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| NEWS > 14 March 2007 |
Other related articles:
Uganda: Men of God Denounce Re
Religious leaders in the country through their umbrella body, Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) yesterday became the latest group to denounce the rising police brutality and warned that it could prompt nationwide chaos.
"Police should not be seen serving the government instead of serving the general public. The violence we see today is a symptom of a big disease that has not been addressed by the authorities," Rev. Kaiso said.
"We need attention on policies that can promote unity and build reconciliation in the county," he said. Condemning the recent indecent assault of K... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Yemen Times - Sana'a,Yemen
14 March 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Arbitrary arrests, prolonged d
In its annual report on human rights, the U.S. State Department has highlighted human rights violations in several developing countries, including Yemen.
Entitled, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” the report observed numerous violations, including killings, fatal shootings, violence, detentions, prison torture, corruption, declining freedom of press and violence against women.
According to the report, Yemeni security authorities employed prison torture in a way running counter to both Islamic Sharia and Yemeni law. “Members of the Political Security Office and Ministry of Interior police forces tortured and abused those in detention. Authorities used force during interrogations, especially against those arrested for violent crimes,” the report says, attributing the reasons for such torture to police corruption and pressure by superiors to produce convictions.
Police preferred nonphysical methods like sleep deprivation and threats of sexual assault as the primary form of abuse in PSO prisons, the report added, and torture was employed to obtain confessions from prisoners.
In addition to torture, prisoners were put in overcrowded prisons with poor sanitary conditions, inadequate food and health care, and in some cases, police officials “exacted bribes from prisoners to obtain privileges or refused to release those prisoners who had completed their sentences until family members paid them.”
Illegal detentions
While authorities detained citizens without charges, powerful tribal figures placed tribesmen in their private jails, often without trial or sentencing. “Tribal leaders misused the prison system by placing ‘problem’ tribesmen in ‘private’ jails, either to punish them for non-criminal acts or protect them from retaliation. At times, such prisons were simply rooms in a tribal sheikh’s house,” the report noted.
Authorities also arrested those with illnesses both for committing and not committing crimes, imprisoning them with criminals and without providing them adequate medical care.
The report further noted that despite the law, arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention without charge or, if charged, without a public preliminary judicial hearing within a reasonable time, were common practices in Yemen.
It cited the example of human rights activist Ali Al-Dailami, whom security authorities arrested as he traveled to participate in a human rights event. The activist was released from the PSO after several days of torture.
“Members of Yemen’s security forces continued to arrest or simply detain individuals for varying periods of time without charge, notification to their families, or hearing,” it said, noting that approximately 100 opposition supporters and two opposition candidates were arrested during last September’s election campaigns.
“Detainees often were unaware of which agency was investigating them, and the agencies themselves frequently complicated the situation by unofficially transferring custodial authority of individuals to other agencies. Security forces routinely detained fugitives’ relatives while the suspect was being sought,” the report indicated.
Other illegal security authority practices included searching homes and private offices, monitoring telephone calls, reading personal mail and otherwise intruding into personal matters for alleged security reasons.
“In other cases, detaining family members continued while the concerned families negotiated compensation for the alleged wrongdoing. Arbitration and mediation by families, tribesmen and other nongovernmental interlocutors commonly was used to settle such cases,” the report added.
Press freedom limited
Additionally, the Yemeni government didn’t respect freedom of speech or press, with the report mentioning that the nation’s security apparatus threatened and harassed journalists to influence press coverage.
According to the report, the government selected what items would be covered in news broadcasts, often not permitting broadcasts critical of the government.
Several web sites also were blocked during last September’s elections. “The Yemeni government limited what internet content its citizens could access by using commercially available filtering technology, in addition to controlling its two internet service providers, TeleYemen (operators of YNET services) and YemenNet, via the Ministry of Telecommunications.”
Rights violated
The report further stated that some ministries reportedly harassed those NGOs critical of the government by delaying required procedures for annual registration/licensing and via bureaucratic funding criteria.
“In some instances, the Yemeni government reportedly registered a pro-government ‘clone’ version of an NGO, immediately recognizing the clone as the legitimate NGO and thereby preventing the original NGO from renewing its registration under its original name,” the report added.
“Several NGOs reported being singled out as ‘agents of foreign powers’ in pro-government media after publishing reports critical of the government. During the year, Women Journalists Without Chains, HOOD, the Arab Sisters Forum and the Observatory for Human Rights were all named as ‘foreign agents’ in pro-government media.”
There’s a widespread perception of corruption in every branch and level of government, the report said, and both government officials and parliamentarians alike are presumed to benefit from insider arrangements and embezzlement. “Procurement was a regular source of corruption in the executive branch and, thus far, only low-ranking officials had been prosecuted for corruption,” it added.
According to the report, jobs and positions were purchased by their candidates, while many government officials received salaries for jobs they didn’t perform or multiple salaries for the same job.
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