Security Officials Love to Threaten Citizens

A couple of days ago, journalists were asked to attend a protest. I accompanied them and went early, as I witnessed something that was a shame to our country, which calls its self free and democratic. A high ranking official came to the scene of the protest, and threatened HOOD human rights organization representatives, who were coordinating the protest, that  he will cut their tongues off if they don’t stop the protests and go home! He also said that the organization will pay dearly for what they are doing, and will regret for caring about human rights. Now… did Hitler ever do that?

All right, even if Yemen was not democratic, such words should never be uttered to people who were peacefully protesting and demanding their rights, and by who, an official!.

Some could say that what security officials told HOOD representatives was just common speech when someone is angry, but telling someone that you will cut his  tongue and drag him on the floor is not something that we are accustomed to in Yemen.

How in the world can we call our state a democratic one, if we can’t even peacefully protest in the streets!

This is not something new in Yemen, and if security officials knew that they would be questioned for every word they utter, none would dare to say harsh things in public.

My advice to security officials is to understand that the only difference between them and normal citizens is that they are there to defend citizens not threaten them. In the end we are all Yemeni and look for the best of our nation.