Tribal Mediation and the Role of Women: Peacemaking with a Yemeni Style

HJF (Aden) 

Atef Al-Harazy (35 years old), who works with Doctors Without Borders organization in Yemen, was on his way to Aden the temporary capital of the country in early October 2021 when he was killed by unknown gunmen in Tur Al-Baha area in the Southern governorate Lahj.

Local media and networks reported the news amid a sharp polarization to hold a particular party responsible for the attack [1]. No official statements were announced by the Ministry of the Interior or any of the parties to the conflict about the incident, so it remained in the circle of other sources that have indirect connections with these parties, and sought to devote counter-narratives. The narratives were limited here between the STC on one hand and other parties within the internationally recognized Yemeni government on the other hand.

Christos Christou, the international head of the multinational organization Doctors Without Borders, expressed his shock at the killing of two staff members of the international organization in Yemen and Nigeria in two days. Regarding Al-Harazi, Christou said, “Atef Seif, employee of Doctors Without Borders in Yemen, was on a private trip with his friends to Aden when gunmen shot him during a robbery.” [1]  Atef was working as a nurse in the general hospital supported by the organization in the district of Dhi al-Sfal, Ibb governorate.

"The war in Yemen increased the political dominance on media and led to the emergence of an unbalanced and polarized media discourse by the political parties, which contributed to the emergence of rumors and the spread of misleading news of all kinds and the decline in journalistic standards among journalists," according to a study prepared by the Center for Applied Studies in partnership with Al Sharq for a group of German and Arab researchers on the requirements of peace in Yemen [2]. 

The investigation team has monitored since September 2021 a lot of misleading information that has been published and circulated in the Yemeni media regarding community peace, bearing a stereotypical perception of presenting local conflicts of motives related to political disputes of a regional nature. [3]

The team examined this news and discovered a different reality that in many instances reinforced a good human character that embodied the values of solidarity and community cooperation away from disparities.  They concluded that news talking about societal conflict with a political background in Yemen, especially in the Southern governorates, is inaccurate and deliberately misleading.

The team tracked cases of constructive cooperation between tribal and community mediators in the governorates of "Taiz - Al-Dhalea - Ibb - Lahj - Al-Bayda and Marib", including interviews with 20 people (13 interviews with men and 7 interviews with women), including (displaced people - host community - humanitarian passage - exchange mediations – female community activists - prisoners and their families).

Tribal traditions

According to Qassem Ahmed Shaqran [4], a tribal leader from the district of Maris in Al-Dhalea governorate, “the human aspect has a status in the system of tribal custom” when he was talking about the resort of people to tribes other than their own; as a result of persecution during periods of war or peace. Noting that "the tribes, according to the familiar customs, provide protection to people seeking refuge and work on solving their problem."

In recent years, humanitarian roles have emerged for local communities in hosting displaced people from other governorates witnessing violence, in addition to roles of mediating in prisoner exchange deals, supervising roads and corridors for humanitarian purposes, and providing aid to areas affected by the conflict.

Humanitarian passage

In a town in Yafa district of Lahj governorate, in South Yemen, near the Al-Darb junction that connects governorates under the control of "Ansar Allah" the Houthis with other governorates under the control of the allies of the internationally recognized government, many trucks stop for a rest for some time, before continuing their journey towards destinations including the capital, Sanaa.

In mid-November 2021, Walid al-Asadi [5] (37 years old), from Dhamar governorate, north of the country, was forced to take a bumpy road in one of Yafa districts, after fierce battles cut the main road in Al-Dhalea governorate linking Aden and Sanaa.

We met Al-Asadi while he was at the side of the heavy truck he was driving: “My truck had an accident, it was broken for 3 days, and it is loaded with goods”, while he was heading to the city of Aden from the Yemeni capital, which has been under the control of the Houthis since September 2014.

In the meantime, he said that he went to get an engineer from a faraway area, "I thank the local people who protect the broken trucks after they remain parked on the side of the road until we - drivers - come back to repair them without taking money from us for protection."

One of the trucks on Yafa road in Lahj governorate

The director of the Hadd district located in the north of Lahj governorate, adjacent to Al-Bayda governorate, Hussein Al-Jawhari [6], confirms, "Citizens are cooperating with the authorities in securing the road that was intended to connect the areas of Yafa to the temporary capital, Aden, before it was transformed for humanitarian purposes to transport goods, fuel, food and medical supplies that citizens need in Houthi-controlled areas," noting that "The asphalt layer of the road was damaged, while the heavy traffic caused traffic jams and negatively affected the people of the area."

As we went down to the place, we noticed locals led initiative to maintain the road, ensuring its continuity, while others opened temporary roads in neighboring areas within Yafa itself; to avoid traffic jam on the main road. Years ago, a civil committee was formed in partnership and coordination with local authorities in Yafa districts and imposed a traffic tax on every truck that used the North-South road there. And during preparations for this investigation, implementation of the second phase of the Haqwin-Hadram road funded by the formed committee was taking place.

The cost of aid amid sniping

The battles on the Al-Dhalea governorate fronts

In Taiz governorate, activist Dalia Mohammad [7] (29 years old) and a number of her colleagues adopted the idea of delivering food to families who were trapped in areas of clashes between the recognized government forces and the Houthi group in the early years of the war that erupted in March 2015.

When the captives were on their way to meet their families, Houdan reports about his brother, who used to make frequent phone calls to check on him. As the confrontations were most intense in Marib that day, he did not reach the city until his brother passed away due to a fatal injury.

During a prisoner exchange deal in Taiz governorate

The solution will not come from elsewhere

Mediator Saleh Al-Ashwal [13] told us about his experience, "My main motive for engaging in this humanitarian aspect of the prisoner exchange is my belief that if we do not seek to solve our problems ourselves as Yemenis, the dream will not come to us from elsewhere."

