Document of National Vision
The issue of common identity and establishment of a comprehensive national civil entity have been associated in a close manner with the cause of development of the national struggle of the founder generation from the national Southern leaders and their institutions since the beginning of the past century. Thus, throughout a period of a century the issue of consolidating the common identity and the establishment of a comprehensive national entity, with its civil modern state continued constituting the historical texture accompanying the movement of emergence and the development of the national awareness in the South. And along the line of this glorious cause, there materialized the controversy of the relationship and correlation between the issue of stimulating the national awareness and organizing of the effective force of our nation in the South together with the project of working out the common national identity based on the establishment of a comprehensive entity of the civil modern state upon this important strategic area of our Arabian island. As we mention the greatness of this course, it is perhaps enough to refer to the first organized formation of the army in the South being called the “First Yemen Infantry” in the year 1918 [1]’[2] . At the same level, the “project of the program of reforming the system of the rule in Yemen” should not be forgotten.
And the invitation to hold a Yemeni general conference which was ignored by Imam Yehia in the year 1924 after it was submitted to him by the Sheikhs, Princes and Sultans of the South, and dignitaries of Aden, through the Tunisian militant Abdul Aziz Al-Thaalabi [3]. The same dimension is clearly manifested in the document of the “First Yemeni Youth Battalim” which was formed in the lobbies of the Abbassies at Al-Azhar Al-Sherif in Cairo in September 1940. At the head of its founders were Salem Omar AL-Safi, Rasheed Ali Hariri and Mohamed Ali Al-Jifri and other from the South, and with them were Ahmed Mohamed Noaman and Mahmood Al-Zobairy, together with other from the North.
Surveying the historical scene with its instruments and the results after independence in the South of the nation, with its intellectual, cultural and technical activities, has contributed in the rooting of the pillars of the nation’s unity in the Southern national identity and passed the way for establishing the comprehensive entity of the Modern Civil National State, leaving behind all the particulars and bumps of the political struggle and its deadlocks which were witnessed by both the South and the North. The establishment of a comprehensive national entity and the distortion that happened to it in the year 1990, should not have been the target for achieving a political deal between two systems in as much as it ought to have been a national project towards the building of the Modern Civil Yemeni State, a state of law and institutions, capable of overcoming the inheritance, having the separation outputs with its conduct and projects throughout the area of the nation.
Accordingly, the Southern Union project has wagered on the national sentiments and belief in the greatness of the Civil National Entity inclusive of the group of forces of our nation, to form all what the sovereignty of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen posses on a plate of this one entity, and Sana’a to become its capital and from where comes its president, without concern over the centralization and focalization of the new born state in the balance of forces of the authority of the previous system in the state of the Northern part. This tendency was basically not but a national option approved by all the leaderships who continued running the authority in the state of the Southern part and who signed on all the unity agreements, whereas the absence of the national project to build the modern civil state upon declaration of it birth, constituted in effort, the establishment of the state of the major unity with its transitional phase on which the wager was placed by the forces of modernity, rise, and enlightenment aiming at the building of the Modern civil state of the new born Republic of Yemen. The political projects which were associated with the interests of the separation forces in the Yemeni Arab Republic sought and were able to impose the face of management of the state with the components of the previous system; thus constituting an obstacle in the way of adoption of the characteristics of the civil state, its modern institutions, the values of its rising society and its aspirations in the two parts of the nation, as long as this project conveys harm to their interests. The forces of the previous system hostile to the values of the civil society, has remained barricading with particulars, instruments and alliances of this, lingering separation, inheritance and were able to arrive eventually to the total destruction of all the sincere and honest directions aiming at achieving the comprehensive national interests and accomplishing the full historical settlement which the Yemenis have been expecting over a period of one century and which last breat has manifested in the Document of Pledge and Agreement in the year 1994 which was sealed by their signature, but they disclaimed and discredited it with what was called the document of conspiracy and treachery.
The total abortion of the project of building the modern civil state emitted its political reality through an accumulation of crisis which formed their features starting with the aspects of assassination of Southern leaderships towards indications of giving back to the separation components for the country to enter the war of summer 1994, in an attempt to abort the project of the Modern civil state and impose domination of the separating Northern system on the national project of the modern legal state with tis vast horizons and so ending it ultimately by subjecting the Southern Governments to the language of the victorious vis-à-vis the domination of the traditional, political, military and tribal forces over the centers of power and decision making and affiliating whatever is possible of the landmarks of the South in accordance with a policy where all the civil and legal rights of the natives of these Governments were violated and tightening the situation towards a number of practices, the most noticeable of which are the following:-
1- The imposition of the policy of removal and marginalisation of the Southern leaderships and good calibre away from this effective management of the affairs of the country, as well as in the managerial positions of the various bodies and institutions of the civil, security and military state.
