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VIII Los Robles Interscholastic Model of United Nations

Committe: NATO Topic: Yemen’s Crisis



Presidents Letter:

Dear delegates, welcome to the eighth edition of Los Robles Interscholastic

Model of the United Nations. I and my partners are very glad and honored to

participate by being your chair this year, and we will work hard in the committee

so it results in the best way possible.

Generally the English committee treats topics that are less complicated than

all the other committees, for example peaceful and worldwide topics, but in this

year we have changed it into something more specific, complex and dynamic such

as the “Yemen’s Crisis” which is a very important matter.

Therefore, we hope that all the delegates have a high academic

performance, including negotiating and ideas that could fit and help to solve the

problems, issues and future crisis’s that are affecting or will affect the lives of

millions that happen to experience such an awful time.

“Dialogue, based on solid moral laws, facilitates the resolution of disputes and

promotes respect for life, of every human life. Therefore, recourse to weapons to

resolve disputes always represents a defeat of reason and humanity”

- Pope John Paul II

Courteously;

Jose Bracho

President of the Chair – OTAN



Delegations

Members:

1. Belgium

2. Canada

3. Croatia

4. Czech Republic

5. Denmark

6. EE.UU

7. France

8. Germany

9. Greece

10. Italy

11. Netherlands

12. Polony

13. Portugal

14. Spain

15. Turkey

16. United Kingdom

Invited:

17. Iran

18. Russia

19. Saudi Arabia

20. Yemen



Committee Explanation, History and Structure

The North Atlantic is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North

Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 1949. On those years the threat of a communist

supported invasion of Western Europe was an important issue to the US government and

to its allies, especially after the coup against the Czechoslovakian democratic government

on 1948, and the beginning of the tensions that dominated the international stage for

more than 40 years. This accord was based on two key aspects: political-military support

and the collective defence principle: the first of these aspects involves an profound

cooperation on the spread of the democratic and institutional values while providing

military capabilities to the solution of conflicts once the diplomatic approach has failed;

the second issue is an strategic decision in which the countries that had signed the pact

agree to take an strike to one of its members as an attack to all of the signatories, forming

these way an important military alliance to face –on the time that the treaty was signed-

the spread of communism and any other threat to the Western Hemisphere. During its

existence the members of the Organization had increased from the twelve original

countries, which agreed to the Treaty on 1949, to a 28 membership that had included

nations from the extinct “Iron Curtain”. During its long history NATO had deployed many

operations of peace enforcement with the approval of the UN Security Council, especially

during the 1990’s once the international relations world was heavily changed by the

disappearance of the Soviet Union, a major example of these operations was the military

intervention that NATO executed on the Balkans (more specifically in Bosnia and

Herzegovina and Kosovo). After September 11th, 2001 the objectives of the Organization

shifted to the fight against terrorism and the extreme fundamentalist movements that

represents a threat to the stability of the world, as the article 5 of the Treaty (which

establishes the collective defence principle) was invoked for first –and so far only- time in

history. Because of these actions NATO had cooperated with the deployment of the

International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) that operated on Afghanistan until

December of 2014.



NATO structure and division is divided in two major aspects: Political committees

and military committees. Regarding the first term, NATO is organized in the North Atlantic

Council (NAC) which it’s conformed by delegations of the members of the organization,

the decisions that this body can make are concerning the political strategy of NATO and

also any other subject that needs the approval and discussion of all the signatories of the

treaty, the NAC also controls all of the subsidiaries commissions of NATO. Finally there

are three major actors on the operational control of NATO troops in joint military actions,

those are: the Military Committee composed of all the chiefs of Defences of the members;

the International Military Staff the Military Committee’s executive body; and the military

command structure, composed of Allied Command Operations and Allied Command

Transformation.

