Yemen

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Republic of Yemen (al-Jumhuriya Al Yamaniyah) was established on May 22, 1990, with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) in North Yemen and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) in South Yemen.

History of the Constitution

• A constitution was adopted in 1991.


• The president and two-thirds of the House of Representatives have the right to request the amendment of the constitution. If the proponents of the amendment fail to get the support of two-thirds of the House of Representatives, a new request for the amendment of the same articles may not be submitted until a year later.


• If the request is approved, the amendment must then be voted on by three-fourths of the House of Representatives. Finally, it is submitted to a general referendum, which must approve it by a simple majority.


• The constitution was amended on September 29, 1994 (English text, Arabic text), and February 2001.


• In 1994, following the civil war, 52 articles were amended and 29 articles were added. The most important amendments include:


• Sharia (Islamic law) was declared to be the sole source of legislation, rather than the major source as in the 1991 constitution.


• The five-member Presidential Council was abolished and replaced by a president elected by universal suffrage to no more than two five-year terms.


• The 2001 amendments include:


• The president’s right to rule by decree when parliament is dissolved was abolished. However, other amendments enhanced the powers of the presidency vis-à-vis the parliament.
• The term of office of the president was increased from five to seven years, with the two-term limit remaining and that of the National Assembly increasing from four to six years.
• The Consultative Council, a body formed to provide advice to the president and whose members he appoints, was granted functions typical of an upper chamber in a bicameral parliamentary system.

State Institutions

The constitution unifying North and South Yemen was approved by popular referendum on May 16, 1991 (English text), and was substantially amended in 1994 (English text, Arabic text), and in 2001 (English text).

Executive Branch

The President

The president is the head of state and he:

• Appoints the prime minister and the consultative council.
• Can dissolve the parliament but must call new elections within 60 days. The parliament cannot be dissolved twice for the same reason.
• Cannot rule by decree when the parliament is dissolved, following the enactment of a constitutional amendment in 2001.
• Signs treaties that be ratified by parliament.
• Orders elections and referendums.
• Can serve a maximum of two seven-year terms since a 2001 amendment. This amendment allows President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in power since 1990, to remain in office subject to reelection until 2013.

The presidential elections of September 23, 1999 were the first in which the president was elected by popular vote. Candidates for the presidency must receive the nomination of at least 5 percent of the legislature to compete in the election. The legislature must approve at least two candidates before presenting the candidates to the people for election.

If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the election, a second round is held in which the two candidates receiving the two highest vote shares compete again. Before 1999, the legislative branch selected a five-member presidential council, which then elected its chairman.

Ali Abdallah Saleh has been president since May 22, 1990. He was the former president of North Yemen. The unification agreement signed in Sanaa in April 1990 provided for a five-member presidential council (three northerners, two southerners), chaired by Saleh.

President Saleh controls and uses the military and security services in a way that enables him to circumvent the country’s formal institutional bodies. Until recently, the absence of a defense ministry greatly enhanced his control.

The Prime Minister

The prime minister:

• Is appointed by the president.
• Selects the cabinet in consultation with the president.

Abdul Qadir Abdul Rahman Bajammal was prime minister from April 2001 to 2007. He was replaced by Ali Mohammed Mujawar in March 2007 following Bajammal's resignation.

The Cabinet

The Council of Ministers:

• Is appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president.
• Consists of 32 ministers.
• Initiates and drafts legislation and submits it to the parliament for consideration.

Ministers are frequently called to parliament to defend actions, policies, or proposed legislation, although they sometimes refuse to appear.

Ministers have generally been chosen on the strength of their “technocratic” qualifications or political utility assets (for example, to maintain a regional balance).

The current cabinet was appointed on February 11, 2006. All 32 cabinet members belong to the ruling General People’s Congress. Click here for a full cabinet list.

For many years, there was no minister of defense because the president also served as minister of defense.

The government’s ability to control tribes remains very limited. The central government has yet to exert full control over tribes in remote areas and parts of the population continue to resist stronger government authority. Also, basic government services are not available in many parts of the country.

Disputes within tribes, between tribes, and between tribes and the central government, remain a central characteristic of Yemeni politics. Click here to read a detailed 2009 International Crisis Group report on this phenomenon.

President Saleh rules in close alliance with his own Hashid tribal confederation and with the northern Zaydi tribes generally, but privileges some tribes at the expense of others. He has been unable to control the tribes resulting in kidnappings, tribal conflicts, and rebellion against the central government.

