Aden Protest Ban Tramples on Fundamental Rights Amidst Crushing Economic Crises
Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the Yemeni Coalition for Human Rights today condemned the Aden authorities’ decision to ban public demonstrations, issued on May 17. They expressed grave concern regarding the violation of the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
This measure comes at a time when residents of southern Yemen are suffering from a crushing humanitarian and economic crisis, which has sparked widespread discontent among citizens.
According to field reports and testimonies, residents, especially in Aden, had organized several peaceful demonstrations to demand urgent solutions to their problems, including electricity outages, water shortages, and the deterioration of the national currency.
Interviews conducted by the Institute with protestors, including women and men, confirmed that the demonstrations were peaceful. However, authorities suppressed them by imposing the ban without clear security justifications, which both sources considered arbitrary and undermining citizens’ legitimate right to express their demands.
In statements from one of the protest organizers, she mentioned that the first women’s demonstration on May 9 was launched in response to a call on Facebook, as a reaction to the economic decline, rising temperatures, and electricity outages.
She added that the second demonstration, organized on May 16, was also peaceful, with authorities having prior knowledge of it. On May 17, a group of men organized another protest after the director of Aden security sent officials to discuss their demands and agreed to allow the protest after discussions, with conditions and guidelines not to raise flags or chant provocative slogans, according to one of the participants.
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights and the Yemeni Coalition for Human Rights affirmed that the ban constitutes a clear violation of constitutional and international rights, and exacerbates the suffering of residents demanding their legitimate rights, at a time when the economic and social conditions in the region are rapidly deteriorating.
They called for the respect of the right to peaceful assembly and the immediate cessation of repressive measures to ensure the stability of fundamental rights and freedoms in Yemen.
