YEMEN: SUPPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANAA 000110 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM ELAB PGOV PREL KDEM KMPI YM HUMAN RIGHTS SUBJECT: YEMEN: SUPPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY REPORT 2005 REF: SECSTATE 226655 ¶1. (U) Paragraph 2 contains Post's input for the 2005-2006 edition of "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy" as requested in reftel. This submission will also be sent via e-mail on the classified side as a clean copy word document. -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Begin Text: Yemen is a republic with an active elected legislature. Although Constitutional power is purportedly shared between the elected President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and the 301-seat House of Representatives, power lies squarely with the executive branch. An appointed 111-member Shura Council advises the President on policy but has no legislative authority. Against the backdrop of a sporadic insurgency in the north of the country, Yemen's human rights record remained varied in 2005. While there were some improvements in prisoners' rights and a substantial decrease of torture in prisons, there was a substantial increase in limits on freedom of the press. Security forces continued to arbitrarily arrest and detain persons. The Government in many cases failed to hold members of the security forces accountable for abuses. Despite constitutional constraints, security officers routinely monitored citizens' activities, searched their homes, detained citizens for questioning and mistreated detainees. Prolonged pretrial detention, judicial corruption, and executive interference were rampant and undermined due process. Discrimination against women and child labor remained problems. The Government, at times, limited freedom of assembly and, as a result of tensions in the north, imposed some restrictions on freedom of religion. The 2005 U.S. human rights and democracy strategy for Yemen addressed the need for the Government to strengthen its human rights record, continue to enact democratic reforms, and improve the administration of justice. The U.S. also pushed to increase the strength of civil society, give women a greater voice in their government, and further the process of democratic development. To achieve this, the United States aggressively advocated reform and continued or undertook several long-term projects in 2005. The U.S. also played a key role in uniting the international donor community for the purpose of pressing the Government to implement long-delayed democratic reform commitments. Finally, high-level visits �0A;during the year underscored the United States' commitment to institutionalizing respect for human rights and democracy in Yemen and the region. In Fiscal Year 2005, the United States provided $1.1 million in International Military Education and Training assistance for the Yemeni military, part of which addresses awareness of international norms of human rights and fosters greater respect for the principle of civilian control of the military and the rule of law. In the past year, the program had 26 participants. In compliance with the Leahy amendment, U.S. officials worked closely with the Ministries of Defense and Interior to vet units for U.S. training. The Defense Department Counter-Terrorism Fellowship funds a training program for Yemeni military officers on the importance of respecting human rights. The project is available to Ministry of Interior and Defense civilians and security forces. The project, which has been highly successful, trained three participants in 2005. The United States continued supporting actions aimed at strengthening Yemen's political parties, improving election administration, and fostering fair elections. Throughout the year, U.S. embassy officials, in close cooperation with an international-donor working group, met with government and political party officials to press for necessary electoral reform. Furthermore, U.S. support helped expand the capacity of the Supreme Commission for Electoral Reform (SCER). With this support the U.S. government hopes that the commission will be able to effectively and fairly regulate the 2006 Yemeni presidential and local council elections. To help foster even-handed elections, the U.S. also funded work that resulted in reports that were presented to the Government on requisite Yemeni Electoral and Political Party law reforms. Though the government failed to act on the reports, they were widely discussed by major political parties and civil society at policy roundtables. During the year, a string of legal, psychological, and in many cases, physical attacks against journalists critical of the Government marred Yemen's reputation as a bastion of free press in the Middle East. To help counter this, the United States strongly pressed government, journalist and civil society leaders on the need for a free and professional press. In July, the United States sponsored two legal experts who worked with government officials and over 40 journalists for one week, culminating in a well-attended workshop organized in cooperation with other international donors. The workshop concluded with recommendations, presented to the Government and civil society, on how to protect press freedoms, some of which were seemingly threatened by a proposed press law released by the government earlier in the year. Many times throughout the year, embassy officials met with members of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate as well as the victims of harassment. In October, the Ambassador expressed U.S. concern over the deterioration in freedom of speech to a local newspaper. His comments provoked a heated debate in the press and among civil society. While government-controlled papers billed the comments as "interference" in Yemen's internal affairs, independent and opposition press praised them. Civil society leaders also publicly thanked the U.S. for being the first mission to openly raise the