Yemen’s war will be over by wresting the hijacked State and its decision from Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE and by returning the Republic of Yemen with its sovereignty over its territory,

said the human rights activist and Nobel Peace laureate Tawakkol Karman.

Her remarks were made in a speech she gave during the conference "Towards Sustainable Peace and Democracy in Yemen", organized by the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, and Tawakkol Karman Foundation, and the Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), with the participation of more than twenty Yemeni and international experts.

Tawakkol Karman added that the war will not end based on deals between the easy-to-use tools of conflict and their operators abroad, stressing that any peace agreement must preserve the unity of Yemen, end divisions, disarm the militias, end violations against Yemenis, remove landmines, end the internal and external blockade, and release detainees.

The international community's current handling of the Yemeni cause does not in any way lead to peace, calling on the world to save Yemenis, who have been living without a State for eight years, and suffer from daily threats to their lives, Karman indicated.

She pointed out that the war has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions, and led Yemen to famine, noting that the international approach towards Yemen is clearly wrong.

In the same context, the human rights activist spoke about the covert and overt supportive position of the United States, Britain, Western governments, and the international community for the continuation of the Saudi-Emirati coalition war against Yemen.

"An end must be put to the ugly war in Yemen and to the ongoing crimes, demanded the Nobel laureate, noting that one of objectives of the conference is to introduce the conditions for ending the war.

 

US commitment

For his part, the US envoy to Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, said in his opening speech that “Washington is committed to finding a solution to the crisis in Yemen,” noting that the United States believes that 2023 will bring an opportunity to end the conflict once and for all.

Timothy Lenderking affirmed that the US President, Biden, is interested in reaching peace in Yemen, and ending the conflict after more than 8 years of war, which caused the collapse of the Yemeni economy and tore society apart.

Lenderking confirmed that they are working with the Sultanate of Oman and engaging with Saudi Arabia to end the war.

The American envoy stated that the reality is very complex, despite the decrease in the frequency of battles, pointing out that even if the number of casualties decreased during 2022, this remains not enough because Yemenis hope to find a permanent solution to the conflict.

According to the US envoy, the Houthis’ demands led to the exacerbation of the conflict and the failure of the truce efforts, and their attacks on ports in recent times further complicated the crisis.

Finally, he stressed that the peace process must include all claims by the Yemenis about human rights violations, and that this process requires strong efforts to restore the rehabilitation of Yemen with the support of the international community and in cooperation with the region’s other countries.

 

Catastrophic problems 

Fida Adely, the head of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, stated Yemen after eight years of war is suffering from a major destruction, which has resulted in the death of a quarter of a million people, noting that the crisis has produced catastrophic problems, and starvation threatens millions.

“This conference is a unique opportunity to bring together Yemeni and international experts with diverse backgrounds and specialized expertise,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director for DAWN. “All participants have distinguished careers or vast experience in Yemeni affairs and have demonstrated their longstanding and ongoing dedication to peaceful and democratic Yemen.”

 

Existential Struggle

In addition, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abdulaziz Jubari, emphasized the importance for the United Nations and the international community to realize that the conflict with the Houthi militia is not a struggle for power, but rather an existential struggle.

In a paper presented at the conference, Jubari affirmed that accepting the fait accompli imposed by the Houthis will not lead to peace, noting that the failure of the United Nations to confront the projects of fragmentation and dismemberment fueled by regional countries makes peace impossible.

Jubari went to say that in order to achieve political reform, negotiations must be initiated with all local, regional and international actors, stressing that reaching peace requires the US administration to fulfill its obligations towards the peace process.

He called for an end to the war and requiring all parties to submit to peace and resort to the popular will through the ballot box, emphasizing that the current truce has resulted in unprecedented calm that should be invested in achieving lasting peace in the country.

 

Power imbalance

From the point of view of the former representative of Yemen to the United Nations and the former foreign minister, Khaled Al-Yamani, a breakthrough in the peace negotiations is not possible in light of the imbalance of power between the Yemeni parties, especially since the Houthi militia is preparing to pounce on Marib.

Al-Yamani stressed that it is better for the Yemenis, instead of continuing to fight, to accept the continuation of the truce, indicating that the Houthis deal with the truce only as a set of bargains and concessions the coalition should make to them.

Al-Yamani implied that the multi-headed leadership has not succeeded anywhere in the world, citing that Yemen’s eight-member presidency council has not introduced any political or economic reforms since its formation.

The best option for the Arab coalition, as estimated by Al-Yamani, is the preemptive move instead of submitting to the Houthis and to their non-stop and ever-changing demands, through implementing the outputs of the national dialogue and Riyadh and supporting deep reforms in legitimacy.

Al-Yamani expected the Yemeni crisis to become more complicated, believing that there are those who strive to destroy what is left of Yemen, fragment the political components and increase international isolation.

 

Conflict redefinition

The former Yemeni Minister of Transport, Saleh al-Jabwani, called for redefining the conflict in Yemen “differently from the stereotypical classification or misrepresentation that were used in the past and produced mechanisms unable to reach the hoped-for peace in Yemen.

Al-Jabwani in his paper to the conference indicated that the war between the legitimate government and the Houthis applies only to the first year of the war. Later, however, the conflict expanded to include other players with goals different from the legitimate one declared goal at the beginning of the war.

The former minister called on the United States to redefine and evaluate the conflict in Yemen, drawing the US attention to the fact that the establishment of a new federal system that guarantees justice, equality and free elections is the way to a comprehensive and lasting peace in Yemen.

 

First-time suffering

In addition, the former governor of the Socotra archipelago, Ramzi Mahrous, stated that the archipelago has suffered for the first time in its history due to the export of crises and problems from outside by the UAE-backed militia of the Southern Transitional Council.

Mahrous added that weapons are being sold for the first time in Socotra at the hands of this militia.

“People in Socotra have been always peaceful and never borne arms, but conflicts started to take place since the establishment of this militia that used violence against the legitimate government, and began to distribute and sell weapons in the peaceful governorate”, he continued.

The former governor pointed to the need for the international community to put an end to the conflict in the archipelago and preserve the global environmental reserve listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

It is noteworthy that the conference is divided into four panels about the current situation in Yemen, achieving lasting peace and democracy, and the role of the international community in a transitional process, respectively.

Participants include Dr. Stephen Day, Tawfik al-Hamidi, Safa al Ahamd, Yasmeen al-Nadheri, Abdulghani Aliryani, Fernando Carvajal, Kawkab Althaibani, Ibraham Qatabi, Nadwa Aldawsari, Kristine Beckerle, Abdulrahman Barman, Dr. Frederick John Packer, Bushra Nasr, Essam Hebatullah Shuriam, and Khaled Alyamani.

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To read Tawakkol Karman's speech, click here

To listen and watch speech, click here