Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights activist, Tawakkol Karman, has delivered her speech on the 11th anniversary of the February 11 revolution. Here is the full text: 

In the name of the revolution, the republic and Greater Yemen, 

In the name of the Yemeni national movement that has for generations struggled for the dignity of Yemenis, their freedom, their right to life, security and stability, and their right to establish the rule of law, whereby all citizens are equal in rights and duties, 

In the name of the peaceful popular 11 February revolution that erupted as an expression of the century-long struggles of our people for the sake of a modern state based on the principles of freedom, democracy, citizenship, respect for human rights and the rule of law, 

I greet all of you, our proud people scattered across the soil of Yemen; in its mountains and plains and in its north, south, east and west. My greetings to all at home and abroad.

Greetings, in the name of the revolution, freedom and dignity, to all of you, our great Yemeni people, on the 11the anniversary of the peaceful popular youth February revolution (PPYFR).

 

Brothers and sisters, 

We today commemorate this anniversary to assert the values that served as the reference point for our PPYFR, for which we, women and men, took to the streets across Yemen in 2011 that marked the year of the Arab Spring revolutions.

Our revolution was not in support for a tyrant nor for a family monopolizing power, sponsoring corruption and wasting the country’s resources as a means to stay permanently in power.

Our revolution was a response to change as a fact of life.  We revolted because our society in all its categories, orientations and affiliations has the right to identify its decision-makers and rulers. It has the right to bring them down and hold them accountable whenever they misconduct and misuse state institutions to impose themselves as eternal rulers bequeathing power as private property.

The conflict has been between two opposing trends represented by those struggling for a modern State and for values gained throughout a long history of societies in order to empower people to choose their rulers, and by those working to confiscate and prevent this right by placing obstacles in its way. This conflict has existed throughout human history, and it will continue to exist.

Relevantly, we have no choice but to uphold our rights to citizenship, partnership and justice. In sum, as long as those seeking to enslave and rule people by force under claims of any superiority are always there, revolutions and struggles for freedom, dignity, citizenship and equality will continue as well.

They are not masters and we are not slaves. Just as we rejected the individual rule and its tribalism, we will never accept the tyrannical Imamate based on the divine election.

 

Brothers and sisters, the sons of our great Yemen, 

Unfortunately, power in Yemen was used to waste state wealth and resources at the expense of our generations’ future. The suffering of our people today is undeniably an inevitable consequence of a systematic destruction by the regime of ousted President Ali Saleh, who weakened society by creating divisions and fueling fanaticism, extremism, sectarianism and terrorism.

Such dark retrogression and the scramble of enemies for our country and people are, in essence, an extension of the counter-revolutionary war against the February 11 Revolution, and not a result of the latter. The existing war on Yemen was waged to extinguish our great people’s wake embodied by the February 11 revolution. This war began with the coup by the Houthis and their ousted ally, Ali Saleh, against the state and the national dialogue outcomes, then followed by external intervention that has made matters worse. 

The internal and external enemies of the February 11 revolution are doing their best to make our people regret its struggles for dignity, freedom and salvation. They are trying to force our people to regret the revolutions of February 11, September 26 and October 14, and the glorious day of Yemen’s reunification in 1990.

Have the enemies of our people offered anything that would make us regret our revolutions and our struggle for dignity, citizenship and the rule of law? The enemies of the 11 February revolution have provided Yemen with nothing but destruction, militias, starvation, impoverishment, blockade, land-mines, missiles, and deaths to civilians through their tanks and warplanes.

For what should we regret?

All tragedies and atrocities our people have lived through for nearly eight years make us stick more closely to what we revolted for on February 11.  

Despite all forms of tyranny, dictatorship and clericalism throughout the dark stages of history, peoples have never stopped struggling for the rule of law and equal citizenship and for their right to sovereignty and citizenship, dignity and respect for basic rights.

Throughout the different stages of history, the Zaydi imams, colonizers and tyrants practiced all forms of oppression and injustice against Yemen, but they all ended in the dustbin of history, while Yemen remained with head high and faced steadily all the vicissitudes of time.

 

Dear great Yemeni people, 

The February 11 revolution is a bright page of Yemeni struggles across history, and still going on to date thanks to our adherence to the goals and principles embodying the spirit of February, and to our belonging to our Yemen subject to an internal and external war, a war targeting Yemen as a State and republic, and its sovereignty and independence.

Defeat is to surrender to the enemy’s logic and its justifying machine, and this has not been and will never be. They’re wrong while we’re right.

Trials should not be with those who peacefully raised the slogans of freedom, progress, prosperity and salvation from injustice, tyranny and backwardness, rather with those who plotted and led a coup against the state and the national consensus.

Those who deserve to be tried are those who bombed cities, planted land-mines and committed the most heinous crimes against their people and their country. Those who deserve to be tried are those whose warplanes are bombing Yemen, killing innocent people and terrorizing peaceful and civilian populations.

Those who deserve to be tried are those who serve as collaborators for Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran, and who recruited themselves to serve foreign interests and ambitions in Yemen.

