The Southern Transitional Council (STC), the de facto authority in southern Yemen, must urgently lift oppressive restrictions on civil society organizations operating or seeking to establish themselves in Aden, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) said today. While Aden has become a refuge for organizations fleeing the Houthis’ escalating assaults on civil society in the north, it is crucial for the STC to uphold freedom of association and safeguard the civic space for all.
The STC is imposing severe restrictions on civil society organizations in Aden, forcing many to scale back their activities, suspend programs, or cease operations altogether. Numerous organizations struggle to register and obtain licenses, while those with existing registrations often encounter difficulties in renewing them. Moreover, some registered organizations are prohibited from fully executing their intended activities.
“The arbitrary restrictions imposed by the STC in Aden are undermining the crucial role that civil society plays in Yemen. Some of these organizations operate in the humanitarian, development, and human rights fields, all of which are essential areas where civilians desperately need support and assistance,” said Amna Guellali, Research Director at CIHRS.
In May and June 2024, the Houthis, de facto governing authority in the Yemeni capital Sana’a and other cities, arrested at least 72 staff members from international civil society organizations, and UN bodies from their homes and offices in Sana’a, Hodeida, and other cities. Consequently, dozens of human rights defenders, employees, and directors of civil society organizations moved from north of Yemen to the south in search of safety.
CIHRS has conducted interviews with senior directors from eleven organizations. Some of these organizations were already based in Aden, fully registered and possessing valid licenses to operate, while others have relocated from northern Yemen due to the Houthis’ recent massive crackdown on the civil society organizations. Although two directors reported better conditions in Aden compared to the north, nine organizations highlighted significant challenges that disrupt their operations and have led to the shutdown of some. For security reasons, the names of all individuals interviewed, as well as those of the organizations, have been redacted.
An uphill struggle for civil society organizations to register and renew permits
Yemen’s Law No. (1) of 2001 on Civil Society Organizations was introduced to regulate the work of associations and foundations throughout the country. This law replaced the previous legislation from before the Unification in 1990 and requires organizations to submit their applications to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, which issues an acknowledgment receipt. The law stipulates that the Ministry must respond within one month, with the silence of the administration deemed as “acceptance.” However, Article (10) specifies that the Ministry should notify applicants if their application is rejected, though the law does not specify the grounds for rejection, thereby granting the authorities broad discretionary power to approve or deny registration. Article (11) allows organizations sixty days from receipt of the rejection notification to file an appeal against the Ministry’s decision in the competent court.
In practice, authorities in Aden do not comply with the law. According to interviews conducted by CIHRS with six organizations, none were able to submit their applications. All six were verbally rejected. This verbal rejection prevents applicants from pursuing legal action against the Ministry, as they lack the official rejection notice necessary for filing a legal complaint according to Article (11) of the law.
CIHRS has documented four cases where the STC refuses to issue permits for organizations whose founders are “Northerners”.
The founder of one organization told CIHRS, “They [the Ministry of Social Affairs] refused to receive our application when we applied in 2021, stating it was because I am from the north of the country. When we reapplied in 2024, we received the same response.” This organization has been unable to register for three years and, as a result, cannot operate. They did not pursue legal action because they never received a written rejection: “Applying has cost us a lot of money and effort, and we can’t even afford to pay a lawyer to file a complaint.”
Another human rights defender who has been trying for two years to register and open an office for her organization in Aden, told CIHRS “the government official told me, you are from the north; go work from there.”
In late May and June of this year, the Houthis arrested dozens of civil society and UN workers, forcing many to shut down their offices in Houthi-controlled areas and relocate to Aden in search of a safer working environment. These individuals and their organizations now encounter significant bureaucratic hurdles, not due to the nature of their work but because of their origins. CIHRS interviewed a human rights defender who fled Sana’a in June; he stated, “I can either work in the north and risk arrest like many others, or stay in the south and never work again.”
Even when organizations are duly registered, they may face additional hurdles when they attempt to renew their registration permit. CIHRS spoke with five organizations that described the difficulties of renewing their permits annually. Although the law does not contain any article requiring organizations to apply for a permit renewal each year, the procedures set forth by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor do mandate it. The Ministry’s official website outlines the steps each organization must take to obtain renewal. Despite following these procedures, three of the five organizations failed to register and subsequently ceased operating in Aden.
