Who is the National Council, Yemen's National Transitional Council

Who is the National Council?

They will be launching a website - link will be placed here [ link].

New York Times says,

(August 17, 2011) "Seven months after demonstrators first took to the streets in Yemen calling for democracy, opposition leaders formed a national council on Wednesday to act as a government-in-waiting, a provocative step the government condemned even before it was announced.

The council consists of 143 members recruited from a broad array of tribal sheiks, protest leaders, southern separatists, military commanders and former members of the governing party. It was created to unite a fractured opposition and reinvigorate an uprising that has ground to a virtual standstill."

National Council's website states who they are in their own words in their mission statement,
Yemen's National Council seeks to meet the aspirations of Yemen's youthful peaceful revolution.
To do so, the priority list is:


1. End Saleh's family rule

2. Bring Saleh regime members to justice

3. Build a modern country

 Each of the above requires a series of steps. For the first, the NC believes that Saleh's regime will end through peaceful activities such as raising awareness of the regime's ills, rallies, sit-ins, protests, etc. Furthermore, we believe that the international community should boycott the regime, freeze its assets and have travel bans on it.



Secondly, the NC is against amnesty for Saleh or his family or regime elements, as this stands in total contradiction to the revolution's objectives. Therefore, the second highest priority is to have a fair trial for all of them. This could be achieved after the regime's downfall through a fair and well-established national judicial system and through the ICC.

Thirdly, the NC would be acting as a safe-guard during the transitional period to construct the institutions needed to rebuild Yemen based on principles of democracy, human rights, rule of law, accountability and gender balance

Their spokesperson is Mrs. Hooria Mashoor. Follow her on twitter @Hooria_Mashhour
She is the former Vice-Chair of the Women's National Committee of Yemen

Violence Continue inYemen -Ceasefire amid Violent Unrest

Update From :Monitoring network of the Yemeni revolution

Yemen Today | Sanaa - Hasaba | Ali Saleh forces bombed a bus in front of Hasaba  Alrashid  market, resulting in 7  people killed on board in this  bus

Yemeni Human Rights organization Hood - Launched popular Media Campaign

A Yemeni human rights organization, Hood, has launched a popular media campaign to advocate detainees of enforced disseverment held by the Yemeni regime.

Hood said Yemeni journalists, poets, artists and talents are to take in its campaign aiming at shedding light on the issues and suffers of detainees in the prison of Yemeni prisons.

It affirmed that hundreds of Yemenis are illegally held in detention centers of the Yemeni regime and they are subject to tortures and violations.

Hood had estimated the number of kidnapped protesters by the Yemeni regime as 1500, pointing out that the security forces arrested at least 500 protesters on one day, on Tuesday, 18 October.

The Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights (YOHR) has said that the Yemeni authorities kidnapped hundreds of protesters and they were subject to torture, brutal attacks and threats of sextuple harassment, calling the world to take urgent actions for rescuing them.

YOHR said that the Yemeni authorities used live bullets, tear-gas, batons and knives killing at least 13 protesters and wounding dozens.

YOHR explained that the detained protesters were transferred to a number of government buildings including the building of the capital in which they were subject to brutal tortures.

It further called the international community to take its responsibilities and take urgent actions to rescue the kidnapped who suffers much, and hold the responsible officials accountable.

Many Yemeni sources and reports affirmed that the Secretary General of the Capital Secretariat Abdul-Rahama Al-Akwa personally headed and supervised the kidnapping and tortures.

Meanwhile, the Organizing Committee of Popular Youth Revolution denounced the continuation of killing peaceful protesters by the Yemeni regime, pointing out that the Yemeni regime killed 150 protesters and wounded 1300 by one month.

OCPYR affirmed that the Yemeni regime used heavy weapons in killing protesters, stressing that the killing intensively increased following the return of President Ali Abdullah Saleh from the Saudi Arabia.

OCPYR said that Yemen forces used killings torture and enforced disappearances on peaceful protesters, pointing out that the Yemeni regime still hold hundreds of protesters in many prisons detention centre.
Amnesty International criticized the idea of endorsing a GCC plan that would guarantee Saleh, who has ruled Yemen with an iron fist for three decades and those close to him immunity from prosecution for rights violations. #Yemen

 

From Ain News - Update on the situation today on the Ground

 Aden Unprecedented security reinforcements around the presidential palace in Aden , and at Al Twahi, Crater and the around of Aden airport.
Hmiar Al Ahmanr confirms that the outcome of Saleh attack on his house, are"19" martyrs and dozens were wounded .

The most heinous crimes of butcher of Yemen, the first part 1.3gp

clashes in Aden

25/10/2011
Sources AinYemen  Aden | clashes broke our in residential area in Aden and  security is been tighten at the airport and the road Leads to  presidential house

HOOD: Detainees illegally detained underground

25/10/2011

Translated by: Radhia Khairan

with a number of journalists, artists, poets, former detainees and survivors of torture, HOOD launches a popular campaign to advocate for the arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance of Yemeni citizens.