Records

In January 2011, shortly after the popular ouster of the Tunisian government, major

street protests materialized in Sana'a, the Yemeni capital, to demand governmental

changes. Protests spread to the traditionally restive south, with particularly aggressive

protests in cities like Aden and Ta'izz. Initially, demonstrators protested against a plan to

amend the constitution and over the country's sluggish economy and high jobless

rates.However, protests grew larger by late January and took on an increasingly pointed

tone of criticism toward President Ali Abdullah Saleh, with many demonstrators beginning

to call openly for new leadership in Yemen. Including at least 10,000 at Sana'a University.

By February, opposition leader Tawakel Karman called for a "Day of Rage" in the

mold of mass nationwide demonstrations that helped to topple the government of Tunisia

and put pressure on the government of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. The protest

drew more than 20,000 participants, as well as a show of force from Saleh's supporters.

Security forces responded to protests in Aden with live ammunition and tear gas. After

Mubarak quit power in Egypt, demonstrators celebrating the revolution and calling for a

similar uprising in Yemen were attacked by police and pro-Saleh tribesmen. Clerics called

for a national unity government and elections to be held in six months in an effort to quell

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_52091.htm





violence and place members of the opposition in government. Later in the month, deaths

were reported in Ta'izz and Aden after security forces attacked protesters with lethal

force. By the end of February, several major tribes in Yemen had joined the anti-

government protests and protests swelled in size to well over 100,000 on several days.

Saleh also called for a national unity government, but opposition leaders rejected the

proposal and called for Saleh to step down immediately.

In March, opposition groups presented a proposal that would see Saleh leave

power peacefully, but Saleh refused to accept it. A number of prominent Yemeni

government officials resigned over the violence used to disperse protests. On 18 March

45 protesters were shot dead in Sana'a, an incident that prompted the declaration of a

state of emergency and international condemnation. Several days later, Saleh indicated

that he would be willing to leave power by the end of the year or even sooner, but he later

affirmed that he would not step down. By the end of March, six of Yemen's 18

governorates were out of the government's control, officials said.

In April, the Gulf Co-operation Council attempted to mediate an end to the crisis,

drafting several proposals for a transition of power. Toward the end of the month, Saleh

signaled he would accept a plan that would see him leave power one month after signing

and provided for a national unity government in the lead-up to elections. By the end of

the month, though, Saleh reversed course and the government announced he would not

sign it, putting the GCC initiative on hold.

In early May, officials again indicated that Saleh would sign the GCC deal, and the

opposition agreed to sign as well if Saleh signed it personally in his capacity as president.

However, Saleh again backed away, saying the deal did not require his signature, and

the opposition followed suit, accusing Saleh of negotiating in bad faith. Protests and

violence across the country intensified in the wake of this second reversal by Saleh.

In late May, opposition leaders received assurances that Saleh would sign the

GCC plan after all, and they signed the deal the day before the president was scheduled

to ink it as well. Saleh however once again decided not to sign, and a brief but tense

standoff occurred on 22 May when Saleh's supporters surrounded the embassy building



of the United Arab Emirates in Sana'a, trapping international diplomats (including the

secretary-general of the GCC) inside until the government dispatched a helicopter to ferry

them to the presidential palace.

On 23 May, a day after Saleh refused to sign the transition agreement, Sheikh

Sadiq al-Ahmar, the head of the Hashid tribal federation, one of the most powerful tribes

in the country, declared support for the opposition and his armed supporters came into

conflict with loyalist security forces in the capital Sana'a after Saleh ordered al-Ahmar's

arrest. Heavy street fighting ensued, which included artillery and mortar shelling. The

militiamen had surrounded and blocked off several government buildings in the capital

and people on the ground were reporting that it looked like the situation was deteriorating

into a civil war.

As the situation in Sana'a was developing, about 300 Islamic militants attacked

and captured the coastal city of Zinjibar (population 20,000) . During the takeover of the

town, the militants killed five policemen, including a high-ranking officer, and one civilian.

Two more soldiers were killed in clashes with militants in Loder.

