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The war in Yemen divides and weakens all who take part in it. This is where civil forces must rise to the challenge, present solutions and alternative projects through mobilizing the masses and pressuring leaders into ending the war.

Monday, February 28, 2022 – Sunday, February 27, the Culture and Media Track of the National Reconciliation Movement organized a symposium on the possible role of intellectuals and media professionals in contributing to ending the war in Yemen, reaching peace, and the prospects for unifying the efforts of the various peace currents and components within Yemen and beyond.

This came in an event which hosted the great Yemeni thinker and politician, Mohamed Abdalsalam Mansour, the Assistant Secretary-General of the Yemeni Scientific and Linguistic Academy, and advisor to the Ministry of Culture. He discussed the difficulties, failures and challenges faced by the ruling authoritarian regimes on the one hand and a society that still suffers from the legacy of centuries of backwardness and poverty on the other. Pointing out that the past forces have been fighting against intellectuals and the enlightened and marginalizing them in their quest to seize power and wealth, which is the main reason for disrupting the wheel of development and modernization in Yemen after the September and October revolutions, and causing the situation Yemen is in now.

Mansour pointed out that the civil forces that did not engage in the military conflict have made great efforts for years in an attempt to avoid the outbreak of war, and were able to gather the forces of the conflict at the dialogue table and make it clear to them that the war will destroy and divide Yemen and weaken everyone, and that they will be nothing but means in the hands of the enemies of Yemen to pass this project.

He added that all the conflict forces admitted that the dispute between them is political, but unfortunately they used social and ethnic agitation to mobilize the masses and supporters, and that the enemies of Yemen from abroad were able to exploit the “agitated psychology of the forces of the internal conflict” to seize power, and used them to make their divisive projects succeed.

Mansour called on the civil forces that did not engage in the conflict, and those who realized that the war is harmful to everyone, to mobilize the masses for peaceful pressure through demonstrations and protests to stop the war, reach peace and restore the building of the state, and that they should continue to communicate directly with the conflict forces and clarify The danger of war on everyone and the impossibility of any party winning over the other by force of arms, and that they present solutions to these forces to stop the war first and then pave the way for building a transitional national government that works to address the effects of the war and prepares for elections in which everyone participates.

At the end of his speech, he pointed out the importance of media professionals joining civil blocs calling for peace and playing their positive and influential role in mobilizing the masses.

On his part, Dr. Hamdan Dammag, director of the Culture and Media track in the movement, stresses the importance of the movement continuing to communicate with personalities and civil groups calling for an end to the war, which are working in various regions of Yemen, and building relations of understanding, cooperation and coordination with them in order to intensify and integrate efforts. Pointing to what the intellectual has today, after all these years of war, the duty and the national role to engage with the civil forces calling for peace, stressing that the current continues to extend its hand to all in accordance with its national consensus constants and its commitment to its independent political and cultural discourse.

The attendees of the two-hour symposium contributed to enriching the discussion with their questions and interventions, unanimously agreeing on the importance of continuing such activities in order for Yemenis to regain hope of stopping the war and correcting the compass towards the right path to a better future.

It is worth mentioning that Mr. Muhammad Abdul Salam Mansour, in addition to his poetic and intellectual works, is a legal advisor, arbitration judge, lawyer, translator, article writer, and one of the prominent activists in calling for an end to the war in Yemen and the achievement of peace.

The political track of the National Reconciliation Movement (NRM) organized on Saturday, January 29, a virtual symposium with the senior researcher at the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, Mr. Abdul-Ghani Al-Iryani, and Professor Ayoub Al-Hammadi, member of the Supervisory Council of the movement, on Yemen’s political events. The military escalation, challenges and overlapping internal, regional and international complexities, the multiplicity of parties to the conflict at home, and the disparity in the interests of regional and international parties were elements in the discussion.
Despite the ambiguity of the scene and the many challenges, foremost of which are the military escalations and the continuous economic and security deterioration, peace is still possible, the participants agreed. The repercussions of all these events on the humanitarian situation has to compel the Yemeni forces, elites, parties and entities, regardless of their different orientations, to rally around a project that achieves the common interests of Yemeni society with the region, because the continuation of the war not only threatens the security and stability of Yemen, but also threatens regional and international peace and security.

