The Southern National Assembly Sends an Important Message to the Region and the World



  At the conclusion of its first meeting the National Assembly of the Southern Transitional Council sent an important message to the UN Secretary-General, the Permanent Five, the Secretary-General of the Arab  League and all the members of the Arab  League, the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council and all GCC members and the leaders of the Arab coalition countries.

  The message reads as follow:

      Alsalam alaykum warahmat Allah wabarakatuh

  The past years have shown that the situation in Yemen is complicated due to the political mistake, the so-called (Yemeni unity) that failed in its infancy and turned into a unity imposed by force and blood and established long-term conflicts in Yemen that affected the region and became a threat to the nations and the international peace in contravention of the recent UN Security Council resolutions.

  Basing on a true premise of the crisis; The State of the South (Democratic People's Republic of Yemen) gained full independence on November 30, 1967 and became independent as sovereign statehood recognised by the international community and a member State of the United Nations and other regional and international organizations until 22 May 1990, When the unity agreement was declared between the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and the Arab Republic of Yemen. However, only the emblem of the Republic was realized along with flag and anthem till the one sided declaration of disengagement on 21 May 1994 because of the breach of the agreement by the Arab Republic of Yemen which caused the withdrawal of the southern side from the partnership agreement with the Arab Republic of Yemen. The war on the South was declared on April 27, 1994 and became under occupation on 7 July 1994. The South managed to liberate most of its territory in 2015.

  Our people in the south have long suffered as a result of what followed the war of 94, which was rejected by the Security Council two resolutions issued in June 1994; the first resolution n.(924) for the year 1994, session No. (3386) held on 1 June 1994 and the second resolution n.(931) for the year 1994, session No. (3394) held on 29 June 1994, as well as the recommendations of the 51st Session of the GCC Ministerial Council in the City of Abha on 4 - 5 June 1994 on its rejection to imposing unity by force. The Northern side breached both the UN resolutions and the Arab recommendations, insisting on the occupation of the South, followed by violations committed against our people in flagrant violations of international law and human rights; Including assassinations, detentions, deprivation of jobs, forced retirement, looting and destruction of the South (identity, state, culture and man).
 
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  The STC National Assembly message contains realities and facts in accordance with peremptory norms of international law, so we earnestly appeal to you all to seriously consider the message to Protect those laws and at the same time to achieve international justice in the right of peoples to independence and freedom.

  We are in the National Assembly of the Southern Transitional Council, reminding you of Aden's historic declaration on the 4th of May this year, that affirmed that the southerners have the right to declare the establishment of the federal state of the south and the heroic role of the southern resistance in the expulsion of the Houthi and Saleh militias from the south in addition to And defeating al Qaeda and Daesh, and uprooting the terrorist cells, which all stand as evidence to strengthening the regional and international coalition against terrorism and all forms of extremism and promoting the bonds of integration and cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and achieving security and stability.

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  Making reference to the recent UN Security Council resolution no. 2342 of 28 February 2017 in which the Council hail the work of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen in support of the transition process and mentioned, among other things, that Yemen continues to pose a threat to international peace and security, expressing growing concern for the presence of Al Qaeda and Daesh and the spread of extremist ideologies in Yemen, expressing the need for taking measures to ensure stability in Yemen and the region, affirming to continue the UN Security Council follow-up to the situation in Yemen under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations; And today, the National Assembly of the Southern Transitional Council calls upon coalition states, mainly, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Arab Republic of Egypt to support the declaration of the southern State, asking the UN Special Envoy to Yemen to consider the southern issue and to its roots, separately from the dispute over power in the North, granting it the highest priority as a key solution and a starting point towards achieving security, peace and stability in the region and the world for the importance of the geostrategic location of the South.

  We also apply with respect to the permanent members of the UN Security Council for taking a decision authorizing the Democratic People 's Republic of Yemen to restore its lawful seat in the United Nations and in all the other regional and international organizations. We are pleased to put on the table of the permanent members of the Security Council the realities and facts that go in accordance with the peremptory norms of international law and on which we depend in our endeavour to have the right to declare a state, the right to restore its lawful seat in the United Nations and the the right to be recognized by the States Members of the United Nations, and they are as follows:

First:  Realities and facts in accordance with peremptory norms of international law:

1. Peremptory norm is a fundamental principle of international law that is accepted by the international community of states as a norm from which no derogation is permitted, not subjected to any exceptions and it can only be changed under a new rule of international law. It is obvious that any agreement between two States Members of the United Nations can be canceled once one of the sides has decided to withdraw If the other side breached one of the terms of the agreement or treaty as it was the case between the two internationally recognized countries; the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and The Yemen Arab Republic when they agreed to form a political partnership ended up in cancellation for not implementing the documented legally binding conditions and terms during the transition period.

