NGOs call for implementing Sa’ada war amnesty [Archives:2006/930/Front Page]

archive
March 20 2006

Yemen Times Staff
SANA'A, March 19 ) The civil community organization's Coalition to Support Rights and Freedoms organized a symposium Sunday entitled, “Amnesty Decision: to Where,” focused on implementing the amnesty decision and releasing those imprisoned over the Sa'ada events.

The symposium witnessed multiple and differing viewpoints, detailing Sa'ada events that erupted last year between the army and Al-Houthi followers.

Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) member Mohamed Al-Maqaleh affirmed that President Saleh's amnesty is good, as it aimed to end the fighting. He said Yemen is governed by two authorities: one represented by constitutional institutions – Parliament and the president, while the other is a hidden authority whose presence indicates absence of the other authority.

This dual authority was manifested during Sa'ada fighting when the hidden authority played an active role, leading involved parties to dispense with Parliament and the government, Al-Maqaleh added.

According to Al-Maqaleh, nobody has dared talk about the Sa'ada War. Hussein Al-Dailami was arrested for staging a sit-in to end the fighting, while amnesty has not been implemented due to conflicts between authorities unable to reach consensus.

Al-Maqaleh attributed the amnesty delay to many factors, one of which is fear and silence on the part of civil community organizations and political parties. Another factor is confusion about Al-Houthi followers' goals behind the war. According to political analysts, the “Death to Israel and the U.S.!” slogan is not the reason for the fighting.

NGO spokeswoman Bilqis Al-Lahabi stressed that amnesty is an important theme for human rights organizations to establish human rights principles and unify efforts to support rights and freedoms. She noted that NGOs and other human rights organizations had no active role in the Sa'ada fighting, which helped exacerbate the issue.

Nazih Al-Emad, a lawyer in the People's General Congress Legal Unit, ascertained that the president's amnesty is an important decision that should be backed by everyone.

Al-Nida Editor-in-Chief Sami Ghaleb noted that media's role was weak, as journalists covered the Sa'ada fighting, but only through the lens of military and security apparatuses. The media could not cover all Sa'ada events due to the area's harsh topography under government control, which enforced media silence and prevented the media from approaching battlefields. Additionally, journalists lacked professionalism and necessary material resources to cover the fighting.

“We all know that the independent and private press lacks support and professionalism,” Ghaleb added. “We never forget government oppression preventing the media from reporting facts.”

Symposium participants insisted on releasing Sa'ada detainees, including cleric Mohamed Meftah, and tossing out the death sentence against cleric Yahya Hussein Al-Dailami.
——
[archive-e:930-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-03-20-p:front]