The right to life is a God given right:

Bloodshed is not the only solution to Yemen’s problems
Hassan Al-Haifi
Published:11-03-2010
If bloodshed is not the right solution to any problem anywhere else in the world, it certainly is not the case more so in Yemen. In Yemen bloodshed only begets more bloodshed as the ritual of blood vengeance is clearly embedded in the tribal culture of Yemen and it is not understood why the regime in Sana’a continues to think that it can confront all of its problems by the nozzle of the guns it has in its possession pointing and firing at the citizens it purports to rule and serve. While this may be sound logic very temporarily in the case of the former, it certainly does not reflect a genuine desire to carry out any services expected of Government, which are for all practical purposes non-existent. With the nozzles now somewhat quite in the Northern provinces of Sa’ada and Amran and other nearby governorates (although there are looming threats of a Round Seven emerging), they have been uncovered in the southern governorates and with greater disregard for the codes of honor that our tribal heritage also left us, such as the ban on assaults on armless civilians, the respect for the rights of life to women and children and the lack of use of houses of worship as staging points for attacks against adversaries or civilian protestors. On the other hand, there are several constitutional stipulations being currently violated in the Southern Governorates that certainly forbid the armed attack on any citizens, who may have expressed opinions that may seem demeaning to certain Government officials.
One wonders to what extent the state security apparatus would be used to serve the wishes of elements of a regime that has failed to provide the minimum standards of government services and failed to apply the very laws it has diligently amended so many times to suit its purposes as much as possible. In the southern governorates, there is a strong feeling that the diehard regime in Sana’a has out stepped the bounds of purposeful government and has acted more like an occupying power, rather than a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. At least that is how our southern brothers see it. While the feeling is really shared by all the people of Yemen, north and south, the southerners have found the situation so deplorable that they find it unbearable to carry on under such gross misuse of government by careless officials, who grant themselves the right to grab anything and everything they like, as if God had only created the Earth for them to plunder and loot as they wish. Just to reassure our brothers in the south, this feeling is shared by their northern brothers and really does not hide the existence of better conditions north of Mikeiras at all. The fact of the matter is that the regime in Sana’a has been the most flagrant violator of not only its own laws, but the very international conventions it has become party to, wantonly bringing hundreds of civilians in Sa’ada to their untimely death without justifiable cause, except to reflect an unholy arrogance that has come to characterize the regime, especially since the end of the 1994 uncalled for invasion of the south. It that senseless war was to “protect the union” (It was only after the invasion by about three weeks that the leaders of the southern side in the Unification Agreement decided for a break up), the aftermath of the war gave more reason for a desired divorce). In fact, one at that time relished the delicate balance of power that helped to create a modest aura of freedom and civil involvement in government affairs, which should be credited to the presence of our southern brothers in the merged regime that arose after unification from May 1990 to April 1994 (when the “Northern” forces attacked the “Southern” forces that were deployed in Amran as part of the redeployment of military forces of both North and South Yemen agreed to in the unification accord).
While it is not yet understood how the regime can claim that Yemen enjoys democratic rule with free speech and assembly, but when the Southerners try to enjoy this right, they are greeted by immediate firepower from the exaggerated security presence that usually greets any civil expressions of discontent in Dhale’a, Loder or Zanjibar. As if that was not enough, the security forces are unabashed at resorting to attacking any person who may have used symbolic expressions of discontent against particular elements of the regime, as if these people not only enjoyed immunity from displeasure by their “subjects”, but immunity from discontent by their subjects. This is tantamount to “shirk” and accords the rulers of the land a partnership with the Divine, which is totally unacceptable, no matter what rationale are given for this unholy assertion.
One wonders if the security organs have forgotten that it is their primary duty to protect the citizens of the country from any harm, even if they expressed an opinion that may not be favorable to any of the icons of the regime and even if these icons infringe upon the constitutional rights of free expression and assembly, in which case they should really side with the protestors. Certainly, state funds should not be allocated to such organs if they attack peaceful demonstrators in their homes and use houses of worship as staging points for their unholy bloody missions to do away with such protestors. Needless to say, those demonstrators were not even carrying armaments during the demonstrations.
It is time for the regime in Sana’a to seek more constructive methods of answering legitimate protest in both the North and the South if it has any hopes of keeping the unity of Yemen intact. The misdoings of icons of the regime are the reasons behind the obvious discontent in the North and the South and the latter will not fade away by machine gun fire from the minarets of mosques, which were constructed to call the people to come together and to remember that all are equal before God and the Law. The irrational spilling of blood in the South must end immediately if this union is to be saved. The regime in Sana’a has to come to terms with the people it purports to govern by their consent, for there is simply no excuse for continued failure to perform under the social contract and the shedding of blood of legitimate protestors does not hide any of the regime’s incompetence at all.
But wait folks, there may be ominous threats that Round Seven is looming in the horizon in the North as well. For sure the future is gloomier than ever.

Yemen Times Issue 1346 ?
Published 11/3/2010