Hundreds of innocent citizens of Yemen are experiencing now unlawful detention conditions and are subject to physical and psychological torture which violates the basic human rights which is unfair to overlook such suffering.

Meantime, more than fifty detainees have been on an open hunger strike in the security administration of the capital secretariat since two days ago to protest the continued detention in violation of law and in places which are meant not for prison without any charges or commission of any criminal acts in an attempt by the authorities to dissuade them from exercising their right of expression and peaceful assembly.

HOOD team notices the detention of more than 35 Yemeni nationals in the police station of Allayh, Alsabeen area-Sana'a, being held in a small place underground without ventilation and are deprived of water for four days. Some of them are suffering from skin diseases and others from amenti, and deprived of proper nutrition and being held without legal charges where some of them are hostage on grounds of crimes suspected to be committed by their relatives.

A 13-year-old child who is believed to be tortured seeing fresh marks of torture with electricity on his body is imprisoned because he was involved in a trade dispute with one of his relatives; although a prosecutor's release order of 17 people of them, the prison administration did not release any of them until this moment. Moreover, in the detention facility of the CID, a number of citizens with no charges against them are arrested by the national security after their houses has been raided by military forces leaving behind a massive destruction.

The police Administration of Alamri apprehends four persons among which is an Egyptian, Mr. Salah Safwat Alshandweli who was among the Arab Doctors Union delegation in a visit to Yemen in a humane mission. The Security Administration of Bani Alhareth more than 40 people in the background of their participation in the peaceful popular protests. More than 150 young men hand-cuffed to their back and blindfolded are moved into three large military trucks to the yard of the military justice department downtown the city of Sana'a under strict security measures, eyewitnesses confirmed to HOOD.

HOOD expresses its deep regret for the continuing detention crimes of citizens committed by the authorities and calls upon all rights activists in Yemen and the world as well to pressure on the Yemeni authorities to abandon its policy of human rights infractions. 9

Oct 25

For up to the last minute news see @yusraala on twitter based in Yemen
Are women being targeted? For the past week we have 5 women kidnapped. 3 shot in the head, two dead.

Here are photos of the first woman targeted in Taiz's funeral.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=300902153255746&set=a.300901773255784.93455.214103671935595&type=1&theater
On Oct 23rd, a woman was killed in Sanaa, shot blank in the head in Hayel Street, Sanaa

After the United Nations vote Saleh began heavy shelling, and the transcript of the following phone call has been leaked where his son is stating that they can commit crimes against humanity, killing civilians as part of the strategy and that the United States will back them.


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NYR Exclusive | Statement of the forces supporting the revolution about a leaked phone call between Saleh and his son Ahmed, Commander of the Republican Guards forces.

The statement says:

"After the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling on Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down and sign the GCC initiative, Saleh called for an urgent meeting Saturday at 1:00 AM. He met with his sons, brothers, nephews and four other close relatives. The meeting lasted 2 hours, until 3:00 AM. In the meeting, Saleh urged them to be on the highest level of alertnesss and to wait for a sign from him to start the fights. At exactly 5:40 AM, a phone call was intercepted between Saleh, his son Ahmed, and his brother Ali Saleh. In the phone call Ali Abdullah Saleh said "start attacking and use all kinds of weapons, clean Al-Hasaba and Sofan and destroy everything, there is no difference between a military location or a citizen's house, men or women, a child or an elderly, feast over their blood and dead bodies. The UN security council, GCC's, Americans and Europeans won't help them. I don't care who lives or who dies, even if we lose all the Republican Guards, Security and Special forces, let them build a new army and create new forces if we lost them, I want to take revenge even if the whole country is burned down. The people who the Americans are watching will support you, they are strong and I told them to coordinate with you"

After the phone call, fierce clashes erupted between forces loyal to Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh and forces supporting the revolution, a day after the UN urged the embattled leader to hand over power.
Saleh's forces shelled Al-Hasaba area where the house of tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmar is located, shelling also targeted Sofan and headquarters of the First Armored Division, and targeted residential neighborhoods close to Change Square.

The statement added "With this dangerous development in which Saleh challenges the Yemeni people, the international community and the world, we find ourselves responsible of letting our people and the world, know that this man is not and will not stop the killing unless there is an urgent and firm position of the international community. This man is seeking revenge of his own people and will lead the country into a civil war, which he already declared in many of his statements in which he threatened of war and to break-up the country into four parts."

The statement appealed to the international community to do their humanitarian part towards "These irresponsible acts by Saleh and his gang", it also appealed to the Yemeni people and the youth of revolution to remain steadfast on the principle of peaceful revolution.