Fajr-Aljanoob
Dr. Mohammed Alsaqqaf
PhD in International Law
University of Sorbonne
First of all, I may express my appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Judith
for inviting me to participate in a workshop on the Impact of Political Change
on Yemen’s relations with the United States.
The division of Panel 1 topics showed a real understanding of the
present reality in Yemen. I was requested to speak about the “Internal Dynamics
of the Southern Movement” while Mr. Abdulwahab Alkebsi is to speak about the
“Internal Dynamics of the Northern Movement”.
This diagnosis for the current reality was not comprehended by leaders
of the south who marched for the unification with the north by them not
presenting two distinct parties representing two nations and sovereign states
members in the UN and the Arab League. Instead of having the unified state
reflecting both independent parts of the country in its new name (Such as
Czechoslovakia or the United Arab Republic, as the case in the unification of
Egypt and Syria) the name of the new state established in May 1990 was the
“Republic of Yemen”. This name strengthens the racist ideology of the leaders
of the northern part of the country and implies that the south (the branch)
returned back to the north (the origin) based on incorrect historical claims
that Yemen was one country. Yemen was not one country since ancient centuries.
In order to abolish these claims, the name “the United Arab Republic” would
have been a better reflection of reality.
The wind of change which hits the Arab World, starting from Tunisia and
Egypt was predominantly praised for its peaceful nature against the violence of
Arab tyrannical regimes. In the Yemen case, it started from the Change Square
in Sana’a and started as a youth uprising to become a peoples’ revolution
against the regime of President Saleh who rules Yemen for 33 years.
Questions might be raised regarding the difference between the change
youth movement and the Southern Movement and what could be the internal
dynamics of the southern movement and the position of regional and
international forces of this Southern Movement.
1. Differences
· The Southern Movement is the
first of its kind in the Arab World and it started before Tunisia and Egypt in
adopting the peaceful struggle approach although it started as a movement
triggered by Military and Security Retirees Association established in March
2007 and composing of supreme military and security leaders, officers and
soldiers who were referred to retirement or dismissed from service in the aftermath
of the civil war of 1994 with all of them being from the south.
· The northern movement started 3 months ago, in comparison to the
Southern Movement which is 4 years old.
· The difference of goals:
in the north, the slogan is to
overthrow the regime while in the south they demand restoring the independence
of the southern state by dissolution from the north but not claiming for
secession. There is a difference in both terms; the south claims for restoring
its occupied territories since 1994 war and restoring its resources, identity
and political history while, in the north, they seek reaching power by
overthrowing the regime. If a small sector of the Change Youth, like the
Southern Movement, aim at building a civil state not only changing the regime,
but this group is a minority dominated by the Islah and Salafi youth and
tribesmen who fear the civil state because they understand it as a secular
state separating religion from the state!!! They also fear the rule of law as
it means the equality of citizens and equality of men and women. At the Change
Square in Sana’a on April 16th, a group
of Islah Salafi young men with the soldiers of the First Armored Brigade
belonging to Ali Mohsin Alahmar who joined the rebels, assaulted female
activists, artists and journalists who insisted on participating in a mixed
march and refused to obey the orders of the organization committee to remain in
a separate female march. This incident provokes debate on the respect of the
revolution components to the culture of change and human rights.
· The differences in the nature
of their coalition with opposition parties and defectors from the ruling party:
these components supported the Change Youth and adopted their
fundamental demand of overthrowing the regime while the Southern Movement did
not enjoy this support for two main reasons. The first: weak opposition parties
saw in the youth revolution their chance to change the regime and reach to
power while the demand of the Southern Movement is to restore the independent southern
state. The second reason is that opposition and ruling party leaders are from
the northern part of the country and this applies to their partisan grassroots
with the exception of the Socialist Party which ruled the south whose leaders
are from the south but the majority of its members are from the north. The
unique feature of the leaders and the grassroots of the Southern Movement is
that they are all from the south. They include independent members and
partisans including members in the ruling party whose partisan affiliations
dissolved for the sake of the Southern Cause.
