Starting with issue number 4 of January 25th, 1999, Yemen Times is running profiles of the political parties of Yemen.
We print the information as received from the parties.
The aim is to inform the public - local and international.

The Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) has passed through four main stages since its establishment on March 9, 1979. This came in the unification conference which stated that the YSP is the legitimate inheritor of all of the Yemeni nationalist movements which worked for the nation's liberation and revolution.

The First Stage
The YSP's formation was the result of a union of two groups, one that worked in all of Yemen, and the second that limited its activity to the southern part of the country. The first group included a number of parties:
(a) Al Ba'ath was established in Aden in 1958 and it was split in 1972 into two main groups. The first was either loyal to the Ba'ath party in Iraq or to its rival in Syria. The second called itself the popular pioneering party and followed the Marxist Leninist policies. That party also later was divided into two sections, one in the south and the other in the north which became part of the YSP.
(b) The Pan-Arab Nationalist group which was created in 1959 and indulged in armed struggle for the liberation of the southern area of the country.
(c) The Marxist trend which was weakened due to the Arab Nationalists' hostility. It formed the People's Democratic Union in the north which later merged in the Socialist Party.
The second group included six parties that limited their activities to the southern part of the country, some of which shared in the ruling authority.

The Second Stage
The YSP's second stage covered the sixties and mid seventies during which the world witnessed a period of socialist expansion, especially in Third World countries.
In Yemen, only the People's Democratic Union was formed as a Marxist party and later other groupings such as the nationalist front, which ruled southern Yemen, the Yemeni Revolutionary Democratic Party, the Popular Pioneering Party and the Labor Party gradually declared their commitment to Marxist ideology. The leftist parties in Yemen then competed to prove that they were more Marxist than one another.

The Third Stage
The third stage was the unification one, when the National Front, the Unionist People's Democratic Party and the Popular Pioneering Party signed a unification agreement on February 5, 1975 to establish the national front which was the one and only ruling party in what was then South Yemen. Other leftist parties signed a similar agreement one year later but which later witnessed the withdrawal of the Ba'ath party.
At the same time, leftist parties in Yemen, north and south, opened a dialogue on political activities leading to the revolutionary change and unification of Yemen. They resolved to establish a pioneering party in the south that would struggle for the downfall of the regime in the north and declare the establishment of the unified Yemeni state and signed an agreement to that effect on September 12, 1978.
The leftist parties in the north each held their own conference then held their first unification conference on March 8, 1979 which agreed to establish the Yemeni Socialist party in the south and the People's Unity Party in the north that would merge following unification of Yemen.
On March 9, 1979, the unification conference was held in Aden, without official announcement, in which two political programs were passed for the south and the north with one party leadership.
The party's main goals in the south was establishing socialism without passing through the capitalist stage as a transitory period. The party's main target in the north, however, was to pave the way for revolutionary changes in the north and establishment of the unified Yemen.

The Fourth Stage
The fourth and final stage started in 1987 when theoretical changes in the party began including the talks on nationalist merger to overcome backwardness. The Party also spoke of democratic instead of revolutionary change in the north. The Party called for drafting a new concept for unity of Yemen that benefits from experiments of both regimes in north and south via peaceful means and on a democratic basis. The YSP relinquished the old economic concepts and endorsed the market economy, and democracy and liberal policies became the party's new political path.
The YSP's fourth general conference last November endorsed those basic new doctrines.

 

As the trial of the six plus four alleged terrorists continues in heightened pace in Aden, there is increasing frustration in the defence lawyers camp. The ten individuals - the original group of six (five Britons and one Frenchman of Algerian origin), to whom a new batch of three Britons and one Frenchman, again of Algerian origin, was added, are accused of possession of firearms with intent to undertake terrorist activities to sabotage law and order in the Republic of Yemen.

In the sixth sitting of the court, on Saturday, February 13th, the Al-Mina Primary Court read out what is presented as a confession of the crimes by the new group. The defence lawyers and human rights observers who were flown in from Britain expressed reservations regarding the way the trial is proceeding.

Ms. Hanna Siurua of Finland told the Yemen Times that the human rights activists in Europe were pleasantly surprised and reassured by their analysis of the Yemeni constitution and criminal code. "We were also happy to note that Yemen has signed and ratified all the major human rights conventions," she said. But she quickly added, "We were, however, shocked to see the practices on the ground. It is clear that there is a wide gap between the commitments and laws of Yemen, and the reality of the practices on the ground."

