اليمن: ساعد الثوار فى أسقاط النظام

 من مدونة زميلي المواطن العربي  ... همام ، مع الشكر الحار و التقدير لمساندته للثوره اليمنيه و دعمه للحمله بكتابة هذه الصفحه

يوميات مواطن عربى: اليمن ,,,,,,, ساعد الثوار فى أسقاط النظام

بعد هروب بن على فى 14 يناير وبدا الثورة المصريه فى 25 يناير خرج شباب اليمن 3 فبراير ليقولوا كلمتهم للنظام اليمنى القابع فى السلطه لمدة 30 عاماً كامله تتدهورت فيها اليمن سياسياً وأجتماعياً حتى وصل 40% من الشعب يعيش تحت خط الفقر و 31.5% يفتقرون الى الامن الغذائى ,, وأنتشار الفساد والبطاله  أضافه الى فساد هرم السلطه وتحكم مجموعه صغيرة من عائلته وحاشيته فى مقدرات الدوله ,, بدأت الثورة بتحرك المئات من الشباب فى محافظه تعز الى أن جائت 

جمعه الغضب يوم 11 فبراير وكان التحرك فيها بالالاف وتتوالى الجمع وتصل الاعداد بمئات الالاف فى ساحات التغير المختلفه وتتطور المطالب وتتصاعد الى أن تصل الى المطالبه بأسقاط النظام والاصرار عليه وعدم التراجع عنه ,,, 

وأثناء كل ذلك يستر الرئيس صالح ( الغير صالح ) فى الالتفاف على المطالب ومحاوله خداع الثوار بوعود مباردات كاذبه الى أن جائت المبادرة الخليجيه التى رأى فيها الكثيرون الحل فى الخروج من الازمه ولكن واصل صالح خداعه الى ان أصيب وسافر للعلاج فى السعوديه وتولى نائبه سلطاته وواصل فيها الشعب اليمنى العظيم ثورته وخروجه كل يوم فى ساحات الحريه ,, وأتفقت المعارضه منذ فترة على مجلس أعلى لها وتتواصل الجهود فى طريق أسقاط النظام .

ثورة اليمن هى الثورة العربيه الاطول عمراً حتى الان ويقدم شعبها مظهر حضارى وسلمى لشعب يتواجد السلاح فيه فى كل منزل مثل الخبز ولكن شعبه يمتلك من الوعى والتعقل ما يمنعه عن تحويلها الى حرباً أهليه شامله ,,  ولكن ,, ولكن ,, الثورة اليمينه تتعرض لظلم اعلامى كبير ولا تحظى بالاهتمام الكافى لها مثل بقيه الثورات العربيه ,, ولا تحظى على بأهتمام المدونيين والنشطاء العرب بالقدر المطلوب أو الغير متواجد أحيانا .

دعوة لكل رجال الاعلام والصحافيين والمدونيين والنشطاء العرب 

لكى يكون هذا الاسبوع هو أسبوع اليمن ,, 

مساعدة الثوار اليمنيين بالكلمه التى هى اقوى من تعنت 

وتجبر وطلقات الطغاة الفاسدين ,,, 

دعوة لكل مواطن عربى حر ان ينظر الى اليمن وثورته العظيمه ,, 

أسبوع اليمن 4 - 11 سبتمبر  على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعى المختلفه 

وعلى المدونات ,,, شارك ولو بتدوينه أو بالكتابه على الفيس بوك أو التويتر

عن ثورة أحرار اليمن فى أسقاط النظام بأستخدام هذاالهاشتاج 

SupportYemen#

Support Yemen's Revolution

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends".  

