Written by : Tawakkol Karman

To find a solution to the conflict in Yemen, we must first acknowledge the problem.

The 2011 revolution was peaceful, with the broad participation of women and students. It paved the way for transition that began with a consensus president. A referendum followed to select a new president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and a coalition government that represented most Yemenis was formed.

A few months later, all parties began a comprehensive, national dialogue. After almost a year of dialogue, a constitution drafted. However, that is where things stop.

Before a referendum on the constitution was held, armed Houthi militia, who were supported by the Iranian regime and forces loyal to ousted Yemeni President Ali Saleh, staged a coup, swept the capital, Sanaa, placed the new president under house arrest.

They then marched south, east and west — invading the country. They occupied cities, destroyed towns, murdered and kidnapped tens thousands of civilians, politicians and activists bringing the country to its knees and disrupting the livelihood of Yemenis. That’s besides making Yemen the host of a regional proxy war.

Following this dramatic turn of events, the UN Security Council passed two resolutions clearly rejecting the Houthi coup d’etat. The world body demanded the Houthi withdrawal from all cities, turn over their weapons, cease the use of force, and return state institutions.

The UN resolutions called for immediate compliance with those demands under the threat of invoking Chapter VII, by which it authorizes force.

Prior to this, during the two-year political process, or transitional period, the Houthi systematically undermined the country. While the militia participated in the national dialogue in my country, it was grabbing territory, seizing state weapons, and building its military power by receiving weapons from Iran. Seized cargo from Iranian ships included advanced and heavy weaponry that surpassed the arms of the Yemeni state.

All along, the ousted president Ali Saleh, was working tirelessly to impede and obstruct the transitional process as well. His destructive work flourished because he had been granted immunity and because he continued on as the leader of a party that controlled half of the cabinet in the transitional government and most of the country’s resources. Additionally, Saleh was able to invest tens of billions of dollars that he acquired during his decades of corrupt rule, to finance his destructive efforts.

Subsequent UN resolutions condemning Saleh and the Houthi did little to impede their catastrophic actions. Perhaps complicating matters most, the expelled president was still in complete control of the army that he carefully and which were still loyal to him during the transitional period. The Army, instead of fulfilling their duty of protecting the transitional process of Yemen turned a blind eye against the gangs destroying main services and sabotaging electric lines and energy pipes.

In the end, the legions of militia besieged the legitimate President Hadi in his house located in the capital Sanaa. The transitional process fell apart under the blessing of the loyal army of the expelled Ali Saleh.

The army should now, most importantly, if there is to be peace submit to the Yemeni state and the transitional president — or else more chaos and war are certain.

The legitimate leader, President Hadi, headed to Aden, in the south of the country, to exercise his constitutional powers. The Houthis and Saleh’s tried to assassinate him forcing him to flee to Saudi Arabia.

Then an Arab coalition, supported by the Security Council resolution, intervened and national resistance to the Houthi and Saleh has grown.

Despite a year-long of war that has almost destroyed everything, there is a chance for peace in Kuwait in the next few days, but only if there was a serious and real willingness by the Houthis to abandon their coup and its aftermath.

The Kuwait negotiations can either lead to a lasting peace or resumption of warfare is certain.

Any roadmap or initiative to end the conflict in Yemen should have the strategic aim of establishing a state that has the exclusive authority to possess weapons and have a full control over the country’s sovereignty.

The success of this initiative requires political parties to participate in the process without the threat of force or use of militias. Citizens should once again enjoy freedom and basic rights. This is the essence of what Yemenis agreed upon during the national dialogue and the transfer of power agreement, and repeatedly confirmed through international resolutions related to Yemen. Moreover, those are reasonable and rational requests.

The reaching of a genuine peace in Yemen necessitates that participants in the upcoming Kuwait negotiations clearly accept a roadmap that takes into account all the above mentioned, prior agreements among Yemenis during the transitional period, and all international resolutions involving Yemen, including UN Resolution 2216.

The roadmap should require an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in conjunction with the return of the transitional president and government to the capital, Sanaa, the withdrawal of militiamen from all cities and regions, and the handing over of all weapons in a manner overseen by the United Nations and the sponsors of the transitional process.

If agreed to participate peacefully, Houthis must be given the necessary guarantees not that they will be included, not retaliated against or denied the right to be part of the political process. It is their right and the right of all political parties and groups in Yemen.

Yemenis should then have a referendum on the draft constitution prepared through the earlier comprehensive national dialogue and then proceed with local, regional, parliamentary, and presidential elections.

To ensure a lasting peace, it will also be necessary to implement measures that attain transitional justice by honoring and compensating war victims.

The safe way to build a sustainable peace process in Yemen requires an end to the political future of Saleh, the lifting of his immunity, and the effective implementation of international resolutions concerning the freezing of his assets and the assets of his family and returning them to Yemen in order to stop him and deny him the ability to undermine peace and stability in our country in the future.

It is essential that the peace roadmap, which we hope will come out of the Kuwait talks, will finance a comprehensive economic program by the Gulf Cooperation Council and other international sponsors for the transitional process in order to help rebuild what the war destroyed, ensure an economic transformation parallel to the political transition in Yemen, and help improve the economic livelihood of people, something that was agreed upon.

Only when such conditions are met, we will be able to produce a lasting peace process in Yemen and build a new system that will embrace and gives equal access to all of its citizens. Otherwise, war will continue.

 

From Huffington Post