final touches to the declaration and return of the government to Aden, the sources added.
The Yemeni president was persuaded into putting away the names he previously proposed for sovereign portfolios, a government official said.
The government will be declared without forcing the STC to withdraw its forces from Aden, as the military section understandings were limited to pulling the STC's forces out of Zinjobar and government troops out of al-Tariah and Sheikh Salem areas, government source said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21711.html
My comment: Hadi is a Saudi puppet who not even can name the ministers. – And the whole matter will not work. This “government” will just be a ghost government – in the best of all thinkable cases.
and how an Islah Party news site tells it, putting things upside down:
(A K P)
On the insistence of President Hadi, Saudi Arabia agrees that the Riyadh Agreement should be implemented as it is:STC militia withdrawal first, formation of inclusive government second. /Almashehad Adowali.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43716
(* A E H P)
Bread crisis in Aden as bakeries shut down over rial crisis
Long queues of people were seen at bakeries in Yemen's interim capital Aden on Tuesday after the currency crisis pushed the prices of wheat up, forcing many bakeries to shut down.
The prices of bread have more than doubled, locals told Debriefer, adding that a loaf of bread is being sold for 150 Yemeni rials, up from 20 rials a few weeks ago.
Aden is also facing acute shortages of cooking gas.
The Yemeni rial has lost 250% of its value in the past five years. On Tuesday, it traded at 900 per US dollar in Aden.
As a result, the prices of products have skyrocketed. One 50kg bag of wheat is being sold for 21.000 rials, around $23. The gas cylinder costs 7.000 rials, around $8.
In the southwestern province of Taiz, many bakeries shut down on Tuesday in protest against the skyrocketing prices of wheat and the currency crisis.
A loaf of bread is being sold for 30 rials in Taiz as locals are crying bakeries have shrunk the sizes of bread loaves.
The government seems to be unable to address the deepening currency crisis.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21698.html
(A P)
Photos: Protest in Aden demands to blacklist Houthis
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30718
(B P)
One of the misperceptions is that Marib improved governance & services is owed to Saudi funding. It is not.
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1336271542750212096
(A K P)
Brotherhood's militias subjected to painful blows in Abyan
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30711
(A E P)
Oil company in occupied Aden shuts down amidst worsening economic crisis
The oil company of Aden, which is under control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) militias, has closed all its stations in the city.
The sources indicated that the Central Bank refuses to conduct a banking operation for importers of petroleum derivatives, which exacerbated the crisis of oil derivatives and revived the illegal trade on the black market.
It is noteworthy that the signs of the crisis began to loom yesterday in the provinces controlled by the STC: Aden, Lahj, Socotra and Abyan, where the price of a gallon of 20 liters rose to over 9,000 riyals.
Economic observers attributed the sudden crisis in the occupied provinces to the deterioration of the Yemeni riyal against foreign currencies in those areas, suggesting that the STC will impose a new price range on oil derivatives.
(A P)
Gov't calls on Int'l community to end Iranian interference in Yemen
Yemen's government on Monday renewed its call on the international community and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to assume their legal responsibility towards Iranian interference in Yemen and to put the Houthi group on the terror list.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21678.html
(* A H P)
Military clashes between mercenaries displaced over 500 families in Abyan: Official
More than 500 families have been displaced in the past two weeks due to military confrontations among mercenaries in Abyan province, first undersecretary of Abyan Saleh al-Junaidi said Monday.
The military confrontations in Abyan take place in the areas of east of Zenjibar city and it spread in the areas of Sheikh Salem, al-Tiriya, Wadi Sala, and al-Darajaj, causing panic among the citizens
Al-Junaidi said some families escaped from the military clashes and others are still stranded and could not leave their villages due to the heavy mutual bombing among mercenaries.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3119198.htm
(A P)
Families of assassination victims in Aden seek to internationalise issue
The families of assassination victims in Aden are seeking to internationalise the issue by filing lawsuits before international courts because the local judiciary has failed to bring them any justice.
The association provided details in a statement issued on the fifth anniversary of the assassination of the former governor of Aden, Major General Jaafar Muhammad Saad, Yemen Shabab Net has reported. It said that justice has still not been served in the Saad case, even though the security forces in Aden announced at the time that they had arrested the suspects.
"We cannot but express our frustration, dissatisfaction and uncertainty," the families' group explained, "because justice has not been achieved to this day, and the criminals have not been brought to justice. Nor, indeed, have the victims' families been informed of the perpetrators' fate, the details of investigations and procedures, and the course of the case."
