At twenty, Rawiya Walid was involved in a family dispute that led to her imprisonment in Taiz's central prison. . After a quarrel with her cousins, she spent nine months confined within four walls. These nine months, a period that will forever be etched in her memory, marked the beginning of an unexpected new chapter in her life. Rawiya was imprisoned without a judicial ruling, waiting for the day her situation would change. Four years have passed since the incident, but the pain it caused remains. Four years have passed since the incident, but what resulted from it is still painful.
Imprisonment and discrimination!
Rawya found herself in the Central Reformatory for Women, where she faced experiences that largely supported what had happened to her before as a marginalized group.
“They treat us as marginalized women in prison differently, in terms of services and even visits, and when we asked to hire a lawyer, they refused to do so. This is only because we are marginalized, while the rest of the female prisoners are treated completely differently from us,” Rawya says about this bitterly, adding in a questioning tone: “Don’t we have Lives? Or do we not deserve to be treated like the rest?’’
A question that has several implications, casting a shadow over the girl who enters prison for the first time, and faces psychological, physical, and even legal consequences. Instead of receiving the same treatment as a Yemeni citizen with all guaranteed rights.
The Central Reformatory perpetuated societal attitudes towards the marginalized, recreating them within the prison environment. It dealt with girls in a manner that was both discriminatory and classist, potentially amounting to racial discrimination.
Marginalization pursued Rawiya to prison, according to what Zubaida Al-Wajeeh, a journalist who followed Rawiya’s case and story and reported it to the public at the time, said that the girl’s situation was catastrophic, not only because of the marginalization she was exposed to, nor because of the class discrimination that led to her imprisonment, but because those who must enforce the law practiced this marginalization and discrimination against her, and they constantly turned a blind eye to it.
Al-Wajeeh believes that Rawiya suffered a lot and her condition was bad throughout the period of imprisonment. She was subjected to injustice by her imprisonment, and marginalization and discrimination were practiced against her. It is a compound injustice, as she says.
Complex injustice
On the legal level, Yemeni law guarantees the right to citizenship for all without discrimination, and its articles guarantee equal rights without division by region or class. However, social customs and traditions have perpetuated class and regional discrimination in a number of governorates and have maintained this as an inevitable social custom. The marginalized class, including those who work in professions such as butchery, barbering, beautification, cleaning, and improvement, are often deemed as engaging in inferior transactions. People with disabilities have also been added to this category, as they are often perceived as incapable and a burden on society.
There is no specific Yemeni law that discriminates against the marginalized, but systematic social discrimination prevents them from accessing remedies for exploitation as they face systemic intolerance in the judicial system and within local government and tribal authorities, according to an analytical paper issued by the Sanaa Center for Studies in June 2019.
Ibtihal Al-Kumani, a lawyer and human rights activist, summed up her response to the Yemeni Women’s Voices platform by saying: “After Yemen committed itself under international conventions to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination at that time, every dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or racial hatred, every incitement to racial discrimination, and all An act of violence or incitement to such acts committed against any race or any group of another color or ethnic origin, as well as any assistance or financing of racist activities, is a crime punishable by law.”
According to Al-Kumani, the set of minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners in Yemeni law states in one of its rules for the treatment of prisoners that there should be no discrimination in treatment due to race, color, sex, religion, political or non-political opinion, or national origin, social status, wealth, birth, or any other status.
Komani added: ‘’In the law regulating prisons regarding the facilities granted to prisoners, Article (30): In addition to the rights granted to them in this law, prisoners are granted the following facilities: meeting their family, relatives, and friends.’’
She continues her speech by saying: ‘’Therefore, the human dignity of the prisoner must be respected, regardless of his gender, race, or color. Detaining a person does not authorize anyone to violate his human dignity. No matter how many crimes the detained person commits, he is still a human being and must be treated with humanity and respect for his human dignity as long as he remains inside prison.’’
A study conducted by the United Nations Population Fund in cooperation with the Yemeni Women’s Union found that marginalized women and girls in Yemen face increased vulnerability due to the lack of necessities resulting from the conflict, legal protection, and pre-existing marginalization.
While Article 41 of the Yemeni Constitution stipulates that “all citizens are equal in public rights and duties,” Articles 41 to 61 of the Constitution guarantee the rights of all citizens to legal defense, freedom of movement, and access to social security.
Pain!
On April 5, 2020, the central prison in Taiz was hit by three mortar shells. One of the shells hit the courtyard of the women’s ward, killing 8 people and wounding 7 others. This attack came after promises to release a number of female inmates after providing guarantees, as part of a measure taken by local authorities to limit the spread of the Corona virus inside prisons.
Rawiya was one of the seven injured, as her leg was directly hit by a shrapnel from the shell, which later caused the amputation of Rawiya’s leg. She was one day away from leaving prison, and waiting for her wedding date, but the anticipated joy turned into permanent sadness. It lasted for nine months and it also turned into an eternal prison. Its psychological consequences and physical effects remain stuck in the life of the girl who became a hostage of her suffering. After waiting for relief, another fate came to her that released her to a new state. As she became disabled with one leg, she pursues her diaries and the remaining memories that make her forget what she is in.
Rawiya remembers that day with great sorrow. She will not forget it after the disability she was exposed to, and it will stay with her until the end. It is a prison, but it is not between four walls, this is how she describes it, and she adds: ‘’How harsh is our reality: Marginalization, discrimination, disability, and a difficult living situation.’’
The photo by Nashwan Sade
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