The USG Open Source Center translates reactions of major political groupings in Yemen to the massacre of protesters in Taiz [Ta’izz] by security forces on Monday and the wounding of some 50 with live fire at al-Hodeida the same day.
Yemeni Tribes, Movements, Youth, Organizations Decry Regime’s ‘Bloody Massacres’…
Wednesday, April 6, 2011 …
Document Type: OSC Summary…
Yemeni newspapers and news websites were observed on 5, 6 April to carry reports highlighting reactions to the unrest in Yemen. The following is a roundup of reports as published by Yemeni papers and websites.
Protestors
Sanaa. Website of opposition Yemeni Socialist Party … on 5 April carries a 150-word report saying that Shaykh Mujahid Ahmad Haydar, chieftain of Harf Sufyan tribes and head of the National Cohesion Conference, condemned on today the “mass murders” committed against the protestors in Ta’izz and Al-Hudaydah. The report adds that Haydar, a Damascus resident, said that all those who cover up the killing of the protestors an “defend Salih” are involved in “a crime against humanity.”
Sanaa. Al-Masdar …. [Website of independent weekly newspaper, critical of government policies] on 5 April carries a 100-word report saying that the “Khalas” (Salvation) movement condemned the “attacks against the protestors in both Ta’izz and Al-Hudaydah Governorates.” The report adds that the movement also decries the “international silence,” considering it a “real participation in the so-called crimes.” The movement also expressed its “rejection of the initiative of the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] in being a mediator between the Yemeni government and the opposition.”
Sanaa. Ray News Online in Arabic … [News website of opposition Sons of Yemen League] . . . on 5 April carries a 100-word report saying that the Council of the Alliance of the Ma’rib and Al-Jawf Tribes, the Tribes for Change, and the Future Movement issued yesterday a statement condemning the “heinous massacres” perpetrated against hundreds of protestors in Ta’izz and Al-Hudaydah. The report adds that the council called on the youth and the opposition called to “consider any understanding at the expense of pure blood an act of treason against the revolutionaries, the revolution, and the homeland.”
Al-Mukalla Dammun Net in Arabic [Independent electronic newspaper with anti-government orientation, focusing on southern governorates] … on 5 April carries an 800-word report saying that Professor Husayn Salim Barbur, official spokesperson for youth of change in Hadramawt, announced that the protestors joined the Revolutionary Forces’ Union that calls for overthrowing Salih’s regime. The report adds that a committee for the union was elected and many objectives were set, namely: building a civil, diverse, and democratic state based on the parliamentary system; developing the state’s supervisory agencies; restructuring the military and security institutions. The report goes on to mention that the union had laid down several conditions, namely: overthrowing the oppressive regime; and forcing Salih, his relatives, and the military and civilian commands to step down, putting all corrupt leaders on trial for all the crimes perpetrated against the Yemeni people, offering compensations to the families of martyrs and the wounded.
Al-Mukalla Dammun Net in Arabic on 5 April carries a report saying that activist Tawakkul Karaman considered that the initiative of the Joint Meeting Parties, JMP, encouraged Salih to commit more crimes and gave him a cover for his crime. The report adds that Karaman said that the JMP “is not to speak on the behalf of the revolution,” without the youth’s approval, otherwise “the revolts will have to dissociate from them.”
Ma’rib Ma’rib Press in Arabic … [Independent news website focusing on Yemeni affairs] … on 5 April carries a 250-word report saying that the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, HOOD, called on the international community, the Friends of Yemen group, and the international human rights organizations to exert pressure on the Yemeni authorities in order to provide a reasonable level of respect for the people by ending the bloody massacres. The report adds that HOOD released a statement condemning “series of daily criminal acts perpetrated by some military and security units, official and partisan commands, and armed groups against the peaceful protestors.”
Sanaa. Al-Masdar Online in Arabic on 5 April carries a 200-word report saying that the Civilian Alliance of the Youth Revolution declared in a statement that the current events are “crimes against humanity perpetrated by the regime against the peaceful protestors.” The report adds that the Civilian Alliance called on “all male and female citizens to join the peaceful demonstrations and protests.” The report goes on to say that the alliance held “the head of the regime and his relatives who control the security and military agencies” accountable for these “heinous crimes.” The alliance adds that “all the perpetrators” of these crimes “will be brought to justice.”
Sanaa. News Yemen Online in Arabic… [Independent news website focusing on local affairs] on 5 April carries a 1,000-word report saying that the protestors have agreed that the presence of the army brought a better atmosphere in their squares after the withdrawal of the Central Security. The report adds the army personnel talked about “mutual respect between them and the protestors.”
Sanaa. Al-Masdar Online in Arabic on 6 April carries a 300-word report saying that the family of [early twentieth century Zaidi] Imam Yahya Hamid al-Din expressed their solidarity with the peaceful youth revolution in Yemen and against the suppression and murders that they are enduring. The report adds that the youth of Imam Yahya are aspiring for a “new dawn created by the youth of wisdom.”
Sanaa. Al-Masdar Online in Arabic on 6 April carries a 150-word report saying that Iraqi Cleric Imam Shaykh Husayn al-Mu’ayyid considered the crimes against the civilian demonstrators a “smirch” by the Yemeni regime. The report cites Al-Mu’ayyid as saying that these crimes proved “once again the necessity of overthrowing this regime, who has started to swim in the sea in the innocent people’s blood.”