Martin Luther King

Yemen's revolution has been the longest in the Arab spring and the most peaceful so far. It started on the eve of Mubarak's historical stepping down on February 11th and has been ongoing ever since. The prolonged political crisis in Yemen caused a humanitarian and economic crisis, costing Yemen billions of dollars monthly and resulting in displaced refugees enduring all kinds of hardships. Yemen's youth have been staging marches and camping in sit-in tents across the squares in most Yemeni cities and despite being subject to expired tear gas, live bullets, killings and arrests they have resiliently stood firm demanding a regime change. Electricity, gas, water and food shortages were imposed by the regime on the entire population as a mean to pressure Yemenis and intimidate them, yet they kept marching peacefully demanding their rights.
Yemen's revolution was not given the appropriate coverage which was given to other Arab spring revolutions, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria. The obvious media blackout to what is occurring in Yemen is a direct reflection of the lack of support of Western and regional forces to the revolution. As the youth called this weekend for a peaceful escalation and revolutionary steadfast, the regime blocked entrances to major cities, deployed troops in main streets and cut the power and gas supply.
Kindly join in a social media solidarity campaign and support Yemen's Revolution at this critical stage by dedicating most of your Facebook status to support Yemen's revolution and your tweets this week September 4th -11th to the hashtag #SupportYemen.

Thank you 

Links:
Yemen's Youth: The best Hope for Democracy
Amazing determination of the Yemeni people

The Demands of Yemen's Peaceful Youth Revolution

The Declaration of Youth Revolution Demands
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We, the men and women of Yemen, began our peaceful revolution to overthrow the regime of Ali Abdallah Saleh ruler of our country who led us to chaos, conflict, poverty, ignorance, illness, lawlessness and absence of equal citizenship. We are aware that removing this regime will not be accomplished by only the departure of Saleh and his family from power, but it will rather be accomplished when the state building process begins in establishing a civil modern Yemeni state that will restore peace, stability, sovereignty, and most of all dignity for the Yemeni people. For this reason, we, the youth representing groups in the change and freedom squares across the country have prepared a declaration of demands that ensures the achievement of the revolution goals and protects its gains.

The "Declaration of the Youth Revolution Demands" presents a vision for the immediate and procedural steps that ensures the achievement of the revolution’s primary goal: to end Saleh's regime. Without the implementation of these demands during the transitional period, which will commence the moment Saleh leaves, we, the youth, vow to continue the protests in the change and freedom squares across the country until our demands are met.
The Declaration is the product of extensive discussions and several drafts that were developed over the course of four weeks amongst more than one hundred youth and civil society organizations, youth movements and change alliances, who together form the Coordinating Council of the Youth Revolution for Change (CCYRC), in Sana'a, Aden, Taiz, Hadramot, Hodeida, Maarib, Dhamar, Al-Jawf, Lahj, Al-Baidha'a.
The first meeting took place at the change square in Sana'a with representatives from 30 different movements and alliances. This group started surveying the demands and aspirations of the revolution and produced the first declaration draft. In order to enable wide participation for Yemeni youth to determine their future, the draft was disseminated widely along with a questionnaire to all the movements and alliances in the change and freedom squares in the other governorates. Additionally, discussions on Facebook pages were initiated and ensured that many Yemeni men and women inside and outside the country had a chance to participate.
The draft also received technical support from distinguished Yemeni academics, intellects, legal advisors, and journalists.
The outcome of this participatory process was forming a consensus amongst over one hundred movements and alliances from different governorates about the terms of the final draft and approving the "Declaration of the Youth Revolution Demands". We at CCYRC, invite all the contributors to the revolution, the political powers, and parties in Yemen and outside to review, support, and adopt the Declaration.
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Declaration Articles