The attendees agreed that ending the conflict, at the very least, is not what Yemeni society aspires to, but rather a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace, which requires the necessity of civil forces rallying around a comprehensive national project that builds confidence, ends the war, defines the transitional phase, and establishes the foundations for building the state on the rules of national consensus and within a renaissance project that helps from now on. First, to mitigate the repercussions of the war and its catastrophic effects, and those who have been afflicted with despair and frustration to the spaces of hope and leave the furnace of war to the prospects of peace possible by exploding the energies of the people and directing them towards construction and development.

The attendees noted that the NRM has drawn up a comprehensive peace map (the national project) and it includes several stages and various files that take into account the common denominators of all political spectra and national forces, partners and parties, as well as the common interests of Yemen with its regional neighbors and with international actors.

The National Reconciliation’s Human Rights and Humanitarian track organised symposium on 22nd January entitled “Access to justice and activating the principle of non-impunity.” In the event which was live on Facebook, a group of distinguished Arab and international experts discussed the various issues reflecting on case studies from the region and Yemen.

Houria Mashhour, a founding member of the NRM and former Minister of Human Rights, spoke on the important role the movement plays in ending the war and establishing a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, one which can only be achieved by implementing transitional justice and human rights principles. Mashhour reviewed the Yemeni experience in preparing for the transitional justice approach since 2011 until now and the challenges it faced, noting that the first circulation of this concept in Yemen came after the recommendations of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the need to implement transitional justice following the events of 2011 to address the excessive violence against peaceful protesters in various regions Republic. The issuance of the transitional justice law faced great difficulties, but the National Dialogue Conference addressed the issue with great interest, which was embodied in its outputs based on international standards. Houria Mashhour called for the necessity of including transitional justice in any future peace formula and that it be among the priorities of any agreement to provide justice to the victims and close these files in a fair manner after compensating them and making reparations for their damages, stressing that the right of victims in the crimes committed against them does not fall into a statute of limitations, and if there are no local courts, there are courts international justice.

Naji Haraj, Executive Director of the Geneva International Center for Justice and an expert in international human rights mechanisms, reviewed the most important cases in which a German court ruled against war criminals in Syria, the most important of which was the trial of former officer Anwar Raslan a week ago and his life imprisonment sentence, where he was accused of killing 38 people and torturing 4,000 people, in addition to The rapes, all of which were classified as crimes against humanity during the war, considered this a historic ruling and the first of its kind that gave hope to all those who seek to see a light of justice, followed by the trial of a Syrian doctor two days ago for his contribution to committing crimes against humanity and the use of his profession to torture detainees in prisons and detention centers. Haraj emphasized the success of those trials as a result of the concerted efforts of activists, opponents and the media by documenting what happened since the beginning of the conflict, in addition to the nearly 60 testimonies of survivors of these crimes. The expert, Naji Haraj, touched on the universal jurisdiction that looks into war crimes and crimes against humanity that are internationally prohibited in other countries and addresses them, especially with the failure or failure of local courts to try their perpetrators with impunity. He stressed that no war criminal can circumvent international obligations with impunity.

Raja Al-Talli, member of the Advisory Board of the Office of the International Envoy in Syria, spoke about the Syrian experience in transitional justice, stressing that there can be no justice without peace or peace without justice. She said that murder and torture are one of the most prominent heinous crimes in her country for 11 years, in addition to other serious crimes, the most important of which are the siege and starvation to death, the use of chemical weapons, the forced demographic change of a number of areas, the displacement of more than half of the population of Syria and other crimes. And she touched on the importance of raising awareness about the importance of transitional justice and harmonizing peace and justice tracks because it is an essential part of any upcoming peace process, and continuous thinking about how to implement it from an early age and achieve the ultimate goal of ensuring that such crimes are not repeated, building countries that respect rights and humanity, and restructuring the security services so that Such violations are not repeated, and she stressed the importance of the documentation that is relied upon to achieve justice.

