Burned Bodies and Inhumane Treatment:

Reports from Sa’ada paint a grotesque scenario

Yemen Times Staff

Efforts by the Yemen Times, Yemeni and non Yemeni newspapers and other press organizations to get the facts about the situation in Sa’ada are still subject to a news blackout, imposed officially on the situation there. The Governor of Sa’ada, Mohammed Al-Amri has confirmed that the official channels are the only sources of news that can be relied upon on the situation there.

However many eyewitnesses have come and gone to Sa’ada and the sketchy reports coming to the newspapers from people in Sa’ada are revealing some gross violations of human rights and excessive mass punishment that are not sanctified by the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Yemen. We are herewith trying to present some of these eyewitness accounts to our readers, with the hope that they are untrue, but nevertheless may have some credibility. Some of the eyewitnesses are well known for their honesty and objectivity and have no interest in sensationalizing their observations.

We herewith relate what has been told by these witnesses, some of which has been given in the opposition and independent Arab press. Although it was also known to the YT, the YT was reluctant to publicize them before, until we could have stronger faith in the revelations and the eyewitnesses that gave them:

“There were several burned charred corpses found spread throughout the city of Sa’ada after some 30 tribesmen from Bani Abid tribe reportedly launched an attack on Government outposts in the city of Sa’ada itself. When these “rebels” were overwhelmed by the Government security and military forces, they were killed and their bodies were burned or dragged on official and unofficial vehicles around the city.” Eyewitness accounts tally 19 bodies burned and no count could be obtained on the dragged bodies.

“Government and security forces would assault villages looking for “Houthi” suspects and demanded that all males are to come out and give themselves up. Because of the excess and harsh treatment of those who are apprehended, all the males vacated the villages, even though most of them have nothing to do with the “Houthis” or the “Faithful Youth” Movement of the late Hussein Badr Eddine Al-Houthi (who was killed by Government forces mid last year, when the “Houthi Rebellion” was declared officially over and done with). In one of these assaults on a village, security forces demanded that all males surrender or else the village would be destroyed. One man came out to report to the security officers that all the men had left and that he was the only one left in the village. He further asked them to allow him to get all the women and children out of the homes, if they intended to destroy the village. The security personnel told the man that the women will have to be thoroughly searched to make sure that there aren’t any men disguised among them and to make sure that no weapons were taken. Furthermore, the security personnel degradingly told the man that if they did not find the latter, then they will have a good time with the women (but said in a more vile street-like language). The man, coming from a region where morals and chivalry still are ingrained amongst the people, was furious at the despicable suggestion, took his rifle and shot down six of the security personnel. He was killed and it is not really clear what happened thereafter to the rest of the villagers.”

“Tribes around Sa’ada that were not previously involved in the insurrection are now becoming more vigilant in refusing to allow government troops and security personnel to hunt down suspected “Houthis” in their areas Government forces have randomly destroyed one or two villages, in the tribe, on mere hearsay by people who are having feuds or disputes with the tribe. Also taking advantage of the situation to settle some scores by alleging to Government forces that “Houthis” are hiding there.”

“Some doctors in Sa’ada were arrested because they were accused of treating “Houthis”. When the doctors try to explain that a doctor must treat all those who come to him for medical aid regardless of whose side they are on, he is often insulted and threatened with severe actions and some have indeed been arrested.”

“Government and militias are conducting sporadic searches in mosques, libraries and bookshops, confiscating any books on the Zeidi sect, including widely circulated books on the sayings of Ali Bin Abu Talib that is a literary Arab classic (Nahj Al-Balagha - the Crown of Eloquence) read and highly regarded by most Moslems, Shi’as and Sunnis.”

“Sermon speakers in mosques are being harassed not to mention any of the Prophet Mohammed’s (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) close of kin or heirs (through the latter’s daughter) or otherwise they will be dealt with as “heretics of Islam”. (It is worth noting that this has even reportedly occurred in other cities including Sana’a).