2. The Southern Transition Council in its challenge over the legitimacy of the unity and in its emphasis on the right of the people of the South to freedom and the restoration of its state sovereignty over all of its territory, depends on a set of facts and arguments based on the rules of international law, , including the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 adopted by the United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties, on the basis of the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions taking into account that the treaty is between two States or a group of States with the legal force , considered null and void under the relevant articles of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 adopted by the United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties, Which was held under United Nations General Assembly resolutions no.2166 of 5 December 1966 and no.2287 of 6 December 1967, As well as under and to article I of the International Covenants that consider as a peremptory norm of international law, that can not be violated, Especially as it concerns compulsory standards of the peremptory norms of international law related to the situation in the South.

3. You are aware that any agreement between two States legally considered less important than the treaty, The Agreement is an instrument establishing human rights , political, military, economic, financial, cultural obligations, approved by two States following negotiations between them, Any agreement or treaty between two States with its legal force shall be null and void under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and gives the right of withdrawal to one side when the other breaches the terms of the bilateral treaty. Which is the case of the Unity Agreement, declared on 22 May 1990.

4. Contrary to international standards for the conclusion of conventions, the unity agreement signed by the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party in his party capacity he held then, It was not a full-fledged agreement, it does not contain texts that rise to the level of a partnership between two States Members of the United Nations especially that "the agreement of the Declaration of the Republic of Yemen and the organization of the transitional period", the signature was on a single page containing ten procedural materials lacking legal form and substance, it constitutes in itself a serious breach of the peremptory norms of international law.

5. Contrary to article 7 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of International Treaties which stipulates that Heads of States, Heads of Governments and Ministers of Foreign Affairs are entitled to perform all acts relating to the conclusion of a treaty. The Declaration of the Republic of Yemen and the organization of the transitional period signed in Sana'a on 22 April 1990 by Mr. Ali Salem El-Beid as Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Yemeni Socialist Party and the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh as as President of the Republic and Secretary-General of the General People's Congress.

6. The Declaration of the Republic of Yemen did not find its way to the application on the ground, because of violations in the implementation of the tasks of the transitional period agreed upon by the sides, thus, the state remained practically divided with two authorities, each ministry is two ministries, the army has two armies, two security apparatuses, two judicial authorities, schools have two different curricula, two currencies, two economies which consider as a serious breach of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 'that obliges the state to implement the national convention'.

7. Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; A treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts with a peremptory norm of general international law. which confirmed by the lack of referendum for the people of both countries separately on the unity before signing the draft agreement, The Article 7-c of the Declaration of the Republic of Yemen and the organization of the transitional period signed in Sana'a on 22 April 1994 assigned the Presidency Council to pass the constitution to popular referendum process after six months of unity and on the basis of one citizenship, which constituted a flagrant violation of article I of the International Covenants as a rule of peremptory norms of international law which states that ' All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.'.

8. The unity agreement was effectively annulled on 21 May 1994 between the two States on the basis of Article 60 of the Vienna Convention which states that ' A material breach of a bilateral treaty by one of the parties entitles the other to invoke the breach as a ground for terminating the treaty or suspending its operation in whole or in part.' and it also states that ' a party specially affected by the breach to invoke it as a ground for suspending the operation of the treaty in whole or in part in the relations between itself and the defaulting State.'. Under which President Ali Salem al-Beid announced the disengagement of the South from  the Yemen Arab Republic for being the one who signed the unity agreement with the former President Saleh.

9. Contrary to article 52 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which states that a treaty is void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. The absence of a referendum before the signing the unity agreement form a kind of use of force by the ruling party in the south, as the declaration of war in April 1994 and the invasion of the south allied with al-Qaeda elements returning from Afghanistan, form a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and confirmed the invalidity of the unity agreement.


  Second :  Realities and facts in accordance with the Southern People's Will and Situation on Earth:

1. The recent war in Yemen produced a new reality on the ground, represented by the liberation of the south since its occupation in July 1994, where the southern resistance managed to control the land, followed by the formation of the Southern Transitional Council, which had been unprecedentedly delegated by the people, which in turn proceeded to work on rebuilding state institutions and completing the construction of southern bodies, departments and institutions,including the army and security by taking advantage of the Elite Forces in Hadramout and Shabwa and the security belt in the capital Aden and the other southern provinces.

2. The battles on the land of the south proved that main motivation of the people of the South in resisting the militias of Houthi and Saleh's forces is liberation, independence and the restoration of the South full sovereignty, This is confirmed by the facts and events during and before  'Operation Decisive Storm'. Those who defended Aden and the south in the face of the Houthi and Saleh's forces invasion are all southerners, those 'militias and forces' who participated in the invasion of the south are all northerners, which confirms that the war is clearly between the North and the South.