1) Remove the current regime peacefully and remove all its figures and all members of the President's family and his relatives from all leadership posts in the military and civil institutions.
2) Forming a Transitional Presidential Council that constitutes of 5 civil members that are widely known for their competency, integrity and experience. These members have to be approved by the revolution youth leaders and the national powers. Individuals that represent the previous regime should be excluded from the selection. The Transitional Presidential Board will have the responsibility to issue all decision and decrees that will ensure attaining the demands of the revolution. After serving in the Transitional Presidential Board, members will not have the right to run for President or Prime Minister posts until one electoral cycle is completed.
3) After overthrowing the regime the Board has to declare a six month transitional period. This period starts with a constitutional decree announcing the termination of the current constitution and dissolving the Parliament, the Shura Council and the Local Councils.
4) The Transitional Presidential Board will appoint a widely accepted national figure who will form a Transitional Cabinet of qualified technocrats within one month.
5) A Transitional National Board to be formed and include representatives of the youth and all political and national powers. The Transitional National Board will provide:
a) A solution for the Southern issue that yields a fair and satisfactory response
b) A solution for the Sa'ada Case issue that resolves the preceding effects.
c) Monitoring the performance of the Transitional Presidential Board and the Transitional Cabinet.
d) Forming a new Supreme Council for Elections which will be responsible for correcting the voter records and preparing for free and fair elections during the transitional period.
e) Selecting a Drafting Committee of reliable legal advisors to propose a new constitution for a civil, democratic and modern state that has: a republican parliamentary system based on proportional list-based electoral system, and a system of social justice and equal citizenship. The new constitution has to be completed within three months from its initiation, and the then put for national referendum.
6) Restructuring the higher judicial council to ensure the full separation and impartiality of the judicial authority.
7) Dissolving the Ministry of Information and forming an independent higher authority that will ensure freedom of expression and diversification of media and communication outlets.
8) Dissolving the Ministry of Human Rights and creating an independent higher council for human rights.
9) Legally pursue and prosecute the corrupt officials and retrieve public property and money.
10) Immediate release of all political detainees and the missing persons and dissolving extraordinary courts and private prisons.
11) Legal persecution of all individuals that caused, assisted and incited the killing and injury of those who participated in the peaceful demonstrations. Deliver appropriate compensations to the families of the deceased and honor them duly. 
12) Dissolving the Political Security Forces and National Security Forces, and forming a new dedicated national security agency under the umbrella of the Ministry of Interior. The new national security agency will be responsible for observing Yemen’s external threats.
13) Merging the Republican Guards with the Military Forces, and dissolving the National Defense Council to ensure full impartiality of the Army and Security Forces.

مطالب ثورة الشباب اليمنيه السلميه

وثيقة مطالب ثورة الشباب
____________

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
خرجنا- نحن اليمنيين واليمنيات- في ثورة سلمية لاسقاط نظام علي عبد الله صالح الذي حكم وطننا بالفوضى والحروب الأهلية والفقر والجهل والمرض وغياب دولة القانون والمواطنة. ولهذا ندرك أن اسقاط هذا النظام لن يكتمل بمجرد رحيل صالح وأسرته من الحكم وإنما ببناء دولة مدنية حديثة تعيد لليمن أمنه واستقراره وسيادته ولليمنيين كرامتهم. ومن أجل هذا، عكفنا نحن الشباب المنتمين إلى مكونات الثورة السلمية في ساحات التغيير والحرية في عدة محافظات على إعداد وثيقة تضمن تحقيق أهداف الثورة وحماية مكتسباتها.
"وثيقة مطالب ثورة الشباب" تقدم رؤية للخطوات الإجرائية والفورية التي تضمن تحقيق الهدف الرئيسي لثورتنا المتمثل في اسقاط نظام صالح. ومن دون تنفيذ هذه الخطوات خلال الفترة الانتقالية التي ستبدأ بمجرد رحيل صالح، نتعهد نحن الشباب بمواصلة الاعتصامات في ساحات التغيير والحرية حتى تحقيق هذه المطالب.
الوثيقة هي ثمرة أربعة أسابيع من النقاشات التي شارك فيها أكثر من مئة حركة وائتلاف شبابي واجتماعي يشكلون المجلس التنسيقي لشباب ثورة التغيير "تنوع" في كل من: صنعاء، عدن، تعز، حضرموت، الحديدة، مأرب، ذمار، الجوف، لحج والبيضاء. وقد مرت صياغتها بعدة مراحل.
كان البدء من اجتماع نحو ثلاثين حركة وائتلاف في ساحة التغيير بصنعاء أخذت على عاتقها مهمة استقصاء مطالب وتطلعات الشباب من وراء هذه الثورة. تلى ذلك صياغة المسودة الأولى التي استوعبت هذه المطالب والتطلعات.
ومن أجل مشاركة أوسع للشباب اليمني في صياغة مستقبلهم، اتخذت العملية خطوة جديدة تمثلت في توزيع المسودة الأولى مرفقة باستبيان على مختلف الحركات والائتلافات في ساحات التغيير والحرية في المحافظات الأخرى. وترافق ذلك مع فتح نقاش على صفحات الفيسبوك شارك فيه عدد كبير من اليمنيين واليمنيات في الداخل والخارج. وقدمت نخبة من الأكاديميين والمثقفين والقانونيين والصحفيين دعما فنيا يشكرون عليه لعملية الصياغة منذ البداية.
كانت حصيلة هذه الجهود اتفاق أكثر من مئة حركة وائتلاف من مختلف المحافظات على صياغة نسخة نهائية لوثيقة توافقية تسمى "وثيقة مطالب شباب الثورة". ونحن في "تنوع" إذ نطلق هذه الوثيقة فإننا ندعو كافة مكونات الثورة الأخرى والقوى السياسية والحزبية في الداخل والخارج إلى المشاركة في المصادقة عليها وتحويلها إلى وثيقة جامعة

