The case of the southern retired officers has been escalated to a top level

[قلب الجنوب]

The case of the Southern retired officers has been escalated to a top level after a failure of a meeting, which was to be held yesterday 09th June between the Yemeni occupiers’ representative in Aden (Al-Kahlani)

and the Coordination Council of the southern Retired Military and Security Officers’ Association. The Council held yesterday 09.06.2007 an extraordinary meeting in Aden and issued a statement identified its demands including calling the international community to send a committee to investigate the crimes that the Yemeni occupiers have been committed in the South. It is worth mentioned that the association held last week a big strike in Aden at the Freedom Square on 4th June 2007 and dispatched a letter to both the representatives of the UN and EU in Yemen. Tajaden site has got a copy of that letter here is a translation to its text:




In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful


Your Excellency the representative of the United Nations- Sana’a
Your Excellency the representative of the European Union- Sana’a


Greeting


We the officers of the military and the security of what was known as a government of the People’s Republic Democratic of Yemen would like at the beginning to extend our sincere greetings and best wishes to you and to brief you about our cause as we have been exposed to exclusion and discrimination since the war of the summer of 19994.


Most of us have been moved to a compulsory retirement before reaching the retirement’s age that is stipulated in the Yemeni valid laws, the others were enforced to leave their jobs and stay at home without any legal procedures or reasonable justifications, whereas our colleagues from what was known as a Yemen Arab Republic have not received the same treatment, which make it clear to us that Sana’a’s government has only aimed at those from the south.

Despite that the fact that many of us were carrying a high ranking in what was known the army of the South and a number of associations of the retired military and security officers have been established in many governorates, held several peaceful strikes before the mayors’ offices calling the authorities to give us our pension and many newspapers have written about our cause, it is a very regretful that the government has given no attention to all our demands and peaceful protests. This illegal and maltreatment in depriving us of our pension has brought many of us with our families and children to a state of misery, poverty and unbearable suffer.


The government exclusion and maltreatment to us is unacceptable behaviour even in human terms, not to mention that such treatment is a violation of the Yemeni constitution and valid legislations in addition to the UN Security Council’s resolutions on the issue of the South. It is also a clear breach of the international charters, which were signed by Yemen first and foremost of a human rights convention and all articles branched out it, which denies and criminalizes such acts.
We have so any promises and agreements to resolve our problem and give us our rights, but nothing has ever true. So we are determined by all peaceful means to keep our case life until we get all our constitutional and legal rights.


Your Excellency UN/EU representative we believe that you are the one who might support us and maintain the international law and conventions, so we appeal to you in your capacity and power to pressurize the Yemeni authorities and to convince it into giving us our legal rights rather than discriminating us.


At the end, we hope you understand our cause and consider our inhuman case, which is a result of the government’s illegal and oppressive practice.


Please accept my sincere thanks and sincere appreciation.

Sincerely yours
Brigadier / Nasser Al-Nnuba
Head of the Retired Military and civilian Association- Aden-
Head of the Coordination Council of Retired Military and Civilians Associations in the southern governorates
4th June 2007




Copy with greeting to:
1- Their Excellencies all ambassadors at Yemen
2-All related, regional and Arab bodies and organisations.