It is worth noting that this symposium, which took place on the virtual zoom platform, was hacked and the hackers tried to disrupt it with obscene pictures, loud music and loud sounds, as the organizers cut the event and then resumed it with a new link that was circulated only within the framework of the members of the movement and the speakers, and one of the most important challenges that emerged was the interruption of the Internet in Yemen, which limited the ability of members of the movement or those interested in participating in this event of paramount importance to what is going on in Yemen or in countries experiencing violent transformations and conflicts in the region.

The Education Track of the National Reconciliation Movement carried out its first symposium entitled “Education in Yemen: Between Reality and Hope” in a series with the same title yesterday, Saturday, November 27, 2021, through a public virtual event led by three of the most prominent specialists in this field.

In the first session, Dr. Daoud Al-Hadabi discussed the importance of education in Yemen to achieve sustainable development and presented frightening statistics about the reality of education in Yemen and potential solutions to advance the education sector. As for the second session, Dr. Muhammad Al-Mahfali talked about the impact of the military and political conflict in Yemen and how it affected the education sector, especially the displaced children in the various governorates of the Republic, laying out some possible solutions in light of this situation.

For his part, Professor Ayoub Al-Hammadi, member of the Supervisory Board of the movement, spoke about the possibility of advancing the education sector in Yemen, the importance of education in the renaissance after wars, and the success stories of post-war peoples such as Germany. Dr. Nouriya Al-Asbahi, head of the education track, spoke about the vision of the education track in the movement in contributing to education reform in Yemen and the short and long-term solutions for the track.

The education track consists of a group of academic and professional expertise in the field of education who work under the goal of reforming the education sector in Yemen and benefiting from other experiences.

A representative of NRMs leadership met with the Yemen team of German Berghof Foundation team on Tuesday 2nd Nov. in order to discuss ways of cooperation and present the movement’s vision of peace in Yemen.A summery of the movement’s background and roadmap for peace was presented by Dr. Nadia Al-Sakkaf, member of the supervisory council and co-founder, which was followed by NRM’s strategy towards economic and monetary reform as presented by Dr. Mohammad Zemam, founding member and lead of the economic recovery file at the movement.

Professor Mahdi al-Qadri, director of the health track, referred to the National Reconciliation Movement as a new national actor whose role is growing among the Yemeni parties in its quest to achieve an end to the war through inclusive peace building processes. Asmahan Al-Eryani, member of the state-building track in the movement, pointed out the importance of supporting the movement’s programs and operations.The Berghof Foundation team presented a snapshot of their programs in Yemen, both at the local level in some of the targeted governorates, and at the political level in managing a dialogue between the various political parties.

At the end of the meeting, Mrs. Hooria Mashhour, co-founding member of the movement and member of the Supervisory Council, thanked the attendees for their time and efforts in Yemen, hoping to continue communication and opening new avenues for cooperation regarding common interests such as community safety, economic reform, and support for the political process towards comprehensive and sustainable peace in Yemen.

Saturday, October 30, 2021 – The human rights track of the National Reconciliation Movement organised a session on “the level of Yemen’s implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women – CEDAW”. The session started with Mrs. Houria Mashhour, founding member of the movement, to which many women contributed to its establishment and its various activities, welcomed the attendees and gave a brief overview of the reality experienced by Yemeni women. In her speech, she noted that Yemeni women were not able to enjoy their rights, compared to their counterparts in other Arab countries, despite their tangible presence in the political process. She also stressed the need to stop the war and achieve peace so that Yemeni citizens, especially women, can enjoy their rights, noting that the war has multiplied human rights violations and therefore it is necessary to end the war and reach a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace to address the effects of those violations and lay the foundations of a civil state in which rights and human dignity are preserved.