بنود الوثيقة
____________

1) إسقاط النظام الحالي سلميا بكل رموزه وعزل جميع المقربين من الرئيس وأسرته من المراكز القيادية في المؤسسات
العسكرية والمدنية .
2) تشكيل مجلس رئاسة انتقالي مكون من خمسة أعضاء مدنيين،على أن يكونوا جميعاً من المشهود لهم بالكفاءة والنزاهة
والخبرة، وأن يتم اختيارهم بالتوافق بين القوى الوطنية والشبابية الثورية، وأن لا يكونوا من أعمدة النظام السابق ، ويناط
به اصدار القرارات والمراسيم التي تحقق مطالب الثورة ، على أن لا يحق لأي منهم الترشح مستقبلا لمنصب رئيس الجمهورية
أو رئيس الحكومة قبل مضى دورة انتخابيه كاملة.
3) إعلان فترة انتقالية بعد سقوط النظام مدتها 6 أشهر تبدأ بإعلان دستوري للثورة يتم بموجبه إلغاء العمل بالدستور الحالي
وحل مجلسي النواب والشورى والمجالس المحلية .
4) يكلف المجلس الرئاسي شخصية وطنية متوافق عليها لتشكيل حكومة كفاءات (تكنوقراط) خلال فترة لا تزيد عن شهر.
5) تشكيل مجلس وطني انتقالي يمثل فيه الشباب وكافة القوى السياسية والوطنية، يتولى ما يلي :
أ‌- حل القضية الجنوبية باعتبارها من القضايا الملحة بما يضمن حلا عادلا ومرضيا لها
ب‌- حل قضيه صعدة ومعالجة الآثار المترتبة عليها.
ت‌- القيام بأعمال الرقابة على كل من المجلس الرئاسي الانتقالي والحكومة الانتقالية . ث‌- تشكيل اللجنة العليا للانتخابات التي تتولى تصحيح جدوال الناخبين والاعداد لانتخابات حرة نزيهة في نهاية الفترة الانتقالية.
ج‌- اختيار جمعية تأسيسية تضم فقهاء دستوريين لصياغة مشروع دستور جديد لدولة مدنية ديمقراطية حديثة يكون أساسه:
النظام الجمهوري البرلماني قائم على نظام انتخابي يعتمد على القائمه النسبية ونظام يقوم على العدالة الاجتماعية المواطنة
المتساوية على أن ينجز خلال ثلاث اشهر و يخضع للاستفتاء الشعبي العام.
6) إعادة تشكيل المجلس الأعلى للقضاء بما يضمن حيادية السلطة القضائية.
7) إلغاء وزارة الإعلام وإنشاء هئية عليا مستقلة تضمن حرية الرأي وتعددية وسائل الاعلام والاتصال.
8) إلغاء وزارة حقوق الإنسان، وإنشاء مجلس أعلى مستقل لحقوق الإنسان.
9) ملاحقة ومحاكمة كل رموز الفساد واسترداد ما نهب من الممتلكات والثروات و المال العام والخاص .
10) الإفراج الفوري عن جميع المعتقلين السياسيين والمخفين قسريا والغاء المحاكم الاستثنائية والسجون الخاصة .
11) ملاحقة كل من تسبب أو ساعد أو حرض في قتل أو إصابة المشاركين في كافة الاحتجاجات في الثورة السلمية ومحاكمتهم فوراً وتعويض أسر الشهداء و الجرحى وتكريمهم تكريما لائقا.
12) حل كل من جهاز الأمن السياسي و جهاز الأمن القومي وانشاء جهاز أمن وطني جديد يتبع وزارة الداخلية وتنحصر اختصاصاته في متابعة المخاطر التي تهدد الوطن من الخارج.
13) دمج الحرس الجمهوري في القوات المسلحة ، وحل مجلس الدفاع الوطني وبما يضمن حيادية الجيش والأمن.

