SAN’A, Yemen (AFP)Lawlessness, corruption and an inadequate judiciary combined with age-old customs fuel Yemen’s “gun culture,” despite government efforts to curb the use of firearms, politicians say.
Carrying weapons is so entrenched in the traditions of the Arabian peninsula republic that one resident of the eastern tribal province of Marib was ostracized by his kinsfolk when he decided to ditch his machine gun.
“After graduating from university [in Iraq], I felt that my education, not the machine gun flaunted by tribesmen, was my real weapon,” said the 36-year-old doctor, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Ahmad.
But Ahmad’s decision did not sit well with either his family or his tribe, and he had to relocate to the city of Taiz, south of the capital San’a, to live “free from the gun culture,” he said.
Yemen is estimated to have up to 60 million firearms in private hands, roughly three for every citizen.
Armed tribesmen in the impoverished country at times abduct foreign tourists for use as bargaining chips in disputes with the central government, and firefights are commonplace.
Such lawlessness only complicates the government’s task as it battles suspected al Qaeda militants and a sectarian uprising in the mountainous northwest.
An interior ministry report says 24,623 crimes were committed with firearms between 2004 and 2006, constituting 87 percent of all crimes registered during that period and leading to the deaths of 23,577 people.
Interior Minister Rashad al-Alimi singled out the proliferation of firearms as one of four “security challenges” facing Yemen, along with terrorist threats, border protection and “weak loyalty to the state.”
Last year, the government announced a new drive to curb the use of weapons, banning people from bringing privately owned firearms into San’a and other major cities.
More than 90,000 firearms have since been confiscated, according to official sources.
Interior Ministry Undersecretary Mohammad al-Qawsi says criminal incidents dropped to 364 in the two months following the beginning of the campaign in August, down from 628 during the two months preceding it.
But the limits of the government’s powers were evident when a young member of the Hashed tribal confederation, Hussein Abdullah al-Ahmar, triumphantly entered San’a late last year flanked by armed bodyguards.
That was less than a month after he was banned from entering with an armed escort. The government was seen to have caved for fear of sparking a revolt by his powerful tribe.
Sheik Hamid Abdullah al-Ahmar, son of late influential parliament speaker Sheik Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar and brother of Hussein Abdullah al-Ahmar, said that carrying weapons is an integral part of the “identity” of Yemeni tribesmen and “not a luxury.”
Hamid Abdullah al-Ahmar conceded the use of weapons had negative aspects.
But he said these had more to do with “the reasons that lead to carrying weapons, such as the absence of a competent judiciary and the lack of security capable of protecting, rather than repressing, citizens.”
Ali al-Omrani, a member of parliament with the ruling General People’s Congress, said less weapons have been seen on the streets of the capital since the campaign began.
There is no reason why Yemenis should hold on to their guns when their Gulf neighbors, “who are from the same tribal fabric,” have given up theirs, the lawmaker said.
The proliferation of firearms “is a threat to investment, a threat to tourism, a threat to life,” Mr. al-Omrani said.
But he agreed the weakness of the judicial system and inadequacy of the security provided by the government, in addition to the long-standing practice of vendetta killings, are among the main causes of the scourge.
Shawki al-Kadhi, a lawmaker with the main opposition Islamic party Al-Islah (Reform), said the widespread use of firearms also is due to “the corruption of influential people that extends to plundering people’s rights.”
It is doubtful the latest campaign to curb firearms will succeed to a greater degree than previous campaigns, when those in charge of implementing it are themselves tribesmen who do not feel they belong to a nation, he said.
“The state itself has yet to become an institution.”
The Interior Ministry, since the mid-1990s, has tried to amend a 1992 law which was seen as effectively legalizing the use of firearms by “regulating” the carrying and sale of weapons.
Parliament has repeatedly blocked any change to the legislation.
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