According to five organizations and the Ministry’s website, organizations must submit an extensive list of documents to obtain approval for renewing their permits. Each organization is issued an identification card, which is crucial for operations; some landlords require it to renew rental contracts, the official bank in Aden needs it to keep accounts open, and some donors also request a copy.
A director from one of the organizations stated that they held a valid registration and permit to operate in Aden since 2018. However, he noted “having a permit in the past doesn’t guarantee that renewal will be easily granted; our requests for renewal have not been approved since 2022.” As a result, his organization had to close its office and relocate staff outside of Aden.
Permit renewals are never formally rejected. The organizations CIHRS spoke with reported receiving verbal rejections without any written decisions, making it difficult for them to pursue legal action. This process of renewing permits has become an arbitrary tool used by the STC to crackdown on organizations whose work they oppose.
“Each Activity Requires an Approval”
Starting in early 2023, the STC has implemented unlawful bureaucratic decisions against organizations in Aden, including a requirement that each organization submits requests for approval for every planned activity. Organizations were never formally informed of these decisions; one learned of them by chance while renewing their annual permits, when the Ministry’s employees mentioned the new requirement. This organization then relied on word of mouth to inform others in Aden. Thus, even registered organizations are not immune to the illegal authority wielded by the STC against civil society; they can still find ways to halt activities they disapprove of.
According to the Ministry’s website, organizations must ask for approval for any project or activity funded by agencies, persons, or foreign organizations. At least five organizations that CIHRS spoke with described how vague the documentation requirements are for approving an activity. Officially the Ministry requires “examining the project documents” but in practice, it can request any document, even those that may compromise the security of staff members or participants.
An organization working in development told CIHRS that, in 2023, to seek approval for a joint public meeting with other organizations in Aden, they had to submit a detailed report of the activity to the Ministry, including the location, timing, source of funding, a list of participants with their IDs, and even the IDs of the event’s photographers. This represents a blatant violation of individual privacy and jeopardizes security.
A senior employee from another organization stated that when they requested approval for an activity in Aden, the “Ministry insisted we change the wording of the meeting title, and only then did they approve the activity.” Such flagrant interference in the work of civil society organizations undermines their independence and forces them to align with the authorities’ agendas and policies.
International standards
The right to freedom of association, along with the conditions under which it may be restricted, is delineated in Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Yemen ratified in 1987:
“(1) Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of their interests.
(2) No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those prescribed by law and necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety, public order (order public), the protection of public health or morals, or the rights and freedoms of others.
Under international law, specific additional requirements must be met to justify restrictions on freedom of association. Notably, any restrictions imposed must be deemed “necessary in a democratic society,” indicating that they should address a pressing public need while adhering to fundamental democratic values such as pluralism and tolerance. For instance, procedural formalities related to the recognition of associations must not be overly burdensome to the point of effectively restricting the right to freedom of association.
The special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, in their 2012 thematic report to the UN Human Rights Council, remarked that while the procedures for establishing an association as a legal entity differ from country to country, it is essential that government officials act in good faith, without bias, and in a timely manner.
Moreover, the special rapporteur emphasized that a “notification procedure” for associations aligns better with international human rights law compared to a “prior authorization procedure.” This notification process allows associations to automatically gain legal status as soon as the authorities are notified by the founders about the creation of the association. In many countries, this notification involves submitting a written statement containing clearly defined information, but it does not serve as a prerequisite for the association’s existence; rather, it functions as a means for the administration to officially record the establishment of the association.
Recommendations to the STC de facto authority in the South
- Immediately instruct relevant ministries to provide deposit receipts to associations upon submission of their founding documents or any other legally required documents.
- Refrain from refusing to register associations, unless the founding documents of an association contain hate speech, discriminatory language, or incitement to violence.
- Conform to the law by removing the requirement for organizations to renew their permits annually and recognize all registered organizations as lawfully operating in Aden and any other STC-controlled area.
- Ensure that administrative authorities do not undermine the exercise of the right to freedom of association and suppress all local directives that interfere with associations’ activities.
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