In Yemen, One Finds An Abominable Security Situation

By Hassan Al-Haifi

No person in his right mind would like to see things return to the way they were back in the "Good old days" when sending the ـkfa, or special security police of the Imam to bring any disobedient citizen to justice was enough to bring anyone to their sweat. However, it goes without saying that the current security situation in Yemen certainly is at best not applaudable and in fact almost unbelievable. Surely, one can not help but wonder if the ineffectiveness of our highly elaborate and most of all expensive security budgets is still a poor match when compared to the ükfas of the Imam, who singlehandedly were able to drag any violator of public or political perpetrations back to the Court of the Imam without fail, or obstruction. The latter were armed only with a rifle and the uncontested authority of the Imam Ahmed, not to mention the charisma, which the Imam projected among his small security apparatus and the general subjects that pledged allegiance to the "crown" almost gladly, since they were assured the safety of adherence to law and the comfort of the prevalence of stable order throughout the land (Qadhi Abdullah Al-Shamahy, the late famous chronicler and well-known patriot, made note of this in many public interviews and in his historical writings).

Even the Imam's own troops could not help but fall prey to this feeling of general public acknowledgment of the Imam's ability to insure the safety and will being of his subjects. Muhsin Al-'Ainy is a former Prime Minister of Yemen on several occasions and is also a well known patriot of prominent standing among the revolutionary heroes, whose role in the struggle against the archaic monarchy of the Hamid Al-Din dynasty is without any doubt. The latter could not help but categorically admit in his memoirs, "Fifty Years UnderShifting Sands " that the attempted coup of 1955 against the Imam was not really inspired by a genuine desire to bring down the monarchy (two of the Imam's brothers were hurriedly recruited to join in the coup as a frantic effort to give the coup some hopeful public support). He relates that the coup actually began when some of the troops of the Imam (who then had already made Ta'ez the de facto capital of Yemen, as he made it his permanent abode) went around annoying some of the civilian residents of the Houban area of Ta'ez, who threatened to go and complain to the Imam of this annoyance. The fear of the Imam amongst the troops inspired them to seek the leadership of Ahmed Al-Thulaya to lead them to a coup against the Imam before the latter has a chance to take lawful action against the troops, who were behind the complaints echoed by the people of the Houban area. It goes without saying that the coup of 1955 was quickly and singlehandedly overturned by the Imam Ahmed in the matter of days and his Imamate was guaranteed for another seven years. His 2 brothers were subject to the same repressive justice that was meted out to the other attempted coup leaders, even to the astonishment of the Imam's son and then aspiring Crown Prince Mohammed Al-Badr (who became Imam for just 1 week after his father's death in September 1962). When the latter asked the late Yemeni literary personality, Ahmed Al-Shami how could his father have the nerve to execute his two brothers, the latter answered: "You should know your father by now. Would he accept anyone saying that he did not mete out the justice of law as expected of an Imam? No, your father insisted that people recognize him for the application of law against all, notwithstanding how close they were to him." The latter citation can also be found in the Memoirs of Ahmed Al-Shami "The Years of Turmoil".

The point to be made from all this is to show that the people of Yemen indeed have the right to see the equal application of law on all citizens, not to mention the accountability of all public officials who failed to abide by the most basic of public service ordnances and ethics.

While taking note of the above, one should not be surprised at the apparent lack of disrespect at the almost total disregard for the most basic standards of public service, which one sees by the most senior of public officials and military brass and thus it is easy to understand that in such a venue, all kinds of lawlessness would be allowed to characterize this once peaceful land under the most despotic of regimes (the Imamic regime and the colonial rule of Aden and the former South Arabian Protectorates). No one is calling for the return of Imamic rule, but surely the people of Yemen cannot be expected to stand in abeyance while they see the application of Law nowhere near the senior officials, who are getting away with the most heinous of public crimes and literally getting away with murder, as they placate the foreign forces that are now more than beginning to have a dominating effect on directing the political directions the country proceeds on, not to mention their refusal to leave the Treasury and public property intact. The reliance on the motto that the "public be damned" should never be expected to guarantee the longevity of any regime.