2- Control of decision making and its practice away from the spirit of partnership, equal citizenship and opportunities.
3- The organized and supported attitude of plundering and looting of private land and the real estate of the state and the various institutions of the public sector and the public and private properties, companies and agencies in the South.
4- Rendering ineffective execution of the decisions of the courts in the rights pertaining to the citizens and especially in the cases of private land and properties.
5- Imposition of outdated and un-civilized values and consolidation of the principle of un-equal citizenship in the rights and practice at the cost of the natives of the Southern Governments.
6- Rendering ineffectively the return of affiliates of the military and security institutions of Southern soldiers and affairs in various military and security ranks, to their positions except for a limited number, with a view to conceding the separation form of these un-national institutions.
7- Adoption of the policy of forcible dismissed of a lot of the Southern military, security and civil leaderships, through depriving them of performance of their jobs and forcing them to stay at home.
8- Deprivation of the Southern qualified cadre from most of the managerial positions in the executive bodies at their Governments vis-à-vis elements of less qualified, less experienced, un-skilled and incompetence from the Northern Governments.
9- Exercising the policy of doubting and disloyalty with regard to all demands of the natives of the Southern Governments where were discharged by this fact.
10- Exercising violations of public liberties, associations and coercive and arbitrary arrests outside of the law.
11- Creation of sectarianism and revenge issues arming the Southern population groups with a view to tearing the tie of the social unity in its civil behaviour with which these areas were characterized.
12- Exportation of forms and manners of terrorism since early time, to the Southern Governments with a view to distorting the modern civil identity of the South and transformation of these areas to centres for chaos and terrorism.
13- The deliberate deprivation of the natives of the Southern Governments from scholarships, rehabilitation courses and high university studies, and particularly to the countries of Western educational system with a view to weakening the scientific and practical abilities to the natives of the South and what this can do in order to weaken the civil trends of the state.
14- The systematic hostility to everything relating to consolidation of the role and status of the women and their affairs and participation in public life and brushing aside many of the gains which were accomplished by them in the course of the political process historically and at the level of the civil rights and in the scope of judiciary and diplomatic corps and the various institutions and legislative and trade union councils and civil rights organisations.
15- The deliberate removal of most of the diplomatic cadres and many of the qualified distinguished judiciary from the natives of the Southern Governments in accordance with the superlative trends of the traditional forces and what has resulted in the flagrant weakness of the performance of the diplomatic corps and the disgraceful defect of the principle of sovereignty of the law and independence of the judicial authority.
16- Consolidation of the hostile approach to the values of science, culture, art, ruse and enlightenment and the weakening and marginalization of their institutions and functioning in a methodical manner towards emptying the curricula of education from all that relates to the consolidation of their values.
The project of establishing the modern civil state of the unified country was exposed to confiscation before its body became strong and what this concept has conveyed with its backward approach and behaviours vis-à-vis the Southern reaction which was extended to horizons constituting the glorious Southern peaceful movement with its various spectrum, and which was expressed the state of grumble and rejection of all this approach and conduct, as a matter of fact in the different Southern Governments for the Southern issue to become a political demand and national established dues based on the principle of retrieval of the robbed right and dignity towards the building of the modern civil state. The progress and escalation of the revolution of the auspicious Southern peaceful movement in the year 2007 has constituted a decisive and new turning point on the way of the peaceful national struggle of our people who represented truly the front and locomotive upon which the guidance of it coarse and vigour, the revolution of the blessed youth popular change has emanated and its momentum and flame has escalated and expanded in all the fields and squares of the nation at the beginning of the year 2011. In this connection, we have no alternative and in all modesty, but to bow our heads in all revenue and high regard, in honour to o0ur bless martyrs and all the wounded and missing of the heroes of our blessed Southern peaceful movement and the glorious revolution of the youth of chance. We find it a favourable opportunity to assert our pledge to them and renew it by proceeding to achieve their exalted objectives and legitimate ambitions for equal citizenship under the modern legal civil state.
Announcement of the Assembly:
Emanating from the responsibility and realising the importance of engaging the powers and prospects, and unifying the Southern alignment with its components towards organising the visions and attitudes that serves fulfilment of the established dues of the Southern Cause, the preparatory committee declares the announcement of The Southern Civil Democratic Rally (SCDR-MAGD) (under establishment) an independent entity functioning by peaceful means towards all the rights and established dues for its projects aiming at the building of the modern civil state.