Legislative Branch

The 2001 constitution created a bicameral legislature:

The 111-member Consultative Council (Majlis al-Shura):

• Is appointed by the president.
• Serves primarily in an advisory capacity but was given some legislative powers by the 2001 constitutional amendments. These include participating with the House of Representatives in joint meetings to ratify legislation, treaties, and agreements relating to defense or any matters that the president presents to the joint meeting.
• Was most recently appointed in April 2001.

The 301-member House of Representatives (Majlis al-Nuwwab):

• Is elected for six-year terms by majority vote in single-member districts.
• Can initiate legislation. However, to date it has not done so.
• Oversees the activities of the executive branch and discusses, ratifies, rejects, and amends legislation.
• Can begin a process to impeach the president if a majority of the members agree.
• Can refer the president to trial by the Supreme Court through a two-thirds parliamentary majority.
• Must grant the council of ministers a vote of confidence.

The first multi-party parliamentary elections were conducted in April 1993. The most recent legislative elections were held on April, 28 2003.

The two houses meet in joint session to vote on legislation pertaining to national defense. Bills must receive an absolute majority of all members present to pass. The president can also call for a joint session whenever he deems it appropriate.

The parliament holds two annual sessions. Extraordinary sessions may be convened by presidential decree, by a request from one-third of the members, or by the Presiding Board of the Parliament (composed of the speaker and three officials elected from among the MPs).

The parliament is not an effective counterweight to executive authority, although it increasingly demonstrates independence from the government. Although the ruling party, the General People’s Congress, enjoys an absolute majority, the parliament has rejected or delayed action on major legislation introduced by the government, and has forced significant modifications. Some groups within parliament have also criticized the treatment of detainees, corruption, and aspects of its counter terrorism campaign.

Judiciary

Yemen’s legal system is a mixture of Islamic legal principles, old Egyptian laws, and Napoleonic codes. Islamic legal principles are applied in all courts rather than just in separate Shari'a courts, as is most often the case in Arab countries.

Yemen has no separate personal status courts. Personal status issues are handled by the courts of general jurisdiction (sometimes in specialized chambers).

Article 147 of the 1994 constitution guarantees the independence of the judiciary. In practice, however, the judiciary is weak and severely hampered by corruption and executive branch interference. The executive branch appoints judges and removes them at its discretion. There are reports that some judges are harassed, reassigned, or removed from office following rulings against the government.

Government authorities do not enforce judicial rulings issued against prominent tribal or political leaders.

In areas controlled by tribes, members of the judiciary are at times threatened and harassed.

Judiciary Councils

• The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) is the highest judicial authority in Yemen, as prescribed by Article 147 of the constitution.


• The council exercises significant authority over the judiciary. It reviews policies regarding the structure and function of the judiciary, and appoints promotes, and transfers judges. However, the senior judicial positions are filled by direct presidential appointments.


• The council is headed by the president of the republic; and the minister of justice and the deputy minister are also ex-officio members.


• The other members come from the judiciary (the attorney general, the chairman of the Judicial Inspection Commission, and three senior Supreme Court judges) though all are presidential appointments (directly or indirectly).


• In 2004, the SJC dismissed 22 judges for corruption. It also forced 108 judges into retirement.

Courts

There are five types of courts: criminal; civil; personal status; commercial; and court-martial.

In recent years, other limited jurisdiction courts have been established under the executive authority, such as juvenile and public funds courts.

The judicial system is organized in a three-tiered court structure:

Courts of First Instance (Mahkama Ibtidaiyya):

• Courts of First Instance hear all civil, criminal, commercial, and family matters.
• A single judge may hear a case in these courts.
• One court is located in every district.

Courts of Appeal:

• Courts of Appeal hear appeals from decisions taken in the Courts of First Instance.
• There is one court in each province and one in the capital Sanaa.
• Each Court of Appeal includes separate divisions for criminal, military, civil, and family issues. Each division is composed of three judges.

Supreme Court:

• The Supreme Court is empowered to settle jurisdictional disputes between different courts, hear cases brought against high government officials, determine the constitutionality of laws, and serve as the final court of appeal for all lower court decisions.
• It has eight separate divisions: constitutional; appeals’ scrutiny, criminal, military, civil, family, commercial, and administrative. Each division is composed of five judges except for the constitutional division, which is composed of seven judges including the chief justice.

