US embassy cable - 05SANAA957

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