Accordingly, the Southern Civil Democratic Civil Rally (SCDR-MAGD) (under establishment) has assumed work towards the preparation of the project of the establishing documents for the Assembly pursuant its preliminary plan, and as it announces the composition of its preparatory committee, wishes to confirm that its initial number shell be made according to its expansion and completion of its full structure, and it shall announce shortly the number composing the constituent committee for the Assembly concerned with completion of preparation of all its documents and
according to the work plan which it will approve in its constituent meeting.
The following are the names of those composing the preparatory committee:-
1. Ahmed Mohamed Qaatabi
2. Dr. Mohamed Abdul-Mageed Qubaty
3. Jamal Ali Ahmed
4. Ahmed Hassan Al-Hamzi
5. Wagdi Shafik Aman
6. Dr. Abdullah Obal Mandook
7. Houriyah Mashhour Ahmed
8. Dr. Abdul Bari Dugaish
9. Dr. Ahmed Abdullah Al-Qadhi
10. Basem Saif
11. Dr. Nabeel Yousuf Mahyoob
12. Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Saif Al-Shaabi
13. Munir Abdullah Garadah
14. Abdul Rahman Kassem Ibrahim
15. Awadh Bin Awadh Mubgar (UK)
16. Dr. Adel Ibrahim Ghori
17. Shakeeb Mohamed Ismail (UK)
18. Afraa Ahmed Al-Zubair (UK)
19. Fawziah Ghanem (USA)
20. Faisal Ghanem (Canada)
21. Ali Saleh Abdullah
22. Captain Mohamed Ahmed Al-Baleet
23. Dr. Jaffer Mohamed Saeed Khamery
24. Saeed Ali Obaid Al-Jomhi
25. Mohamed Ali Mohamed Saad
26. Huda Mohamed Ali Luqman (UK)
27. Walid Khalil Saif (Egypt)
28. Abu-Bakr Abdul-Qawi Khalil
29. Abdullah Ali Ahmed Jubari
30. Dr. Tareq Kaid Mohamed Aghbari
31. Abdul Ilah Baggash Ali Abdullah
32. A. Rahman Thabet Alfaki (Egypt)
33. Dr. Mohamed Thabet Mahyoob
34. Azar Abdullah Al-Hamzi
35. Majeed Salem Hossam Ali-Shaabi
36. Alkhadher Amshaawy (Egypt)
37. Mohamed Ahmed Albeidani (Denmark)
38. Dr. Omar Abdul-Aziz (UAE)
39. Dr. Sameer Mohsen Shaybany (UK)
40. Ismail Nooman (Tunisia)
41. Othmam Babokhan (UK)
42. Galal Ali Mohamed Maktari (UK)
43. Fuad Abdul-Mageed Gawry (Canada)
44. Dr. Abdul-Rahman Sabry
45. Galal Abdul-Habeeb Qirshy (UK)
46. Faisal Mohamed Abdulla (Syria)
47. Dr. Adel Bakeely
48. Nasr Shadhily(UK)
49. Dr. Ahmed Alhamdani
50. Ilham Abdul-Wahab
51. Alwan Saif Hassan Al-Mukatly (UK)
52. Zuhair Gamal Gameel Aladhal (Germany)
53. Dr. Abdul-Aziz Mohsen Altareb
54. Faisal Mansor Salem
55. Assiya Alhaj (UK)
56. Basem Mohamed (UK)
57. Abdullah M.A. Al-Asbahi (UK)
58. Sultan Mahyoob Sultan
59. Husam Hasan Al-Sallamy(Switzerland)
60. Fatimah Fuad Yaseen Abu-Alasrar (USA)
The national vision of the Assembly:
The national vision of the The Southern Civil Democratic Civil Rally (SCDR-MAGD) is based on the actual established dues and to what the South and its natives have been exposed and to what has affected the Yemeni state in terms of practices that destroyed totally the unity of 22 May and its modern civil national project… and emanating from basic factual materials, we, in the Assembly, put our vision and its national progress, at important points of which are crystallized in the following
subjects:-
1- Working towards creating a Southern alignment among the various components and leaderships of the South and its numerous projects on a ground of the unity of cohesion and partnership, together with the acceptance of the difference in the visions and just solutions for the Southern cause without mistrusting or removal or cancellation or marginalization of any party or claim through monopoly of the truth by any other party.
