Child Sentenced To Death in Yemen, Child Prisoners On Hunger Strike
By Countercurrents.org
04 February, 2013
Countercurrents.org
Humanity cries in Yemen. A child has been sentenced to death there, and in protest to the death sentence, child prisoners are on hunger strike while the country is going through deadly armed clashes.
Despair and hopelessness pervade in a Yemeni prison where scores of children are on hunger strike to protest their condition and about a fellow inmate's recent death sentence, activists have told Amnesty International [1].
Since Sunday, 77 alleged juvenile offenders have refused to eat their prison meals at the central prison in the capital Sana'a until the authorities comply with a list of demands made in a handwritten signed statement.
They launched the hunger strike in response to the sentencing to death of Nadim al-‘Azaazi on January 26, 2013 for a crime he is accused of committing when he was reportedly 15.
“Executing juvenile offenders is expressly prohibited in Yemen's Penal Code and international human rights law – the Yemeni authorities must live up to their obligations and overturn this death sentence immediately,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Program Director at Amnesty International.
“The reports we've received from inside Sana'a Central Prison point to truly appalling conditions faced by juvenile offenders, and we urge the authorities to act immediately to ensure children are treated humanely and not kept behind bars for longer than their sentences.”
Some of the children held in Sana'a Central Prison have apparently finished serving their sentences but remain in detention due to their inability to pay court-imposed fines.
The hunger strikers' demands were delivered to the authorities in a handwritten, signed statement in Arabic which Amnesty International has seen.
Besides canceling the death sentences for al-‘Azaazi and all juvenile offenders, the demands include making sure that children are tried in juvenile courts in swift proceedings.
In some cases, alleged juvenile offenders have been on trial for more than three years, and some have even been imprisoned for many years before being found not guilty in court.
The hunger strikers are also calling for the court-sanctioned adoption of a qualified professional medical examination committee that uses technological means to verify the age of alleged juvenile offenders.
They want the authorities to reconsider what they see as unfair or overly long sentences for less serious crimes, and to respect and recognize the role of lawyers and the children's right to be represented by a lawyer of their choosing.
They also objected to prison conditions such as inadequate space and a lack of windows and even beds in some cases. They asked for an immediate end to physically humiliating exercises or punishments imposed on them by the prison authorities.
Another apparent cause of the child prisoners' anger is corruption within the judicial system – including the alleged falsification of documents.
More than half the children who signed the statement – 42 out of 66 – have been unable to see their families while in prison because they come from areas of Yemen far from the capital. They are requesting relocation to finish their sentences in the relevant juvenile facilities closer to home.
“This cry for help shines a light on the Yemeni authorities' failure to respect the human rights of children kept behind bars, and it must serve as a call to action to ensure that due process is followed and prison conditions are improved for all juvenile offenders in the country,” said Luther.
International law disallows death sentences or life imprisonment without parole for people who were under 18 years of age at the time the alleged crime was committed.
Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty in all cases without exception.
Clash with Al Qaida: 17 killed
Meanwhile, the Yemeni military says it has wrested control of a southern town from Al Qaida fighters after three days of clashes that killed 17 people [2].
Military officials say 12 Al Qaida fighters were killed and five soldiers and members of local tribes fighting alongside the army died in the clashes. Local militiamen had joined the military offensive to push Al Qaida out of the mountainous Al Maraksha in Abyan province.
Tribal sources say the Al Qaida fighters fled Al Maraksha Saturday to East Ahwar, about 80 kilometers outside the Abyan provincial capital of Zinjibar.
All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Another Aden datelined report [3] said:
Yemen’s armed forces killed 12 suspected Al Qaida militants in an assault on their mountain hideout in the country’s restive south, an official in the region said on Saturday.
The military used artillery and aircraft to target the hideout near Shaqra, 35km from the Abyan capital of Zinjibar, in the operation late on Friday, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Among those killed was Belidi Tawfiq, the brother of one of Al Qaida’s leaders in Abyan province, the official added.
Luhishi Hussein, a leader of a paramilitary unit that supports the military against the jihadist network in southern Yemen, said the operation resulted in “more than 10 deaths in the ranks of Al Qaida”.
Source:
[1] Amnesty International News, Jan 30, 2013, “Yemen: Scores of children on prison hunger strike after minor sentenced to die”, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/yemen-scores-children-prison-hunger-strike-after-minor-sentenced-die-2013-01-30
[2] Gulfnews.co, Feb 3, 2013, “Yemeni military: Town seized from Al Qaida”,
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemeni-military-town-seized-from-al-qaida-1.1141339
[3] Gulfnews.com, Feb 2, 2013, “Yemen troops kill 12 Al Qaida militants”, http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-troops-kill-12-al-qaida-militants-1.1140814
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