Special Courts:

• Yemen has an unusually unified judicial system. The courts of general jurisdiction do have specialized chambers to deal with some matters (such as public funds, juveniles, or the military).



There is no system of special courts (administrative, personal status, constitutional, security, etc.) like those that have emerged in many Arab countries. The constitution prohibits the establishment of exceptional courts.

• In addition to regular courts there is a system of tribal adjudication for noncriminal issues. In practice, however, tribal judges often adjudicate criminal cases as well. The results carry the same if not greater weight as court judgments. Persons jailed under the tribal system usually are not charged formally with a crime, but stand publicly accused of their transgression.


• A special court exists to try persons charged with kidnapping, carjacking, attacking oil pipelines, and other acts considered to be of “public danger,” such as banditry and sabotage.


• There are no military or security tribunals that try civilians.

Reforms Under Discussion

• There has been some promise of reform to enhance judicial independence. The president has pledged to introduce reforms that would remove him as head of the Supreme Judicial Council. However, the Judicial Council continues to be ruled by the executive branch.


• Unlike some other Arab states, Yemen has no constitutional stipulations for the membership of the Council, meaning that such a reform could be accomplished by ordinary legislation.

Military

Yemen spends 6.6 percent (2006 est.) of its GDP on military expenditures. It has the second largest military force in the Arabian Peninsula after Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni military consists of several branches: the Army, the Navy (includes Marines), and the Yemen Air Force (al Quwwat al Jawwiya al Jamahiriya al Yemeniya; includes Air Defense Force).

Political Environment

Political Parties

• The character of political parties is shaped by history as much as by the provisions of the law. After unification in 1990, Yemen’s burgeoning pluralism rested on a foundation of “armed pluralism”: the two former ruling parties of the north and the south retained their military forces.



This situation facilitated a political equilibrium but it also increased the possibility of violent conflict. Severe tensions between northern and southern political forces disturbed this fragile balance.

In 1993, the General People’s Congress spearheaded an initiative to amend the constitution and abolish the principle of collective leadership whereby power had been equally shared between northern and southern leaders.

In May 1994, a brief but decisive civil war erupted in which the north defeated the south. The General People’s Congress emerged as the unchallenged ruling party.

• When the Committee on Political Parties Affairs became active in 1995, the licensing criteria that were enforced effectively eliminated most of the 45 political parties that had been formed since 1990. By the time of the April 1997 election, seventeen parties had been licensed, and in 2003, 22 had received the committee’s approval.


• The main parties do not have a clear ideology or program. Most parties have been characterized by a lack of leadership turnover, internal schisms, and a lack of transparency.


• In May 1993, after the first multi-party elections, a coalition government was formed by the three parties that continue to dominate the political scene to this day: the Yemen Socialist Party, the General People’s Congress, and Islah.

Ruling Party

The General People’s Congress (GPC) (Mutamar al-Shabi al-Am):

• Was the former ruling party of the YAR in North Yemen.
• Was originally an umbrella grouping of many parties.
• Has been the dominant political party since unification. At present, it controls 238 seats out of 301 seats in parliament.

Other political parties represented in parliament:

Yemeni Gathering for Reform (al-Tajammu al-Yamani lil Islah):

• Is known as the Islah Party.
• Was founded in 1990 by forces in the YAR that rejected the notion that unification should mean adopting elements of the PDRY in the South. They feared doing so would undermine the traditional structures of their society and politics.
• Was led by Yemen’s most influential figure after the president, Sheikh Abdullah Husain al-Ahmar. He was reelected on February 27, 2007 for the fourth time since 1990. However, he died of cancer in December 2009. Click here for more information.
• Under Islah's internal law, the presidency of the party is restricted to three terms, but the party's central committee made an exception.
• Is the only other significant party along with the GPC with 46 seats.
• Was in a coalition with the GPC until 1993.
• Despite certain ideological affinities with extremist Islamist elements in Yemen, Islah has not led the Islamist confrontation with the state. Instead, it has played a mediating role between the state and the country’s more conservative religious elements.
• With a membership consisting of social conservatives and incorporating the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists of different shades, the Islah party has evolved into a broad-based moderate Islamist party.

Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) (al-Hizb al-Ishtiraki al-Yemeni):

• Was the former ruling party of the PDRY in the South.
• Was initially the new republic’s second largest party, but has been eclipsed by the tribal and religiously oriented Islah party.
• Has been largely ineffective since the end of the 1994 civil war.
• Boycotted the 1997 elections in which the General People’s Congress won an absolute majority.