Therefore, I renew the call of the international community to bring war criminals regarding Yemen to justice before the International Criminal Court, or before any international court established to consider human rights violations against Yemenis during this ongoing war in Yemen. It is important to establish the principle of non-impunity. Whoever has committed war crime must be trialed in public. 

 

Dear all free Yemenis, 

On the eleventh anniversary of February 11 Revolution, I have two messages as follows:

My first message to our great Yemeni people, especially all those who believed and participated conscientiously and wholeheartedly in the February 11 revolution. I want you all to know that the success of revolutions is not measured in short-term achievements. The revolution is a process of continuous change, and therefore whoever decides to fight for noble goals has not to judge the success or failure of the revolution by the challenges.

Almost every revolution faces a war by the forces of the overthrown regime. As for us, however, our revolution was faced by the ousted regime, in addition to Saudi Arabia and the UAE as the stronghold of the anti- Arab Spring counter-revolutions, not to mention Iran and its affiliated Houthi militias. All of them saw in our revolution a threat to their monarchies and regimes, and dealt with it as a historical turning point that will push the whole region towards democratic change, a thing they never wish.

Today, all the Arab Spring countries are being governed by the counter-revolutions. Of course, such acknowledgment is not acceptance of a fait accompli nor a defeat.  All the catastrophes and wars we have been experiencing have been caused by the counter-revolutions. And any future disasters and deterioration not just regarding security and stability, but also in term of economy, development and freedoms will inevitably be a product of today’s counter-revolutions.

The question arising here: if so, why then do we celebrate today? Why do we commemorate the betrayed revolutions? Today, we are proudly celebrating our great struggle for freedom against tyrannical regimes that were under the illusion that no one would dare to stop them nor have the ability to sacrifice in the face of their oppression. Our revolution was a great immortal Book of the struggle for freedom, which will go down in history and will be remembered for many generations to come, completely away from all the noise made by the tools, electronic flies and apparatuses of counter-revolutions.

Who has claimed that any failure of revolution represents a stigma and that therefore relevant sacrifices should be despised or belittled? Revolutions that offer sacrifices in the face of extremely regressive and cruel regimes are more worthy of being celebrated than others, and they deserve to be glorified and highly appreciated given great risks and sacrifices they have gone through.

For peoples to cross over into the shores of freedom, independence and prosperity, they first need to wage many rounds of revolutions. Just as it is unavoidable to do so, victory is inevitable in the end.

My second message regarding peace and relevant efforts to individuals, organizations and governments from around the world and to everyone seeking to achieve peace in Yemen:

All Yemenis long for peace, while the Houthi coup militia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the enemies of peace. As for the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, it is a sectarian group trying to bring back the miserable medieval imamate. On the other hand, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are seeking to divide Yemen and share influence over its resources and coastlines. Today, the whole world is required to put pressure on Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to stop their tampering with Yemen. There is an urgent need to mobilize efforts, exercise international pressure on the Houthi coup militia and its supporter Iran, and on the Saudi-Emirati coalition, to put an end to the war in Yemen.

In order for peace to prevail, there is also a need to bring the Iranian, Saudi and Emirati interventions to end, as these interventions are directly responsible for the continuation of the war in Yemen.

In order for peace to become real and not just a truce, the ultimate goal should be the return of the Yemeni state, turning the page on the militias, and ending the Saudi-Emirati guardianship over the Yemeni decision-making and over Yemen’s coastlines, islands, land and sea ports, and oil-and gas-rich areas.

I would like to reiterate here that the power transfer agreement represented by the "Gulf Initiative" and the national dialogue outcomes came as a result of the popular revolution in 2011. Therefore, both are main reference points for restoring the legitimate state in Yemen, in addition to the relevant Security Council resolutions, which emphasized ending the coup and respecting Yemen's security stability and unity.

After all this fascist war against our people, working to complete the transfer of power, organize a referendum on the new constitution and hold elections is the only road map to ending the war and establishing peace, security and stability in Yemen.

Ending the war means for us the return of Yemen and the united Yemeni federal state. What we have refused to accept through war will be never accepted through a false peace, leading to legitimizing the Saudi-Emirati guardianship, the Houthi coup and Iran’s influence, and ripping our great country and nation apart.

In essence, the February Revolution aims at achieving democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. There is no solution to our problems in Yemen except by recognizing that the rule of Yemen should not be through heredity nor by force, and that whoever wants to rule Yemen must obtain the approval of the majority of Yemenis in free and fair elections.

Among the key lessons learned from February 11 is that a long stay of the ruler in office weakens the prestige of institutions, destroys the integrity of the government and contributes to turning power into private property, a thing that certainly leads to ruin.

 Dear brothers and sisters,

In conclusion, I would like to say that a day will come when this war ends. Most importantly, when that day comes, we will be supposed to have learned that we can live together, and that no one can tailor Yemen to his own size or to his family’s size.   

Glory to great unbreakable Yemen!

Glory to the great Yemeni people!

Glory to every free human being who fights for justice, freedom and a decent life!

Disgrace to murderers, tyrants, enemies of life and their supporters and followers! 

Mercy to the February Revolution’s martyrs and to all Yemeni martyrs who left with Yemen in their hearts, without any disloyalty!