As events unfolded in Tunisia and Egypt in January 2011 and mass protests spread to the Arabian Peninsula. Slowly people started finding their voice. Although in early February, anti-government protests had been ongoing for several days, there was a feeling of safety in numbers and solidarity amongst the attendees of mass demonstrations.

But in those early weeks, I watched a youth protester become embroiled in a furious debate on a public bus in Sana’a. The youth sparred with an elderly man who had lived through Yemen’s civil war of the 1960s and witnessed the fall of the Imamate, and many moved away from the young student as he raged over the heads of passengers about Yemen’s long standing leader. Others looked on nervously before the driver demanded the youth’s silence. He refused, deciding instead to disembark rather than submit. The brief but vociferous exchange left the remaining occupants in stunned silence. From these small beginnings and expression of years of frustration, Yemen’s revolution and a year of political unrest grew.

Compared to its regional neighbours, pre-2011 Yemenis enjoyed relative freedom. Multiple political opposition parties existed, a small but unwavering independent press operated in contrast to the state media and the multiple government aligned newspapers. Despite this apparent tolerance, when the protest movement took off after the fall of Egypt’s President Mubarak on February 11, Yemeni journalists covering demonstrations calling for the end of Saleh’s 33-year rule, were amongst the first victims of a campaign of intimidation and attacks. Six journalists were killed during last year’s violence, more than any other country caught up in the Arab Spring, according to International Press Institute figures. Between 1994 and 2008, nine Yemeni journalists were killed in mysterious car accidents or other questionable accidental deaths .

But since a new unity government — including new heads of the Ministry of Information and Ministry for Human Rights — formed last month, following Saleh’s signing of a Gulf and UN-brokered transfer of power deal in November, Yemen’s media has experienced a significant shift. The staunch support for Saleh and his General People’s Congress party across the state media has changed dramatically. For the first time pictures of anti-government demonstrations were run on the front page of government aligned newspapers, whilst the Ministry of defence weekly newspaper, 26 September, printed accusations of corruption against its own editor, marking a new phase in protests across the country.

In December, separate to, but emboldened by 12 months of anti-government demonstrations, civil servants and workers at government institutions began their own small but in several cases effective demonstrations , civil servants and workers at government institutions began their own small but in several cases effective demonstrations – anti-corruption rallies. Labelled Yemen’s “parallel revolution” from Sana’a police headquarters to the coast guard in Aden workers have gone out on strike demanding the removal of corrupt bosses. The latest ongoing walkout by members of Yemen’s air force began on January 22, disrupting flights at Sana’a airport, which also acts as Yemen’s main air force base, as protesting airmen demanded the removal of the air force chief, also President Saleh’s half-brother, Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmer. The mutiny has reportedly spread to three more airbases across the country. The Yemeni people have found their voice and the power of peaceful protest as a way of expressing not only their dissatisfaction against the outgoing president Saleh — who left the country on 22 January for medical treatment in the US — but are having a real impact in the removal of several officials.

The Gulf and UN-brokered deal, which is now being implemented, falls short of most people’s expectations, in particular the immunity law passed by parliament last weekend that gives protection from prosecution to Saleh for “politically motivated crimes” and all those acting for him “in their official capacity.” The bill was described by Human Rights Watch as unlawful and “an affront to victims and a blow to justice.” Next month’s election should be an historic moment in a country where nearly two generations have only known one leader. But the election of Vice-President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi is a formality rather than a diplomatic process to finally remove Mr Saleh from office.  After a year of political unrest and with the military and air force still under the control of Saleh’s sons, nephews and extended family members , his influence has yet to end, and Yemen’s future remains uncertain.

Crucially the transition initiative excludes three isolated groups: the pre-existing Southern Movement and their demand for secession, the northern Houthi rebels, calling for autonomy, who have fought six wars against the government since 2004, in addition to the 2011 protest movement.

2011 in Yemen will not only be remembered as a year of blood shed and turmoil and the year a Yemeni activist , Tawakkol Karman, became the first female from the Arab world to win a Nobel Peace Prize, but also for a notable and seemingly irreversible shift: Yemenis are no longer willing to accept years of endemic corruption throughout the state system. As the country moves into a two year period of transition, ahead of parliamentary elections in 2014, it will be up Yemenis external to the political process to maintain pressure on the unity government and politicians in order for any real change to take place.

Iona Craig is a freelance journalist based in Sana’a

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The arrest last week of 28-year-old freelance journalist, Glen Johnson, in southern Yemen was unsurprising news for foreign reporters who are based here, or to anyone who has have ever considered attempting to cover the story of the southern separatist movement here in Yemen. But what is worrying is his continued detention.