· Change Youth in Sana’a received
protection from the forces of Ali Mohsin Alahmar against the crackdown of state
security and army. The same protection was extended to some provinces such as
ALjawf, Mareb and Sadah due to their tribal affiliations while civil provinces
such as Taiz and Hodeidah (in north Yemen) were suppressed. The south was also
subjected to suppression policy for four years, during which all kinds of
light, medium and heavy weapons were used against the Movement especially in
Radfan, Aldhalea and Abyan. These provinces were under strict blockade for two
consecutive months for several times during 2010-2011 let alone the continuous
killings and arrests of the movement activists, the fake trials, disappearance
and deprivation from salaries…etc.
· Religion was intensely used to combat the Southern Movement and
considering them as infidels and considering that criticizing or recanting the
Yemeni unification is a denial of Islam and high treason for the nation. The
key religious figure in these campaigns is Sheik Abdulmajeed Alzindani, owner
of Aliman University, who joined the youth revolution against Saleh. He stated
that these demonstrations and sit-ins are constitutional rights while he used
to forbid that for Southern Movement activists. The only one who used religion
against the Change Youth was president Saleh in his speech to supporters on
15.04 by declaring that it is forbidden for women to participate in sit-ins
with men.
2. Internal Dynamics of the South Movement
· Please allow me at the
beginning to point out to some basic facts: the unification was realized on the
22nd of May 1990 between the South and North states with no referendum for the
people. It was rather concluded between two totalitarian states as a common
divisor with various points of conflict in their historical and political
history.
· The Southern Part of Yemen, at
the days of the British colonization, knew the concepts of state,
administration, rule of law, civil society, political and partisan pluralism,
parliamentary life and diverse newspapers. However, under the independent
state, a central civil and rule of law state was created but dominated by a
single party. In the northern part of Yemen, a complete lack of the state
concept existed with dominance of tribal rules over the rule of law with
partisan activities being constitutionally banned.
· The political regime in the
south was of secular ideological nature while in the north there was an
alliance between the military and tribal institutions and the Islamic
conservative system.
· In the south, tribal system was
diminished and fought constitutionally and it was not acknowledged. The state
was monopolizing the violence tools and its practice. In the north, the state
and the tribal institutions do have the tools of violence. A modern report on
tribes in Yemen for Aljazeera Studies Center shows that the state was built on
a semi-tribal structure and that tribes deal like a state with a large arsenal
of light and heavy weapons in hand.
· Adopting equality between men
and women in the south in the constitution and legislations. In terms of
elections and candidacy, women joined high political positions and were also
present in the parliament and judiciary (even before Egypt). The family law of
1974 gave women full rights including banning polygamy and fixing the minimum
marriage age for men (18 years) and women (16 years). On the other hand, women
in the north were not given the right for candidacy and voting except after the
unification and they only joined ministerial and diplomatic positions following
the unification while the traditions of early marriage (only in the north) and
polygamy dominated.
· Despite the deep differences
between both countries and nations in the north and south, the southern elite
discovered that the leaders of the north are viewing that the south is the
branch and the north is the origin and that the branch has to be attached to
them. What helped in detecting their true intentions towards the south were
some memos issued by leaders of the north, which were recently published, from
both Sheik Abdullah Bin Hussein Alahmar and Sheik Senan Abul Lohum. The south
itself has 75% of the oil resources of the unified country and claims two
thirds of the area (336 thousand km2) with a coastal line of 2000 km rich with
fish resources. The south also enjoys a geostrategic location to the south of
the Red Sea, overlooking the Bab Almandab strait and the Gulf of Aden to the
Indian Ocean. The south has 3 million people in comparison to 20 million inhabitants
in the north. These elements were not taken into account by the leaders of the
south at the negotiations leading to the unification, which was eventually made
in an improvised and hazy manner. One result of this improvised approach is
that the first parliament for the unified stated in the transitional period was
formed by merging the members of the southern parliament (111 members) with the
northern parliament (159 members) in addition to 31 members to be elected by
the Presidential Council so the total number of seats in the unified parliament
became 301 members (175 for the north and 126 for the south).
