The international Friends of Yemen group must do more than fight terrorism and provide economic aid, Christophe Wilcke of Human Right Watch argues in an article for the Yemen Times.

"If Yemen’s friends don’t tie economic assistance to improvements in the country’s rapidly deteriorating human rights conditions, they will have let the Yemeni people down."

He continues:

If Yemen’s friends don’t tie economic assistance to improvements in the country’s rapidly deteriorating human rights conditions, they will have let the Yemeni people down.

Under international scrutiny, President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February agreed on a truce with the northern Huthi rebels, ending the sixth round of fighting there in five years. He has also offered to hold talks with southern protesters, and to pursue al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula more vigorously. These actions seem to have bought silence from Yemen’s donors and allies even though serious human rights violations have escalated ... To prevent future abuses, there is a serious need to investigate human rights abuses in Yemen and hold those responsible to account ...

The Friends should also push the UN to establish a human rights monitoring and reporting mission in Yemen. The use of such missions in other conflicts has shown that these missions can act as a protective presence for civilians ...

If the Friends of Yemen want a stable and united Yemen, they need to do more than offer economic aid. They need to underline that respect for human rights is critical to maintaining peace in Sa’da, resolving southern grievances without further bloodshed, and confronting terrorism effectively. Yemen’s friends have the financial and diplomatic tools to do this. They should be honest with their Yemeni counterparts that they will not stand by San’a unless it ends these abuses.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 14 September 2010.