Another human rights activist, Mr. A. Shamsy of Germany also reached negative conclusions on Yemen's adherence to human rights. "I was one of the first few people to meet with the accused individuals, right after the first sitting of the court. From the scars and bruises on their body, and from the details of separate and independent accounts of the accused, I could see that they were subjected to various forms of torture, notably the 'falaqa'. This is contrary to Yemeni law, as well as to international law," he said.

Dr. Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, Chairman of the UK Muslim Parliament, indicated that the Muslim community in Britain would like to re-establish a cordial relationship with fraternal Yemen. "We have no reason to be on opposite sides. Actually, we should together fight international terrorism and individuals who purport it like Mr. Abu Hamza Al-Masri. We are now preparing legal action against this man and the organization he represents because of the announcements he has made implicating innocent people in his illegal plans," he said. Dr. Siddiqui also insisted that the international media, in its drive for sensational reporting, has given Al-Masri and people like him preponderant exposure to the detriment of Islam, the Muslim community in the UK, Yemen and the defendants.

Mr. Rashad Yaqoob, who is the lead lawyer for the defendants has put together a big file documenting the "very serious breaches of the Yemeni and international laws which protect suspects undergoing a trial process". In meetings with senior officials, he demanded the following steps:
1) Full access to be granted for the defence lawyers to their clients.
2) The complete prosecution file should be copied and be made available to the defence lawyers. In spite of 6 court sessions, the defence team does not have a copy of the charges.
3) The families and friends of the prisoners should be given regular visitation rights, as stipulated by Yemeni law.
4) Immediate medical investigation by independent and specialized doctors regarding the torture allegations.
5) Urgent medical services to those who may need such attention among the prisoners.
6) Visas for relevant individuals to come to Yemen.

 

The total Canadian aid to Yemen this year is expected to exceed one million US dollars. Last week, several Canadian delegations visited the country in this light.
Mr. Ian Shaw, Second Secretary at the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh, indicated that his government wants to make sure that whatever resources are made available to Yemen are properly used. "If that is the case, there is no reason why additional resources cannot be channelled from Ottawa to Sanaa in an increasing volume," he said. Mr. Shaw pointed out that there were several funds which Yemeni programs and projects can tap into.

Indeed, Ms. Fatima Ameen, Senior Policy Advisor at Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the official organ through which international assistance is channelled, is also on a visit to study financing possibilities.
"This is my first visit to Yemen. My visit has two purposes, one of which was that the Canadian government had given Yemen assistance in its demining activities. Very early in the process, the Canadian government wanted to send its message of support to Yemen to other potential donors. Canada donated US$ 100,000 worth of equipment (special demining suits). MED-ENG, the company that produces the equipment has sent two representatives to Sanaa to discuss implementation."
The Government of Canada has also donated Can$ 950,000 which will be used to carry out a survey of Yemen's demining rehabilitation needs and efforts. The funds which will be dispensed through the UNDP, will also be used to develop a national strategy for demining activities.
"We have also decided to donate Can $ 250,000 to women's development projects, human rights NGOs, and to support grass-roots level self-help initiatives," she said.
Ms. Ameen is also looking at the broad scope of the list of project funds being dispensed through the Riyadh embassy. "The Canadian government donates funds for small projects in Yemen through the embassy," she explained.
The third aspect of her visit was also to look at possibilities and opportunities in the context of human rights and democratic development. "I want to see what assistance we can provide," she concluded.

Alternatives is a Canadian NGO that has been recipient of CIDA funds to link up with Yemeni NGOs in project execution. Mr. Soubhi Hamouda, Program Officer for the Middle East at Alternatives, is presently on a visit to Yemen. He has discussed potential projects to be executed with local NGO partners.
"I am here to finalize details of cooperation on various projects. The first one among these is the Rehabilitation Center (RC) in Aden. We hope to bring Palestinian doctors to do training at the RC. The objective is rehabilitation of the landmine victims," he said.
The objective is to create awareness about the problems of landmines, how to deal with them, and how the community can be involved.
Another project Alternatives is considering is to work with the Yemen 21 Forum to come up with a directory for Yemeni NGOs. Another possibility is to work with centers for training to manage media programs and how to use websites.

The Canadian Government, through the embassy in Riyadh, has also provided Can $ 50,000 to finance the shipment of medical books and journals donated by Canadian Universities to Al-Thawra Hospitals's library.