· Is it worth mentioning that the
general elections law issued in 1992 adopted the classification of electoral
constituencies based on the population standard and, therefore, it allocated
only 56 seats for the south rather than the earlier number of 126 seats. As a
consequence, the south with its vast geographical area, resources and strategic
location became represented in the parliament through 56 parliamentary seats
only, i.e., two more seats than the seats if Sana’a and the Capital (54 seats).
· With the eruption of war
between the two partners in the unification during the period May – July 1994,
which was launched by President Saleh against the south and with the military
defeat of the south, the constitution of the unified state was abolished by the
winning party in the war and it was replaced by new provisions. Not only that,
but also old provisions from the northern state constitution were restored
while the unification agreement has already abolished the constitutions of the
two old states. Among the articles abolished from the 1994 constitution was the
article provided for in the Global Declaration for Human Rights stating “there
shall be no discrimination between citizens based on sex, color… or faith”. An
article from the 1970 constitution of the north was reinserted in the new
constitution regarding the duties of citizens in article 59 stating that
“defending religion and the country is a holy duty” so it mentions religion
before the country.
The birth of the southern cause and movement:
The launch of war against the south on 05.05.1994 by the Sana’a regime
resulted in a reaction from the southern president Ali Salem Albeid on
21.05.1994 by announcing dissolution from the north. The UN Security Council
issued two resolutions Nos. 924 and 931 in June 1994 calling the two parties to
resolve their problems through dialogue but not through power and mentioning
that this case shall continue to be effectively considered. However, war ended
on 07.07.1994 by the military defeat of the south. The southern elite and
leaders considered that this war abolished the consensus united state by
military means and converted unification into occupation by using legislations
as a coup to repeal the legal bases of the unified state and to take over the
resources of the south by eliminating its state.
The 1995 law on state lands and properties gave to the President of the
Republic the right to distribute the lands and properties of the state.
President Saleh utilized this to distribute the state lands and properties in
the South to members of his family, military leaders, businessmen and sheikhs
who participated in the 1994 war to reward them. One of the influential people
was granted a free land in the south which equals to six-times the size of
Bahrain.
The privatization law of 1999 permitted the dissolution of industrial,
commercial, hotel and services institutions of the public and mixed sector. It
also permitted purchasing the state facilities, buildings and properties of the
southern state for negligible prices for the interest of the northern capital.
Following 1994 war, the political regime distributed oil concessions in
the southern lands to a number of northern tribal and military leaders
including some relatives for the president. In addition, most of the petroleum
services companies are owned by northern individuals and the majority of
workers are brought from the northern provinces. University scholarships
provided by oil companies are mostly given to sons of officials from the north
while the oil is flowing from the south. Among 100 oil blocks in the country;
92 blocks are in the south. At the level of oil producing blocks (13 blocks),
12 productive blocks are in the south and only one block is in the north.
This is at the level of converting the post 1994 south into a field for
stealing resources and lands. In addition, the Sana’a regime disbanded the
southern army and security forces after the war. The majority of military and
security personnel were dismissed and referred to retirement. The total number
of retirees reached to 82,200 individuals. On the other hand, the total number
of forced retirees reached to 556,616 out of total 680,000 employees in the
civil service in the south.
· Another consequence of the war
was the introduction in the south of the culture of tribalism that prevailed in
the north. The Tribal Affairs Authority was expanded to cover the south and
appointed sheiks and chieftains, which is something that was never witnessed by
Aden and the rest of the south throughout its history.
· Militarization of life in the
south which continued to have a civil society during the British colonization
era and the independent state.