Popular Nasserite Unionist Organization (al-Tantheem al-Wahdawi wal Shabi al-Nasiri)

Arab Socialist Baath Party (Hizb al-Baath a al-Arabi al-Ishtiraki):

Other parties:

• Democratic Nasserite Party (al-Hizb al-Dimuqrati al-Nasiri)
• League of the Sons of Yemen (Rabitat Abna al-Yaman)
• National Democratic Front (al-Jabha al-Wataniya al-Dimuqratiyya)
• Liberation Front (Hizb Jabhat al-Tahrir)
• Nasserite Popular Correctional Movement (al-Tashih al-Shabi al-Nasiri)
• Truth Party (Hizb al-Haqq)
• Nationalist Socialist Baath Party (Hizb a al-Baath al-Ishtiraki al-Qawmi)
• Union of Popular Forces (Ittihad al-Qiwa al-Shabiyya)
• Yemeni League (Al Rabita al-Yamaniyya al-Shariyya)
• Social Nationalist Party (Hizb al-Qawmi al-Ijtimai)
• Popular Unionist Liberation Party (Hizb al-Tahrir al-Shabi al-Wahdawi)
• Popular Unity Party (Hizb al-Wahda al-Shabiyya)
• Democratic People’s Party (Hizb al-Shab al-Dimuqrati)
• Septembrist Movement (al-Tanzim al-Sebtembri)
• Yemeni Unionist Gathering (al-Tajammu al-Wahdawi al-Yamani)
• Social Green Party (Hizb al-Khudr al-Ijtimai)
• Democratic Union (al-Ittihad al-Dimuqrati)

Islamist movements/organizations that are not political parties:

• Yemen’s Islamist movements began to emerge in the 1970s in northern Yemen. They were supported by an increasingly insecure government, as President Saleh sought to strengthen his position in the 1980s by improving ties to them. After unification in 1990, the Islamist influence grew more pronounced.


• The Islah party has served as a mechanism with which to integrate and control many Islamists who otherwise might have developed militant extra-parliamentary movements.


• Yemen’s Islamists seem to have gone in two directions: members of Islah who participate in the system, and the radical groups that oppose the Yemeni state as well as the West.


• Radical Yemeni Islamists who reject Islah’s policies and the orientation of the Yemeni state as a whole, established a number of independent militant organizations. The most prominent organizations are the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army and the Islamic Jihad Movement, which were able to recruit from among Yemenis returning from the Afghan War of the 1980s.

Some former leading figures of the Islamic Jihad Movement joined the two big conservative parties, the General People’s Congress and Islah. More recently, organizational and financial relations between these organizations and al-Qaeda have been alleged.

Election Results

Results of the first election of the governors of Yemen’s 21 provinces held on May 17, 2008:

• General People’s Congress won in seventeen of the 21 provinces, including the capital Sana’a.
• The rest of the seats were won by independent candidates.

President Saleh claims that this is an important step in the development of Yemen as it will enable the governors to have some share of the power. Click here for more information.

Results of presidential elections on September 20, 2006:

• Ali Abdullah Saleh: 77.17 percent of votes.
• Faisal Bin Shamlan: 21.82 percent of votes.

After threatening to encourage its supporters to stage street protests, Yemen’s opposition parties stated they would accept results of the presidential election “for the sake of peace and stability.”

The opposition coalition known as the Joint Meeting Parties that fielded former oil executive Faisal Bin Shamlan initially rejected election commission results, claiming that the government had seized polling stations and stolen ballot boxes in the presidential election.

President Saleh acknowledged “mistakes” in elections and pledged to rectify them in the next one, but stood by his victory and thanked the opposition for giving him his first real challenge in twenty-eight years in power.

The presidential elections of 1999 were the first in which the president was elected by popular vote. No potential independent or candidate from another party could win the required support of 31 members of parliament to qualify for the ballot. Islah backed Saleh’s candidacy.

Saleh’s only opponent was a member within the ruling party, the General People’s Congress, and son of South Yemen’s first president.

In its report, the European Union Election Observation Mission described the elections as “an open and genuine political contest” but cited shortcomings, including underage voting, voter intimidation, arrest of opposition candidates, and the overwhelming use of state resources by the ruling party during the election campaign.