The families called on all concerned parties to assume their legal and moral responsibility to expedite the course of justice in all assassination cases in Aden
(A P)
Man tortured to death in mercenaries' prison in Taiz
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3119038.htm
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(A P)
THE OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL ENVOY FOR YEMEN MEETS WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF YEMENI CIVIL SOCIETY WORKING ON ISSUES RELATED TO PRISONERS AND DETAINEES
Representatives of Yemeni Civil Society working on issues related to prisoners and detainees, met virtually today with the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen (OSESGY) and shared their views and recommendations on ways to move the file of detainees forward.
OSESGY’s Deputy Head of Mission, Muin Shreim opened the meeting by paying tribute to the vital role civil society, including women’s groups, has been playing in releasing detainees in Yemen in an often-dangerous environment.
Noting that this is the second anniversary of the agreement for the exchange prisoners, detainees, missing persons, arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared persons, and those under house arrest, Mr. Shreim stressed that the recent positive developments on the implementation of the detainees file with the release of over a thousand (1056) detainees brought renewed hope to thousands of Yemenis who have been agonizing to welcome back their family members, friends and loved ones.
The meeting discussed priorities, efforts and ways to keep the momentum and evaluated the current status and situation of detainees in different areas in Yemen.
and
(A P)
Remarks by Special Envoy Martin Griffiths at a webinar on COVID-19 media coverage in Yemen
The topic is COVID-19, and how it affected journalism in Yemen, and the new dilemmas it has created for all of us. And it certainly has affected my work as well, in many ways. One of the worst ways, in fact, that it has impacted the work of our mission has nothing to do with health and medicine, fortunately for us. But it is about the limitations it has placed on our ability to engage directly with the parties and face to face. We have been trying to negotiate an agreement on a ceasefire and other matters since March. And it has all been shuttle diplomacy for that reason. It has hugely slowed down the progress of those efforts.
and
(A P)
Statement by the Office of UN Special Envoy on the virtual meeting with representatives of Yemeni civil society working on issues related to prisoners and detainees
Representatives of Yemeni Civil Society working on issues related to prisoners and detainees, met virtually today with the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen (OSESGY) and shared their views and recommendations on ways to move the file of detainees forward.
OSESGY’s Deputy Head of Mission, Muin Shreim opened the meeting by paying tribute to the vital role civil society, including women’s groups, has been playing in releasing detainees in Yemen in an often-dangerous environment.
Noting that this is the second anniversary of the agreement for the exchange prisoners, detainees, missing persons, arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared persons, and those under house arrest, Mr. Shreim stressed that the recent positive developments on the implementation of the detainees file with the release of over a thousand (1056) detainees brought renewed hope to thousands of Yemenis who have been agonizing to welcome back their family members, friends and loved ones.
The meeting discussed priorities, efforts and ways to keep the momentum and evaluated the current status and situation of detainees in different areas in Yemen.
All participants expressed grave concern on the status of thousands of detainees held in relation to the war in Yemen, and highlighted the need for the parties to honor their obligations under International Human Rights Law and treat all detainees in a humane manner and respect their inherent dignity,
(A K P)
Southern Army, Houthis Exchange Prisoners in Lahj
The southern armed forces and the pro-Iran militia successfully conducted a prisoner exchange of 28 prisoners from both sides, the media center for al-Dhale axis announced on Wednesday.
The tribal mediation led to the release of 13 soldiers of the southern armed forces in return for 15 Houthi militants, the media center for al-Dhale axis said in a statement.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30720
and also https://www.saba.ye/en/news3119456.htm
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/10/second-prisoner-exchange-in-a-week-takes-place-in-yemen/
My remark: “Southern army” is an euphemism for separatist militia.
(A P)
Yemeni government reiterates commitment to UN-sponsored peace process
Yemeni government on Monday reiterated its commitment to the UN-sponsored peace process and its keenness to reach a comprehensive political solution based on the Gulf Initiative, the outcomes of the national dialog conference and the UN resolutions.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21675.html
my comment: Lip service. Insisting on “the Gulf Initiative, the outcomes of the national dialog conference and the UN resolutions” means the Hadi government continues to block any peaceful solution.
(A P)
Houthis reject any political rapprochement not ending blockade
Any détente for Yemen's political solution is doomed to fail if not considering an end to aggression and blockade, Houthi senior negotiator tweeted on Monday.
"The UN negligence at the blockade imposed on Yemen cannot be understood," Mohamed Abdul Salam added.
Blockade is the other face of aggression, he said, noting that "any détente that does not take in consideration halt of aggression and blockade will be failure."
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21666.html
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp8 – cp19
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-700b-yemen-war-mosaic-700b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-699-yemen-war-mosaic-699
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-699 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-699:
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/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
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