Nabil Abdel Hafeez, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights, head of the CEDAW government delegation, reviewed the responses of the government delegation to the questions of the experts of the CEDAW Committee, about the problem of war and the major violations accompanying it, especially in areas outside the control of legitimate government. On the position of the Ministry of Human Rights on women’s political participation, Abdel Hafeez affirmed the ministry’s position on women’s political participation and representation in the government, describing their exclusion from the government as a sin, although the reason for this was the political vision of political parties, and the result of reducing the number of ministries.

He added, “We talked about malnutrition, famine, reproductive health, poverty, and other issues that affect women the bulk of these disasters, especially with many men going to the battlefields, and this is what we were keen to present and explain to the committee.” He added that the government’s attendance and discussion of a report before a committee such as the CEDAW committee is a great achievement, and the committee is happy, especially with the CEDAW committee’s understanding of the exceptional situation that our country is experiencing due to the war.

Nabila Al-Hakimi, director of the human rights track at the movement, gave an overview of the role and tasks of the track and stressed the importance of ending the war, starting the dialogue processes, establishing peace, restoring the law and implementing it, and that women should have adequate participation and protection, in addition to providing them with basic services. Regarding the participation of the National Committee for Women in the hearing session within the government delegation, Dr. Shafiqa Saeed, chair of the committee, said: “The CEDAW Committee has taken into account the conditions that Yemen is going through, and the reasons for the decline in the role of women as a result of the war and the difficult conditions in the country.”

Essam Al Shaeri, Director General of International Organisations and Reports at the Ministry of Human Rights, and a member of the participating delegation, said, “This project was discussed and drafted with the National Committee for Women earlier, and a number of activities were implemented with funding from the United Nations Development Program, which was halted as a result of the coup.” Similarly, Dr. Radhia Basamd, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Aden, and a member of the participating delegation, said: “Women play a major role in the educational process at the University of Aden, as we work to educate and rehabilitate women to be an effective component of society. We have a special center for women’s studies at the university, and we implement many From specialised and in-depth studies and research through the Women’s Center or the Department of Sociology and Social Service.

Amal Basha, President of the Arab Sisters Forum for Human Rights, made a number of observations about the hearing organised by the CEDAW Committee, the first of which was that the presence of civil society and the government delegation was distinguished for the first time, compared to previous times when the Sisters Forum was the only civil society providing shadow reports. She added, “Had it not been for women’s fight to preserve their gains and for these gains to continue and grow, we would not have found today shadow reports showing the extent to which women are affected by equal citizenship.” Regarding her observations on the government delegation, Al-Basha said, “I am not happy with this formation, for several reasons, the first of which is that it was assumed that there would be a large number of women with experience, expertise and knowledge of everything that was involved in the National Committee, and this is not a reduction in participation as much as it is a desire to obtain the best, in addition to the fact that it was assumed that the delegation would be headed by a woman because the issue was related to them, and of course this is normal in light of the exclusion that Yemeni women live in decision-making positions. I also hoped that accurate information would be provided by the government delegation about the situation of women in Yemen and the services provided to them “.

Rasha Jarhum, Director of the Peace Track Initiative, said: “The focus in CEDAW was in contrast to our approach in the initiative, which focuses on documenting violations against women, and supporting women human rights defenders who have been subjected to violations, by providing emergency financial grants, which is one of the most programs which we can get funding for, compared to the cases presented.”

“We presented our report by collecting information from nine organisations that we supported consultations with earlier, and reflected them in the report submitted by us, and we also talked about the systematic exclusion that Yemeni women are exposed to,” Jarhum added.

Maha Awad, Head of Wogood Foundation for Human Security, said that the National Committee for Women is the main bearer of the CEDAW issue and to represent the government and the Republic of Yemen in this file, and that the conditions of the war disrupted the role of the committee, but what happened was taking the role of the committee without even involving it. She added, “The Ministry of Human Rights did not share the comments with us, and we are saddened that it submitted the reports submitted by the committee without making any changes or additions in line with the changes and circumstances created by the war.”

