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Public Information
Bureau of Public Affairs, Rm. 6808
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Tel: 202-647-6575

At a time when basic human rights in Yemen are violated, when critics of the
regime are silenced, and when newspapers are either closed
(Al Shoura, Al-Haqiqah, Al-Mustaqbal, Sout Al-Ummal) or under the threat of
closing (Al-Ayyam, Al-Thawri, Al-Wahdawi, etc.), the President of Yemen comes
to Washington and expects to be welcomed by the U. S. Secretary of State with
open arms. How could this happen, and what kind of a message will it send to
dictators and human rights violators around the world?

Madam Secretary, please read this paragraph from your Department's 1999
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. This is what the report on Yemen
had to say about that country's government:

The Government's human rights record continues to be poor. There are
significant limitations on citizens' right to change their government. There
were instances of extrajudicial killing by some members of the security
forces. Members of the security forces tortured and otherwise abused persons,
and continued to arrest and to detain citizens arbitrarily, especially
oppositionists in the south and other persons regarded as "secessionists."
Prison conditions are poor and some detainees were held in private prisons
not authorized by the Government. PSO officers have broad discretion over
perceived national security issues. Despite constitutional constraints, they
routinely monitor citizens' activities and search their homes, detain
citizens for questioning, and mistreat detainees.

Is there more evidence than this?
I urge you, Madam Secretary, to please cancel the dinner meeting with Field
Marshal Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of Yemen, and the dictator who has
caused so much damage to his own people for over 21 years. Human rights
violators must not be welcomed with open arms!!!
 

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