CIAO DATE: 08/04

Yemen

Victoria Garcia and Rachel Stohl

Center for Defense Information

May 2003

Background

Yemen remains entrenched in instability, even though the country’s North and South were unified in 1990. This process was undermined by a brief civil war in 1994, and today, while the government maintains a unified country, Yemen is plagued with on–going intertribal warfare, kidnappings, and other insurgencies committed by local Islamist movements. The country has also suffered from border disputes with Eritrea over the Hanish islands in the Red Sea and with Saudi Arabia over islands north of Yemen.

A republic, Yemen has a mixed rating on human rights. While the State Department has recognized the Yemeni government’s general respect of human rights and its efforts to improve its human rights record, serious problems remain in this regard. The 2001 Human Rights Report reveals that there are serious hinderances to democratic governance processes and significant numbers of killings by security forces, who are also responsible for torture and arbitrary arrests. Security force personnel also monitor the civilian population’s activities, search their homes, mistreat detainees. The Yemeni government has also been accused of judicial corruption, inefficiency, and executive interference, as well as imposing restrictions on freedom of speech, press, religion and movement. Women and children are particularly vulnerable in Yemen, suffering from violence, discrimination, female genital mutilation, and child labor. Other minorities, such as religious, ethnic, and those with disabilities are also victims of harassment.

U. S. Military Assistance Prior to Sept. 11, 2001

Yemen does not partipate in the UN Register of Conventional Arms, and according to SIPRI, Yemen did not receive any U.S. conventional weapons in recent years. The Yemeni armed forces total 66,000 troops an the country's military expenditure was $414 million in 1999. This equates to 7.6 of Yemen’s GDP.

Prior to Sept. 11, Yemen was a recipient of U.S. military assistance, but received no FMF funding. Between 1990 and 2001, Yemen received $1.3 million in IMET funding. In addition, during the same period, the country received $16 million in DCS licenses and received $2.5 million worth of DCS weapons and $11 million in FMS equipment.

U. S. Military Assistance Since Sept. 11, 2001

After Sept. 11, Yemen has been identified as a necessary U.S. partner in the Middle East. In the FY 02 Supplemental Appropriations Request, Yemen was given $20 million in FMF, $5 million in Economic Support Fund (ESF) financing, and a portion of $20 million in NADR funding for the Terrorist Interdiction Program (TIP) for border control. Funding for this last program is being granted to 14 countries. In FY 03, Yemen was appropriated $2 million in FMF, $10 million in ESF, $650,000 in IMET, and $915,000 in NADR. In FY 04, Yemen has been promised $15 million in FMF, $15 million in ESF, and $1 million in IMET.

Case Study Profile

Country	Yemen
Government Type	Republic
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births–2001 estimate)	68.53
Total Armed Forces (2000 estimate)	66,000
Military Expenditure (U.S.$, millions)	$414 (FY 99)
Military Expenditure % GDP	7.6% (FY 99)
Imports/Conventional Arms Transfers (U.S. $, millions – 2001 estimate)	$33
Human Rights Record 2002	Improved, but poor

Yemen’s Submission to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms
1993	n/a
1994	n/a
1995	n/a
1996	n/a
1997	n/a
1998	n/a
1999	n/a
2000	n/a
2001	n/a

Fiscal Year	IMET	FMF	FSA	ESF	Total
1990	$595,000	$0	$0	$0	$595,000
1991	$25,000	$0	$0	$0	$25,000
1992	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
1993	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
1994	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
1995	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
1996	$50,000	$0	$0	$0	$50,000
1997	$52,000	$0	$0	$0	$52,000
1998	$142,000	$0	$0	$0	$142,000
1999	$122,000	$0	$0	$0	$122,000
2000	$125,000	$0	$0	$0	$125,000
2001	$198,000	$0	$0	$0	$198,000
2002	$488,000	$0	$0	$5,000,000	$5,488,000
2002 ERF	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
2002 SUP	–	$20,000,000	$0	$3,000,000	$23,000,000
2003 (request)	$650,000	$2,000,000	$0	$10,000,000	$12,350,000
2004 (request)	$1,000,000	$15,000,000	$0	$15,000,000	$31,000,000
Total	$2,827,000	$37,000,000	$0	$33,000,000	$72,827,000

Sources

CIA Factbook 2001

Human Development Report 2002

“Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Yearbook,” Appendix 5C, Register of the transfer and licensed production of major conventional weapons, 2001.

United Nations Register of Conventional Arms