Human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman has warned that recent developments in Shabwa Governorate represent a decisive test of Yemen’s ability to assert state authority and sovereignty in the face of armed militias.

In a statement posted on her official Facebook page, Karman cautioned that the UAE-backed “chaotic project” risks dragging liberated governorates into widespread destruction unless confronted through sovereign mechanisms. She stressed that the central struggle today is against efforts to dismantle the state and transform Yemen into a battleground for external influence and proxy conflicts.

Karman argued that restoring state authority requires more than rhetoric. It demands a comprehensive institutional plan rooted in the state’s exclusive monopoly on the use of force, alongside the unification of all military and security forces under the Ministries of Defense and Interior.

She underscored that dissolving armed groups outside the state framework is only a first step. True stability, she said, cannot be achieved without dismantling parallel military structures and eliminating their sources of power. “Civil peace cannot exist while multiple centers of military authority operate independently of the state,” Karman declared.

The Nobel laureate further called for activating the rule of law by holding violators accountable, while integrating individuals not implicated in crimes into official institutions based on professional and transparent standards.

Concluding her remarks, Karman emphasized that Yemen’s path to stability rests on three interlinked pillars: one state, one army, and sovereign decision-making. She affirmed that only a sovereign will grounded in law and institutions can safeguard civilians and end the systemic chaos threatening the very existence of the Yemeni state.