· Changing the population
structure of the south by encouraging resettlement of northern people in the
south and distributing free lands to them. Mohammed Alyadumi, the Chairman of
the Islah party (before the formation of the Joint Meeting Parties), said that
it is vital to relocate 2 million people from the north to the south in order
to deepen the unity and to prevent any attempted secession by the south.
President Saleh also mentioned in a speech in 2008 in Aden that the area from
Aden to Bab Almandab strait could accommodate 20 million people. The Minister
of Water justified the water crisis by saying that it is attributed to the
population density in the north while lands and water is abundantly available
in Hadramout. He neglected mentioning that the water crisis in the north is a
result of consuming 80% of water recourses in cultivating “Qat” (green narcotic
leaves) in Yemen.
· In the same context,
administrative classifications of the state were changed justifying that by the
need to remove the remains of secession of both countries. Districts of
population density from northern governorates were added to Aldhalea
governorate by 1998 law. Other districts from the north were added to Lahej and
Shabwa governorates by 1999 law. These three governorates are southern ones.
The more serious issue is the separation of Bab Almandab strategic district
from the southern governorate of Aden and adding it to the northern governorate
of Taiz, which does not overlook the sea.
· In the face of these
discriminatory and selective policies of the Sana’a regime against the people
of the south, who initially sought unification with the north as a first step
towards Arab unity, the people of the south, who suffered from the totalitarian
socialist regime before unification, regretted the loss of the equal
citizenship and rule of law concepts. Some of the rebels who fought against the
British occupation gloried the era of the occupation as it did not confiscate
any of the lands of the state or citizens and ruled in a state of law.
· In the aftermath of 1994 war,
there appeared a current demanding correcting the unity path and its mistakes.
This developed in 2007 with the emergence of the military and security retirees
associations, the unemployed associations and the association of dismissed
diplomats. The first association managed to mobilize the people in sit-ins and
demonstrations. It started with hundreds of individuals then thousands and
ultimately hundreds of thousands up to one million individuals. Their struggle
also expanded to cover all districts and provinces of the south. Their demands
started as right-based demands but, with the negligence of their claims, it
developed to become political demands starting from 2008. A number of
organizations calling for the independence of the south emerged along with
other organizations calling for liberation and restoration of the southern
state. All these organizations were adhering to the principle of the peaceful
struggle in order to leave no room for the regime to claim that they are terrorist
organizations or Alqaida affiliates (as the regime usually does) and to gain
the sympathy of the countries of the region and western countries. The
scarecrow of alqaida and terrorism is originally made by the regime. Two recent
examples are evidencing this belief; the first: the disappearance of Alqaida
from Gulf 20 football tournament in Aden during the period 22 November to 5
December 2010, and the second: is the press releases of the resigned Minister
of Endowments who joined the youth revolution stating that the size of Alqaida
in Yemen does not exceed 10% of what is officially claimed. The most important
is that Alqaida, to the contrary of the Southern Movement, is adopting violence
as means to achieve their goals and to establish an Islamic state in the united
country. These goals are fully in contradiction with the goals of the Southern
Movement which aims at establishing a civil state with a political
parliamentarian regime and a federal configuration within the south as well as
creating a constitution based on the principle of separation of powers and a
liberal economy imposed by its geographic location and converting Aden into a
free zone and reviving its seaport which used to occupy the third rank after
Liverpool and New York seaports. In addition, the Arab Gulf Countries follow a
free economy system, which will encourage large business houses of Hadrami
origins in Saudi Arabia and Gulf Countries to invest in the south. The
experience of the oriented economy linked to the era of the Socialist party and
the cold war was a tough one which is still in the collective memory.
· With regards to the relations
with the north, the Southern Movement confirms its intent to maintain peace and
cooperation relations with the northern Yemen. Meanwhile, the Change Youth did
not determine their stance from the aspirations of the Southern Movement to
restore its state saying that the southern cause is on top of their priorities
along with the Houthis cause. The reality shows that JMP leaders dominate the
youth revolution and these leaders, and the Islah party in particular, fought
the war in 1994 against the south and they still maintain the oil concessions,
lands and properties that were generously granted to them by Saleh. Some
southern leaders believe that the crises of the Houthis and Alqaida were made
by the regime to divert attention from the southern cause.