2- It is not possible to overcome or neglect the established dues of the just solution of the Southern issue, as without it, it is impossible to build the modern legal civil state
3- The deferral state shall be the basis of building the comprehensive national civil entity and in accordance with a system of parliamentary rule.
4- It is not possible to provide and consolidate the primitive atmospheres for holding a serious national dialogue in which the Southern leaderships with their visions components and visions shall participate, unless it is preceded by tangible introductions guaranteeing restoration of trust through effective procedural steps, treating all the wrong, injustice, marginalization, and removal which did befell the South and its natives, and cancelling all the confiscation of the land, properties, agencies, companies and private and public institutions and reinstating all the civil and military expelled and dismissed to their work and units, taking into consideration all the promotions and rights from which they were deprived through the period of expulsion.
5- Positive consensus should be the basis of the outcome of any resolutions of the comprehensive inclusive national dialogue. So as to fulfil the objective of building the modern civil democrative state that fosters all individual freedoms and human rights, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.
6- The importance of the removal of the instruments of military, religions and tribal pressure, from influencing the scene of the political settlement that serves the cause of the national process without prejudice to the rules and principles of the true Islamic religion.
7- Separation shall be made between what has befallen on the natives of the South in damages of various kinds and the dimensions of their effects, with a view that settlement shall be made within the framework of legal treatments and special items beyond what were stated in the project of the law of transitional justice, being legal and political demands, the execution of which constitutes a supporting faction to the national project for building the modern civil state.
8- An express apology shall be made on the wrong opinion for the war of the year 1994 and its outputs and disastrous results and what befell the South, land and human beings, of coercion and plunder on rights and dignity.
9- The serious trend for building a state of modern legal citizenship and the actual triumph of the values of our civil society, shall not be fulfilled without working towards restoring the respect to the city of Aden and its natives and recognising their historical and pioneer role as a minaret and civilization for civil society, not only in the South and Yemen altogether, but in the whole Arabian island. And inspired from those meanings, the talk on the project of building the modern civil state shall remain of no use and significance and devoid of the momentum unless this project embraces the indiction, elements and probabilities to restore the city of Aden to its pioneer position and activates its special role being the symbol of the rise, civilizations and enlightenment and the gate of advancement, modernization and change.
10- Taking all the necessary measures and due arrangements to enable Aden to retrieve its central economic role, and work in a serious and urgent manner for advancing all its developmental elements and capabilities, and abolishing all the restraints and hurdles which had impeded and foiled the prosperity of its strategic port, free zone, international airport and historical refinery.
11- Compensating financially “Al-Ayam” newspaper and its publisher for all that have befell them in losses and damages, as well as the prompt release of its imprisoned watchman and dropping off all the fabricated cases against them in the different courts so that the newspaper can resume publication in the shortest possible time.
12- The civil Assembly does not accept utilization of the Southern issue as means by owners of some small projects to reproduce themselves not in agreement with all the legitimate established dues for the Southern cause and its modern legal civil state.
The preparatory committee has communicated its project and national vision with a big number of leaderships and political, national, parliamentarian and academic personalities and the Southern intellectuals inside and outside the nation, to demonstrate its project and vision and express its concern to be open to them and to all natives of the nation in the South with all their social segments and occupational categories in its effort to establish an Assembly overcoming the particulars of the conflict and avoiding totally the engagement in the political avenges and all that would inflict damages to the Southern cause and distort the legitimacy of it solution in a just manner at the time when the region and the world understand the importance of it tackling settlement in the manner that would satisfy our patient and aggrieved people in the South.
Accordingly, and believing in the justice and nobility of our cause and its civil advanced project, we put our national vision around all the progress and courses aiming at achieving and accomplishing the effective Southern national alignment within the scene of change which has become a reality and it is not right to ignore its national, regional and international dimensions within the framework of the total scene in general and the Southern cause in particular.
The Preparatory Committee
of The Southern Civil Democratic Rally (SCDR-MAGD)
(under establishment)
Issued on 04/07/2012
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[1] Cliff Lord and David Birtles, The Armed Forces of Aden 1839-1967, Helio & Company, Solihull, England, 2011, p. 13-14.
[2] Sultan Nagi, The Military Hostory of Yemen, 1839 – 1967, Alowdah House, Beirut, p.64.
[3] Abdul Aziz Al-Thaalabi, the Yemeni Journey: 12 August-17 October 1924, Islamist West House, Beirut, 1977, p.160-165.