Under the sponsorship of the Southern Transitional Council’s General Department of Foreign Affairs, the Southern Academics and Experts Forum held a workshop entitled “The Issue of the Southern People from the Perspective of International Law” via video call on Sunday. The workshop reviewed three working papers presented by legal experts and Southern political leaders on the principles and sources of contemporary international law, the declaration of Yemeni unity and the organization of the transitional period signed in 1990, and the gaps that have deprived the people of the South of a legal basis, resulting in the loss of their rights and the need for their own independent state. The workshop also discussed the internal, regional, and international efforts to solve the issue of the Southern people.
In her speech, Niran Soukie, a member of the Presidential Council of the Council and Vice President of the National Assembly, praised the interventions presented during the workshop and their role in highlighting the legal aspects and evidence supporting the restoration of the Southern state’s full sovereignty. She stressed the need to intensify the legal committee’s efforts in the Council to provide solutions and treatments that enable the Southern people to regain their state.
Dr. Mas’ad Al-Hakam, a professor of international law, reviewed the violations accompanying the Unity Agreement of 1990, followed by the use of force to impose unity in the 1994 summer war, which contradicts international conventions and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969. He noted regional and international positions on the Southern occupation war in 1994 and emphasized that the UN Security Council did not condemn the Southern political leadership’s declaration of disengagement and return to its previous status before the unity. Instead, it condemned the continued attacks and targeting of Aden by the Sanaa regime and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and dialogue for peaceful solutions, which the other party breached.
On his part, Dr. Saad Mohammed Saad, Chairman of the Supreme Legal Affairs Committee, affirmed that the right of the people of the South to regain their state is primarily based on international law, especially after the failure of the unity project. He pointed out that there are many peaceful means that will enable the southerners to achieve their desired goal, led by the Southern Transitional Council. He emphasized that international law guarantees this right and stressed the need to develop immediate solutions to enable the southerners to manage the affairs of the south during the period of war or negotiations, in order to reach comprehensive solutions that satisfy the aspirations of the people of the south.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ahmed Ali Attif, Advisor to the General Administration of Foreign Affairs of the Southern Transitional Council in the United States and the United Nations, reviewed the local, regional, and international routes and mechanisms to support the cause of the people of the south. He pointed out that there are those who are trying to market a big lie that the southern cause is a postponable issue, ignoring the fact that the southern cause has historical roots that emerged due to the failure of the May 22, 1990 unity. Therefore, it is one of the most crucial issues that must be at the forefront of any regional or international efforts to end the crisis in the south and Yemen. Any disregard or overlooking of these facts could lead to the exacerbation of the conflict in a more complicated way.