Professor Bahia Al-Saqqaf, President of the Alf Ba’a Foundation for Civilization and Coexistence, said: “The issue of religion is a sensitive issue, and that the Yemeni constitution and various laws derive its teachings from Islamic Sharia. Unfair legislation, because the legislation established is not based on Qur’anic texts as much as it relies on interpretations and interpretations that unfair the right of Yemeni women, and which made Yemeni women fall into the tangles of misinterpretations of religion and the laws that are based on those interpretations. She also spoke about the effects of the war on the human rights side of women, as “a large number of them are now languishing in pre-trial prisons for months, and even for a year and a half and two years on malicious charges that do not require the detention of women for three days.”

A large number of civil society organisations, women’s organisations and networks, activists, and representatives of government agencies participated in the discussion session. In conclusion, it was emphasised to work on the priorities imposed by the conditions of war and conflict, and to set a plan and timetable for its implementation, and to provide it with support from government sources and international support sources.

Monday – October 4, 2021 – The National Reconciliation Movement’s Executive Council, decided through a voting process, on its top five priority issues to work on in the coming months in order to build trust and promote peace in Yemen. These issues are:

• Opening all Yemeni ports in a responsible manner
• Opening safe passages for humanitarian relief
• Paying public sector salaries
• Neutralising the currency and the central bank of conflict, and
• Building a national media network to promote peace

This was carried out in the council’s first, which was held on Sunday, October 3, 2021, via the Zoom platform. The council is composed of nine working tracks, whose leadership provided an overview of their updates to the council in the first session. This was followed by a moment of silence and prayer for all the victims of the war, those who died, were injured, or were displaced at home and abroad, and those whose ways of life were narrowed, their dignity humiliated, or their right to a dignified, dignified and free life was diminished. The participants in the meeting pledged to do everything possible in order to reach the comprehensive and just peace that members of the movement seek and struggle for.

On behalf of the Supervisory Council, ambassador, Dr. Khaled Al-Yamani brief the council on the latest work of the supervisory council and its efforts in ensuring smooth establishment and operation of the movement. He highlighted that the movement continues to attract Yemeni professionals and individuals committed to peace in Yemen and abroad. As well as building communication channels with stakeholders, whether from the parties to the conflict or regional or international forces, including the offices of the United Nations and American envoys and ambassadors.

One of the movement’s priorities is to engage women in a fair and influential way in decision making and across all levels, according to Dr. Fawzia Nasher, one of the founders of the movement. She spoke about the importance of the effective and equitable participation of women in the peace process, noting that the movement includes a large number of active women on the ground from inside and outside Yemen, and leaders who lead different organizations and various specializations.

In the meeting, Dr. Hamdan Dammaj, one of the founders of the movement, presented the organizational frameworks in the third session and the mechanism of action of its various components in the next stage. He also shed light on the upcoming tasks that the movement will carry out at the Yemeni, regional and international levels, and at the conclusion of his intervention, Dammaj stressed that the movement will extend its hand to all those who dedicate their pure national efforts to stop the war and return to the squares of politics, and renounce violence and honest and courageous dialogue to reach the peace for all Yemenis.

On behalf of the operational departments in the movement, Faris Al-Humairi, presented the media department’s work, Bajum Al-Azani of the financial department, and Aref Al-Azani of the regulatory department. The formation of the movement’s first geographical branch in the United States of America and Canada was also presented by its head, Adil Haniber.

The meeting final session included interventions and questions by the attendees, stressing the importance of speeding up action in everything that would save Yemen and reach to a sustainable and comprehensive peace.

The Executive Council’s meeting on Sunday, which was moderated by the Zukraiat Al-Baram, and attended by 84 members concluded with responses and clarifications by the Supervisory Council including Houria Mashhour and Khaled Al-Yamani, and Professor Ayoub Al-Hammadi, who explained the philosophy of the movement in its work based on its values and core principles. Explaining how through a carefully designed strategic plan, the movement inches closer to peace through the work of its committed passionate members.

