Since February 2011, Yeminis have been peacefully protesting for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh who has been in rule since 1978. Although the protesters have been non-violent, security forces have been repeatedly using excessive force including the use of snipers, rocket-propelled grenades, the firing of live ammunition at peacefully gathered protesters, and targeting hospitals that have “receive[d] many of the dead and injured from the army attacks on the protesters” as well as other human rights violations. With numbers still rising, hundreds of people have been killed and more than a thousand have been injured in protests across Yemen.
“In a report in April, Amnesty International documented the widespread human rights violations during the protests and called on the international community to play a more active role if Yemenis are to see justice and receive reparation for such crimes”. The UN Security Council resolution on Yemen calls for “the signature and implementation of a power-transfer deal on the basis of the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative (GCC) which appears to shield President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his inner circle from any possibility of being investigated or brought to trial.” If this type of immunity is granted, it would “obstruct justice for hundreds of deaths during the months of protest in Yemen, as well as a past string of serious human rights violations including extra-judicial executions and torture”.
Sources:
Ahmed, Safa. “Yemen Wrestles with Revolution”. Left Turn, October 2 2011.
<http://www.leftturn.org/yemen-wrestles-revolution>
Aljazeera. “Deaths reported in renewed Yemen Violence”. Aljazeera, November 3 2011.
<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/11/20111129401628745.html>
Amnesty International. “Yemen: No immunity for serious violations under President Saleh”. Amnesty International News, October 17 2011. <http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/yemen-no-immunity-serious-violations-under-president-saleh-2011-10-17>
Amnesty International. “UN Security Council resolution on Yemen falls short”. Amnesty International News, October 22 2011. <http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/un-security-council-resolution-yemen-falls-short-2011-10-22 >
Student Researcher: Kimberly Soeiro, Sonoma State University
Faculty Evaluator: Peter Phillips, Sonoma State University