As a foreigner trying to write about the south (and similarly the northern Houthis who have fought several wars with the government since 2004) it’s a risky business in Yemen. Although this appears not to have been Johnson’s mission (he was reportedly covering people smuggling via Djibouti), any Western face in the south is treated with suspicion by the authorities.

Long before anti-government protests began here in January, followed by widespread unrest since February, turning up in the southern port-city of Aden would result in a polite greeting by a smartly dressed Yemeni, either at the airport, or any hotel you chose to frequent. Questions asking: where you are from, what you are doing and why you are there, would follow. These suited men, otherwise known as the PSO (political security) seem harmless enough on approach, but are certainly best avoided.

Travelling around Yemen, especially in the south, without permission to do so, or surreptitiously, will inevitably lead to arrest and deportation.

I turned down an invite of a trip to Abyan on my last visit to Aden, despite the insistence of a deputy minister. I didn’t have the paper work that would permit free passage through numerous checkpoints. Ducking and diving the authorities is perhaps worth the risk for visiting journalists, but as a resident reporter you in effect risk losing your job if you’re deported. The cost is rarely worth it. Cover the story as best you can from here? Or do it from a desk in London, Cairo or Dubai? These are the stories you think you’ll reserve for the weeks before you decide to leave the country for good.

But the most worrying and unique aspect of Johnson’s arrest is, that so far, he hasn’t turned up at Sana’a airport, accompanied by security personnel to await the next flight out, as is common policy when foreign journalists are deported here.

With the current unrest and lack of governance it’s a concern that his detention could be prolonged. Government security contacts in the capital Sana’a were not even aware of his existence when contacted this week.

Many civil servants and government employees have complained of not being paid for several months since anti-government protests began. With payment often being linked to their allegiance, or lack of, to the now departed president Saleh.

The concern is that Johnson’s detention could become a bargaining chip for disgruntled government officials in Lahij, where he is reportedly being held, possibly for financial gain. In a far off prison in the south the publicity surrounding his imprisonment is weakened. Conditions will be far from pleasant. Although as a foreigner it is likely he will be treated far better than his Yemeni counterparts.

As a freelance journalist outside help to negotiate his release will lack support from a regular employer, as is the lot of a freelancer in such circumstances. The British Embassy in Sana’a, currently reduced to a skeleton staff due to the security situation here, is helping. But moves to secure his release look limited. Details of Johnson’s detention are sketchy and unconfirmed, according to a Foreign Office official. The current security and operational situation “is seriously constraining their ability to make much progress.”

This is not the first brush with authorities Johnson has had during the Arab Spring, but Amnesty International and the International Journalist Federation (IJF) have already raised their concerns about his continued detention in Yemen. With limited information about his imprisonment and the worsening security situation in the south, the calls for Johnson’s release require amplified support and action.

Many Yemeni journalists and local media outlets have come under attack in recent months, amid widespread anti-government protests.

The Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 2010 Press Freedom Index, last year ranked Yemen 170 out of 178 countries.

Iona Craig is a freelance journalist based in Sana’a

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Journalists are protected and free to go about their work, claim Yemen’s government and President Ali Abdullah Saleh, but the reality on Yemen’s streets is very different as anti-regime protests continue to spread.

Reporters and photographers trying to cover demonstrations complain of being attacked by pro-Saleh loyalists and state security and local press outlets have also been targeted.  News website Al-Masdar was blocked on 27 February, for the fifth time since its launch in 2009.

Vehicles carrying copies of the newspaper to Aden have been blocked from entering the southern city during the last two weeks, Ali Al-Garadi, editor-in-chief, Al-Dyar, told the Yemen Times.

Human Rights Watch last month listed 31 journalists who were beaten or harassed during recent anti-government protests, despite Saleh ordering security forces to “provide the needed protection for journalists to help them carry out their job”.

Since then the number has grown. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, which had its own building stormed ten days ago, has recorded 53 cases of bullying, ranging from threatening phone calls to physical attacks.

Local Yemeni journalists remain at greatest risk, with assaults on journalists reported in Aden, Ibb and Ad-Dali, whilst the house of Nasser Abdullah Aldibibi, editor of Al-Hurra newspaper, was torched on 2 March in Sana’a.

Foreign journalists, in particular photographers, have also been victims of the media crackdown. Plain clothes PSO (Political Security Organisation) officers have taken or broken camera equipment and confiscated memory cards. Following an altercation over filming at protests, the PSO stopped one journalist’s taxi at gunpoint.

Getting into the country is also increasingly difficult. Yemen has “temporarily suspended all media-related visa processing until further notice”. This is due to the “overwhelming number of visas demanded”, according to a government statement issued on 4 March.

Dublin-based photographer, Paulo Nunes dos Santos, didn’t even make it out of the airport after receiving his entry visa. Security men confiscated his passport and mobile phone before deporting him on 6 March.