On day three of the fighting, military units that defected to the opposition were hit

for the first time by mortar fire killing three soldiers and wounding 10. By the evening, it

was reported that tribesmen took control of the Interior Ministry building, SABA state news

agency, and the national airline building. A ceasefire was announced late on 27 May, by

al-Ahmar, and the next day, a truce was established.

Opposition demonstrators had occupied the main square of Ta'izz since the start

of the uprising against the rule of president Saleh. The protests were for the most part

peaceful. However, that changed on 29 May, when the military started an operation to

crush the protests and clear the demonstrators from their camp at the square. Troops

reportedly fired live ammunition and from water cannons on the protesters, burned their

tents and bulldozers ran over some of them. The opposition described the event as a

massacre.



However, by 31 May, the ceasefire had broken down and street fighting continued

in Sana'a. Tribesmen had taken control of both the headquarters of the ruling General

People's Congress (Yemen) and the main offices of the water utility.

On 18 September troops loyal to president Saleh opened fire on protesters in

Sanaa, killing at least 26 people and injuring hundreds. Witnesses said security forces

and armed civilians opened fire on protesters who left Change Square, where they had

camped since February demanding regime change, and marched towards the city centre.

Earlier on that day, government troops fired mortars into Al-Hasaba district in Sanaa,

home to opposition tribal chief Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar who claimed his fighters did not

return fire after they were shelled by the Republican Guard.

On 19 September snipers in nearby buildings again opened fire on Monday at

peaceful demonstrators and passers-by in the capital's Change Square, killing at least 28

people and wounded more than 100. Additional deaths were reported in the southwestern

city of Taiz, where two people were killed and 10 were injured by gunfire from Saleh

loyalists. Abdu al-Janadi, Yemen's deputy information minister, rejected accusations that

the government had planned attacks on the protesters, and accused what he described

as "unknown assailants" of carrying out the acts. On 19 September protesters and ex-

soldiers stormed a base of the elite Republican Guards, who are loyal to the president.

Reports said not a single shot was fired as the Guards fled the base, leaving their

weapons behind.

As of 1 October 2011, Human Rights Watch was able to confirm 225 deaths and

over 1000 wounded, many from firearms, since the Arab Spring protests began in Yemen.

According the Committee to Protect Journalists, photojournalist Jamal al-Sharaabi from

Al-Masdar was the first press fatality of the Yemeni uprising and killed while covering a

nonviolent demonstration at the Sana'a University 18 March 2011, but Reporters Without

Borders reported that Mohamed Yahia Al-Malayia, a reporter from Al-Salam, was shot at

Change Square on the same day but died later. Camera operator Hassan al-Wadhaf

captured his own death on camera while assigned a protest in Sana'a on 24 September

2011.



Actual Situation

Yemen is in the grip of its most severe crisis in years, as competing forces fight for

control of the country. Impoverished but strategically important, the tussle for power in

Yemen has serious implications for the region and the security of the West.

Here are some key questions explained.

Who is fighting whom?

In recent months Yemen has descended into conflicts between several different

groups, pushing the country "to the edge of civil war", according to the UN's special

adviser. The main fight is between forces loyal to the beleaguered President, Abdrabbuh

Mansour Hadi, and those allied to Zaidi Shia rebels known as Houthis, who forced Mr

Hadi to flee the capital Sanaa in February.

Who's in charge in Yemen?

Yemen's security forces have split loyalties, with some units backing Mr Hadi, and

others the Houthis and Mr Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has remained

politically influential. Mr Hadi is also supported in the predominantly

Sunni south of the country by militia known as Popular Resistance Committees

and local tribesmen.

Both President Hadi and the Houthis are opposed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian

Peninsula (AQAP), which has staged numerous deadly attacks from its strongholds in the

south and south-east.

The picture is further complicated by the emergence in late 2014 of a Yemen

affiliate of the jihadist group Islamic State, which seeks to eclipse AQAP and claims it

carried out a series of suicide bombings in Sanaa in March 2015. After rebel forces closed

in on the president's southern stronghold of Aden in late March, a coalition led by Saudi

Arabia responded to a request by Mr Hadi to intervene and launched air strikes on Houthi



targets. The coalition comprises five Gulf Arab states and Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and

Sudan.