Results of elections for House of Representatives on April 28, 2003:

Party	Number of Seats
General People’s Conference	238
Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah)	46
Yemeni Socialist Party	8
Nasserite Unionist Party	3
Baath Party	2
Independent candidates	4

Voter turnout was reported at 68 percent of 8 million eligible voters.

• International election observers noted that Yemen had made substantial improvements in electoral management and administration, but that significant problems remained.
• They cited the atmosphere of anxiety in the run-up to the elections caused by persistent violence, heavy-handed and coercive measures on Election Day by elements of the ruling General People’s Conference in polling centers, and incidents of underage voting. Click here for a statement by the National Democratic Institute.
• Opposition parties accused the ruling party of electoral fraud and threatened to boycott the sessions of the new parliament in protest.
• The next legislative elections were scheduled to be held on April 27, 2009 but an agreement was made between the General People’s Congress Party and opposition parties to extend their term by two more years. Click here for more information.

Results of the first local council elections held on September 20, 2006:

• The results strengthened the position of the ruling General People's Congress in its control of the local governmental structures in comparison with the results of the 2001 local elections. The GPC won over 80 percent of the seats in the provincial councils and 70 percent in district councils.
• Allegations of fraud and election-related violence, including the deaths of candidates and election officials, stalled the announcement of results by the Election Commission.
• Approximately 65 percent of the 9.2 million registered voters cast ballots.

Civil Society and Nongovernmental Actors

• The Law for Associations and Foundations regulates the formation and activities of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).


• There are 6,000 registered NGOs. Many of these NGOs are inactive, many confine their activities to social welfare programs, others turn out to be governmental NGOs on closer inspection, and still others are profit-oriented, one-person enterprises.


• Nevertheless, hundreds of NGOs are engaged in serious civil society work, such as human rights training, election observation, women and youth empowerment programs, and critical academic studies.


• Both local and foreign human rights organizations operate without serious impediment. Human rights NGOs include the Human Rights Information and Training Center, the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, the Sisters Arab Forum, and the Civil Democratic Forum.


• Other important organizations include the Forum for a Civil Society, the Yemen Institute for Democracy Development, and the Women’s Affairs Support Center.


• Citizens have the right to form and join trade unions.


• The law permits trade unions to be established only if they are federated with the General Federation of Trade Unions of Yemen (GFWTUY), the sole national umbrella organization. The GFWTUY claims 350,000 members in fourteen unions. Only the General Assembly of the GFWTUY may dissolve unions.


• The government seeks to place its own personnel in positions of influence in unions and in the trade union federation.


• The labor law provides workers with the right to organize and bargain collectively. It applies to all workers except public servants, foreign workers, day laborers, and domestic servants. The Ministry of Labor has veto power over collective bargaining agreements, a practice criticized by the International Labor Organization.


• The law provides for the right to strike only if prior attempts at negotiation and arbitration fail. The proposal to strike must be submitted to at least 60 percent of all concerned workers, of whom 25 percent must vote in favor. Permission to strike must also be obtained from the GFWTUY. Strikes for explicit “political purposes” are prohibited.

Syndicates:

• Journalist Syndicate

Umbrella organizations:

• The General Federation of Trade Unions in Yemen: includes fourteen unions.
• The Federation of Chambers of Commerce.
• The Aden Chamber of Commerce.

Civil and Political Rights

Personal Liberties

• The constitution provides for freedom of speech “within the limits of the law.”


• The constitution provides for freedom of assembly but the government limits this right by banning and disrupting some demonstrations.


• The constitution provides for freedom of religion but the government limits this right in some cases. The constitution declares that Islam is the state religion. The government prohibits non-Muslims from holding elected office.


• The constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention. Individuals cannot be arrested unless caught in the act or served with a summons. Detainees must be arraigned within 24 hours of arrest or be released. The judge or prosecuting attorney must inform the accused on the basis for the arrest and decide whether detention is required. A detainee may not be held longer than seven days without a court order. However, arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention without charge remain common practices.


• Members of the Political Security Organization, the primary state security and intelligence gathering apparatus, and of the Ministry of Interior police forces commit serious human rights abuses, including police beatings, arbitrary arrests, and detentions without charge. Despite constitutional constraints, police officers routinely monitor citizens’ activities, search their homes, and mistreat detainees.


• The New York-based organization Human Rights Watch provides a comprehensive overview of human rights developments in Yemen.

