Ahmed Al-Kolebi / Dar Al-Salam Organisation – 2015-10-18 23:54:13
Special to Environmentalists Against War
Global Threat to Human Rights and
Human Security Caused by Small Arms in Yemen
Ahmed Al-Kolebi / Dar Al-Salam Organisation
SANA’A, Yemen (June 8, 2015) — As you might know, the Dar Al-Salam organization is working hard to prevent gun deaths and injuries and to spread the culture of peace and tolerance in the Yemen, aiming to combat the violence by running programs which focus on conflict resolution, and countering violent extremism through engagement of tribal and religious leaders.
Within IANSA’s network, DASO has implemented many projects to raise awareness and educate people about the negative impacts of firearms proliferation and misuse of arms in schools and universities.
We have been working on this issue for over 15 years, and have found it to be complicated: Arms in Yemen have, historically, been a considerable problem for many reasons the most traditional reason being that guns for men are like gold for ladies.
There are no real statistics about how many weapons exist in Yemen, just at a rough estimate of 60 million pieces, which means 3 pieces per person.
That was before the current war, which is now worsening day by day. So we are extremely worried about that, and to witness Saudi Arabia contributing to this problem by dropping weapons by air to their allies across the country during the conflict, and to know many people are getting weapons from the military places after being targeted by the Saudi air strikes.
A boy, who is a follower of the Houthi movement, carries his weapon during a protest against the Saudi-led air strikes in Sanaa, April 10, 2015. (c) 2015 Reuters
The war in Yemen has caused an enormous humanitarian crisis, which is increasingly becoming worse and worse, while the Saudi coalition is still imposing a siege around Yemen with no food or medical supplies getting through to people in need.
The hospitals are full of injured people and lack electricity, medical equipment and other basic requirements have led to many avoidable deaths . . . This tragedy deserves serious attention from all of us human beings, wherever we are.
We strictly condemn the ongoing killing and call for an end to the conflict, and we are asking all Humanitarian NGOs around the world and the free people to contribute in order to reduce the impact of this tragedy. Lobby everywhere to force Saudi to stop its bombings, encourage the combatants in Yemen to have dialogue.
We do believe that the cost in human lives is extremely high and that violence generates violence and so much hatred, while humanitarian action is inconceivable without close and permanent dialogue with the parties to the conflict in Yemen.
Please find attached a number of photos, which show the different means that we have used in our public activities, such as putting nearly 2000 panels around the country to educate people about the danger of small arms, in addition to our activities in schools, university and mosques.
Could we kindly ask from you to help us publish this call to our colleagues in networks websites, and to your partners and to all who might be concerned.
Best Regards
Ahmed Al-Kolebi, DASO Coordinator
Dar Al-Salam Organisation
Sana’a, Yemen
www.dasoyemen.org
00447771143517
https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/styles/open_graph/public/media/images/photographs/2015-yemen-boy-gun.jpg?itok=Vuzo5_Ou
