Asia

Home page

Asia

Yemeni president orders investigation into abuses during anti-Saleh protests

22 September 2012 20:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Saturday issued a decree to investigate alleged human rights violations that occurred during protests last year against his ousted predecessor, the state Saba news agency said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The committee, consisting of 11 representatives from all political parties, "is responsible for probing the allegations of violations of human rights that occurred during 2011, impartially and independently," Saba said, citing the decree.

"The committee will ensure the standard of national laws and international human rights conventions that ratified by Yemen," said the decree.

Hadi took office in February as part of a political settlement brokered by neighboring oil-rich Arab countries and backed by the United Nations after yearlong street protests against ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh and his relatives.

Under the political-power transfer deal, the prosecution granted Saleh, his aides and relatives immunity in exchange for Saleh’s resignation.

Hadi has removed several members of Saleh’s aides and relatives from leading military and army posts in a move to reform the army and restore stability to focus efforts on reviving the economy and fighting the country-based branch of al-Qaida.

Saleh maintains his post as the leader of the powerful General People’s Congress Party (GPC), through which he is still practicing great influence on politics in the country, while his son Ahmed maintains his post as the commander of the Republican Guards.

In March, the Yemeni Human Rights Ministry said in an official statement that at least 2,000 protesters had been killed since the protests against Saleh erupted in January 2011, while more than 20, 000 others were wounded.

Thousands of Yemenis take to the streets across the country in almost every week to demand the prosecution of Saleh and his son for what they said "ordering the killing of protesters."

The move has been provoking an angry response from Saleh’s party. "The demand of the prosecution is opposing to the power- transfer agreement that was signed in Saudi capital Riyadh last year by all Yemeni rival forces... the prosecution means the end of the deal," said the GPC.