During continued field visits in Aden governorate, NDC teams have had in-depth discussions with officials from, and representatives of, various children’s and women’s organizations. Special visits have also been made to victims of local conflicts.

On Monday, a team of members from the Independence of Special Entities Working Group met with public office officials and representatives of children’s and women’s organizations in Lahj governorate. 

The team also met with Civil Service Office Director Samira Aqrabi and Social Insurance Office Director Samira Afif. Aqrabi and Afif briefed the NDC members on the challenges – with an emphasis placed on centralization in this regard - facing the two offices, while also urging the NDC members to work for better civil service and insurance policies.

Separately, a team composed of members from the National Issues and Transitional Justice Working Group met the families of individuals killed in local conflicts. The team heard from the families of people who were killed and injured in an ammunition factory in October of 2012, as well as with the families of people who disappeared or were injured in 2011.

The families of enforced disappearance victims demanded that their relatives’ fates be revealed; other families demanded the prosecution of persons responsible for politically-motivated killings, extrajudicial arrests and human rights violations.

The team, along with Secretary General Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, also visited Mansoura Central Prison.

NDC mebers met with inmates and learned about the problems which face them at the prison. Various inmates also complained about having been imprisoned without charges being filed or trials being held. 

The NDC members then met with Prison Authority Director Muhammad Al-Zalab and Mansour Central Prison Director Adil Sufyan. They were briefed on the prison’s general situation and on problems involving inmates, which included a lack of security and unskilled prison personnel.

Al-Zalab and Sufyan said about 42 inmates had been held at length without the completion of legal procedures, the result of strikes by local prosecutors and courts. Sufyan said the prison had become a target of powerful groups such as the Southern Movement.

“Followers or officials from this movement raid the prison any time they suspect that their comrades are here,” said Sufya.

He added that Aden’s police stations lack detention facilities, which contributes to overcrowding at the central prison.

For his part, Al-Zalab demanded that an independent prison authority be set up and furthermore that such an institution should not be linked with the Interior Ministry. The two security officials also said that they would reveal the presence of secret prisons in Yemen in the near future.

There are about 400 total male and female inmates at Mansoura Central Prison.

On separate visit, a team from the Army and Security Working Group met with officials from presidential committees on illegally confiscated lands and wrongful terminations in south Yemen.

At the meeting, NDC Secretary General Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak said major powers and regional countries were backing the NDC and also that they were keen to help make it a success.

“I attended meetings between President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and ambassadors of the ten nations which are sponsoring the power transfer deal. There was an official demand for funds with which to support the committees on illegally confiscated lands and wrongful terminations in the south,” he said.

However, he said only regional countries could provide support for such issues to be addressed and that some amount of mistrust of certain nations on the part of Yemeni organizations was behind the delay of needed support.

bin Mubarak said a specialized administrative and technical team should be formed to aid the committees in carrying out their duties.

Sahl Hamza, who’s leading the committee on wrongful terminations, said about 8,8000 complaints had been received from wrongfully-terminated security and military officers and soldiers. He added that a further 28,000 complaints had be received in connection with wrongful terminations at civil institutions.

“The committee has finished sorting all the complaints and is now preparing to open its offices in various governorates,” said Hamza during a briefing for NDC members on the challenges which face them.

Saleh Nasser Tahir, who’s serving as head of the committee on illegally confiscated lands, said around 60,000 complaint forms had been distributed in southern governorates.

“The two committees are very determined to accomplish their missions no matter what the problems are,” he said.

A team from the Development Working Group also met with directors of offices for Aden’s education, health and power sectors, as well as with officials from Aden Port.

The officials demanded that the NDC address the matter of centralization, which they said had significantly affected the performance of all southern offices. They submitted detailed reports on the performance of their offices, and also described challenges and prerequisites for providing better services in the future.