Despite attempts to curtail media coverage the call for an end to Saleh’s 32-year rule has grown stronger. Anti-government protests have spread across the country, to 20 of Yemen’s 21 provinces.

Anti-Saleh rhetoric has become more prevalent. Children and students can be heard singing revolution songs in the streets of the capital. Political debates on the “debabs” (public transport mini-buses) around Sana’a, openly criticising the president, are becoming almost familiar – something few would have been brave enough to do a month ago.

Iona Craig is a freelance journalist based in Sana’a

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A pattern of violence became almost familiar on Monday when once again several hundred activists gathered outside the capital’s Sana’a University chanting: “Saleh leave, all the people hate you.”  As on previous days, supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh were also present, waving uniform placards of the president, whilst carrying sticks and batons. After attempts to keep the two sides apart failed the batons were put to use and stones were thrown.

The previous day’s protest ended with greater brutality when plain clothed security forces using taser guns, batons and sticks waded in to a shrinking crowd of 100 demonstrators as they began a sit-in at a major road junction. More than 20 activists were arrested and several injured.

Unlicensed protests are considered illegal by the ruling General People’s Congress (GPC) Party, who have been quick to crackdown on peaceful protests in Sana’a and the highland city of Taizz, since a gathering on Friday night in celebration of Mubarak’s fall, came to a violent close, when security forces in civilian clothes set upon demonstrators.

On Monday truck loads of soldiers conspicuously carried baseball bat style batons, rather than their usual guns, as they guarded the route of the previous day’s march from the university to the President’s (Al-Saleh) Mosque.

Using violence to break up anti-government protest is not unusual in Yemen. Southern separatists, who have been calling for independence in almost weekly demonstrations since 2007, have been shot at during confrontations with government security forces.

It appears Saleh has learnt from recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that shooting civilians grabs headlines, whilst beatings by plain clothed government men are less conspicuous.

The attacks on peaceful protesters have had some of the desired effect. The turnout at the university was smaller today — several hundred compared to Sunday’s throng that grew to over 1,000. But in Taizz protesters have continued to come out in greater numbers than the capital. After a reported 20,000 gathering on Saturday, many stayed out on the streets until dawn. The next few days in Yemen could be costly both for the government and demonstrators.

Iona Craig is a freelance journalist and editor at the Yemen Times, Sana’a

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As Cairo’s Tahrir Square and surrounding area spiraled into chaos,the central square of the same name (Liberation) in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, was inhabited by pro-Saleh supporters in oversized tents.

Despite two opposing demonstrations taking place in the capital — pro- and anti-government — the feared violence on Yemen’s “day of rage” failed to materialise on Thursday, at least in Sana’a.

To the east of the country, in the coastal city of Mukkalla, the main city of Hadramaut province, at least one person was reportedly shot when government security forces opened fire on demonstrators. Other major protests took place in Taiz, Ibb and the southern city of Aden, where 22 people were arrested, according to local press.

Unfortunately there is no western media coverage of the provincial cities and as far as the world’s press was concerned, Yemen’s “day of rage” rather fizzled out. Tahrir Square in Sana’a couldn’t have offered a scene of greater contrast to that of Cairo’s. In Yemen’s capital, the day turned into a massive chewing session of the mildly narcotic leaf, qat, by pro-government supporters as they settled in to large wedding-style tents.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been extremely clever in his management of events here. After 32 years in power, he has become something of an expert at keeping his job.

Since the knock-on effect of Tunisia’s uprising began to be felt and protests in Yemen mounted, the president has announced a string of welfare reforms to appease the people and on the eve of Thursday’s protests, he declared that he would not stand for re-election at the end of his term in 2013. He made the same declaration in 2005 before standing as president in 2006. Saleh also reached out to opposition parties on Wednesday by conceding on a four-member electoral committee, stating that it would now include two opposition members. The coalition of opposition parties, the JMP, has so far boycotted the election process, due in April.

The president’s PR machine has been so slick that his supporters were ready and waiting to cheer him on — and call on him not to stand down in 2013 — before he had even made the announcement in an emergency parliament meeting on Wednesday. The takeover of the capital’s main square meant that planned anti-government demonstrators were forced to switch location at the last minute to Sana’a University.

Despite a distinct build up in security — soldiers occupied every major junction and street corner in the capital on Thursday — the two sets of demonstrations passed off peacefully without ever meeting. In the rest of the country where the international press does not tread, events were less passive.

On Friday in Sana’a there were no spontaneous follow-ups to yesterday’s demonstrations, organised by the opposition. Yemenis are so far reluctant to pick up the baton from the Egyptians. What’s happening in the rest of Yemen is less clear and may be more crucial than events in the capital.

Iona Craig is a freelance journalist and editor at the Yemen Times, Sana’a.

