Yemen Youth Rejects the GCC Proposal in Block

The Civil Coalition of Youth Revolution (CCYR) announced rejection of the Gulf’s agreement which was signed by President Saleh’s regime and the opposition Wednesday in Riyadh.
The following is the official statement issued by the group. It should be noted that the great majority of Yemeni are against an immunity clause for Saleh, his family and close aides.
For weeks the Youth and the people of Yemen have called on the international community to trial Saleh and all those accused of aiding him; urging the UN to not condone a deal which in essence would “reward crimes against humanity” just as long one is a dictator, renouncing the very principles which the United Nations were built upon and render the Human Rights convention powerless by setting a dangerous legal precedent.

The Declaration of Youth Revolution Demands
____________

We, the men and women of Yemen, began our peaceful revolution to overthrow the regime of Ali Abdallah Saleh ruler of our country who led us to chaos, conflict, poverty, ignorance, illness, lawlessness and absence of equal citizenship. We are aware that removing this regime will not be accomplished by only the departure of Saleh and his family from power, but it will rather be accomplished when the state building process begins in establishing a civil modern Yemeni state that will restore peace, stability, sovereignty, and most of all dignity for the Yemeni people. For this reason, we, the youth representing groups in the change and freedom squares across the country have prepared a declaration of demands that ensures the achievement of the revolution goals and protects its gains.

The “Declaration of the Youth Revolution Demands” presents a vision for the immediate and procedural steps that ensures the achievement of the revolution’s primary goal: to end Saleh’s regime. Without the implementation of these demands during the transitional period, which will commence the moment Saleh leaves, we, the youth, vow to continue the protests in the change and freedom squares across the country until our demands are met.
The Declaration is the product of extensive discussions and several drafts that were developed over the course of four weeks amongst more than one hundred youth and civil society organizations, youth movements and change alliances, who together form the Coordinating Council of the Youth Revolution for Change (CCYRC), in Sana’a, Aden, Taiz, Hadramot, Hodeida, Maarib, Dhamar, Al-Jawf, Lahj, Al-Baidha’a.
The first meeting took place at the change square in Sana’a with representatives from 30 different movements and alliances. This group started surveying the demands and aspirations of the revolution and produced the first declaration draft. In order to enable wide participation for Yemeni youth to determine their future, the draft was disseminated widely along with a questionnaire to all the movements and alliances in the change and freedom squares in the other governorates. Additionally, discussions on Facebook pages were initiated and ensured that many Yemeni men and women inside and outside the country had a chance to participate.
The draft also received technical support from distinguished Yemeni academics, intellects, legal advisors, and journalists.
The outcome of this participatory process was forming a consensus amongst over one hundred movements and alliances from different governorates about the terms of the final draft and approving the “Declaration of the Youth Revolution Demands”. We at CCYRC, invite all the contributors to the revolution, the political powers, and parties in Yemen and outside to review, support, and adopt the Declaration.
_____________________________________

Declaration Articles

1) Remove the current regime peacefully and remove all its figures and all members of the President’s family and his relatives from all leadership posts in the military and civil institutions.
2) Forming a Transitional Presidential Council that constitutes of 5 civil members that are widely known for their competency, integrity and experience. These members have to be approved by the revolution youth leaders and the national powers. Individuals that represent the previous regime should be excluded from the selection. The Transitional Presidential Board will have the responsibility to issue all decision and decrees that will ensure attaining the demands of the revolution. After serving in the Transitional Presidential Board, members will not have the right to run for President or Prime Minister posts until one electoral cycle is completed.
3) After overthrowing the regime the Board has to declare a six month transitional period. This period starts with a constitutional decree announcing the termination of the current constitution and dissolving the Parliament, the Shura Council and the Local Councils.
4) The Transitional Presidential Board will appoint a widely accepted national figure who will form a Transitional Cabinet of qualified technocrats within one month.
5) A Transitional National Board to be formed and include representatives of the youth and all political and national powers. The Transitional National Board will provide:
a) A solution for the Southern issue that yields a fair and satisfactory response
b) A solution for the Sa’ada Case issue that resolves the preceding effects.
c) Monitoring the performance of the Transitional Presidential Board and the Transitional Cabinet.
d) Forming a new Supreme Council for Elections which will be responsible for correcting the voter records and preparing for free and fair elections during the transitional period.
e) Selecting a Drafting Committee of reliable legal advisors to propose a new constitution for a civil, democratic and modern state that has: a republican parliamentary system based on proportional list-based electoral system, and a system of social justice and equal citizenship. The new constitution has to be completed within three months from its initiation, and the then put for national referendum.
6) Restructuring the higher judicial council to ensure the full separation and impartiality of the judicial authority.
7) Dissolving the Ministry of Information and forming an independent higher authority that will ensure freedom of expression and diversification of media and communication outlets.
8) Dissolving the Ministry of Human Rights and creating an independent higher council for human rights.
9) Legally pursue and prosecute the corrupt officials and retrieve public property and money.
10) Immediate release of all political detainees and the missing persons and dissolving extraordinary courts and private prisons.
11) Legal persecution of all individuals that caused, assisted and incited the killing and injury of those who participated in the peaceful demonstrations. Deliver appropriate compensations to the families of the deceased and honor them duly.
12) Dissolving the Political Security Forces and National Security Forces, and forming a new dedicated national security agency under the umbrella of the Ministry of Interior. The new national security agency will be responsible for observing Yemen’s external threats.
13) Merging the Republican Guards with the Military Forces, and dissolving the National Defense Council to ensure full impartiality of the Army and Security Forces.