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Yemen urged to address rights abuses
Local and international human rights groups are urging participants in a conference on Yemen in London on Wednesday to press the country's government to respect human rights and not use the war on terrorism to further violate them.
In a letter to the conference participants, civil society activists, who gathered in Sana'a yesterday, said the government was deceiving its international partners by presenting political activists as terrorists, citing the trials of people opposing the war in the country's north as well as those members of the southern movement, which is demanding autonomy in the region.
"Terrorism should be defined so that it is not manipulated politically by any party … and support to the government should be conditioned by the improvement of media environment work and [stopping] the harassment of journalists and activists," the human rights groups said in the letter, which was signed by 156 people–everyone in attendance.
"Failure of development, increasing unemployment and corruption are reasons for terrorism and therefore support should be increased and monitored at the same time," the letter added.