Legislation Regulating the Exercise of Rights

Political Party Laws

• Pluralistic party activity was banned in both parts of Yemen prior to unification. Negotiations over unification paved the way for the appearance of political pluralism.


• On January 15, 1990 the Committee for a Unified Political Regime, which was entrusted with defining the form of the unified state’s system, decided to retain the General People’s Congress and the Yemeni Socialist Party (the ruling single parties of north and south Yemen) as independent organizations while allowing other parties the right to engage in political activity.


• This decision was reflected in Article 39 of the 1991 constitution and consolidated in Article 5 of the 1994 and 2001 amendments.


• The Political Parties Law No. 66 of 1991 (English Text) sets the conditions for the establishment of political parties. Parties cannot:
  • Contravene Islamic values, the sovereignty and unity of the nation, the republican system and its constitution, the basic rights and freedoms and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or Yemeni society’s national, Arab, and Islamic affiliations.
  • Be based on regional, tribal, sectarian, professional, class, or any other form of discrimination among citizens on the basis of their sex or race.


• Registration is supervised by the Committee for the Affairs of Parties and Political Organizations, which is composed of the minister of state for parliamentary affairs (as chairman), the interior minister, the justice minister, and four independent retired judges or lawyers.


• The law does not specify grounds for refusing the registration of a party, but states that parties could be dissolved or have their activities suspended by court for illegal activities. The committee must decide on the request within fifteen days, and the party has the right to appeal to the Supreme Court, which must issue its final decision within 90 days.


• Government funding for political parties is available, with 25 percent of the total to be shared equally by all parties represented in parliament and the remaining 75 percent divided in proportion to the share of votes obtained in a general election by all parties receiving over 5 percent of the total votes.


• Article 10 of the law states that parties may not accept “gifts or services from non-Yemeni individuals or parties.” They must provide a detailed record of their financial affairs, including notifying the government of any single donation over YR 100,000 (approximately $500) or multiple donations from a single source exceeding YR 200,000 (approximately $1,000).


• A dispute between the General People’s Congress and the Yemen Socialist Party regarding the working program of the Committee for the Affairs of Parties and Political Organizations led to the political parties' law being effectively frozen until 1995.


• Meanwhile, although the law was not being implemented, the freedom to engage in political activity was not hindered. However, when the committee was revived in 1995, many of the small parties that had been active were unable to satisfy the conditions for licensing and disappeared.


• In January 2004, Yemen hosted a high-profile conference on democracy, human rights, and the role of the international criminal court, attended by more than 800 officials from 52 countries. Conference participants signed the “Sanaa Declaration,” committing their respective countries to uphold democratic processes, institutions, and values.

Electoral Law

• The constitution provides for free, multiparty elections of members to the legislative and executive branches.


• The Yemeni General Elections and Referendums Law of 2001 extends this provision to local elections (English text, Arabic text).


• Yemen has universal suffrage for citizens 18 years and older.


• The majoritarian (first-past-the-post) system used for local council elections, with either single- or multi-member constituencies, means that the distribution of seats on local councils does not reflect the share of votes won by political parties.


• For example, for the Sana’a City Council, all 20 council seats were won by the ruling General People's Congress during the September 2006 elections and opposition parties were unrepresented despite their candidates having won over 22 percent of the total vote in the city.


• According to the provisions of the Yemeni General Elections and Referendums Law of 2001 (English text, Arabic text), the Supreme Election Committee for Elections and Referendums (SCER) is charged with overseeing elections.


• The tasks of this independent body include drawing constituency boundaries, engaging in voter education and registration measures, and ensuring that elections proceed according to the law.


• The SCER is composed of seven members appointed by the president from a list of fifteen candidates nominated by the House of Representatives. Candidates must receive nominations from at least two-thirds of parliamentarians. Members serve a six-year mandate and are eligible for nomination to a second and final term.


• At the local level, a supervisory committee in each province is responsible for overseeing the elections and a committee in each district is responsible for preparing voter lists. A central permanent administrative apparatus is responsible for overseeing all administrative aspects of the electoral process. These committees are subordinate to the SCER.


• The majority of the members in the SCER and the administrative commission belong to the ruling GPC party.


• All electoral disputes are settled by the Supreme Court.

Reforms under discussion

The SCER has requested the assistance of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) to determine how it can develop into a permanent, professional elections management institution.

IFES and the election commission signed an agreement in May 1999 for long-term cooperation in institution building and training. Click here to read a report submitted to the SCER recommending significant changes to Yemen’s electoral law.