Dreams of Yemen

"A dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world"  Oscar Wilde

I dream of a Yemen where everyone has a roof on top of their head
I dream of a Yemen where everyone has a meal on their table
I dream of a Yemen where poverty is addressed and managed

I dream of a Yemen where electricity and water are a norm not a privilege
I dream of a Yemen where health and education are a basic right
I dream of a Yemen where infrastructure is actually built not just planned

I dream of a Yemen where a woman in labour can see her newborn *
I dream of a Yemen where an infant * can survive and grow into a healthy child
I dream of a Yemen where a child can safely go to school, instead of work or be wed

I dream of a Yemen where freedom, justice, and equality are a reality
I dream of Yemen where rights are respected, granted and opinions freely expressed
I dream of a Yemen where we can choose who represents and leads us

I dream of a Yemen where there is no North or South
I dream of a Yemen where injustices and grievances are rectified
I dream of a Yemen we all, equally strive to repair and rebuild together

I dream of a Yemen where positions are earned due to merit not family name, gender, tribe or region
I dream of a Yemen with a civil state that adheres to human rights and gender equality
I dream of a Yemen where a woman's role is not confined to her household or family

I dream of a Yemen where Qat chewing is an old shunned habit
I dream of a Yemen where water is efficiently used to irrigate crops
I dream of a Yemen where fields and valleys are filled with coffee and grapes

I dream of a Yemen with no association to al Qaeda and terrorism
I dream of a Yemen as a tourist destination for heritage and hospitality
I dream of a Yemen as a haven for tourists to admire and enjoy

I dream of a Yemen who's resources are reinstated, enhanced and generated
I dream of a Yemen who's lands and ports are respected and safeguarded
I dream of a Yemen where neighboring countries leave us alone, if not wanting our well-being

I dream of a Yemen where foreign companies are not exploiting us
I dream of a Yemen where western and regional forces can't choose our leaders, nor shape our future
I dream of a Yemen where dominant political figures empower our youth to lead

I dream of a Yemen where change yearned for, is attained and dignity restored
I dream of a Yemen where precious martyrs lives are not lost in vain
I dream of a Yemen where no further blood is shed nor homes destroyed

I dream of Yemen where the revolution albeit the longest will be the most peaceful
I dream of a Yemen who's revolution succeeds and is taught in history books
I dream of a Yemen which we struggled for, become what we want and more

I dream of a Yemen that is respected and esteemed by the world
I dream of a Yemen that can once again be called Arabia Felix
I dream of a Yemen that we can all return to and proudly say is our homeland

"Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe"- Gail Devers

Peace

Links used:
UNICEF statistics
Child Labour in Yemen

Faces from Yemen's Revolution: Noon Arabia

It was an honor to be featured  as a 'Face from Yemen's Revolution', in an article in Yemen Times by Shatha al-Harazi
Faces from Yemen's Revolution: Noon Arabia

Shatha Al-Harazi
Published:22-08-2011


Noon Arabia has become one of the main sources for information on currents events sprouting out in Yemen in the world of Twitter. Her up-to-date page usually receives ‘Top Tweets’ which has earned her 2496 followers. Noon advocates for the success of the Youth Revolution in Yemen – her news tweets is written in both Arabic and English which has earned her a wider audience across the web. Noon Arabia also keeps her identity anonymous due to security reasons; however this has not been a set-back as people seem more readily to trust the information she tweets.