In order to make the prisoner and dead body exchange deals successful between the two parties to the conflict, Al-Ashwal made it clear that he is cooperating with other tribal mediators who are now achieving continuous success in this aspect. However, he also stressed that the absence of accurate data on the prisoners and the lack of cooperation by some parties to the conflict with them represent the major difficulties that they still endure in their quest for the success of more of these deals.

Saddam Al-Adwar [14] (32 years old) cooperates with a group of young people who formed a team to support community mediation in Marib governorate. He said that the war had had a profound impact and the number of dead, wounded, detainees and forcibly disappeared people had increased each time, and many families were dispersed. He explained that his team does not communicate with the parties to the conflict directly, but rather provides the necessary support that mediators need in facilitating their tasks.

During the exhumation of the bodies in Taiz governorate

After despair 

In Baja region north of Al-Dhalea, Abdo Qais Saleh [15] (30 years old) was fighting in the ranks of the “southern resistance force” loyal to the Yemeni government, which led to his injury during battles in May 2019, and he was captured by the Houthis, who transferred him to Ibb governorate for treatment, before detaining him, he remained for six months without contacting his family, while he was subjected to psychological and physical torture, he said. Meanwhile, southern fighters managed to capture a group of their Houthi opponents, thus creating a suitable ground for an exchange deal at the hands of sheikhs and social dignitaries from Al-Dhalea governorate and Houthi-controlled areas.

 “I felt despaired and could not imagine that I would meet my father and mother again. I came out of prison as if I had been reborn,” he said.

With tears, Abdo's mother [16] describes the moments when they received the news of his arrest: "My daughters and I did not sleep most nights. We cried until the morning," while his father recalls the difficult months of turmoil that the family experienced.

Sheikh Abdullah Mohammad Naji [17] was one of those who led mediations between the southern forces and the “Houthi” group. He said that tribal leaders from governorates controlled by both parties manage the negotiation process by receiving the data of the prisoners required to be released and informing the parties to the conflict before arranging the exchange process, while their persistence continues throughout the process until it is successful.

A woman can do more

Community mediator Jawhara Qassem from Al-Dhalea governorate

Mediation is no longer an exclusive province of men. A female mediator named Jawhara Qassem Saleh [18], from Al-Dhalea governorate, went ahead with successful seven collective prisoner exchange deals between the southern forces and the Houthi group, in addition to a large number of individual deals.

Jawhara has extensive relations with both sides of the conflict, and she voluntarily employs her relations in community service. She said that the families of the prisoners come to her on a regular basis, requesting to follow up the file of their prisoners with the parties to the conflict.

She explained that her humanitarian endeavors began since her success in releasing her son-in-law, who was detained by the Houthi group in the early years of the war, noting that the first exchange deal that she succeeded in concluding consisted of 48 dead bodies and 12 captives from both sides. In other deals, the number of released prisoners exceeded fifty people. "I rejoice when I see the families of the prisoners happy at the return of their sons," she said.

The total of those released through various local mediations is about 9,000 prisoners and detainees through at least 300 exchange deals since the beginning of the war in 2015, according to the National Committee for Prisoners Affairs in Sanaa [19].

The community mediator, Amin Al-Muqaddam [20], has been working in Taiz governorate to conclude deals of exchanging bodies between the parties to the conflict since 2018 where the beginning of his humanitarian work was through a deal between the 35th Brigade led by Brigadier General Adnan Al-Hammadi [assassinated on December 2, 2019], and the Houthi group. "In the beginning we faced the problem of building bridges of trust with the parties to the conflict, but we were able to do so in the end when they ensured our independence," he said. He succeeded in concluding many exchange deals of this kind, including four hundred bodies.

The parties to the conflict in Yemen are holding the dead bodies of the opposing party in order to be able to retrieve the bodies of their dead.

Women at the Front

During the war, the feminist role was unmistakably prominent in an effort to mitigate its complex human effects. In many Yemeni governorates, feminists topped the ranks of peace-builders and pioneers of humanitarian work on more than one level.

In Marib governorate, which is largely tribal in nature, Shaima Hamid [21] runs a local peacebuilding organization, after she was forced to flee the capital, Sana'a. She is optimistic about women whose social, political and humanitarian activity has increased in a tribal governorate such as Ma'rib. “We are now seeing great progress for women in decision-making, social and civic work,” she said.

She adds that Yemeni society is still patriarchal to a good degree, but it has become accepting of women's work and education, while the number of men supporting them is increasing.

Among the activities carried out by Shaima and her team in Marib are sports activities for girls. She says: "I was afraid that our ideas would be rejected, but in the end we were surprised by the turnout of girls, and we succeeded."

Activist Arwa Ali Ramal [22], for her part, believes that the role of Yemeni women has been present throughout history and has been a participant alongside men in work, but she finds that the responsibility placed on women has doubled in recent years due to men's preoccupation with fighting fronts and battles.

Arwa works in “Marib Girls”, a feminism foundation concerned with women’s affairs, enhancing their role, building their capabilities and involving them in society, in addition to qualifying them to work through various programs, including the Economic Empowerment Program implemented by the foundation and aspires to enable girls to establish their own economic projects in the labor market.

In the governorate of Taiz, the lawyer Sheinaz Al-Akhali [23] succeeded in resolving a long-running dispute between three villages in the largest governorate in terms of population in Yemen, over a water well. Throughout the conflict, one of the villages took possession of the water source, while the other two villages were deprived. Al-Akhali worked in the field of peace building and community conflict resolution on a personal basis, before working within institutional programs for this purpose, while she is now involved as a coordinator of the “Communities Making Peace” "project in "Nodes Yemen.