3. Facts and events have shown that no matter how contradictions and conflicts are among all the centers and parties of influential powers (Political religious, military and tribal), they all agree on a relentless war to dominate the south in the name of protecting the unity, which was obviously embodied in the summer war of 1994, when those forces allied themselves with al Qaeda elements returning from Afghanistan, putting them in the front-lines to sweep and invade Aden and the South. Since then, terrorism has been used as a means of destabilizing the security and stability of the South and blackmailing the Gulf states and threatening the interests of the world, With the a view of creating an impression among international observers that the declaration of the Southern state means chaos and instability. This alliance is being embodied today between the Yemeni Islah Party (the branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen) with the Qatar funded elements of al-Qaeda and Daesh to follow the same way for dominating and controlling the south under the name of the Federal State.

The southerners, however, have already proved to be a true and active partner of the international community in countering and defeating terrorism.

4. The South Transitional Council has determined to move forward on building the institutions of the southern federal state, basing on the people's will, the common position of the southerners and their sacrifices, population, land, wealth, military capability and the global strategic-economic location, in addition to its economic, social, cultural and historical components and accumulated potentials and energies, civil society institutions and qualified cadres in various fields enabling them to manage the affairs of the state. The Transitional Council has initiated the formation of the National Assembly that will draw up the features of the Federal Southern State, that will be announced soon.

  Based on the above facts, the unity between the North and the South was born dead and buried permanently during the 1994 war when Sana'a forces  invaded the south, and from then on, the south became under occupation, Therefore, any negotiation we seek is to re-arrange the relationship between the South and the North and to resolve overlaps arose over the past two decades.

  The National Assembly of the Southern Transitional Council expresses its readiness to deal positively with any endeavors or initiatives with regard to the Yemeni crisis, taking into consideration the specificity of the southern cause and the facts and changes on the southern scene. The national Assembly calls on the UN Special Envoy and the permanent members of the Security Council to take a number of measures concerning :

1. Withdrawal of the remaining northern forces from some southern lands, arrangements for the declaration of the southern state and recognition procedures, the restoration of its seat in the United Nations as well as the restoration of the southern properties including the premises of embassies and consulates in the arab and foreign countries.

2. The possibility of adopting a United Nations Security Council resolution to provide international protection to the people of the South, deployment of international forces in the buffer zone along the two countries pre-1990 borders, especially that Yemen falls under Chapter VII, that gives the United Nations the right to send collective security forces when there is a threat to international peace and security without the consent of the conflicting parties as in the case of the south.

3. Holding talks on the possibility to authorize United Nations peacekeeping operation in accordance with Article 39 of Chapter VII of the Charter which entitles the Security Council to restore international peace and security and gives it powers to take any action when a conflict is seen as a threat to international peace and security such as deploying international peacekeepers to coordinate the North-South separation process along the two countries pre-1990 borders and to normalize the situation between Yemen and the South, monitoring the ceasefire on the border in addition to play a key role in supporting the independence of the South trough leading the administrative tasks, maintaining security, supporting the rule of law, providing humanitarian assistance, supervising elections, providing advice and training in all areas of the state, assisting the State of the South in regaining its membership in the United Nations, similar to the decisions taken by the Security Council in this regard, including resolution 1244 (1999) on the situation in Kosovo, resolution 1272 (1999) concerning the situation in East Timor and resolution 1320 (2000) on the situation in Eritrea and Ethiopia.

4. The possibility of cooperation in the development of a comprehensive framework for a clear plan defining the relationship between the objective and the mechanism of implementation and drawing up all strategies, plans and instantaneous programs through a clear and precise definition of the transitional period reaching to the goal of the southern people represented by the declaration of the Independent State, rebuilding its national economy, ensuring security, stability, building and strengthening regional and international integration and cooperation.

  The STC National Assembly Stressed the need to rebuild a new geopolitics based on regional and international partnership and helps to establish bilateral excellent relations between the South and the North after the the transitional arrangements for the two states on the basis of good-neighborliness, integration and mutual cooperation that serves to uproot terrorism and achieve security and stability in the region and to achieve sustainable development and profound relationship between the South and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, for its important strategic depth to  the neighboring countries as an integral part of the Arabian Peninsula and linked to its geography where family ties, traditions, religion, language, history, hopes, aspirations and common concerns are intertwined.

  We would like to point out that the STC National Assembly has already endorsed the features, shape and content of the impending southern state, thus confirming the ability of the people of the South to control their own State and their determination to eradicate all types of terrorism.

  We also do confirm that the South is eligible to regain its position as a sovereign State and able to gain support for its membership in the United Nations and being recognized. the South is qualified to act under the Charter of the United Nations and committed to the rules of international law and to the international and bilateral treaties signed in previous stages since 30 November 1967, as well as to the Pact of the Arab League.

   Alsalam alaykum warahmat Allah wabarakatuh

The National Assembly of the Southern Transitional Council 

 Saturday 23 December 2017
Aden,The capital of the South