Her twitter sub-heading is simple yet lyrical ‘Yemeni by birth, Egyptian by choice, Arab by identity, A diplomat’s daughter, a citizen of the world, a natural born activist with a passion for politics and poetry’. Not a soul knows the location of Noon Arabia except that she’s tweeting from outside Yemen nevertheless she tweets a great deal of information in relation to the Youth Revolution protests which has gone on for over 6 months in Yemen. Therefore Yemen Times newspaper has obtained an interview with the mysterious activist. When asked why she doesn’t reveal her true identity, she explained quite resolutely “My father was a prominent and known statesman and Ambassador and I keep my name mysterious not out of fear but because I don’t want to jeopardize my family.” Noon explained.

Noon is not a stranger to travelling, while her father was an ambassador she travelled to many places across the world; Canada, Italy and Iran to name a few. And due to her Egyptian husband’s job, she’s travelled further afield. Conclusively she’s lived in Yemen only for a few years, she further said “I lived in Yemen a total of 7 years yet I have a strong sense of pride and belonging, thanks mainly to my father who made sure every year that we spent most of our summer holiday in Yemen”. A mother of four children and her new line of work is an online activist, championing for the Revolution across the Arab world to blossom and thrive. An educated Yemini with a B.A in Political Science with a minor in Economics and thus she explains her passion for politics.

With various skills and tools at her disposal, most notably her expertise in languages, she has contributed immensely to the cause of the Yemeni Revolution with up to-date information on the humanitarian crisis and changes occurring on the ground.

She became politically active during the Egyptian revolution using Facebook as her vehicle of choice. And as the revolution spread to Yemen she readily switched her platform to Twitter because as she pointed out it has a more dynamic feel and she can reach more people. She exclaims “I had no idea I would have so many followers, what mattered to me the most is for people to know what was going on in Yemen, since there was minimal news coverage about the revolution in Western and Regional media-outlets who all seemed to support President Saleh ” She further added “I am also an admin on one of the Facebook pages that covers the news of the revolution and I have been hosted on BBC Arabic and English radio stations a couple of time to express my views.”

Noon believes that social media is an important tool to be used and utilized for the Yemeni revolution because it formulates interaction between the youth in Yemen and those abroad and among activist in other Arab countries. Social media has helped the flow of information to be available among different regions of Yemen, conversely one would think that due to the high level of illiteracy in Yemen and the increasingly power outages across the country, social media would have been sidelined and not used as a mobilizing force as we’ve seen in other Arab countries but even through these set-backs are severe, Noon mentions “it served to expose to the outside world what is really happening in Yemen, through the blogs, Facebook pages, YouTube videos and mainly twitter.”

Her anonymity online has proved to be a shield against threats or reprisals attacks “I am sure I would’ve otherwise [been attacked]. Many people I know whose names are public have been and a close family friend was shot at and survived an assassination attempt.” Noon remarked.

Posts on Noon Arabia are updated almost continuously throughout the day, her research takes her to websites bearing the support of the State, oppositional websites, Yemeni Facebook pages, and YouTube videos, tweets and International news sources, and she asserted “Before I publish anything I usually verify the information with more than one source. I think my [real] name wouldn’t make a difference to my credibility, my followers know that I am a Yemeni who cares a lot about my country and want to make it a better place.”

At this critical juncture in Yemeni politics, she explains the best strategy is for the opposition, the Youth and all the factions in Yemen who are playing a part in the revolution to set aside their differences, political ideologies, principles and agenda’s and unify under one umbrella to coordinate their efforts efficiently to topple President Saleh’s regime, she exclaims “The National Council [which was recently formed –Editors note] is a good step, yet what is needed is better organization and coordination among its members, an equal representation of South Yemeni’s and more members from the civil society. The old political figures need to step aside and empower the youth to play a bigger role and bring about the change Yemen needs, after all this is a Youth’s Revolution”.

Yemen's Arhab, Bombarded Back to Prehistoric Times

While the world's media has been dominantly following news of  Libyan's rebel's advancement towards Libya's capital Tripoli, the massacre of civilans across the cities of Syria and the famine in Somalia, Yemen's news seem to be more and more marginalized.
Yemen hasn't been enjoying much media coverage since the beginning of the revolution mainly due to the lack of international and regional support for it. In addition there were only a handful of foreign journalist based in Yemen reporting. Most of the news about Yemen that seemed to make it to the headlines were the ones involving al Qaeda or President Saleh's medical condition after the June 3rd attack and his statements. News especially about Yemen's humanitarian suffering came secondary and hasn't reached the international media, as much, if ever.