The parliament voted to cancel local elections scheduled for April 2009. The next elections will be held in 2011. Disagreement between the ruling party and opposition coalition, which includes the Islah and Yemeni Socialist parties, over a variety of issues (including a decision to extend the current council’s term), had led to demonstrations and a call to boycott the local elections. Click here for more information.

During this time, the two parties are expected to work on reforms of the electoral system. Disagreement between the opposition and the ruling party began when the latter voted in August 2008 to form a Supreme Election Committee without representation of the opposition. The Joint Meeting Party since vowed to boycott the elections. Click here for more information.

Law on Associations

• The constitution provides for the freedom of association (Article 58).


• Law No.1 of 2001 on Associations and Foundations, Law No. 66 for 1991, the Draft Law on Organized Demonstrations of 1993, and the Draft Law regulating Social and Cultural Associations, Federations, Forums, Professional Unions, and Charitable Societies of 1997 regulate associative life in Yemen.


• Yemeni non-governmental organizations may not be involved in political activities.


• Law No.1 of 2001 on Associations and Foundations:
  • Placed associations under the oversight of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Registration is considered valid by default if the ministry fails to process an application within one month.
  • Potential associations must have at least 21 members at the time of application and 41 members at the constituent meeting.
  • NGOs are allowed to receive foreign funds upon notification of the ministry, and foreign-funded activities need explicit approval.
  • Associations are exempt from taxes and tariffs, and receive a 50 percent reduction in electricity and water costs.
  • Penalties for violating any of the law's provisions entailed prison sentences of up to one year and penalties up to YR 100,000 (US $500).
  • Draft versions of the law prohibited foreign funding and required the creation of a single umbrella organization to subsume all NGOs, but vigorous opposition led to the elimination of these provisions in the parliamentary debate.


• The government respects the right to form and join trade unions, but some critics claim that the government and ruling party elements have stepped up efforts to control the affairs of these organizations.


• There have been reports of the GPC ruling party attempting to control professional associations and NGOs by influencing internal elections.

Reforms Under Discussion

Yemeni authorities continue to show setbacks in regard to its laws on associations. On October 6, 2007, the government passed a law that forbade all unlicensed demonstrations and warned all political parties and members of the civil society that breaking this law would result in severe consequences.

Media Laws

• The Press and Publications Law No. 25 for 1990 (English text), which is implemented by the Ministry of Information, regulates the Yemeni media. The law:
  • Gives the right to any Yemeni citizen, institution, political party, or group to publish newspapers and magazines. But the law stipulates that these publications must never be funded by foreign sources, and that they should keep clear and accurate financial statements.
  • Allows journalists access to official reports and information (Art.16). This “freedom of information” clause is very unusual in the region.
  • Entitles journalists to protect the identity of their sources (Art. 14).
  • Prohibits publication of material that may: prejudice Islam; jeopardize national interests; cause tribal, sectarian, racial, or regional discrimination and spread a spirit of dissent and division among the people; disseminate ideas contrary to the principles of the Yemeni Revolution; harm national unity; and distort the image of the Yemeni, Arab, or Islamic heritage. Penalties for violating any of the law's provisions entail prison sentences of up to one year and penalties of up to YR 100,000 (US $500).
  • Individuals can be fined up to YR 10,000 (US $50) or imprisoned for up to one year for offenses under the press law.


• The Penal Code stipulates a penalty of five years for “humiliation of the State” or distribution of “false information,” and both charges have been used against journalists. A presidential amnesty was issued in July 2002 for all previous cases against journalists.


• International press freedom organizations have criticized the practice of arrest, trial, and sentence that is used against domestic journalists. They also report that security forces target individual journalists with warnings and threats.


• The Ministry of Information influences the media through its control of printing presses, subsidies to certain newspapers, and its ownership of the country’s sole television and radio outlets. Few newspapers have their own presses.


• There are six government-controlled newspapers, nineteen independent newspapers, and fourteen party-affiliated newspapers. Fifty percent of approximately 80 magazines are private, 30 percent are government-controlled, and 20 percent are party-affiliated.


• Press law regulations specify that publications must apply annually to the government for licensing renewal, and they must show continuing evidence of approximately YR 700,000 (US $3,600) in operating capital.


• The Ministry of Telecommunications monitors and blocks websites that publish politically sensitive stories.