“The prisons are packed in Sa’ada with hundreds - some say thousands of suspected “Houthis”, most of whom do not have any clear charges against them or even have any links with the “Houthis”. Some just happen to be from the same village or neighborhood, where there might have been one or two “Faithful Youth” members, or are just relatives of a suspected “Houthi””

Some of the religious scholars in Sa’ada have been asked by the Government to refute the charges by the Shiite Houza (Religious Scholars) in Nagaf, Iraq, which reportedly (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, April 16, 2005) issued a statement condemning the harsh treatment of Zeidis and other Shiites in Sa’ada and the “repressive persecution of the Zeidi sect throughout Yemen.” The declaration called on the international community to press Sana’a to stop the harsh treatment of Zeidis , “12 Shia Imams ” in Sa’ada in particular and the rest of Yemen in general. Sana’a’s religious scholars were reportedly asked the same thing, but they responded that the Sa’ada scholars would be more able to respond, since they do not really know what is going on in Sa’ada and the scholars in Sa’ada are closer to the events.

The Yemen Times would like to point out that all these are hard to verify or refute, because the Government is still imposing a blackout on any independent press presence in the area. We would welcome any official response to these claims and more important we would welcome a serious investigation on them, as it is imperative for the Government to make sure that all Yemeni citizens are accorded their human and civil rights. Some of the atrocities reported are not construed proper conduct nor sound interpretations of the Constitution of the Republic of Yemen or the religious and traditional moral codes that Yemenis have honored for centuries.

http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=838&p=front&a=3

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Yemeni Ulema refute claims of Najaf and Qom Hawzas on Sa’ada developments

Yemen Times Staff

In a new development, the Yemeni Ulema Society issued a statement in response to the one issued by their counterparts at the Hawzas of Najaf and Qom. The Yemeni Ulema statement said: “Statements attributed to the Hawzas of Qom (in Iran), and Najaf el Ashraf (in Iraq), claiming that Zaidi and what they call Ethna’ashri Shia’a are being prosecuted and oppressed in Yemen, were reported by the media. In response to these claims the Yemeni Ulema Society held a meeting to study these claims and agreed on the following:

“The claim about oppression against Zaidi and Ethna’ashri Shia’a in Yemen are quite contrary to reality and to what is experienced by Yemenis, as we are living according to constitutional, legal and Sharia’a principles that don’t discriminate any sect. It is a well-known fact that there are no real religious differences among sects of Yemen; a proof of which is the peaceful co-existence for centuries between the two dominant Shafa’ai and Zaidi Sects. However, the Ethna’ashri Shia’a sect has never existed in Yemen, and what was going (in Sa’ada) was an attempt to stir disturbances,” the statement said.

The statement added that, “The rebellious in Sa’ada didn’t represent the Zaidis and caused the loss of many lives, bloodshed, destroyed a lot of assets and threatened security and stability.”

Ulema of Yemen continued “It is appropriate for Ulema of the two Hawzas to concern themselves with the saddening events in Iraq, and to stop the bloodshed, rather than sympathizing with a fanatic who stirred trouble and rebelled against the constitution, law and public order.”

The Ulema of Yemen concluded their statement by asking their counterparts at Najaf and Qom to “seek precision and refrain from getting information from agitating sources”.

Both religious Hawzas at Qom and Najaf, issued a statement on what they called ‘the oppression of Shia’a in Yemen’, claiming they are ‘brutal massacres’ by the Government [and hinted at what they claimed is a ‘sort of genocide of the Shia’a’].

The Hawzas’ statement had claimed, “that it is becoming clear that there exists a ‘pact of evil’ that extends from Iraq to Yemen, between abhorrent sectoral fanatic forces and several centers of power of the ‘ruling regime which share the same doctrine of the extinct regime in Iraq’”. “ What happened in Yemen during the recent months,” it continued, “such as official resolutions, the economic blockade several areas, and the continuous acts of killings, arrests, oppression and chasing, reveal only a part of the concealed picture of reality in Yemen”.

The Hawzas’ statement warned that, “drastic effects shall result from such ‘approaches against Muslims’ whether in Yemen or Iraq” and that, “sooner or later, the tide will turn back against the executors of these policies and their supporters”. It concluded by calling upon officials to refrain from these ‘deviant actions’, otherwise”, it argued “the magic will turn against the magician”.

http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=840&p=front&a=3

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Oppressed shias in every part of the globe including Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are facing biases, prejudice and persecution. They are not allowed by the governments to even live with freedom of faith and practice their beliefs, which is flat violation of human rights.