There are currently 12 million people without access to sufficient food, clean water,

fuel or basic medical care. As many as 300,000 have fled their homes.

Two cargo ships chartered by the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) are docked

at the rebel-controlled Red Sea port of Hudaydah. Other supplies are ready to be brought

in and planes are standing by to help evacuate the wounded.

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was sending medical

and surgical supplies for 700 patients by boat to Aden, which has seen some of the

fiercest fighting. Medical supplies and water would be distributed to other provinces in the

south if the situation allowed, it added.

However, the charity Oxfam has warned that five days is "not enough time to move

supplies into and around the country, particularly with fuel supplies dangerously low".

Fuel, food and medicine are being distributed at the port of Hudaydah and

transported to neighboring provinces.

The UN says hundreds of thousands of people are in desperate need of help.

Houthi rebels have been accused by the Saudi-led coalition seeking to restore the

exiled president of violating the five-day truce that began on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the coalition said rockets fired from rebel-held northern Yemen

had hit the Saudi border provinces of Jazan and Najran, but that Saudi forces had

"practised self-restraint as part of their commitment" to the ceasefire.

Coalition warships were meanwhile reported to have shelled rebels trying to seize

an area outside the southern city of Aden, and warplanes bombed an alleged rebel

convoy in the northern province of Abyan.



There was also heavy fighting in the southern province of Taiz between rebels and

militiamen loyal to the internationally-recognised president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi,

who fled abroad in March.

Aircraft targeted rebel positions in the southern city of Aden overnight, despite a

UN call for the truce to be extended to allow in more aid.

Yemeni parties are in negotiations in Saudi Arabia on how to end the crisis.

But the rebels, who reject the return of exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi,

are boycotting the talks.

Mr Hadi fled the country at the end of March after rebel forces and allied army units

loyal to ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh advanced on Aden.

The new UN envoy to Yemen opened talks with the country's various factions in

the Saudi capital on Sunday urging all sides to "renew their commitment to this truce for

five more days at least".

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed also said they should "refrain from any action that

disturbs the peace of airports, main areas and the infrastructure of transport".

Despite the appeal, coalition air strikes reportedly resumed after the ceasefire

expired at 23:00 (20:00 GMT) on Sunday, with warplanes bombing the rebel-held

presidential palace in Aden on Monday, as well as the city's international airport.

On Monday morning, Yemen's foreign minister told Reuters news agency that his

government would not consider a new ceasefire offer, blaming it on the Houthis who he

said had violated the terms of the truce.

"That's what we said before - that if they start again, we will start again," Riad

Yassin said.

But, he continued, the air strikes would avoid the main airport in the capital Sanaa

and the western Red Sea port of Hudaydah to allow aid to be brought in.



The coalition air campaign, which began on 26 March, has so far failed to achieve

its stated aim of restoring President Hadi.

Despite some clashes the five-day ceasefire largely held, allowing aid agencies to

deliver desperately-needed food, water, medicine and fuel. However, the agencies said

they were only able to reach a small number of those in need.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he hoped the consultations in Geneva would

"restore momentum towards a Yemeni-led political transition process".

But the foreign minister for the exiled government said it might not attend because

it wanted more time to prepare.

A Saudi-led coalition resumed bombing Houthi rebels and their allies after a five-

day ceasefire ended on Sunday.

Overnight, warplanes targeted army bases and weapons depots in the most

sustained bombardment of the capital, Sanaa, in almost two months, residents said. The

UN says at least 1,850 people have been killed and more than 7,390 injured in air strikes,

fighting on the ground and attacks by militants since 19 March.

More than 500,000 Yemenis have also been displaced from their homes, and

millions have been affected by shortages of food, water, fuel and medicines.

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