• The annual report of the Yemeni Centre for Training and Protecting Journalists' Freedoms reported 500 violations against journalists in the country over the past four years. Click here for details.


• According to the annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index by Reporters without Borders, Yemen ranks 143 of 169 countries. The index runs from 1 (most press freedom) to 169 (least press freedom).


• A report by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information highlights restrictions imposed on freedom of the press.


• Yemeni women do not have access to most of their economic, social, and cultural rights and still face many challenges in exercising their full political and civil rights.


• The Yemen Journalists Syndicate opposes the draft law on the grounds that it is even more restrictive than the existing bill. While it eliminates imprisonment of journalists, it still allows journalists to be prosecuted under the penal code, which sanctions prison terms for libeling Yemen's president or foreign leaders.


• It also allows courts to sentence journalists to death. Click here for a detailed commentary on the draft law by the media advocacy group ARTICLE 19.

Reforms Under Discussion

Freedom of the press has continually been criticized by many organizations such as Reporters Without Borders for suppressing the rights of journalists to report freely. In May 2009, two media freedom campaign groups criticized Yemeni authorities for presenting an obstacle to their reporting of clashes in the South of the country. Read more here.

On November 2, 2010, a new media law was passed by the cabinet stating that journalists will not be jailed for expressing their opinions. Click here for more.

Personal Status Law

• Although women enjoy the same “general rights and obligations” as men under the constitution, they face discrimination in national legislation.


• Under Law 20/1992 on Personal Status, as amended in 1998 and 1999, women are required to sue for divorce (although men can divorce at will), and divorced mothers, unlike fathers, lose custody of their children upon remarriage.


• Women face legal discrimination in matters such as the right to obtain a passport. Yemeni women do not have access to most of their economic, social, and cultural rights and still face many challenges in exercising their full political and civil rights.


• A woman does not have the right to confer citizenship on her foreign-born spouse. Obtaining Yemeni citizenship for a child of a Yemeni mother and a foreign-born father is in practice more difficult than obtaining citizenship for a child born of a Yemeni father and a foreign-born mother.


• The Penal Code allows leniency for persons guilty of committing a “crime against honor.”


• Penal legislation forbids the testimony of women in criminal matters and compensation to be paid for assault or murder of a woman is half that of a man.


• In 1999, the minimum marriage age of 15 for women, rarely enforced, was abolished; the onset of puberty, interpreted by conservatives to be at the age of 9, was set as a requirement for consummation of marriage.


• In October 2001, the cabinet referred to the parliament an amendment to the personal status law proposed by the governmental Women's National Committee to introduce a minimum age—18 years—for marriage. However the proposal was not passed by the parliament.


• In 2003, the Ministry of Human Rights was established to raise awareness of human rights via public information campaigns, training of human rights activists, and participation in various conferences. Through a newly established complaint mechanism, the ministry resolved an unknown number of human rights cases, primarily through coordination with other ministries and human rights NGOs.

Reforms Under Discussion

The Yemeni government has introduced the National Strategy for Women Development and Gender, a development project aimed at empowering women’s status and their roles in all aspects of society and community development. Their mission by 2015 is to have improved women’s status in the Yemeni community.

Yemen has no separate personal status courts. Personal status issues are handled by the courts of general jurisdiction (sometimes in specialized chambers). Islamic law informs Yemeni jurisprudence and legal training, reducing the gap between personal status and other areas of law.

In 2008, an unprecedented project aimed at providing better protection for women and children under abuse was launched in Yemen. Although it is a Netherlands- funded project, the Sister’s Arab Forum is responsible for its implementation. Click here for more information.

Recent Government Initiatives Affecting Rights

• Several government-sponsored initiatives, particularly those promoted by the Ministry of Human Rights, were aimed at furthering cooperation with NGOs.


• The parliament has an active committee on human rights but its members complain that the committee does not operate independently.


• In April 2010, the United Nations Development Program, along with the government of Yemen, worked together to implement two new programs aimed at strengthening local governance and gender and economic empowerment in Yemen. The goals of these projects include the amendment of relevant articles of the country’s constitution and the formulation of a new local government law.

Ratification of International Conventions

• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) on February 9, 1987.
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) on February 9, 1987.
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) on November 5, 1991.
• The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on October 18, 1972.
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on May 1, 1991.
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on May 30, 1984.
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography on December 15, 2004.
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child Armed Conflicts on March 2, 2007.