Position of regional and international parties regarding the Southern
Movement:
·Egypt and GCC countries (excluding Qatar) called for the convention of
the Security Council to issue its two resolutions in 1994. By the end of the
war, their positions changed to favor the unity in order to ensure stability of
Yemen and the region. This may be explained by the fears of the Sultanate of
Oman and Saudi Arabia that the southern people might demand reconsideration of
the Jeddah border treaty of 2000 as large areas of the south, rich in oil and
water, were waived up although the south confirmed that it accepts these
treaties and does not have the intention to renegotiate them. On the economic
front, UAE feared that the revival of Aden seaport may jeopardize its
investments in Dubai and, due to this, it concluded agreements with Djibouti
Port Authority for 20 years to combat Aden and managed to win a contract for
the management of Aden seaport and free zone through Dubai Ports Company
despite the conflict of interest issues. In this deal, corruption played a key
role in dismissing the Kuwaiti offers (a better offer) in favor of Dubai Ports
Company. In general, there are fears that, if the south restores its state, it
may present a democratic model that is not welcomed in the Gulf. This is a
worrying issue for the Gulf as Aden and the South represented the flower of the
Arabian Peninsula with advanced policies, finance and culture at the days of
the British colonization. It is possible to reach a formula that ensures the
interests of both parties. Aden and the south are favored by a geostrategic location
that far exceeds regional powers. For example, Iran has a narrow outlet of
Hormuz strait with no Red Sea access, the Saudi also does not overlook the Arab
sea and the Indian Ocean and Iraq is constrained by small Shat Alarab outlet.
This vital geostrategic location made the Soviet Union quickly succeeds the
British colonization. Now, there are emerging powers such as China and India as
global economic powers that are competing among each other and compete with the
western countries such as the United States and the European Union. In
addition, there are Iranian aspirations to play a role in the region and to
exist with other fleets in the Gulf of Aden. It should be understood that the
restoration of the independent southern state will withdraw from the northern
Yemen a very important geostrategic paper that is currently used by it to
extort Gulf Countries and the west.
The south lived for more than 150 years under the rule of law and a
secular system and it will, in the future, form a fortified country against
terrorism and radical Islamic groups. The south has a moderate Islamic current
to the contrary of the north which is dominated by radical movements throughout
history. All religious schools were located in the north along with Aliman
University, owned by Sheik Alzindani, a wanted person for the United States and
the UN, who convinced the regime to permit opening a branch for Aliman
University in Mukalla, Hadramout. Radical schools also existed such as Dammaj
city institute in Sadah where Sheik Moqbel Alwadei managed, with support from
Saudi Arabia and the regime, to establish the largest Salafi Wahhabi hub in the
capital of the Zaidi doctrine. He also trained and sent the Yemeni and foreign
mujahedeen to fight in Afghanistan. The best protection for the international
sea routes and the interests of the west in the world can only be realized
through dissolution of the south from the north and restoring the independence
of the southern state. The United States and European countries will find an
ally in the southern state for protecting international routes and combating
the elements of religious radicalism. These countries strongly supported some
structures such as Kosovo, which was originally not part of the Yugoslavian
federation. The support of these countries to the south in restoring its
independence and the right of self-determination will make them win the battle
against terrorism and radicalism and will enable them to build a democratic
model for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula. The south used to be a member state
of the United Nations such as Syria which united with Egypt but was not subject
to the accession conditions to the UN and the same happened when it requested
to restore its seat. Could the south win the support needed to restore its state?
[1] Dr. Mohammed Ali Alsaqqaf:
Southern Movement in Yemen, report published at Aljazeera Center for Studies.