Arhab is a district 20 kilometers north of Sanaa. It is near three camps of the elite Republican Guards, who benefited from significant American counterterrorism aid and are strategically located there guarding an entrance to Sanaa and the city's international airport. The Republican Guard forces headed by Saleh's son Ahmed, who also heads the special counterterrorism unit, have been brutally shelling and bombarding Arhab villages after they declared their support for the revolution, especially after some tribesmen prevented Republican Guards from heading to other provinces to crack down on anti-government protesters. Many tribal fighters, soldiers and civilans have been killed as a result and hundreds of families displaced yet the world rarely hears about them despite their daily suffering.

Since March 30th, the Republican Guards aided by the Air Force launched massive daily attacks against the tribes of Arhab and those of the nearby district of Nehm. The shelling disrupted the villagers lives, destroyed their homes and caused many residents to flee for safety elsewhere. Many of them sought refuge from further shelling in the caves of the surrounding mountains. By the end of June more than 1500 families were displaced, 95 houses completely destroyed and 150 houses partially destroyed, 28 citizens cars, in addition to 16 water wells, 10 farm valleys and 4 mosques were also destroyed during the bombings. By July, and according to UN reports an estimated 9500 IDPs fled their homes in search of safety from heavy shelling and air strikes. In August 6th, 40 people had been killed, 120 wounded and more than 15 abducted and in August 16th alone 40 more people were killed, 26 were civilians, of which 14 were women and children.

The grounds of Arhab villages are filled with missile fragments and corpses scattered in different parts. Many efforts by the tribesmen and members of the International Red Cross to remove the decomposing dead bodies were prevented due to the continuos agressive military operations. 

The endless shelling of the Republican guards have terrorized the district and turned their lives into a living nightmare. Electricity and water has been absent for over 2 months. Due to the continuos shelling, supply lines have aslo been disrupted causing many to go hungry and much of the fruits and vegetables produced in the village fields were left to rot. As many homes became uninhabitable, people started living in caves, similar to prehistoric times, which have been randomly fitted with only floor mattresses, sheets or blankets as furniture, obviously lacking basics running water, sanitation and electricity.

"What criminal would force old women and children to live like this, especially during the holy month of Ramadan," said Hail Mohamed Ali, who has taken refuge in a cave with her daughters and grandchildren. "All of Arhab is against the regime, and those that surprised it in the past curse their stupidity."

Government rhetoric blamed the violence on, as usual, "armed militant groups"whom they claim are based in the district to justify their killings, yet residents blame the government for this unwarranted aggression.

The villages in the town of Yahis close to the 62 Republican Guard camp is one of the most damaged areas from the ongoing violence.

Amidst endless shelling many residents who feel helpless, angry, fearful and anxious, wonder if their life would ever be calm again. "I don't understand how a few villages of farmers could deserve punishment like this," said Saddam Haizan, pointing to his leg which was amputated below the knee after he was injured when a missile hit his home. "I just pray to God that this hell eventually ends."

Despite thier misery the children of Arhab still manage to put a smile on thier faces. Don't these innocent children deserve to live a peaceful and normal life like our children enjoy? Why should they be paying such a price for a conflict they were fatefully caught into?

Tribal leaders launched an appeal to the media and humanitarian organization to visit their villages and document the crimes committed daily against civilians and to expose to the international community the brutality of the Yemeni regime. 

If you read this posting and are a public figure or work in the media or a humanitarian organization, please help the villagers of Arhab and Nehm by shedding some light on their humanitarian crisis which is ongoing yet seems to be overlooked or ignored. 

Peace

For further links: 
http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2011/07/31/arhab-the-northern-frontline-of-the-yemeni-revolution/
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/07/119796/yemen-remains-unsettled-by-violent.html?
http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=3854 
http://www.yementimes.com/DefaultDET.aspx?SUB_ID=36442
http://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/arabic/subjects/5/2011/8/15/12014.htm
http://yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=36473
http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=3916&MainCat=3