issue. To achieve the necessary reform in rule of law, human rights and political freedom, the United States more actively engaged non-governmental organizations in 2005 with the hope that civil society organizations would take a lead in reform of their country's political and social institutions. Through the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI),the Administration's primary mechanism to support a forward strategy for freedom in the Middle East, and public diplomacy efforts, the United States supported several Yemeni NGO projects in 2005. One very successful project taught children about democracy, the importance of participation in government, and freedom of speech. Another project helped a local NGO teach its counterpart organizations how to establish a coalition network. The United States' support for NGOs reached the highest levels when in February, the Undersecretary for Global Affairs, responsible for U.S. human rights and democratic efforts, visited Yemen. During her visit, the Undersecretary met with government officials and held a roundtable discussion with Yemeni NGOs to explore ways the U.S. can support Yemen's civil society. In Yemen, the judicial system coexists with traditional means of dispute resolution such as tribal mediation. Where the court system is involved, there are numerous problems including excessive executive branch tampering, corruption, inefficiency of court administration, and the failure of authorities to enforce rulings. In January 2005, an American Bar Association delegation, in conjunction with the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI),visited Yemen for two weeks to conduct an extensive assessment of Yemen's judiciary in order to initiate programming, due to begin in 2006, to galvanize legal reform. Furthermore, the embassy sponsored a project entitled, "Qualifying Young Lawyers in Human Rights" to introduce 160 Islamic law students and law faculty to human rights law. Bound by tradition, Yemeni women are politically and socially marginalized. With limited access to education, health care, and judicial redress, women have experienced minimal political representation in parliament and local councils. Although yet to be officially enacted, a female candidate quota has made some headway after the President and country's ruling party committed to enacting a fifteen percent quota before the 2006 local council elections. Part of this momentum was thanks to a U.S.-sponsored program aimed at increasing women's political participation. This same program helped establish a SCER women's unit to propagate female electoral participation and taught women from Yemen's four largest political parties how to run campaigns and lobby for reform. U.S. support for women's rights also took center stage in Yemen when a visiting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (DAS) addressed the opening session of a regional women's conference to underscore the United States' support for promoting women's rights. During his speech, the DAS announced a substantial grant, awarded in September 2005 by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),to a program that will be run by the Ministry of Human Rights and UNDP in 2006. This program will help Yemeni women take a more visible role in lobbying for reform, run for elections, gain access to justice, and assist women prisoners. In 2005, USAID, in conjunction with MEPI, continued to expand programming in strengthening democratic institutions, decentralizing authority, and election assistance. One program strengthened core skills of Parliamentarians including constituent outreach and executive oversight functions. The program also established a Parliamentary Resource Center that helped Members of Parliament learn about their mandated function and author more responsive legislation. During the year, this resulted in Parliament taking some steps towards becoming a more present force in government. Another supported program works to bring democratic government closer to the people by improving the capacity of constitutionally mandated local councils. Through the International Visitor (IV) Program, administered through the US Embassy's Public Diplomacy office, the United States sent over 10 participants to the U.S. to participate in exchange programs on issues such "Promoting Rule of Law and Justice," "Human Rights Advocacy and Awareness," "Role of the Media", and "State and Local Governments." Also, throughout the year the U.S. embassy donated many publications on human rights and democracy issues to Yemeni universities, NGOs, schools, and civil society institutions. Comprehensive reform in human rights and democratic development is a choice that ultimately lies with the Yemenis. The U.S., through its different agencies and embassy in Yemen, will continue to work with willing actors in political parties, civil society, and the government to foster respect for human rights, freedom of speech, equality and rule of law in a country with great potential. (End Text) -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) Addendum: Support for Reform Minded Yemeni Parliamentarians $800K (MEPI) Support to UNDP Local Council Decentralization Program $1.59 mil ($1.2 mil MEPI and $390K USAID ESF funding) Political Parties and Women's Participation $695,000 (MEPI) Elections Support Program to NDI and IFES $1.2 mil (MEPI) Support to the MHR/UNDP Human Rights Program $452,000 (USAID) Conflict Mitigation Program $300,000 (MEPI) Yemeni Consensus Building Program $420,610 (MEPI) Democracy Assistance Dialogue Assistance $200,000 (MEPI) Yemen Adult Life Skills program for literacy $2 mil (MEPI) Middle East Legal Initiative (Yemen component) $215,000 (MEPI) Renovation of the Zenab Girl's School $256,000 (DoD) ¶4. Note: Programs that support literacy and/or renovation of educational facilities are also considered to be human rights projects because they concentrate on women and girls (as mandated by USAID) and help alleviate poverty, thus promoting equality and democracy. End Note. Krajeski