YT Person of the Year 2007 [Archives:2008/1118/Front Page]
Mohammed bin Sallam
SANA'A, Jan. 6 ) Born in 1962 in Lahj's Qabbaita district, Ahmad Saif Hashid is the founder and owner of Al-Mustaqella newspaper. A prominent parliamentarian with a high interest in human rights issues, Hashid was selected as a member of the Parliamentary Public Freedoms and Human Rights Committee and Rapporteur of Independent MPs' Caucus.
Hashid chairs Change, an organization for defending rights and freedoms, and is a member of the Civil Community Coalition known as OMAM. He graduated from the Sana'a-based Higher Judicial Institute in 1996, and prior to that obtained a postgraduate diploma in international politics from the Faculty of Commerce and Economics in Sana'a University. He also obtained a license in law from Aden University in 1989 and a diploma in military sciences from the Aden Military College in 1983, and recently has attended training courses on social and human rights issues.
Between October 1997 and February 2003, Hashid served as Chief Judge of the Central Area's Preliminary Court. From 1990-91, he worked as head of the Judicial Investigation Department.
Hashid was appointed chairman for the coalition of “Independents for Change” following Yemen's presidential and local council elections on September 20, 2006. He was a central contributor to founding and establishing the Charitable Cooperative Society in the Qabbaita district and later became the society's secretary-general. He served as editor-in-chief of “Qabbaita Newsletter” since its establishment in December 2000 until it was shut down by the Ministry of Information in October 2004 after publishing its 49th issue.
The parliamentarian has demonstrated a key role in organizing multiple social activities within and beyond the Qabbaita District, participated in several symposiums, discussions and workshops and has written various published and unpublished studies and essays.
“Yemen's Madmen”, containing popular conversations with commoners, is one of the famous books produced by Hashid, who is also preparing a book on intellectualism, due to go to press soon.
Hashid is committed to equality in constitutional and legal issues, a fact demonstrated through his positions and advocacy of rights and freedoms. Such actions exposed the man to a series of attacks and legal violations, as well as arbitrary procedures by the authorities. In 2003, he escaped an assassination attempt after writing a news report disclosing the miserable conditions of prisons and prisoners in Yemen. The incident left his driver dead.
The MP was detained in the political security jail in October 2006 without any respect for his parliamentary immunity over his solidarity with a sit-in staged by local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in front of the political security's premises. Hashid joined a protest against the government's detention of the human rights activist Ali Al-Dailami, the executive director of the Yemeni Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms.
Throughout the years of his service as MP, Hashid criticized the Parliament, describing it as “The worst Parliament ever formed since 1990.” He said the current Parliament “doesn't play an active role in discussing citizens' issues and sufferings, nor does it have an influence on decision making processes.” According to the parliamentarian, Yemen's democracy is ailing and backward. He slammed the current Parliament, saying it falsely paints a positive image of the authority, legalizes corruption, supports oppression and makes democracy in Yemen appear foolish.
Hashid's activities in 2007
The MP published the first edition of his book “Yemen's Madmen” in early 2007, and along with a constellation of human rights activists and politicians, founded Change, being elected leader for the organization during its staff's first meeting.
Hashid conducted a series of field visits to many prisons in different governorates, with the aim of examining prisoner conditions, verifying whether jail conditions meet humanitarian and legal standards or not, and contacting relevant government agencies, including jail administrations, prosecution offices, court security departments, police stations and criminal investigation bureaus. In addition, he established contacts with NGOs, human rights groups and media institutions. During his visits to security jails in Sana'a, Hodeidah, Dhamar, Al-Beidha and Hajjah, the activist disclosed to the Yemeni public and international community flagrant human rights abuses exercised against inmates. While doing his humanitarian work, Hashid was exposed to several physical and verbal attacks.
In July 2007, guards at the Passport and Immigration Authority jail in Sana'a arrested Hashid, tied his hands and threatened to kill him over his visit to this jail after he learned about the death of an Eritrean inmate, named “Abraham”. The Eritrean victim suffered tragic conditions in the jail, where multinational inmates, suffering inhuman treatment, are also held captive. The parliamentarian was prevented from touring the military police jail in Hodeidah, and was subjected to badmouthing and contempt by the jail's prison guards. He was also prevented from visiting the Political Security jail in Dhamar in late 2007.
Hashid is an active attendant and participant of all public and human rights functions, such as the recent sit-ins and protests that took place in Sana'a, Taiz, Al-Dhale', Lahj and Aden. During these demonstrations, he gave speeches aimed at increasing civil awareness among protestors. He was intercepted at a security checkpoint and his car was thoroughly searched while on his way to Al-Dhale' governorate to attend the funerals of Menasat Radfan's victims.
Hashid has lavishly enriched many human rights functions with his effective remarks and comments concerning human rights issues in Yemen. He presented and reviewed many of his writings during such events, notably the one entitled “Why do we object to the death penalty?” in which he highlighted common limitations and violations in the judicial system.
Hashid created a unique way of easily conveying information to the general public in his newspaper Al-Mustaqella, by using popular conversations and field interviews, which all aim at expressing solidarity with citizens suffering from human rights abuses. This helped his newspaper gain prestige and popularity from among local newspapers. Thanks to its editors' efforts, the newspaper now prints between 60 and 70 thousand copies per issue.
Hashid proved to be brave enough to reveal hidden facts and information during his interviews with journalists, thereby forcing ruling party MPs to demand the Parliament's presidential board to withdraw his immunity. Deputy Parliament Speaker Yahya Al-Ra'ie transferred the demands to the Parliamentary and Media Committee for judgment.
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