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As demonstrations in Egypt continue into their fifth day Yemen had its moment in the international spotlight on Thursday as around 10,000 people took to the capital’s streets. But the nature of the “protest” in Sana’a was very different to those in Tunis or Cairo.

The Yemeni effort certainly looked impressive, but on the ground it was clear that in reality these so called “protests” were political rallies. Organised by a coalition of opposition parties, members of parliament sat on chairs in neat rows as they listened to political speeches condemning Saleh and his government. There were even suggestions that people had been bussed in by opposition politicians from villages and towns outside the city.

Thursday’s speeches called for renewed national dialogue and denounced constitutional reforms proposed earlier this month — all compromises that Saleh and his ruling General People’s Congress party can afford to concede ground on. Parliamentary elections are due on 27 April, but the opposition is currently boycotting the process. If Saleh responds by giving some concessions to his political opponents he will quiet the call for his resignation, at least for now.

Ultimately the grass roots still remain indifferent to the calls for change. There is no tension on the streets and no fire in the belly of Yemenis at large to create a movement like the one we’re seeing across Egypt. It’s been two days since the large orchestrated crowds gathered in Sana’a, but there have been no spontaneous gatherings since — aside from a small gathering of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate outside the Egyptian embassy today.

If Yemen is going to see anything on the scale of Egypt’s uprising then it is likely to come from the already fractious southern separatists in Aden. In order to progress it would require support from Sana’a, Taizz and elsewhere.

There are further opposition rallies are planned for 3 February, Yemenis may claim that Tunisians inspired them and but only they can show the will to see it through. At the moment, whilst everyone else is looking at Egypt, here in Sana’a people still can’t see or even imagine a Yemen beyond Saleh. The president, who has ruled for 32 years, has his own vision for the future — his son Ahmed, currently head of the Yemen Republican Guard.

Iona Craig is a freelance journalist and an editor at The Yemen Times, Sana’a

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Reports have said she will remain on hunger strike until 18 of her supporters, arrested on Sunday, are also released.

I met Karman, director of Women Journalists Without Chains and member of opposition party Islah, during the trial of recently sentenced journalist Abdul-Elah Haidar Shaye. She is one of a growing number of educated young Yemenis willing to stand up to the authorities, in a country where those who do so risk lengthy imprisonment, without contact from family or any legal representation and face possible torture.

Karman led two Tunisian inspired protests in the capital Sana’a last week calling on President Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for more than 32 years, to “Leave before you are forced to leave”. Further protests have taken place in Yemen’s southern city of Aden and the highland city of Taizz.

But despite the demonstrations, which led to one protestor being shot dead in Aden on Sunday, it seems unlikely, although not impossible, that any of these activities will bring down the 64 year-old president and his dominant General People’s Congress Party (GCP). Only a joining of Yemenis with grievances against the government- and there are many of them: southern separatists, northern rebels; not to mention Yemenis in general who have been let down by a weak and corrupt government; could cause a realistic threat.

Unlike Tunisia the US and its allies have a considerable interest in the political stability of the fragile gulf state. There is fear over the consequences of any government collapse in Yemen, where the US regards the threat of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to be a growing one.  The forced removal of Saleh would have the potential to throw the country into turmoil led by tribal power struggles, increased pressure from southern separatists and a Houthi uprising in the north.

The southern provinces of Yemen, formerly the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen until unification in 1990, not only hold the country’s dwindling oil fields, but the southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwah are also claimed as the hosts of a significant number of AQAP members.

It is this fear and the way it would play into the hands of AQAP that lies behind US and British policy, which is firmly against a Sudan-style southern succession and any sudden change in national leadership.  Whilst the US and Britain support parliamentary elections, due to take place in April, their support for democracy is in keeping with the Saleh vision of a single Yemen state. Earlier this month Washington raised concerns in a statement about proposals put forward by the government to change Yemen’s constitution. One of the changes would allow Saleh to remain in power for life.

Saleh himself continued this week with his well-known method of juggling. In response to the protests the president announced on Sunday that government and armed forces wages would be raised and there have been unconfirmed reports that income tax will be cut by 50 percent. In his speech Saleh asked for “forgiveness” and called for “dialogue” with the opposition. All while his security services where arresting and imprisoning activists.

Although Karman and all those who have marched through the streets of Sana’a, Taizz and Aden for the last two weeks have shown brave defiance, it seems improbable that any significant change will come about as a result. Saleh may yet agree to stand down in 2013, but Yemen is not a place where you can hold your breath waiting for political promises to be fulfilled. And the invisible hand of the US will no doubt be cupping its fingers around the ear of the long-standing president to have a quiet word.

Iona Craig is a freelance journalist and editor at the Yemen Times, Sana’a.

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