“There are no rights without sustainable peace, and no peace without a just political settlement”

September 20, 2021 – Coordinated by the human rights and political tracks of the National Reconciliation Movement and at the invitation of Mrs. Houria Mashhour, co-founder and member of the Supervisory Council, the movement held a high-level event yesterday evening, Sunday, where His Excellency the Minister of Human Rights Ahmed Arman and the human rights activist Tawfiq Al-Humaidi, head of SAM Organization were guests of honor. The event aimed to discuss the human rights situation in Yemen especially after the Houthi executions of a group of civilians from Tihama region, including a minor, without fair legal procedures.

In his speech, His Excellency the Minister listed Yemen’s losses due to the armed conflict in terms of human and material victims, including the dead, wounded and captured fighters, which include children, in addition to tens of hundreds of civilian casualties. He also touched on the forced displacement of entire societies. He pointed out that accountability cannot be executed professionally during the war and those who claim to carry it out are doing so as a means of political pressure since trials in the midst of war cannot be fair. 

He also talked about a major problem in the way the international community deals with peace in Yemen, because pressures to stop the war must be directed to the aggressor who is rejecting the peace initiatives, but what is happening is pressure is made on the weaker party and this appears even in the statements issued by the Secretary-General and some of the western countries towards recent executions by the Houthis.

According to the minister, “We work now to document violations in a way that preserves victims’ rights and those of the society in general, so as to allow the adequate implementation of transitional justice in the post-peace phase. We must not underestimate the importance of documentation by civil society, activists, and government agencies.”

The minister added that there are difficulties in verifying information, especially in Houthi-controlled areas, especially in light of the risks that activists and human rights defenders are exposed to. He also pointed out that there are human rights violations in the areas under the control of legitimate government, mainly due to the failure of implementing the Riyadh Agreement and therefore the government is unable to fulfill its obligations, noting that the Ministry of Human Rights is in a difficult situation due to the absence of state institutions and capabilities and in light of the multiplicity of military forces on the ground, most of which are unorganised. However, partial procedures are carried out with the available human and material resources. There are many decrees issued in areas under the control of legitimate government that could not be implemented, and there are more complications due to the political conditions in the south.

Professor Ayoub Al-Hammadi, the lead founder of the movement ignited the spirits through a fiery speech and reminded the attendees that peace is the solution, saying, “In the National Reconciliation Movement, we seek, through common denominators, to preserve and protect human dignity regardless of who they are. We cannot ignore the violations that occurred during the war, especially since there are long-term effects in Yemeni society, because of the armed conflict. Therefore, we, in the movement, must play the balancing role bringing the conflict parties together because the continuation of the war will only lead to more destruction in Yemen. We must strive to build a modern civil state that enforces equal citizenship and good governance.

Activist Tawfiq Al-Humaidi talked about the role of civil society in defending human rights and how there are great challenges facing the organization as part of the human rights community, such as financial, professional and security challenges, threats and difficulty in accessing information and resources. 

“I receive more than 100 complaints and cases of violation daily, and we are exposed to severe psychological pressure, especially since we are a civil society organisation, not a state. But what motivates us to continue is the hope that what we do will do justice to the victims in the future when the opportunity comes, and now our messages may reach the concerned authorities and contribute to saving lives.”

On the other hand, Dr. Al-Maqhafi and Ms. Nabila Al-Hakimi, the directors of the political and human rights tracks respectively, spoke to the spirit of the movement encouraging intensified efforts to end the conflict. They demonstrated that there are prospects of peace and stability and the recovery of rights and compensation for the violated rights.

The participants in the event enriched the discussion with their questions and comments, expressing their concerns about the continuation of the war and that the citizens cannot bear more pressures. Stressing that peace does not come only through silencing the sound of guns, but rather with the formation of the modern civil state through comprehensive national reconciliation that does not neglect transitional justice. Working towards peace and preventing the recurrence of these violations standing up for the victims.