Counterterrorism efforts in the south. Why call for a deeper strategy

This report aims to review the strategy of the confrontation war with terrorist organizations in Yemen - launched by the Southern Transitional Council since its inception, with the direct support of the United Arab Emirates - and addressed a number of security and military measures to combat violent extremism, combat impunity and ensure accountability for all those who contribute to the commission of criminal acts in accordance with international counter-terrorism legislation.

Introduction

Security and political stability in Yemen and the south cannot be achieved if the international community does not take the origins of the problem that manifested itself in the summer of 94 AD and the resulting occupation, terrorism, violence, injustice, killing, exile, displacement, disruption of the law and corruption of everything built by the national forces in Yemen and the south together.

The situation has become more fragile in the internal situation and security should be achieved through the rule of law and until today, efforts to prevent terrorism have been assigned to disrupt as well, and terrorism has become the ruler, legislator, security and law, on April 27, 1994 AD declared takfiri fatwas and war on the people of the south and the document of the covenant and agreement, which included in its first clauses the most important materials to combat terrorist organizations and elements in Yemen, but the war and with the support of the international community were able to occupy the south And turning it into a terrorist province that plunders its wealth, kills its children, violates its freedom, fights and disrupts its pioneering laws and regulations, which included all fields of human rights, political and civil rights, and was replaced by extremist and extremist terrorist legislation.

All this has led to the absence of a legal framework to combat terrorism and its money laundering, and Yemen has not fully complied with the international standards set out in the universal legal instruments to combat terrorism, despite the attempts of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to provide assistance by strengthening the legal system to combat terrorism.

First: Elements of the Crime of Terrorism

- Common legal bases used to criminalize terrorist acts, thereby indicating criminal acts and legal texts relating to requests for international cooperation in criminal matters.

- Providing legal bases common to all forms of international cooperation in combating terrorism.

- Commitments in the field of international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the statement of rules useful for good and effective cooperation.

- The competent institutions from which international cooperation in criminal matters and the criminalization of terrorist acts specified in the universal conventions and protocols against terrorism will be sought…

The criminalization of terrorist acts is defined in international conventions and protocols

The universal instruments constitute a global basis for international cooperation in criminal matters, as the sources of these international obligations include almost all the crimes and cooperation mechanisms necessary to combat terrorism at the international level, and this "arsenal" of conventions is complemented by Resolution (1373) issued in 2001, which represents an important tool for international cooperation in criminal matters.

Thus, the legal bases on which the criminalization of terrorist acts is based are as follows:

- Relevant Security Council resolutions

- Global instruments

- Regional instruments

- Arab legislation

- Local legislation

Yemen and lack of cooperation with the international community in the fight against terrorism.   

On 29 December 2009, Yemen's parliament was required to take three decisive steps to strengthen the country's counter-terrorism capacity by adopting a convention against the financing of terrorism and new laws to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, but it did not achieve this.

Since 2003, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been providing the regime in Sana'a with technical assistance for the ratification of the anti-terrorism conventions on 12 January 2010 without achieving any benefit in this area.

In 2011, the events in Sana'a highlighted the serious challenge to the enactment of counter-terrorism legislation in line with international standards. It also continues to build the capacity of law enforcement bodies and judicial institutions to put these legal instruments into scientific practice. These efforts are part of the Action Plan to prevent terrorism agreed upon between Yemen and UNODC in 2005 and revised in 2006-2008.

On 8 and 9 December 2009, the UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch, in conjunction with the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Committee of Yemen, held a workshop in Sana'a to train criminal justice officials in the judiciary, law enforcement and intelligence agencies and related ministries. Ms. Rotstrom-Rosen said that the regime in Sana'a does not ratify counter-terrorism instruments, and this is very dangerous in the field of counter-terrorism. to help strengthen its counterterrorism legal and institutional framework.

Second: Factors that contributed to the ideological expansion of terrorism

To find out the reasons for the transformation of the border areas and governorates between Yemen and the south into a safe haven for extremist Islamic groups, because these governorates are characterized by political and military loyalty to the Muslim Brotherhood and the military forces of the military commander Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, who is accused of sponsoring terrorist elements in Yemen, where most of these societies have become social disintegration and their inability to impose their authority outside the main cities, and the communities of those governorates (Taiz - Marib - Al-Bayda) suffer from political failure, corruption, lack of education services and scarcity of economic opportunities, which opened The door is wide open to the spread of human trafficking, prostitution, drugs and arms smuggling, and thus terrorist organizations and elements were able to exploit these gaps and the ability to move freely in those governorates and work to conclude alliances with local groups and seek the help of a number of tribal figures.

