Yemeni’s must work together to ensure human rights for all

In order to improve the situation of human rights in Yemen, a collective effort is needed from the government, civil society organizations and citizenry at large. Essential is greater government transparency to ease access to information, and put new laws into effect. Everybody knows that Yemen has strong laws governing all facets of life, but it lacks effective law enforcement. We read and hear about violations of human rights against prisoners, children, journalist, but at the same time we do not hear about officers being sacked for torturing prisoners, a man imprisoned for torturing children, or judges censured for breaching the rights of journalists.

A number of international organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, publish reports concerning human rights in Yemen, but the information they present lacks indepth information. There needs to be comprehensive cooperation and coordination between NGOs and government bodies. 

The role of the media has to be increased if we truly want to improve the situation of human rights. Journalists have to have complete access to information and places, such as jails and prisons, to check the situation and talk to prisoners.

We at the Yemen Observer believe that if the media does not play a stronger role, any efforts in this regard will be useless. We are in favor of the involvement of the media in improving the awareness of citizens concerning human rights.

We have great hope in all kinds of media outlets, and we rely on them to promote human rights. We do believe that the issue needs greater training. However, any effort to increase respect for human rights needs to be backed up with official support, effective laws, and the embrace of the values of human rights.  

Any work seeking to promote human rights does not come from theories devised by elites, who some believe they are the most capable of dealing with the issue in question. What is more important is to create a social environment that believes in the importance of the issue, and works towards it in a dedicated manner. This can create equality and  balance in society to be  free from any of the disorders caused by social problems.   If we were really able to reach ordinary citizens and convince them that hitting their children is wrong, this would be the first step in ending a long history of violations against the rights of women and children.  We are in favor of the introduction of subjects dealing with human rights in schools from an early age, and to make human rights an important subject in all university majors. Only then can we improve the health of our society.

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