YEMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS MINISTRY REACTS TO HUMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 000957

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA, NEA/ARP, NEA/PD, NEA/RA, DS/OP/NEA AND
S/CT
CENTCOM FOR POLAD
NEA/PPD FOR MQUINN, JESMITH, CWHITTLESEY


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR PTER KISL YM DEMOCRATIC REFORM
SUBJECT: YEMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS MINISTRY REACTS TO HUMAN
RIGHTS REPORT


1. SUMMARY: On March 30, Yemen's Human Rights Minister, Amat
Al-Alim Soswa held a press conference formally announcing
Yemen's response to the 2004 U.S. Human Rights Report on
Yemen. Copies of a fifty-page document containing a
detailed response to the U.S. report were distributed to
approximately fifty people present at the conference. END
SUMMARY


2. The Human Rights Minister listed what she considered
major points of the U.S. report including child trafficking,
security detentions, prison conditions and press freedom.
Soswa pointed out that in the ROYG's opinion, the report
described "generalizations" that were repeated over and
over, and "lacked objectivity and specific examples or
evidence to support these findings. The Minister also
focused on measures taken by the ROYG to improve certain
aspects of its human rights record. The Minister, however,
welcomed "constructive" criticism that could help Yemen
promote the status of human rights for its people, and
emphasized that Yemen deals with such reports with complete
transparency and clarity. More specifically, the Minister
welcomed the U.S. Human Rights Report and any other
international reports "that make us aware of our
shortcomings so that we may be able to contain them." As
for the U.S. report, continued the Minister, "it
demonstrates a lack of understanding of the political
structure of Yemen and of the relationships that govern
different government branches and authorities. Turning to
human rights abuses by the Political Security Organization
(PSO) and Ministry of Interior officers, the Minister said
she considered the use of certain terminologies, such as
"serious" violations, as "stereotypical" because they keep
recurring every year.


3. Questions raised at the press conference were a mixture
of criticism to both the ROYG and the USG. The U.S. was
accused of "interfering" with Yemen's domestic affairs and
not respecting human rights in the Arab region or inside
America. The ROYG was cited for not admitting that the
status of human rights in Yemen is "catastrophic."
Participants made special reference to human rights abuses
committed by police and PSO officers particularly against
journalists. Corruption in the judiciary was also
highlighted.


4. Some participants encouraged the Human Rights Ministry to
deal "more seriously" with international human rights
reports, including the American one. The H.R. Ministry was
criticized by many for "defending" the PSO and warned
against being used by the ROYG as a "platform" to mask
actual human rights violations. Some went so far as to
request of Soswa that her Ministry address "seriously" the
human rights violations committed by Yemeni security
organizations.


5. Minister Soswa defended the Human Rights Ministry's role
in addressing human rights abuses in Yemen. She explained
the efforts of the Ministry to bring human rights abuses to
the attention of the authorities and provide protection to
the victims of such abuses.


6. In combating human rights abuses by the security
establishment, Soswa stressed that the Ministry has made
major strides by providing training to judicial and security
authorities in order to raise awareness on relevant human
rights laws and practices. As evidence of this progress,
Soswa pointed out the Ministry is currently providing
specialized training to 300 judges and security officers
involved in human rights issues.


7. Some NGO representatives suggested that NGOs take charge
of producing an annual well-documented report on human
rights abuses in Yemen "instead of waiting for the U.S.
report to come out every year." Minister Soswa indicated
that her Ministry invited human rights NGOs to provide the
Ministry with accurate, well-documented reports on human
rights abuses and not limit their role to attending
discussions and meetings. Soswa added that the Ministry is
working with a consultation committee comprised of 35 NGOs
and tasked with providing options on how to best address
Yemen's human rights problems. In addition, the H.R.
Minister announced that a national report on human rights
practices in Yemen will be issued in April 2005 identifying
the most significant H.R. topics and proposing solutions to
very critical issues.

KRAJESKI