Rights and Freedoms Working Group Chairwoman Arwa Othman said on Tuesday that there were certain political elements that wished to hinder the NDC’s progress. She added that these elements are in direct contact with particular NDC members, whose approaches they play a large part in shaping.

Answering questions in an interview, she said that Yemen was behind the rest of the world in terms of rights and freedoms.

“There are prisoners and marginalized citizens whose rights are absent in media discussions or in other forums; for this reason, these political powers exploit people’s unawareness as part of efforts to control them as though they were a flock.’’

“We have to Integrate all segments into Yemeni society, and move far away from the exploitation of religion and power to achieve individuals’ aims,’’ Othman added.  

Arwa Othman noted that her working group was working with other groups on political, civilian, economic, social, cultural, intellectual, and doctrinal issues. She added that the groups were also spending a significant amount of time on addressing the rights of minorities and marginalized segments of society.

The Rights and Freedoms Working Group Chairwoman said finally that a central aim of the group was to achieve equal citizenship for all Yemeni citizens.