The other element that contributed to the expansion of the activity of extremist terrorist groups in the southern border belt was abundant self-financing, through money laundering, drug trafficking and crime, to the extent that the organized crime operations of these groups generate millions of dollars for them.

- The Southern Transitional and Strategic Options to Defeat Terrorist Organizations:

Terrorist crime is a social phenomenon that is dealt with by criminal justice systems and security agencies, not by political interference that multiplies its danger and achieves propaganda goals for terrorist organizations, so the Transitional Council must carry it out at the current stage.

There are two options for the Southern Transitional Council to confront terrorist organizations:

- The first option: the ongoing fight against terrorism.

President Commander Aidarous bin Qassim al-Zubaidi stated that the southerners provided convoys of martyrs and wounded in order to win this fateful battle, which the southern armed forces are waging as a pivotal partner for the regional and international communities in the field of combating terrorism, and will continue their national tasks to secure international shipping lanes in Bab al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden, and to preserve international interests away from the threat of terrorist groups and extremism.

President Zubaidi's assertion that the battle against terrorism is fateful and we will not retreat from it, and this is the fixed choice in the policy of the Southern Transitional Council, but the reality requires reducing existing threats, preventing the emergence of new threats, and stopping attacks against southern cities and military, political and civilian figures.

This option requires the establishment of a local, regional and international partnership in order to avoid lasting complications that may lead to future predicaments and great costs for our people in the South. This option entails building and maintaining a network of regional alliances to gain access and creation rights, a sustained and intensive focus on intelligence and aerial bombardment, and targeting high-level individuals in those organizations.

Option Two: Stability Based on Local Forces

Consistent and lasting stability will continue when it emerges from popular satisfaction with the status quo and other socio-economic conditions, and mitigation of any military action coming from external forces. Violent groups are defeated mainly through indirect means, such as legitimacy, democratization, economic aid and building an internal local coalition.

These two strategies need a number of foundations:

- Consolidation of command and control

- Rearrange and carefully manage expectations

- Consider changing the approach of the southern armed forces in strategic planning for irregular warfare.

Recommendations and suggestions:

1. The Southern Transitional Council must enact exceptional legislation to combat terrorism, especially since there is no legislation in its own right in Yemen, and because the south is a land and a people target for terrorist organizations, it has the right to take a step like that compared to previous experiences, as there are counter-terrorism measures adopted in times of crisis or in cases of high political tensions, which are measures designed to be short-term, but they may become with the passage of time well-established measures that law enforcement authorities can invoke. out routinely. Many of the emergency legislation enacted by States in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, for example, are still in force. It may hinder the feeling of an urgent political necessity.
2. Securing the border belt of the south, which has become in the crosshairs of terrorist organizations The international terrorist organizations in Yemen are stationed in governorates that enjoy a strategic location (Marib, Taiz and Al-Bayda, and these governorates are among the most important geographical, political, maritime and tribal sites. After the liberation of Aden and Lahj and the launch of the operations arrows of the east and arrows of the south, the terrorist organizations retreated and lost many of their positions in Abyan, Shabwa and Hadramawt, most of their leaders and members fled to the governorates of Taiz, Al-Bayda and Marib.
3. Addressing the conditions conducive to terrorism and countering violent extremism Despite the great efforts made by the Southern Transitional Council and with the support of the United Arab Emirates against terrorism and its defeat in most of the southern governorates, terrorism continues to flourish in environments where violence and corruption continue to be practiced under the auspices of leading figures in the Yemeni state with impunity, especially in places where tensions are still high, the southern regions with a tribal structure in Abyan, Shabwa and Wadi Hadramawt, where the Brotherhood seeks to exacerbate Grievances between social groups, and where it leads to the creation of a climate of injustice. Factors that can contribute to these conditions include violations associated with long-standing unresolved conflicts.
4. Demand that the international community provide adequate military and developmental support to the Southern Transitional Council and the living forces in the south to engage local communities and relevant non-state actors in developing strategies to counter violent extremist rhetoric that could incite the commission of terrorist acts.
5. Address the conditions conducive to the prevalence of violent extremism that can lead to terrorism, including by empowering youth, families, women, leaders in religious, cultural and educational settings, and all other relevant civil society groups.
6. Adopt tailored approaches to countering this violent extremism and promoting social inclusion and cohesion among the people of the South.
7. Make ongoing efforts to promote the engagement of local communities and authorities in building trust, supporting local ownership of initiatives, and developing positive counter-discourse.
8. Calling on the international community to call on States that have not established a definition of terrorism in their legislation to initiate a definition of terrorism in their criminal legislation consistent with the definition contained in international conventions.
9. Punishment for terrorism in whatever form and by whatever means, as long as it is a criminal means and as long as it is intended or likely to cause panic and terror among certain persons or the general public.