Yemeni parliament approves legal immunity law

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh Yemeni parliament voted today, Saturday, for the draft law which grants legal and judicial immunity to Saleh and his aides, after the completion of amendments. In addition, the parliament voted on nominating his Vice President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi for presidential elections, scheduled on February 21.
Diplomatic sources in Sanaa confirmed to ‘Arabstoday’, Friday, that UN envoy Jamal Benomar, US ambassador Gerald Feierestein, EU ambassador to Sanaa Michele Cervone persuaded Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave and continue his medical treatment outside Yemen, in order to give a chance for the political powers, which signed the GCC initiative to implement the terms of the political settlement, which requires the dismissal of Saleh from power by February 21, the scheduled date for holding early presidential elections. This followed a meeting held at interim President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s home, which included representatives from the National Consensus Government, General People’s Congress party, and opposition parties from the Joint Meeting bloc, in order to discuss the new amendments to the draft law.
Sources stated that Saleh agreed to travel abroad after coming to an agreement with the opposition to draft the legal immunity law, which grants Saleh full immunity, while granting his aides partial immunity concerning criminal prosecution they may be subject to for acts they committed. The parliament is scheduled to vote on the widely controversial draft law on Saturday, following some amendments introduced to it.
According to the sources, the final form of the approved draft law includes six legal articles replacing 3 others in the previous version. The first article grants Saleh full judicial immunity against legal and judicial prosecution. The second article states that the immunity applies on criminal prosecution of officials who worked with the president in civil, military, and security institutions, relevant to acts of political purpose, but does not apply to “terrorist” acts.
The third article obligates the National Consensus Government to submit draft laws to the parliament on the national reconciliation and transitional justice with accordance to the executive mechanisms of the GCC initiative. The fourth article deemed the law a “sovereign” act which can neither be canceled nor appealed.
The fifth article stated that the draft law applies to the acts carried out during Saleh’s rule until the date of its issuance, whereas the sixth and final article of the draft law stated that the law would be effective from the date of its issuance and is to be published in the official paper.
Despite the substantive amendments to the law, Human Rights Watch considered them insufficient, and not inclusive of basic points. Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East Director at Human Rights Watch, said “The revisions don't change the bill's bottom line, that it still amounts to a license to kill.”
“The Yemeni government should be investigating senior officials linked to serious crimes, not letting them get away with murder,” she added.